Noet Ravalo is back, and in his latest column, revealed that he and his family “dissaved” over the holidays. Check out his column on the real point of saving for the future.
Here’s an excerpt:
Over the holidays, my family and I dissaved. We took an unplanned family vacation to see relatives and friends we have not seen in over 10 years. My family thoroughly enjoyed it.
We always stress the virtue of saving because what we save is the treasure that we bring to the future. But what we often forget is that saving, in practice, does not mean that we should stop spending.
The point of saving is not only to accumulate but also to save for something. We cannot minimize for the sake of minimizing. Ibenizer Scrooge was a miser until the three ghosts put cause-and-effect in perspective. He had that privilege; some of us may come to that conclusion too late.
Think of this when, next time, your more good-looking and more popular younger brother visits you and you want to lecture him about saving for the future! Nyahaha.
Seriously, I wouldn’t even dream of stopping to take annual vacations for the extra money it will add to the retirement kitty. We all must save for the future. As my previous blog post says “no one can afford NOT to save.” But it’s a balancing act between now and that distant year ahead.
Having said that, here are some moments of frantic frugality I have observed in myself and some people around me. Perhaps you can add yours, in the interest of sharing and humor:
1. Clipping coupons from the newspaper. Do you also have those McDonalds coupons in your wallet?
2. Waiting for more than 30 minutes to withdraw from my bank’s ATM machine when another one close by doesn’t have a long line
3. Using a National Bookstore plastic bag – yep the red one – to cover a book (seriously, I saw someone do this)
It may take awhile to remember those moments, but I’m sure you can come up with one or two. 
March 13th, 2008 at 3:49 pm
edzmaya: ok ung mga ginagawa mo, for items 1,2, 4-6, hindi ka lang makakatipid, nakakapagrecycle ka pa..i’m a nature lover and i appreciate such simple yet useful efforts..keep it up!
February 6th, 2008 at 9:21 am
my wife and i have a small business. To make sure that we save money, i make sure that 20% of our daily sales are put into a different bank account. 10% goes to our personal savings; 10% goes to our “luho” fund.
February 5th, 2008 at 4:59 pm
wow! so nice all these “miserly” habits. my friends often tease me about mine kasi.
1. i commute. i mean, ordinary bus kasi mas mabilis na mas mura pa. (although i pray hard na wag kami mahulog sa skyway!)
2. i keep lots of plastic. i don’t buy garbage bags. i mean, kung itatapon mo lang at paglalaygan ng mga itatapon, bakit mo pa bibilhin?
3. same as most of you, i don’t withdraw from other bank’s atm.
4. i recycle post-its!
5. i cut used A4 paper in the office to use as memo pad.
6. i keep gift wrappers, ribbons, sinamay, and other gift embellishments i receive and reuse them. hehe.
February 2nd, 2008 at 6:14 pm
Nina! LOL. Sipag mo mag shine ng shoes! hahaha. Too funny girl.
Hey, I read your blog post about that scam in Doha. I hope other people didn’t get victimized too!
February 2nd, 2008 at 6:13 pm
paetechie, share naman tips on how to do this
seems you avoid ATM charges so much, there are many ways to avoid it if you got used to it.
February 2nd, 2008 at 6:12 pm
Omski! I try to do number one as often as I can and tell myself that I lose a few pounds that way.
For number two, I want to add that it’s much better to learn how to do that yourself than pay someone to do it for you all the time.
Number three, when planning your house, add lighting in consideration so that you maximize natural light from the sun.
Four, just make sure you don’t get sick from the pollution!
Five, I will try this this year! Great tip
Six, STICKING to it is the operative word. I mean, its extremely hard for me to enter the grocery and just buy bread! Can you guys do it???
Seven, better yet use bayongs! Read this article: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20080131-116057/Bring-bayong-shoppers-told. It says 430,000 gallons of oil were used to manufacture 100 million plastic bags, most of which end up in the garbage. Ouch.
Natuwa lang po sa mga tips ninyo hehe.
February 2nd, 2008 at 6:05 pm
Pinoy investor, you’re too shy to say and yet you said it, hahaha. Katuwa ka talaga. Maybe I should meet your aunt someday to learn words of wisdom from her. Sige na pede?
February 2nd, 2008 at 4:46 am
In the past, I remember shining my own shoes hahahaha. It’s so funny and ironic that I buy expensive shoes, not one, not two, I lost count already but I don’t want to spend P20-P30 bucks per shoe for the shine. Mr Quickie is even more expensive so I just buy Kiwi and brush and do it myself.
