Signs You Don't Make Enough Money

     Money makes the world go round. Money is a necessity which everyone needs to satisfy and enjoy life to its fullest. Money has a big role in our world, not entirely to bring us happiness but to support our daily lives. Many of us thinks that we are making decent amount of money which in fact a lot are still struggling each month. Maybe you're living beyond your means or not making enough money. I know there's a lot who are overspending without taking consideration of their budgets which results to a real trouble. Creating a budget and self  discipline can make a big change.

Here are signs that you aren't making enough money :

1.You Can't Cover Your Bills - If you are having a hard time each month choosing which bills to pay, then its a sign that you are not making enough money. If you are in this kind of situation its a must to instantly make necessary actions to overcome it as soon as possible. Having numerous bills only means that you are spending too much or having a lot of unnecessary expenses. Eliminate those that are not really needed and just focus to those that are really important.

2. You Don't Have a Retirement Fund - Saving money is a must have in everyone's financial goal especially a fund for retirement. It's essential to plan and save for our future to have a satisfying retirement and allow us to enjoy our life after working hard. Of course, we want to retire when we still have energy to travel and do other activities. The earlier the better as long as your retirement fund is enough to cover all the future expenses.

3. You Are Not Reaching Your Financial Goals - We have short-term and long-term financial goals. Let's talk about the short-term ones, if you are struggling to meet your short-terms goals like paying a small debt for a month or two then it's a sign that you're probably not making enough money.

4. You Are Always Worried About Money - If you're worrying about money almost each night than other things then it might be a sign that you're not making enough money. Instead of worrying about it just focus on how you can make more money like finding another source of income or a business opportunity.

5. There's Nothing Else to Cut - Budget is one important key in achieving financial goals.There are some point that we are really trying to find something to cut in our monthly budget but unfortunately when you can't find anything else to cut, then you are likely not making enough money.

Photo Courtesy : Rosen Grant

5 Easy Ways to Save for Your Summer Vacation

     One of the seasons I am looking forward to is summer. Most of the people I guess are excited when summer is just few months away. I consider summer vacation a good add on my to-do-list every year. It's a chance to escape from day life and a great time to relax and unwind. There are tons of activities to do but still traveling is the top most as it gives a different kind of adventure and experience. However, vacation is pretty much expensive and can break your bank account.  

Here are easy ways to save for your dream summer vacation :

1. Plan Ahead- First thing first, plan ahead of time. Planning always goes first in-order to minimize possible problems/conflicts and fix it as soon as it arise. A year or few months of planning is highly recommend. One of the biggest consideration in planning a vacation is the budget, know how many percentage of your income will be allocated to cover all the possible expenses. Identify all possible places or activities that will best suit your budget as well as your interests.

2. Take Advantage of Discounts & Deals -There are a lot of sites where you can find great deals and discounts that can really maximize your savings. Choose a deal that offer meals and other options so you don't need to spend more,  knowing the fact that sometimes food and other activities are pricey on those attraction sites.

3. Bring Friends or Family Members- Usually bigger groups saves more than traveling alone. You can also get an additional discount on lodging, foods, transportation and other services. Aside from bigger savings traveling with friends or family will be more fun and merrier.

4. Sacrifice Small Stuffs- I think this time it will be easier to sacrifice those small stuffs or expenses to save for your dream summer vacation. For instance, if you're drinking coffee twice a day you can make it one cup a day. In the long run say example a year can accumulate a reasonable amount of money that you can add to your budget.

5. Create a Separate Savings Account and Automate -Open a new savings account just intended for travels and vacations. Allocate a certain portion of your paycheck, it can be bi-weekly or monthly. TIP: Find a bank that offers an automation. Automating your savings will help you reaching your target goal and lessen the hassle of going to the bank as well as failure to deposit. 

Ways To Develop Money Savings Habits

     Creating or making a habit or in short being consistent is a hard thing to do but considering all the benefits of it is life changing. Everyone of us has our own personal habits that allows us to feel better each day. One of the hardest thing to do is to save money regularly so I admire all those who had great success when it comes to savings. I tried it many times to start saving money but turns out to do it inconsistently so I need to adapt some techniques to make it easier. 

