Financial Freedom: A Pinoy Breadwinner's Dream

Financial independence, stable personal finance, and plenty of self-savings. Hey there, Filipino breadwinners! Are these your goals for your own financial future? We feel you. Who doesn't want to be free from financial burden and not have to think about financial responsibilities, right? It could sound like a far-fetched idea, but it's not too late to try to reach your financial dreams!

However, since we are in a society that cares about our family members over our own, the family's finances tend to come first over personal savings. Sometimes, it's a challenge to earn enough just to cover household expenses.

In order for us to achieve those financial goals in the near future, read these 10 smart money management tips for Pinoy Breadwinners and how you can improve your current financial situation, may it be personal or for your family members.

1. Track Your Money

It's so easy to say to breadwinners, "you need to start saving!" However, the next question that comes is, "how?" Here's a good place where you can start. You can begin by making a list of the things you spend on. You might need to form habits for this to be effective, but you don't need to worry because tracking money is now easy using your phone.

Because of technology today, you can choose from the many personal finance apps that act more than as a money tracker. It can also give you reminders for your bills, or can also become your mechanism to check where most of your hard-earned money goes.

2. Identify Wants vs. Needs

Here's an important step for you to do next—you must identify your needs from your wants. With this, you're defining your priorities, so that you will know which item should you allocate more of your savings or earnings.

After you managed to identify your needs from your wants, then heed this: open a bank account solely for your expenses. These priority expenses are usually classified underneath the NEEDs column, as these are crucial for you and your family members to live.

Again through technology, you can now automate your bank apps to pay bills such as food and groceries, school costs, monthly utility bills, rent for the month, car maintenance, and insurance payments so there's no need to spend your free time waiting in lines on banks. Rather, ensure that the said account has enough funds so they are paid in time.

While you have the monthly expenses account, you must also set separate savings account for emergency funds, health insurance, and even your retirement fund. They also fall within the NEEDs column, but will not be immediately used. These can be part of your long-term financial goals, and should not be left on the back burner.

When you know how to identify needs versus wants, you are simply prioritizing your family's welfare and not an impulse buy.

3. Prepare a Budget and Stick to it

Tracked money, checked. Identified needs versus wants, done. What's next? You should set up a budget AND stick to it. For most breadwinners, the second part of this tip comes as a difficult challenge. It may be easy to say and write how much you think a specific priority costs and a different responsibility altogether spending according to what is set. Hence, when you create a budget, it's not a matter of just putting numbers against the payment of a category, such as taxes, but it's also recognizing the limits of your budgeting capabilities.

4. Have an Honest and Serious Talk About Finances with Your Family

Saving money as a breadwinner is not easy even if you have a decent income. You need your own family to help you manage the details of your family's financial needs.

As part of Filipino culture, we consider the parents as the providers of the family. They are responsible to handle the basics of carrying out the planning, executing, and even earning in order for the children to afford to go to school, and live their lives as minors, ideally. But aside from our immediate family, it is not uncommon that breadwinners don't stop supporting our siblings, and other relatives, even if they have their own families. Come unexpected accidents, deaths, or other more joyous events, breadwinners continue to provide until they retire.

That's why it is never too early or too late to let your dependents know of the enormous responsibility you have as a breadwinner. Even though it is a sensitive and a tough topic to talk about, it will be your wallets and your future self that will benefit once you point out that a regulated way of spending must be done so that you have robust financial health, but without sacrificing the family's happiness as well.

5. Improve Your and Your Family's Financial Literacy

Along with speaking about financial matters to your family, a good way to develop and grow their understanding of your situation is to encourage your beneficiaries to pursue financial literacy. This way, everyone can learn how to be independent, can manage their own accounts, know how much percentage they should save in accordance with their earnings, and how it is not just the parents, but every member of the family that can practice their financial values earlier.

When every family member is able to have financial discipline, then there would be no idle money. Everyone can earn extra income, either by putting up a small online business or starting to save for a splurge. They can also hear pieces of financial advice on how they can manage their finances wisely. When this happens, it's not only the breadwinner who can provide the means in the family, but everyone contributes.

6. Adjust the Family's Lifestyle and Living Expenses to your Means

When your family members understand the importance of wise money management, then it will be easier for you to explain how your choices of spending, saving, and access to funds are done in a certain way. Hence, everyone knows why it is not practical to get a big purchase of new gadgets.

However, adjusting the lifestyle doesn't mean that you are depriving yourself and your well-being, it's that you choose to prioritize the important things.

7. Review and Evaluate Financial Management Regularly

Aside from providing the means, a breadwinner must also regularly review and evaluate their finances on a regular basis. As the economy of the Philippines fluctuates, then as a breadwinner, you must determine the security and progress of your finances. Can you assess whether you can still support your family in the next five to ten years? Doing so shows that you're continuously figuring out the financial standing of your family, and assess should there be necessary requests or emergencies that need to be met.

8. Diversify your Income Source

Every so often, no matter how hard we work, a single source of income is not enough. As the adage says, do not put all your eggs in a single basket. Hence, as you try to save for the future, feel free to explore other ways to improve your income stream. Among the most popular are mutual funds, investing in the Philippines' stock market, and other world markets as well.

Don't hesitate to research if you have the ability to become involved in a team of investors, or you can also be active in becoming a shareholder of a company and become active in certain aspects of the business. Instead of spending time with worries, boost your earnings when you try to accumulate assets, such as businesses, shares in the stock market, or even buying an affordable house and lot in the Philippines.

9. Learn when to say No

Do you want to know the key to avoid debts, loans, and liabilities? Learn how, and when to say no. Saying no can also do good for you, especially when you know that the product, service, or purchase that you are about to get falls on the WANTS column. Transfer your attention to those that can benefit you, such as buying properties that you can get insured and you can rely on, that you can liquidate easily, should the need arise.

When you know how to say no, you can live beyond paycheck to paycheck and you are sure that you can serve food at the table because you know which purchases to secure.

10. Don't Forget to Pay Yourself

If there is a tip that most breadwinners tend to forget, it is this. After all your hard work and the money work gave your effort, it is also fitting that you start paying yourself, especially if you are the sole provider for the family.

However, paying yourself does not always mean that you have to have cash. Your payment can be in the form of getting your own life insurance, getting mutual funds or stocks, or even, purchase an affordable house and lot!

However, it can also mean just having some free time to rest or spend doing what you love. You can even go bold as plotting ways to achieve or get closer to your dream career. You have to take care of yourself as well, breadwinner! Your future self will thank you.

Lumina Homes is for Every Dreaming Pinoy Breadwinner

If you're considering an investment that can both satisfy your financial health and your family's wishes, then this is for you. With Lumina Homes, you can now own a house and lot you can call your own. You can choose model units that can fit your budget, and your family will have a property that they will benefit from in the future. Choose from the many Lumina Homes' property sites and affordable house and lot for sale. For added information, send us a message today so we can help obtain your dream of having a house and lot in the Philippines!