I don’t withdraw from other bank’s ATM because I don’t want to pay the transaction fee.
hehehehehhehehe
February 2nd, 2008 at 2:39 am
even if i knew how to fine tune my car, i send it to those whose very livelihood depends on doing it. the same for repairing or painting a part of the house, for doing the laundry and every little things that i knew about.
i possess the skill for which i am greatly rewarded; i just have to be a channel of blessings for which i have to pass on if only to be a good steward of heaven’s riches.
February 1st, 2008 at 4:05 pm
i always save for something like an upcoming vacation. need to relax and escape once in a while (though I do it more frequently)
seems you avoid ATM charges so much, there are many ways to avoid it if you got used to it.
covering a book with NBS plastic bag? i remember in high school i don’t have a book but borrowed one even if it’s older…no money then to buy pricey new ones
February 1st, 2008 at 3:20 pm
Salve,
Here’s my list to save :
1. Turn off lights / electric fans when nobody is in the area ..
2. Fix all leaking faucets
3. Change to flouriscent lights if possible , consumes less electricity
4. Walk if the destination is near , good excercise as well.
5. Do garage sale every 2 years keep profit in the bank.
6. Have list when going to grocery and stick to it, we noticed without a list our cart goes full to the rim…;-)
7. Recycle grocery plastics as garbage bags.
February 1st, 2008 at 2:39 pm
Salve, ako din I find my tita amusing. But she’s no Scrooge. She put up her own foundation and gives generously to charity. I don’t know if she has a vow of poverty since she’s deeply religious. I’m too shy to say we’ll be happy to help you get rid of that temptation of wealth.
February 1st, 2008 at 8:13 am
salina and pinoy investor, please don’t think i was laughing at your tita! in fact, bilib ako sa kanya :-).
January 31st, 2008 at 11:45 pm
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Salve Says:
January 31st, 2008 at 3:05 pm
eicon aviva, i got a lot of those recycled christmas gifts last December hahaha. this is a good thing to ask people: do you get offended when you get a recycled christmas gift? YEs or NO?
___________________
If you’re asking me, I’ll say NO! gifts is not really important to me. Chrismas card or just say, Merry christmas will do.
After all is not all the people in the world can afford to buy gifts! Whats in a person heart the most important.
January 31st, 2008 at 11:39 pm
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Salve Says:
January 31st, 2008 at 3:06 pm
pinoy investor, THAT’s really frugal! hahaha. di kaya ng powers ko yan :). Maybe that’s why I don’t have 160M hahaha.
++++++++++++++++
Salve: Being FRUGAL nothing to be ashame of I’m very frugal when it comes to money and proud of it. While most of my friends losing their homes I’m on top of the world. If you know what I mean.
Like your blog say, “Money smarts”
January 31st, 2008 at 3:07 pm
AJ, great tips! I don’t do the ketchup thing but I love fried rice! I’m sort of a pack rat too so I know all about the glass bottles. They make good improvised, intelligent toys for the kids too.:)
January 31st, 2008 at 3:06 pm
pinoy investor, THAT’s really frugal! hahaha. di kaya ng powers ko yan :). Maybe that’s why I don’t have 160M hahaha.
January 31st, 2008 at 3:05 pm
eicon aviva, i got a lot of those recycled christmas gifts last December hahaha. this is a good thing to ask people: do you get offended when you get a recycled christmas gift? YEs or NO?
January 31st, 2008 at 1:30 pm
here’s mine naman — recycling xmas gifts.
Dr Noet’s article is a real eye opener. When my cousin’s grandma died, they saw lots and lots of cash under her bed. dinadaga na nga. what a waste!
January 31st, 2008 at 11:20 am
My tita is so frugal she use supot (brown paper bag) as her wallet and rides tricycles. Her net worth is over P160 M.
January 31st, 2008 at 10:10 am
hi salve,
here’s mine:
1. My mom insists on putting water in a ketchup bottle to really really really (can’t put too much emphasis on this one!) empty it.
2. We live by the saying “Today’s rice is tomorrow’s fried rice”
3. We have a cabinet-full of empty plastic and glass bottles, styro, trays, old school bilaos and anything used from take-out food.
*just some of the multitude of habits my family has when it comes to saving.