Never Too Late

It's been raining since last weekend. I love this bed weather but at the end of the day, I wish the sun will shine the following day. C'mon, ang hirap talaga magpatuyo ng damit.

 

And because of the weather, coffee is really love. I can have 3 cups a day these days. It's really good that it is for free in our office. It helps me saves.

 

This weather makes me go on cheat meals too. I felt like I wanted an instant pancit canton with a sliced bread, scrambled egg and a coffee. And just this morning, I asked my husband to prepare those for our breakfast. My husband immediately asked me, 'Are you sure?" Hahaha. It's been almost 2 years ago since I ate instant pancit canton or instant noodles for that matter. I made it a pact for myself. When I reached my first anniversary for not eating instant noodles, I told myself, 'kaya ko naman pala'. So, I went ahead and included fries and burgers. I proved it to myself na kaya ko rin pala.

 

The taste? Well, again, I can say it will not be something I am going to miss for few more years. So I am marking today again, as another journey for avoiding instant noodles. Maybe, you are wondering why I have chosen to stay away from instant noodles? When before, during my college days, that's what have kept me survive. And then a merienda after work. Is it because it is not healthy? No, it's a personal choice. Just a little something for myself to help me prove that there is something I can succeed without.

 

Before I became aware about financial freedom, I thought I know all about savings, investing, emergency fund, and anything about finances. And then, I wonder that in my 10 years of working, I haven't really improved my finances. I was living paycheck to paycheck. Looking back, I do not know where my salaries really went to. Yes, I support my parents. And I know that it was more than 50% of what I received goes to them. And the rest, it directly goes to credit card payments. And then I used again the card until the next pay period, paying only the minimum due. A cycle that went on for almost 5 years, and eventually became haunted by law offices and banks. Until, I told myself, I needed a change. It was late, with all the late payment interests that has piled up, sayang ang pera. But I told myself, it was never too late to change and make the change happen.

 

The change had me paid the debts, cleared my name,  and only a savings account. I remember vividly, when I was paying my credit card bill in a bank, and an AXA personnel approached, I declined immediately. I wasn't opened to anything that time.

 

Reading blogs about pregnancy and giving birth led me to discovering financial blogs. Like I said earlier, I was skeptical when someone would approach me anything about finances. I thought that it might be one of those scams and just completely avoided anything about it. But being aware and with little knowledge on finances, I now become more open with any ideas. Simply put, I listen and now I can make sound judgement of what might be a possible scam and what not.

 

Still, there are so many things I needed to learn. And I am glad I started the journey. Like the pact I made of not eating instant noodles, kaya ko rin palang magstart ulit and by enough courage and motivation within myself, I can still pursue so many goals in finances and personal growth.

 

How about you? When are you going to start anything you really wanted to do? Start today. And prove yourself you can. Nothing is never too late. We have our chances. We can make a change. Experiment and find what's best suits you.

 

All it took me, is to be driven by a purpose. Enough reason to will. A time frame for me to understand that I made it. And the prize awaiting for me on that day.

 

Just sharing. God Bless. :)

June - Spending Less and Less

I have both good and bad news. Hahaha. Okey, let me go through the good news. I was contemplating since the first day of June of buying another pair of flat shoes and I came to consider the post of Miss Edel about the Rubi shoes in Alabang Town Center. I was like star struck with the designs and of course because it was on sale. Anyway, the frugal in me did not give in. Buti na lang. Because, last week of June, my sister in laws arrived and brought me a pair of flat shoes. Yes, my pasalubong. Hehehe.

Ever wonder, what happened to the 2 pairs of shoes I bought last January? Well, they are now close to giving up. But still usable for maybe a couple of more months. My summer sandal was really worn out. All I have now is the rubber shoes I bought since 2011, the sneaker I bought in 2013, and a wedge I bought in 2012. The flat shoes easily worn out because I used it daily for office.

All in all, I haven't bought anything for myself again, neither for my little girl or for my husband for that matter. My sister in law's brought hands me down clothes for my little girl aside from the new ones and new pair of shoes for the husband plus a couple of shirts. Yes, they are very generous. And I am grateful for treating me like their own sister.

I promise myself to eliminate our often dining out and this is where we fail. With the treatment of the husband which took us almost all day out for two weeks, we could not help but to pick dining out for lunch for a few times. Although, we eat at home before going out, there are times that really took us a long time outside.

So there, but I am not giving up that we can do it gradually in the future. I still wanted to keep it and study how we can manage to have at least twice dining out in a month.

Yes, just twice.I see that, big chunks of our budget actually goes to dining out. And most of the time, this amount can be spread to a week home cooked meals at home. Sayang din kasi talaga.

Right now, since I am alone here in the metro, mas nakakatipid ako. With just having enough for fare and nagbabaon na ako ng ulam from home which I place in the fridge and just reheat kapag kakain na.

With our current situation, what we really need to do is really be mindful with our spending. And the expenditure notebook has been very very helpful all this time which lists down all that are going out and coming in. So far, it is good that everything is tracked. I am hoping, this July will yield more positive result in terms of our goal.

Have a fruitful Thursday. :)