At last!!!
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Money money money money! Moooooney! |
Okay, here's the thing. For the past five months, I've been saving my 5 and 10-peso coins by keeping them in this cylindrical coin bank thingy (I don't know what it's called in English, but in Tagalog it's
alkansya). I even have my paper money exchanged for coins sometimes just to fill it up quickly. Well, that didn't work since it still took me five months, but hey, it got filled up anyway. Look!
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God knows how many times I got tempted to open it |
Actually, it got so heavy that it already passed as a dumbbell for me. I used it to "lift weights" in the morning. LOL! Anyway, all that hard work pushing myself to commit to this personal project has definitely paid off. And now, I'm
P2,500 richer! Can you believe it? I can't! I mean, those who know me well are aware that I find it hard to finish things that I start, so this is quite an achievement for me.
A nearby convenience store was more than happy to exchange all my coins with paper money. Did I use the cash right away and bought something from the store to reward myself? Hell no! Haha, I surprised myself yet again. So, what am I planning to do with the money? I'm keeping it as a start-up for my
emergency fund.
Where the hell did I get the idea of putting up one? It's these blogs about saving money and budgeting that I've been reading lately at work. They've influenced me and made me see why everyone should have a fund for emergency cases. And I mean that --
everyone should.
I realized that the term "job security" doesn't make sense anymore these days. Also, age doesn't guarantee you good health. So I thought that I have to have some back-up in case of a mishap that would require me to shell out money. Some think it's just paranoia, but I think it's being
smart.
How much am I planning to save? Experts say that a good emergency fund consists of
three to six months worth of your expenses. In that case, I still have a looooong way to go. I'm using my salary as a basis, so I'm not gonna stop until my fund amounts to a month's pay. Well, that's my goal for now, for the second leg of this project. Once I achieve that, I'm going to set the bar higher and higher
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Financial security is extremely important to me |
The thing is, I really hate
financial insecurity. It makes me uncomfortable when I'm cognizant that I've used up all my money and I don't have any spare at all. It eats me up like the way conscience haunts you when you did something terrible. But I don't have to worry about that anymore, do I? Woohoo! P2,500 is not that much, but it's still money. Heck, some people can't even save a thousand bucks, let alone twice of that.
As I bid goodbye to bankruptcy, I welcome a whole new challenge. This time, I have to work twice as hard. I have to maintain my habit of saving coins, and at the same time, prevent myself from spending my savings. Who knows, I might even take it up a notch and save
more than just coins. Whew, wish me luck on that!
And to end this post, let me tell you this. I know that many of you feel the same way about financial security. So I insist, start planning your own emergency fund now! There are many ways to do that. You can engage in something similar to what I do, or open a savings account, or whatever. But I suggest that you
start small. Making big leaps can make you lose interest right away, so do baby steps first. Remember: little things matter!
Happy saving, everyone. :)