RETIRE RICH - OFWs deserve to retire rich

CALMA STRATEGY COMPLETE GUIDE

Showing posts with label Saving. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Saving. Show all posts

Friday, August 23

How I Escaped Living Paycheck to Paycheck

From the beginning of my working career---that was right after graduation from college in 1997 up until 2015, I found myself trapped in a cycle familiar to many: living paycheck to paycheck. The same thing happened even though I was able to work overseas as an OFW in 2006 but still the cycle continues. My situation even get worse while working as an OFW. I came to a point wherein I sold my blood at a blood bank for straight six months (literally blood... the white blood cells or the leukocytes). The constant stress of not knowing if I could make ends meet weighed heavily on me. I knew I needed a change, and that year, I took the first step on a journey that would eventually lead to financial stability.

It all started with a free seminar on financial literacy. I'm forever grateful to OFSI and its team. The seminar opened my eyes to the possibilities of managing money wisely and growing it through investments. It was a turning point in my life. The knowledge I gained motivated me to take action immediately.
OFSI Batch 8
One of the key takeaways from the seminar was the importance of saving and investing. I knew I had to start small, given my limited income at the time. So, I committed to saving as low as 1,000 pesos a month from my salary. It wasn't much, but it was a start. The key was consistency. Every month, without fail, I set aside that money and invested it in the stock market.

My initial foray into the stock market was cautious. I knew little about how it worked, but I was determined to learn. As I invested, I simultaneously immersed myself in studying investing and stock trading. I spent countless hours reading books, watching tutorials, and following market trends. This self-education not only helped me make better investment decisions but also gave me the confidence to stay the course, even when the market was volatile. I even get my hands into stocks trading and that is well documented on my YouTube channel and some of the videos I made were also shared on this blog.

As my knowledge of investing grew, so did my ambition. I realized that financial literacy wasn’t just about investing; it was about understanding all aspects of money management. To broaden my skill set, I started studying business accounting. This knowledge was crucial, as it provided me with the foundation I needed to think beyond just investing in stocks. The book I can strongly recommend to read before you start your own business especially if you are not an accountant is "Finance for Non-financial Managers". It sparked an interest in entrepreneurship, and I began to explore the idea of starting my own business.

By 2023, I felt ready to take the next big step in my financial journey. With the savings I had accumulated over the years, plus the capital from my stocks stocks trading portfolio, and the knowledge I had gained, I invested in a startup business in the motorcycle parts industry. It was a calculated risk, but I believed in the potential of the market and my ability to run the business effectively. 

Running a business brought its own set of challenges, but the financial literacy and business accounting skills I had acquired over the years proved invaluable. I was able to manage the finances of the business efficiently, make informed decisions, and navigate the ups and downs of entrepreneurship. Today, my business is thriving, and I have successfully broken free from the cycle of living paycheck to paycheck.

Looking back, the journey wasn't easy, but it was worth it. The key to my success was a combination of education, consistent saving, and calculated risks. Attending that financial literacy seminar in 2015 set me on a path of self-improvement and financial empowerment. By taking small, consistent steps and continually learning, I was able to transform my financial situation and achieve a level of stability I once thought was out of reach. 

My story is a testament to the power of financial literacy and perseverance. No matter how small you start, with the right knowledge and mindset, you can break free from financial limitations and build a brighter future. Break the cycle.

Tuesday, September 28

When you will start saving and investing?


I started saving money at a very young age. But started investing when I was already 37. Late na.

What happened to my savings? Naubos din. Why?

My parents always said, "anak mag ipon ka, para may pambili ka ng....."

I saved and then buy things. Saved money again and then buy another thing. 

It's a cycle. So the savings have no long-term impact. Ipinambili lang din eh.

I can't blame my parents. Yon din ang naituro sa kanila. 

I realized later on that it should be saving money and invest in something. 

Ano yong something? Di ko din alam noon eh. Noong 37 na lang ako saka ko nalaman. 

If I should have known the financial market much earlier, for sure, I'm not only working for money but my money also works for me while I'm sleeping, working, eating.

Ikaw? When you started saving? And then what? When you started investing? 