Here are some of the steps to develop money savings habit:

Set Goals

In everything we do we must have specific goals for us to be more motivated and hungry to achieve those goals. Setting goal is the first thing you need to consider if you wanted to save money. Start from the short term ones before hitting the long terms for you to easily know how powerful and benefiting saving is. This will be the starting point of becoming very focus and serious on achieving your financial goals.

Pay Yourself First

Consider your savings like a monthly bill, by this savings becomes a necessity. It can be the 10% of your monthly salary so you can save substantial amount through years. "Pay yourself first" is consider as the golden rule of personal finance. 

Always Think of Saving

When you still have few bucks at the end of the month the best way to do is save it. Do not buy or spend it to things that are not really needed. I know a lot are guilty of spending even the last cent on their pocket specially there are a lot of tempting things to buy. Practice the art of control.

Earn More

As long as you're earning more it is most likely that you're capable of saving more. It's not like your income increase your needs also increases like buying more clothes and gadgets just to show to people you're earning bigger.Think wisely and don't buy things just to impress others.

Track all Expenses

Some of us don't have any idea where our hard earned money goes. Well, to help you determine where it really goes try recording all the expenses you incurred every month. When you go outside record all your expenses like eating in the restaurant, going to the coffee shop and other small or big expenses. It is now very easy to do this as everyone owns a smartphone where you can enter every expenses to a personal finance tool.

5 Simple Tips to Avoid Overspending !

     One of the roadblocks to our financial success is overspending. Many of us can relate to this, once in your life or even until now you're still spending too much which results to regrets but sometimes we never learned from our mistakes and still repeating it. 

      In the present, overspending is widespread because of the wide range of things to do with your money. You can easily spend your money in just one click of your mouse, the rise of online stores make it easier for us to purchase anything. I sometimes doing it because of the great influence of social media and great marketing effort I make impulse purchasing but when the product arrive I feel disappointed to myself  as I really don't need it. Same case when going to the malls, when I come home and check my purchases I realized I bought something I don't need. Many times I am still in the same situation spending too much to things that don't really matter.

Here are some tips to avoid/stop overspending: 

1. Create a List and Stick to it. I believe having a list of all the things you need to buy is a great step to cut overspending. When going to a store make sure you bring with you a list of all the things you need to buy. It's not limited from avoiding overspending but also saves time. Before, I am fond of going to store without listing the things I need to buy which is not a good move. Also, make sure that you're stick to your list.

2. Start Paying Cash. I know most of us are into convenience which the debit and credit cards are made for, when using this plastic we never thought that we are already spending too much as from our mindset we can't see how our money diminish. Unlike from having cash you can see how your money decreases and creates a signal that you're already overspending.

3. Start from Small. You can start avoiding overspending by cutting the cost of your electricity. Start from the basic by turning-off  and unplugging everything when not in use. 

4. Look for Good Deals. As a lot of brands and products now in the market, many of this brands are offering great deals but bare in mind that when there's a good deal you don't need to make an impulse purchase.

5. Keep Busy. When we are not doing anything what always come to our mind is to go shopping or go to the nearest restaurant or coffee shop or simply to entertain ourselves. This is always happening to me, when I am not occupied, I always ask a friend to go out and here the overspending takes place as you need to eat, watch movies and other stuff. I am now learning to keep myself busy by reading books and writing.

How To Open a BPI Direct Save-Up Account

     Simply your life by automating your finances. You can save time by automating your savings, instead of spending your time going to banks and manually transferring funds better spend it on other productive things. Saving is really important specially when unexpected events happen, you can use it to cover all the expenses incurred. In my case, my savings save us from bad debt when our family experienced an emergency, during that time I realize the importance of saving.

What is BPI Direct Save Up Automatic Savings Account + Insurance ?

              BPI Direct Save-Up is a special product offered by BPI to help automating your savings. It allows you to automatically transfer money from you existing BPI savings account. You can set a regular time on when to transfer your money it can be weekly, bi-weekly or monthly. Today, I will share how to open a BPI direct save up account.

