Sunday, July 12, 2015

Paano ba mag-ipon? The Money Jars Concept


I was thinking of something to blog today when someone asked me this question "Paano ba Mag-ipon?" at sakto lang na may alam akong solution sa kanyang problema. 

Marahil akala ng iba ay marami akong pera kaya madalas ay lumalapit sila para mangutang. Sa totoo lang, hindi naman ako mayaman. Kumikita ako ngunit hindi pa ito sapat upang tumbasan ang lahat ng mga pangarap ko sa buhay.Hindi naman sa pagdadamot kaya bihira ako magpa-utang. Madalas ko sinasabi na hindi ko kaya magpahiram ng pera dahil hindi ito ang solusyon sa ating financial problem. Eto lang ang kaya ko gawin, (kung willing ka matuto) ay turuan ka ng LONG TERM SOLUTION for a SHORT TERM FINANCIAL PROBLEM. 

PAANO MO BA I-MANAGE ANG PERA MO?


It was way back in 2008 when I attended a course by T. Harv Eker, ang Millionaire Mind Intensive. in Makati.


It was a seminar attended by one of my early mentors in the Finance Industry and as far as I can remember, it costs Php 60,000 per head just to attend the seminar in Singapore. But because my mentor's vision is to spread Financial Literacy here in the Philippines, we started learning the course for FREE and eventually sharing it to the public for FREE.



This seminar (aside from Robert Kiyosaki's Rich Dad, Poor Dad book) opened me to the world of Investing. I have poor money management habits before but because I was open to learn and willing to develop the habit of managing my finances, I found the long term solution. 



One of my biggest take-away is the concept of the MONEY JARS. 

This is nothing new. Matagal na ang concept na ito. Nung bata ka pa, alam ko sinabihan ka ng nanay o lola mo na ipunin ang pera mo sa ALKANSYAPIGGY BANK, o BOTE na palagi mo naman sinusungkit tuwing gusto mo bumili ng ice cream o candy kaya wala ka naiipon tama ba??? Gawain ko din yan noon at lately ko lang nalaman na importante pala na madevelop ang habit na ito.

PAY YOURSELF FIRST! 

This is the first rule in managing your money. This simply means, before you pay others (utang, meralco bill, water bill, cable, postpaid, rent, other expenses), YOU SHOULD PAY YOURSELF FIRST.

HOW?

You need to set aside a portion of your income FIRST, before spending it. This is the simplest formula:

SALARY/INCOME - SAVINGS = EXPENSES

It sounds simple but it is HARD to enforce. Dito na natin ipapasok ang consepto ng money jars. 
Again. Eto ang pinakasimpleng paraan kung paano ka makakaipon. The purpose of the money jars is to develop the HABIT of managing your money. :) Paying yourself first is a CHOICE that creates FREEDOM.


So what's with the MONEY JARS?

According to T. Harv Eker, to develop the habit of managing your money, you must have six (6) money jars intended for the following purposes:



10% Give 
Syempre, pag may blessing dapat we learn to share dba? That's why may GIVE account ka dapat. 
The sole purpose of this jar is for you to form the habit of TITHING. This is a biblical concept of giving and surrendering to God your financial obligations.

It is written in the bible, from Malachi 3:10
"Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do," says the Lord of Heaven's armies, "I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won't have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test!"

Tithing is bringing the first 10% of your income back to God through the local church. When we bring back a percentage of our income in the tithe, we thank God, and we show Him that we trust Him to provide for us and we fight Greed because we put him first in our finances.  

10% FFA( Financial Freedom Account) 
The idea behind this is to create your GOLDEN GOOSE. Balik tayo ulit sa GOLDEN RULE: Pay yourself first. Your Financial Freedom account should exceed your desired income and allow you to be able to live the lifestyle you want.You will use this money to put into investment vehicles that will yield Passive Income (Stocks, VUL, UITF, Mutual Funds, Business, etc). Therefore, BAWAL ITO GASTUSIN because your Passive Income should Exceed your Active Income. When you stop working, you get to spend the eggs but never the goose. Do not Kill the Golden Goose that will lay Golden Eggs for you. 

10% LTSS (Long term savings and spendings account)
This will be the fund that you will use to buy expensive items such as Car, House, Vacations or expenses that will take 6 months to one year paying period. You may also us this fund whenever opportunities arise, kunwari may naisip kang business or franchise, or may magandang investment. 

10% Educ ( Education account) 
This is for your personal growth. Eto ang gagamitin mo to buy books, attend seminars, or take up masteral, etc. Use this to improve yourself. Basta the main purpose of having this account is for you to have CONTINUOUS LEARNING because Learning is a lifetime process. When you stop learning, you stop growing, when you stop growing, you start dying.

10% EMER (Emergency Fund)
This was not included in the seminar but I'm including it because it is important to have an emergency fund in times of emergency. Sabi nga sa lumang kasabihan "Kapag may isinuksok, may madudukot!"
BUILD YOUR EMERGENCY FUND. Build it para hindi mo kailangan galawin ang savings mo in times of emergency. The value of your emergency fund should be equal to 3-6 months worth of your monthly expenses.

10% Play (Play account) 
You read it right, PLAY!. 
Syempre minsan minsan ay kailangan din natin i-reward ang ating mga sarili for all our hard work. This is the purpose of the PLAY jar. You burn the money that you put in it in order to fund for your LUHO or doodads as coined by Robert Kiyosaki. You get to consume it on anything that will give you instant gratification.

In summary,

GIVE = 10%
FFA = 10%
LTSS = 10%
EDUC = 10%
PLAY = 10%
EMERGENCY = 10%

TOTAL = 60%

When you receive any amount of money (salary, paycheck, business, bonuses, etc) divide mo agad, WITHOUT HESITATION into these funds. 

But wait, there's more! 

After paying yourself, there will be a remaining 40%. 

What about the remaining 40%?

40% Nec (Necessity account)
Basically, this is for your basic necessities or daily expense! This is for your everyday IMPORTANT expenses like transportation, food. bills, and other living expenses. Wag mo na asahan na mapupuno ito because this jar is intended to be used to fund for your daily needs.

EH PANO YAN, KULANG YUNG 40% na pang araw araw na gastos!

Track your daily expenses using an excel file or a spending tracker app so you can see what you need to cut-off from your expense list and also look for cheaper alternatives. Remember to Spend within your means not above your means! 



So I did this system and since then, I have achieved many of my short-term financial goals. 
Since I've been doing this method, it became part of my mental system. Every payday, automatic transfer agad, automatic 10% agad for tithes, automatic every morning input agad ng expenses from the previous day to track my daily expenses.

You can keep your money into these separate jars or open different bank and investment accounts. 

Once you get the hang of it, it will become a part of your daily routine. It will serve its sole purpose of developing your HABIT of managing your finances.

Remember, the universal principle of management is, "Until you show them you can handle what you've got, you won't get anymore."

Like what T. Harv Eker said, It is not when you have plenty of money that you will begin to manage it. It is when you begin to manage it that you'll have plenty and the HABIT of managing your money is more important than the amount. 


START TODAY. 




And my God shall supply all your needs according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. - Phillipians 4:19