Coffee break with Jan – ver. 16
It’s Money talk Monday and Jan’s coffee break topic is quite timely. Her question is:
                                            What is your budgeting secret? 

An accounting background is not a pre-requisite before you can make a budget. Logic, common sense, a clear understanding of priorities and an action plan to execute these priorities are actually the major elements that make a good budget work. Why? Because expenses are Choices. What we do with the choices that are presented to us is our Decision. And these decisions are based on Priorities relative to our own values and lifestyles. You are in fact, a CEO of your own company, which is your household, and you are responsible for making decisions, good or bad that make or break your money bank.

We have been in a budget-overhaul mode these past few weeks because of the recent events in our country that affects us all… the rice ‘shortage’, the ever increasing fuel costs which creates a domino effect on all other consumer goods that are part of our grocery lists, etc. etc.. It hasn’t been easy. If we continued to go on with our previous spending patterns, we would never get out of the “red“. Borrowing the word “doodads” from Robert Kiyosaki – our “doodads” have to go!

Here are some of the not so secret things I do as far as budgeting goes:

1. Be in the know where your cash flows. Is your spending (cash going out) faster than the rate you generate income (cash coming in)? The devil is really in the details. You might not realize it but that the gourmet caffe latte you had this morning on your way to work could already be equivalent to your daily minimum wage and now you’ve already spent it even before the day’s work is done. Keep a tab on those little details.
2. Best place to eat is at home. We try to eat at home before we leave the house so that we don’t have to spend that much on food when we go out. Then we can splurge a little bit more on desserts etc.
3. BYOB. Bring your own baon (packed food) in short. I have two kids and I can’t stop them from being hungry or thirsty while we are on the road so that need is already factored in and is part of my grocery list. Instead of the drive thru, they have their little foodie bag packed with goodies they can munch on thru a traffic jam.
4. Barbecue it! That’s how I describe it when we have to do chores or errands in a certain location. Tuhugin na ng sabay-sabay. We make sure we do all we can do when we are in a certain place. By doing that we make sure our gas gets its full mileage benefit.
5. Be a giver. I know that this may sound out of place but this little truth nugget has seen me through over and over again. The more we have given, the more we get back in return. It’s actually the best kept secret that anyone should ever know. What you sow, you will reap and often the reaping happens when you need it most.

So those are my 5 tips on how I budget. I made a little cartoon based on a true story my hubby told me. This really happened to him while he was growing up. Enjoy!