Here's the Step-by-Step Procedure on How to Apply for a BPI Direct Save-Up Account:

1. Go to BPI Direct Official Website 

 2. Click on the Products or just click Open a Deposit Account.

 

3. You will be directed to the account application. Select Save-Up Automatic Savings + Insurance and answer carefully the questions. Review your information then click Continue.

4. You will be redirected to BPI Express Online. Log in to your existing BPI Express Online Account to nominate the account from where they will automatically transfer fund to your Save-Up account.

5.Specify your desired amount as well as the time on when to transfer the amount which must not below 250 Php. Once done, click Continue.

6. You will be directed to application confirmation page. You will receive a confirmation mail from BPI indicating that your account has been created and an Info card will be sent to your preferred address. Wait for several days for your account to be activated.

you will receive a confirmation mail from BPI and an Info Card will be sent to your preferred mailing address. - See more at: http://www.edpuno.com/2013/03/bpi-direct-save-up.html#sthash.rIAFwayA.dpuf

5. Once done, click submit.
6. You will be directed to a confirmation page of your BPI Direct Save-Up account application.  Once your account has been created, you will receive a confirmation mail from BPI and an Info Card will be sent to your preferred mailing address. - See more at: http://www.edpuno.com/2013/03/bpi-direct-save-up.html#sthash.rIAFwayA.dpuf

5. Once done, click submit.
6. You will be directed to a confirmation page of your BPI Direct Save-Up account application.  Once your account has been created, you will receive a confirmation mail from BPI and an Info Card will be sent to your preferred mailing address. - See more at: http://www.edpuno.com/2013/03/bpi-direct-save-up.html#sthash.rIAFwayA.dpuf

5. Once done, click submit.
6. You will be directed to a confirmation page of your BPI Direct Save-Up account application.  Once your account has been created, you will receive a confirmation mail from BPI and an Info Card will be sent to your preferred mailing address. - See more at: http://www.edpuno.com/2013/03/bpi-direct-save-up.html#sthash.rIAFwayA.dpuf

select Save-Up Automatic Savings + Insurance

Open a Deposit Account.

Open a Deposit Account.

Direct Save Up Automatic Savings Account + Insurance - See more at: http://www.financialplanningph.com/bpi-direct-save-up-insurance/#sthash.YSKFzmPp.dpuf

Direct Save Up Automatic Savings Account + Insurance - See more at: http://www.financialplanningph.com/bpi-direct-save-up-insurance/#sthash.YSKFzmPp.dpuf

Direct Save Up Automatic Savings Account + Insurance - See more at: http://www.financialplanningph.com/bpi-direct-save-up-insurance/#sthash.YSKFzmPp.dpuf

Direct Save Up Automatic Savings Account + Insurance - See more at: http://www.financialplanningph.com/bpi-direct-save-up-insurance/#sthash.YSKFzmPp.dpuf

BPI Direct Save Up Automatic Savings Account + Insurance - See more at: http://www.financialplanningph.com/bpi-direct-save-up-insurance/#sthash.YSKFzmPp.dpuf

BPI Direct Save Up Automatic Savings Account + Insurance - See more at: http://www.financialplanningph.com/bpi-direct-save-up-insurance/#sthash.YSKFzmPp.dpuf

How to Start Saving Money ?

     Do you save?  It's not a new question to us. We actually tired of hearing it and its importance from our collegues, friends, parents, on television, radio and even in social media. Many survey shows that one out of three is saving.Though we constantly ask and educate how important to save, many people are still not saving maybe they don't how and where to start. I will share my motivation on how I started saving.

Here's my list on how to start saving:

1. Create Short Term Goal. This is the very basic way on how to motivate yourself to start saving money, goals can either be a short term or long term. I suggest to start on a short term goal for you to immediately know the power of saving. My first short term goal is to buy a decent camera which cost $900, a bit expensive. I am a college student by that time, knowing how expensive to study in a university its quite hard to save but with concrete goal you can make it.

2. Start Small. Big goals begin with small steps. In everything we do we start from small things that will serve as the foundation for a bigger ones. My first month of saving gives me $2 which is very small as my goal is to earn $900. I motivate myself that this $2 a month overtime will make a difference.