Kuwento mo naman sa comments sa ibaba.

Thursday, March 18

Having difficulty saving money? Try this!

Are you having difficulty saving money from your monthly paycheck? In this video let me share with you my way of saving money. Before that, let's roll the intro.


What is up mga Ka Retire Rich? Thank you for coming back po sa ating youtube channel and if you are new here, consider subscribing for more tips about saving, stocks trading, investing and many other things I shared here in this channel. 


So, how I saved money from my salary with ease? Here's how. It begins with a simple budget. And here's how I budget my salary. I divided my budget into 3 major categories. Number 1 category is the major recurring bills. Number 2 category is savings. Number 3 category is the balance or remaining amount after allocating the first and second category.


I made my budget simple and with only three categories, because I don't believe that you should know where every centavo from your salary goes. If you are going to monitor every centavo... believe me ma stress ka lang kaka monitor. Dahil nasubukan ko na yan. Paliwanag ko pa yan mamaya.


In the first category, bilang isang OFW, yong pera na ipapadala sa Pilipinas falls under this category, then your house rental or mortgage, car loan, credit card, gasoline or transportation and groceries. Since major recurring bills fall in this category so kung nasa Pilipinas ka it includes, electricity bill, water bill, tuition fee etc. Meaning, this category is where the bulk of your money goes at ito yong mga bayarin na wala ka talagang kawala. Ito yong hindi pwedeng ipag paliban. Ito yong mandatory bayaran monthly. So, this is the first priority because if you will missed any of those I mentioned, for sure you will be in trouble the following month. You'll be out of your budget. Or worse baka maputulan ka ng tubig or kuryente. 


The second category, is the savings itself. I set a certain percentage from my salary as savings. Meaning if you set 10% or 15% from your salary as savings then... automatic take out that amount and keep it in your savings account. 


The third category is the balance. This is the remaining amount after paying all the major bills and savings. Ito yong category na pag gagamitan mo sa mga bagay na hindi naman mandatory na bilhin kada sahod. Like new shoes or clothings. Or maybe you will add it to your savings and allocate it to buy something expensive which the remaining money can not afford. Pwede din ito gamitin pang replenish sa iyong emergency funds in case you use some of your emergency fund during the previous emergency. This is the category also that's difficult and stressful if you are going to track down every centavo of your money. Actually, I really don't care where's the amount of money goes from this category. Bastat, nabayaran ko na lahat ng major bills ko at naitabi ko na ang para sa savings ko.


Now maybe you have a question, what if my salary is not even enough to cover the first category? Magandang tanong talaga yan. So I think, there's something wrong kung bakit mas malaki bills mo kaysa sahod mo. Maybe you need to reduce you and your family's electricity, water consumption. You really need to reduce your bills or else increase your income or seek help from the members of the household who's also earning to help cover the bills. 


This budget structure really works for me to save something from my salary. But it may or may not work for you. Try mo lang. So, if you have your way of saving money, let me know in the comment section baka it will work sa iba nating mga tagasubaybay. 


Thank you so much po nga ka retire rich and I will see you po sa susunod natin na video, please consider subscribing if you are not yet subscribed. Stay safe and see you soon. 

Sunday, May 10

Month No. 5 - "Save 10% from your salary challenge"


I posted my first ever live video on Facebook. I talked about the update of the challenge I started in January 2020, which is the "save 10% from your salary challenge."

I embedded the re-broadcast copy of the live video below. Just watch it.

Monday, April 6

Month No. 4 - Save 10% from your salary challenge


Kumusta mga kababayan kong OFWs? Stay safe.

COVID-19 is wreaking havoc around the world. As of this writing, there are 1.14 million cases, 63,000 deaths all over the world according to official data from the World Health Organization (WHO). Companies shut businesses down due to lockdown implemented by the government to contain the rapid spread of the pandemic. People unable to come to work. Some are wages against work employees---no work, no pay.

In this crucial time, it pays a lot we saved a few bucks from our monthly paychecks. We don't know exactly when a crisis like this would come. The thing we have control is to get ourselves ready when it is not here yet. Just like the story of "Tipaklong at si Langgam" we were told when we were young. We need to save something for the rainy season. Unfortunately, that rainy season is now. 

