It’s a tag party and I’ve been invited “PF” style 
. Thanks Digerati Life for including me in your tag list. What a great community of personal finance bloggers! I’ve found quite a number that should be included in my daily reading regimen.
It’s comical how this question has hounded me over the weekend. I thought about it while writing about other things, while walking to the mall, while preparing lessons for kids, while I was getting ready for bed! If I were asked to give just one — just one personal finance advice — what would it be?
Here goes: Enjoy your money! But use a plan and stick to it.
No, I am not telling people to spend like there’s no tomorrow. I’m talking about shopping without feeling guilty. The way to do this is to plan your spending, including the specifics of up to how much, when, and where.
Setting aside funds for “fun money” is crucial for financial sanity. It allows us to get rid of impulse buying. You don’t have to spend a lot of money to do this. Reward yourself with something as nice as a vacation … (idyllic isn’t it?.)
…or something as simple as a new pen.
(Photos courtesy of Michelle Morelos).
Doing this removes the sting from saving and investing, and thus helps us to stick to our savings plan and to building our nest egg with more zest, verve and commitment. It helps us to develop the wisdom of balancing between enjoying life now and saving for the future.
After more than 10 years of writing about personal finance, I cannot quite remember how many financial experts I have interviewed. There are a lot of self-help books and great personal finance blogs out there steeped with passion for building wealth and financial literacy. Media (international media, that is), has covered this topic extensively converting a lot of people into do-it-yourselfers.
Some experts raise their eyebrows at do-it-yourselfers but what else can they expect? The world of financial advisory is not designed to reach the persons who need them the most – those who either don’t have money or have made huge money mistakes that has sunk their financial position. Media and books plug this gap.
In the real world, setting aside fun money is the “most fun” wealth-building advice I have come across. Oh, and reading personal finance blogs, of course :-D. Fun is good because experienced financial advisors say when it gets too painful and difficult to do, people quit.
Here’s a background on the tag party, in case you would like to join. The technical term is “meme.” A blog called Moolanomy started My One Money Advice last August 18 and has collected an impressive number from many of the most well-written personal finance blogs in the blog universe. Here’s the list so far.
Now I have to tag three buddies who, I hope, will join the party.
Reflections of a Biz-driven Life
As Digerati Life would say in Filipino, “taya!”
August 31st, 2007 at 5:11 am
Thanks, salve, for tagging me along to be part of a great party!
60 years have taught me great lessons that allowed me to sail from the worst to the best. When one settles, he keeps the most enduring of the lessons.
Here’s one of them:
“There are only two ways to make millions: by chance or by choice.
It’s your choice!”
All of us aim for “the good life”. And the good life is not only now but tomorrow, two time states that eventually become one. And while we may not need millions now to enjoy the present, we certainly need millions in the future to keep our enjoyment.
By chance means why worry about the future? The future will take care of itself!
Enjoy life as it is!
By choice means I care about the future and I know that to sustain my enjoyment of the present into the future, I need to take care of it now while I can.
By choice means conscious, reasoned effort to accumulate wealth. The only such way is to begin as early as I can, according to my means (without upsetting my present enjoyment), and slowly but surely, little by little, build my wealth structure into the size big enough to keep my joy sustained.
By choice means not listening to my urges for pointless spending or other unreasonable self-gratifications.
By choice also means keeping alert to opportunities to create wealth for the present and therefore allow me to generate a substantial remainder to set aside for the future.
By choice means making the decision now and not later!
It’s great to be tagged! One is identified.
It’s the same thing with our investments and our savings. We need to tag them for identity so that they become funds of choice. Otherwise, the funds become funds of chance.
I’m coming alone. Hope you don’t mind.
August 31st, 2007 at 1:39 am
[...] Inquirer Blogs said, “enjoy your money! but use a plan and stick to it“ [...]
August 29th, 2007 at 1:36 am
If I were to give just one advice……
I’ve been tagged by MoneySmarts! I’m supposed to answer this question: “If I were asked to give just one — just one personal finance advice — what would it be?”
Apparently, this meme was started by a blog called Moolanomy, a…
August 28th, 2007 at 9:19 pm
is moolah matters and Wealth Trigonomics the same? they have the same link.
August 28th, 2007 at 11:02 am
Hi Salve, re: “I wonder if Filipino families who live in North America still teach Filipino games to their children?”
- none of my relatives which I know of. Yankee games and toys for them! But they like learning Pinoy expressions