3. Delayed Gratification. "The longer you wait for something, the more you'll appreciate it when you get, cause anything worth having is definitely worth waiting..". We must learn how to wait because in this world there's no instant, even instant noodles is not instant you still need to wait for 5-15 minutes before you able to eat it. Like me it took more than a year before I have my first decent camera. I will tell you its worth the wait!

4. Pay off your smallest debt. It's a great idea to save but it's more peaceful to your mind if you have no outstanding debts. I first start paying off the smallest debt I have before those bigger ones. To proceed with paying your debts make a complete list of all your debts and focus on those smaller ones as it's easier to settle down. Stop creating new debts considering that you still have outstanding debts, be responsible to all your responsibilities and actions.

     "Im suggesting to you that the time has come today to say,' 

                            We need to start saving"

Automate your Savings: Open a BPI Direct Save Up + Insurance

     There are tons of savings account product offered by different banks, it's a bit hard to choose if were are we going to put our hard earned money. It's vital  that we are aware of the cons and pros of each products before applying or opening an account. There are several factors to consider that will suits our needs when it comes to savings.  To some a certain product will work but for others maybe in reverse.

     Recently, I am actually having a hard time managing my finances specially making it a habit on putting a portion of my salary to my savings account. I've done a thorough research on how to automate my savings and I found this BPI Direct Save Up + Insurance which I think very attractive because its not just you're saving but with a bonus of having an insurance, it's like hitting two birds with one stone.

  BPI Direct Save Up + Insurance is a BPI product which allows you to automatically deducts money from your payroll or personal savings account. It's your decision if how much you want to transfer (minimum of P250) on a regular basis, you can schedule it weekly, bi-weekly or monthly.

  BPI Direct Save Up + Insurance comes with information card not an atm card. Instead of having an atm card you have with you the info card that will be the proof of your insurance. Take note that this product has NO ATM CARD which only means that you're not allowed to withdraw your money which is very attractive for those who really wants to save. The only way you can withdraw your money is by transferring it back to your personal savings account which is the only disadvantage of this account as you can do it by just one click.

   No Initial Deposit.  The maintaining balance is 1,000 & 5,000 Php average daily balance(ADB) to earn 0.250% annual interest rate. There's a 250 Php fee if the average daily balance go below the maintaining balance.

  FREE BPI-Philam Life Insurance. This is a great bonus and very attractive for those looking for a savings account product. No need of medical check-ups or premium payments and you will get an equivalent coverage of 5 times your account balance.

• Basic Life : 5x the account’s average Month-to-Date Average Daily Balance (MTD-ADB) of the past three calendar months with a maximum amount of P2,000,000 regardless of the number of accounts opened by the insured individual.
• Accidental Death : Additional 5x the account’s average Month-to-Date Average Daily Balance (MTD-ADB) of the past three calendar months up to P2,000,000 regardless of the number of accounts opened by the insured individual.
• Accidental Dismemberment : 5x the account’s average Month-to-Date Average Daily Balance (MTD-ADB) of the past three calendar months with a maximum amount of P2,000,000 independent of the number of accounts opened by the insured individual.

1,000 Php minimum monthly ADB* and 5,000 required ADB* to earn 0.250% - See more at: http://www.edpuno.com/2013/03/bpi-direct-save-up.html#sthash.2dFrF7g8.dpuf

1,000 Php minimum monthly ADB* and 5,000 required ADB* to earn 0.250% annual interest rate - See more at: http://www.edpuno.com/2013/03/bpi-direct-save-up.html#sthash.2dFrF7g8.dpuf

BPI Direct Save-Up accounts come with information cards. - See more at: http://www.moneymax.ph/blog/bpi-direct-save-up-insurance-other-perks/#sthash.o1ZNkyJf.dpuf

BPI Direct Save-Up accounts come with information cards. - See more at: http://www.moneymax.ph/blog/bpi-direct-save-up-insurance-other-perks/#sthash.o1ZNkyJf.dpufV

BPI Direct Save-Up accounts come with information cards. - See more at: http://www.moneymax.ph/blog/bpi-direct-save-up-insurance-other-perks/#sthash.o1ZNkyJf.dpuf