Personal Financial Goals For 2024

2024 is just a couple of months away. How's your 2023? Have you went back over your 2023 goals to see if you have achieved them?

I know a lot of us are still in the process of recovering from the pandemic then now that there's an inflation. It's like the world is not giving us a break. But we can always do something about it. This time I discovered Calculator.me, a website that has a collection of calculators that you can use depending on what you need. It has Loan, Mortgage, Savings, Auto, Credit Card and Budget Planning.

As a homemaker, there are two calculators that I use on the website: Savings and the Family Budget Planning.

Both (actually all) calculators are very easy to use and understand. You just input the amount and it will calculate automatically. It is in USD but you can always just follow the amount in your own currency.

For the Savings Calculator, I mainly use this for my passive income and add more money to our emergency funds. I just enter the amounts and for the interest rate, I call/went to my bank to verify the specific annual interest rate. This calculator can be your guide to your savings goal for 2024!

For the Family Budget Planner, it's also the same, easy to use and calculates automatically for you. Budgeting need not to be complicated. The budget you make can either be for your monthly or annual budget. This budget planner can definitely help families like me with just the right amount of monthly income. I just wish you can customize the percentage for each expense. Nonetheless, it's still helpful to have a guide to my monthly expenses!

If you are planning to get a car or get a loan from the bank as part of your financial goals for 2024, there are calculators in the website too. It is never too early to plan your financial plans for the future. It's more of securing your future. This is not only for families like us but also for single people who would like to have a good financial standing for themselves and the future!

As for our family, we are saving up for a lot next year. I want to take my family on a vacation so working extra hard now to put more money on our savings!

Is One of Your Goals This 2023 is To Save Money? Make Your Money Work This 2023!

Happy New Year, everyone! Are you the kind of person who makes New Year's resolution or goals for the year? I am not the type to make resolutions but more on making goals and making sure I sustain it for the years to come. One of my goals this year is to save MORE than what I saved last year and I just discovered a website that can help me with my 2023 goal! It's the SavingsCalculator.org!

The website allows you to input any currency so you can use this anywhere you are! SavingsCalculator.org has other calculators in their website like College and Retirement. 

With the COVID-19 lockdowns and the current crazy inflation, saving money can be a challenge but it's not impossible so let's start 2023 with a positive note! Savings Calculator has a Goals Calculator. It has 2 separate calculator: 

One is for "How Much" is your savings goal

One is for "How Long" will it take for you to reach your savings goal

With these calculators, you can easily calculate and adjust your savings goal for the year! Now, the hard part is actually doing the saving! I have to admit that I did a lot of online shopping during the lockdown, some were good purchases but some were really just bad budols. The WANT won versus the NEED haha! 

So, here are some money-wise TO-DOs for 2023! And maybe this can help you too!

1. Delete shopping apps - I have deleted a lot of shopping apps on my phone. They're just too much temptation. I've only kept 2 apps which I use both for personal and business use.

2. Keep personal purchases at minimum. Buy what you need only! - Even with the 2 apps I've kept, there's still temptations! Sales and deals all over! Remember: A sale can still happen in the next few months. If you're not going to use it ASAP, you don't need to buy it! I've been a victim of this especially for skincare products and they end up expiring and that's money down the drain.

3. Buy in bulk for necessities - this may sound contradictory to NO. 2 but things like household products and toiletries, buying in bulk maybe heavy on the pocket at first but it's actually more economical in the long run. Buying shampoo, conditioner, laundry detergent, etc. in bulk saves you money and time as well!

4. Plan mall and dining out trips - With the inflation, prices of everything has went up. We have been home buddies since the pandemic but we get cabin fever too! But going out can be expensive. There's gas, parking, a little food shopping and we also indulge on dining out because this momma needs a break from cooking sometimes. We plan our trips, do some errands in the area, and eat within a budget only.

These are just a few tips on top of my head. Please do share your tips with me cause I like to save more! And when you can save more, you can go back to the website and calculate compound interest if you are going invest your savings in bonds or investment funds. You can always go to your bank and inquire about these!

2023 I am ready for you! Manifesting the biggest savings I'll ever have this year!!!

Managing Your Debts

With the pandemic happening all over the world, businesses closing, jobs lost and we still need to go on to live our lives. There's bills and loans to pay, tuition fees to fund, essentials to buy monthly and more. With all of these piling on, we can't help but feel overwhelmed, frustrated or scared. But because we are staying home, there's no traveling, no shopping, no dining out, no unnecessary spendings, there's a way to manage your debts.

Understanding your current situation is the first step. Lay out all of your current debts: mortgage, loans, credit card, etc. Best to list them down on your journal or planner or you can use MS Excel to have a visual of what’s going on. This list is essential because this is something you will refer back to and check every month to monitor and check your progress. In this list, include the interest rates for each is another essential step, to know which ones are charging with the highest interest rates.

Paying your credit card debt is often one of the best approach. You can start paying off the smallest amount first. Tackling the “easiest” debt to pay can build your confidence and eventually build momentum you need to pay off your other debts. Just remember to not use this credit line once you have paid them off to avoid incurring more debts.

When you can’t pay for anything more, at least make the minimum payment. This is not the best tip to making progress with your debt but this is to keep your account in good standing and avoid paying late charges which are not a small amount by the way. And when it is possible, pay more than the minimum.

Another one of the most important steps in managing your debts is to be honest with your spendings. Are there additional or unnecessary expenses that you can cut back on? Eliminating these non-essential expenses is also reducing additional debt. And when you eliminate these unnecessary costs, there’s more to put toward your debt. Even the smallest amount you can set aside is a big help.

