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image: patheos

Imagine this scenario: There is a couple talking about this new flat screen LCD TV in the mall which costs around 20,000 pesos. The husband is only earning 15,000 a month, and he says that if they buy the TV, they would probably stop eating in the next month! But the wife insists that she is sick and tired of watching her favorite drama on their old black and white plasma television. After deliberating, the couple decides to delay the purchase, and makes a compromise that they will save a portion of their income every month until they could afford the new TV. Five months after, they have completed the money they need. The wife and the husband happily go to the nearest mall and buy their dream LCD TV.

Aren’t most of us like this couple? If I am going to ask you why you are saving, probably, most of you would answer the following:

• I save because I want to buy that brand new dress I saw in the mall.
• I want to buy the new iPhone model that I‘ve been dreaming of since then.
• I want to buy a condominium.
• I want to buy a brand new car!
• I want to buy jewelries.

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Some of you would probably tell me, “What is wrong in saving money to buy those things that I dream of having?” Yes, there is nothing wrong with that. In fact, that is the biggest point of this blog – to save. But often, we dream of small things that we tend to forget to dream big – TO DREAM OF OUR FUTURE. We normally save for things that will give us a short span of happiness.

Can material things feed you when your retirement age comes? If your answer is yes, then I tell you these things will expire; they will no longer have their value when the time comes. As we are living in a fast-changing world, your iPhone 6S today would be 7s, 8s or 100s tomorrow or in the next years. Who knows? According to a book I have read, “It’s wise to have some substantial savings first before you consider buying anything else.” Live a debt-free lifestyle. Save not for temporary investment but for lifetime enjoyment.

All of us will come to a point in our lives when we can no longer bend our knees (blame it on osteoporosis). We are all dreaming of a happy and comfortable life, and sacrificing luxurious things for lifetime enjoyment is the best choice we could ever make. As what our mentor always tells us, “Life is truly a matter of choice.” You make decisions in your everyday routine, and you are the one who chooses your future, not your parents, not your boss, and definitely, not your friends. It is YOU! You are the only one liable for every decision that you make.

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Image: Barefoot Investor

Surely, it is hard to save, let alone to have a mindset to save for your future, because it is very sacrificial. When you look around, the things and the people you encounter could be your biggest temptations. I tell you, many billionaires today practice saving. They all do. If you find it hard to save, try to learn by reading books, or enroll in a financial school. Don’t think of the money you could possibly spend to be financially literate if this will be the reason for you to change for the better. Be open to it. As what I have read from the book of Bro. Bo Sanchez, “if you think education is costly, try ignorance.”

Get out of your comfort zone. Surround yourself with the right people. It will all make a difference. TODAY LET US SAVE FOR OUR FUTURE and avoid the trap of POVERTY.

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Cheenie C. Padua

Cheenie is a financial educator, young entrepreneur, and investor. A graduate of Financial Management, she believes in the saying, “Accept responsibility for your life. Know that it is you who will get you where you want to go, no one else.”