On this guest post, we invited Mr.Kyle Kam of MoneyMax Philippines to give us some insight on how our grandparents were in their personal finance.
Before there was
online banking and smartphone apps that let you track your expenses anytime,
anywhere; long before there were websites that let you compare vehicle insurance
and financial products in an instant, our lolos
and lolas had their own way of saving
money. If you ever paid attention to your grandparents back when you were
young, they might have taught you these money saving tricks that still hold
true in this day and age.
Let’s take a
look at some actual money saving lessons shared by the lolos and lolas of
friends around the office.
“Prioritize Your Spending”
This is what my
own grandma taught me. The song “Ako Ay May Lobo” served as my grandma’s way to
teach me about prioritizing needs over wants. “Sayangang pera ko, pambili ng
lobo. Kung sapagkainsana, nabusog pa ako” served as the main money lesson.
“Be
Choosy With What You Buy”
As consumers, we
always have the choice of what we spend our money on. We are bombarded with
marketing messages every day that say one product is better than others but is
it really? A lot of times, we spend a premium to buy a brand name product when
a more affordable product works just as well. “Maging mapanuri sa pagbili”
was the money saving tip of one lola to a colleague and is definitely something
worth remembering at all times.
“Be
Content With What You Have”
Another
colleague was taught by her grandpa to be content. How many times have you
bought a smartphone even if your old phone still worked? Some work their asses
off to buy a new car every five years. It’s easy to justify to yourself that
you need these things, but before you
go splurge on the latest phone or car model, pause and think hard and determine
first if you really need it or if you just want it. Being content with what you have is one way to find
happiness.
“Be
Careful With Your Money”
One (unnamed!)
colleague laughed when recalling how her grandmother kept her money in a pocket
sewn in her panties. Yes, we all had a good chuckle at the mental image that
her story provided but I remembered keeping money in my socks as an elementary
student so I had the same ideas as her grandma. While paying with money that
you hid in your underwear is guaranteed to earn you awkward stares if you do
that today at the cashier at Jollibee (just don’t do it please), the takeaway
lesson is to be careful with your money.
If you have to
carry a lot of cash, you might want to carry around a debit card or credit card
as these are more convenient and has layers of protection for you, such as the
PIN. If you find something suspicious in your credit card bill, you can raise
this with your credit card provider and they can take this off your bill if it
was found to be unauthorized by you.
“Work Hard”
Another colleague was taught by her grandma to earn money. If you do have kids of your own or even grandkids of your own, don’t forget to teach them how important it is to work to earn money. My colleague had fond memories of getting paid by her grandma to pick white hair. You probably remember your own grandma asking you to do the same when you were a kid!
I have many fond
memories of my grandparents and I hope you have only fond memories of your
grandparents, too. Do you remember money lessons your lolo and lola taught you
when you were younger? Tell us in the comments!
This post is brought to you by:
Copyright 2008 - 2015. PinoyMoneyVantage| Personal Finance Philippines - Learn, Earn, Save and Invest.
No comments:
Post a Comment