There’s also the option to consolidate your debts, it’s a product that offers single payment for your debts with a lower interest rate. You can learn more about debt consolidation by clicking here.

Now, that you know where you are standing, build an emergency fund and searching for other revenue streams. It doesn’t have to be a big amount, but enough to cover your unexpected expenses. You can start small (USD 1000) with the ultimate goal of growing your emergency fund in the future. As for extra revenue streams, it also doesn’t have to be big, but when you are earning, even small amounts are additional funds to help you eliminate your debt. And your debt is more manageable, you can start adding the extra income to your emergency funds. 

Incurring debts can affect our mental health and by taking these little steps are steps to the right direction and eventually free from debt and have financial control of your life, which is what you are aiming for. So stick your plan, stay on momentum and learn from the process. 

Manila Workshops: Ready To Be Rich

When it comes to budgeting and finances, I admit I'm a work in progress. There are times when I beome so lazy to do the budgeting but a wife has go to her duties! 

If you're a work in progress like me or you know totally zero about financing, investing and budgeting, then don't fret! It's better to be late than never! Manila Workshops together with Fitz Villafuerte of Ready to be Rich will have a re-run of it's very successful: Ready To Be Rich: Family Finances Workshop on November 9, 2013.

What's good about this workshop is it is hands-on learning. A variety of topics will be tackled such as zero-based budget system for households, money lessons for kids, personal finance strategies for married couples, sandwich generation survival tips and many more!

Don't miss out this chance to learn!

To register, please visit:

www.manilaworkshops.com

www.fitzvillafuerte.com

A Morning About Financial Planning and FQs

It's been 3 months since I resigned from my job. In a year or two, Y will start pre-school. Although I have a business and earning well, I can spend for our daily needs and expenses but I'm still worried about our future finances like their education funds, retirement funds, or the inevitable... death.

Ever since, budgeting and managing finances is not my forte. I want to invest my money but I don't know where to begin. I'm really glad that the #SoMoms have sessions like this, we get to learn and educate ourselves about different investments, how to save for our children's future and more. It's really a road to a #BetterMe.

But first, our venue for the session was at The Gallery 1 of New World Makati. It's a small function room with a private kitchen! I was floored! It's my first time to see a function room like this. I feel so sosyal. Hihi!

See the oven on the left side? Fresh bread is being baked!

The blueberry muffin is yummy!

To start our talk, Dandee Adapon of AXA gave a brief background about the company and why is it necessary to have a financial plan and being prepared.

And to talk to us more about money matters is Rose Fres Fausto. 

Mary Rose Fres Fausto graduated with honors from the Ateneo de Manila University in 1985, with a degree in A.B. Economics. She was an investment banker before she decided to be a full-time homemaker. She is married to Marvin, a fund manager, and they have three sons Marty, Enrique and Anton. She believes that raising their children well is the greatest contribution parents can give to the country and the best service they can offer to God.(Taken from her blog)

I was very kuripot during my school days. I would always keep my allowance so I can save. I like seeing my savings add up. My parents started us early, teaching us how to save and all. But well, what I wasn't prepared for was the expenses and money matters when I got married and had kids. I'm really scared that I won't have enough money for my kids' education! 

Money matters should be a family affair. In some families, speaking of money is considered to be not proper. But I think it's better to face reality rather than ignore it. That is why I've always been honest about our money matters to my husband.

I learned a lot from Rose's talk. And I hope I can do it and teach my kids on how to save and invest. Some of my things I've picked up from the talk: FQ - Financial Intelligence Quotient Didn't know there's such thing! Having a high FQ is your economic self defense! I want my kids to have high FQ! Kids nowadays have so much spending power, it really is the new generation. While I'm a bit scared, I want my children to be capable on managing their money.

Planning your financial future should involve your child. I never knew this. It's never too late to start teaching your kids about money, if not, start them young! Rose's kids invested their money in stocks. She and her husband taught their kids early, and I must say WOW. I must learn not to be scared of investing in stocks. Seeing how successful Rose and her husband with raising children to be money-wise, I want my kids to be the same.

I grew up having my own "kiddie" account. I remember my passbook has a Kangaroo cartoon. If I remember it right, it was from City Trust! And I also did the same for my kids. Yukie started her piggy bank (more like Robot bank) just this June. We told her that it will be her money to buy a new Barbie doll ( I don't know if that's a proper way of teaching), and she would always ask for our coins and put it in her piggy bank. But other than that, I opened a bank account for each of them when they turned 1. All of their ang paos from birthdays and Christmases, I deposit them to their respective accounts. And every time I have extra money, I also deposit to each of their account.

Got an emergency funds? Retirement savings? We need start to save for our retirement! My first thought was: What retirement? That's like years and years from now! We think that this is so far away that we delay saving for our retirement. This should be one of the first things to save for. I don't want to burden my kids of having to provide for me or ask money from them. They will also have their families in the future and that would be their priority.

Got extra funds? Invest them. There are so many kinds of investment nowadays, there are short term and long term investments. Choose what your comfortable investing your money into. Learn how they work and not just put your money where interest is high.

I'm so glad to have attended this talk. BOS and I need to talk pa about investments but I've certainly learned a lot! Thank you again #Somoms!

Of course, I would also like to thank New World Makati for serving us breakfast and lunch!

AXA is having an ongoing promo! You can win a trip to Lego Land in Malaysia! Just sign up here!