This is the time we could utilize what we've saved for if we don't have income. But I know this whole thing is beyond what I'm talking about here. Even the rich for sure will not be spared. Anong gagawin mo sa pera kung wala ka namang mabibili?

The economic impact of this virus could be more than the 2008 financial crisis. I think it is way too big than I could imagine. But the situation could drastically turn around to our favor once the vaccine is ready.

Anyway guys, please stay safe, as much as possible stay home and think positive. We can defeat this virus.


As for the title of this post, I can't say that it's a savings right now, but still, I continue to set aside the same amount of money as I did the last three succeeding months. But this time, it is for an emergency. I don't know when I'll stop receiving my salary also. It's just a matter of time that I will be spending my savings for the necessities in the coming months. I did not invest the amount but keep it in case I need it. So far, I still received the salary for March. Only the Almighty one knows till when.

Stay safe!

Thursday, March 5

Month No. 3 - Save 10 percent from your salary challenge


After a few glitches from BDO, I still able to continue this challenge. I'm now in the third month! What about you?

We need to persevere whatever hindrance that comes on our way just to come up with our end goal. I'm having a hard time in the second month getting the one-time password from BDO. I made a video out of that experience, which you can view by clicking the link here: https://youtu.be/7k4DTJq4sG4

Well, in spite of the problem, I still able to continue. For the February 2020 salary, I have no problems saving 10 percent from it. I was able to access my BDO account smoothly this time. So, on the very same day, I got my salary, I transferred the savings to my COL Financial account (screenshot above).

As an OFW living off from my monthly paycheck, it is essential that I will have even a small amount of money set aside on a monthly basis. In this challenge, I oblige myself to save at least 10 percent. Then I invested the amount to a high dividend-paying stock or preferred stock.



I choose high dividend-paying stock because of the COVID19 virus the entire world is battling made companies stock price plummet. As a quick trader, (this is how I call myself as I hate to sit on a stock for an extended period of time) it seemed to me that the possibility for a stock price of a company to rise is less. So, for now, I opt to stop trading and just watching how the market move.

I still maintain a separate broker account intended for trading and from time to time if an opportunity exists to trade---I trade. In January 2020, I'm 0 wins out of 3 trades. In February 2020, 0 wins out of 5 trades. Damn, I did not do any trade this month so far.

The best thing to do, for me, in this situation is to save more money for capital. So what are you waiting for? Join me and take the "save 10% from your salary challenge". Months pass by so fast and it will never come back! I'm now in the third month. I hope I can continue this challenge until December 2020 to get my goal.

Tuesday, March 3

Month No. 2 Save 10% from salary challenge




I was able to resolve the issue with my BDO one time password problem. So I was able to open my account again and save 10% from January salary.

Above is the video narrating the problem. Next up will be month of February salary.

Hopefully, I will be able to continue till December 2020 on this challenge so that I can buy that something I wanted to buy, which I'm targeting at the first quarter of year 2021.

Tuesday, February 11

BDO "One Time Password" problem - unable to receive OTP




The BDO "One-Time Password" (OTP) problem I'm facing is a recurring problem. It has been my problem since they removed the "challenge question" option during log-in.

Don't get me wrong. OTP is good. It is an added security measure to your online banking transactions. It is being used almost every online transaction nowadays. The problem is: If you're not receiving an OTP from your registered number. As far as BDO is concern, yes! I'm not getting their OTP lately.

How I solved when I encountered this problem the first time?

I contacted BDO and I got the OTP working. Then, I subscribed to BDO's mobile app OTP generator. The problem came back, when I replaced my phone and deactivated the mobile app generator. I cannot receive again an OTP through my registered number. So, I called them again and changed my registered number and it works. Yah! Gumana lang ng dalawang buwan tapos ayaw na naman magbigay ng OTP.

The above video is my rant regarding this problem. Bear with me.

Have you encountered the same problem? How you solve the problem? Let me know by commenting below.

[Update: I received a test text message with a certain code from BDO. The message also said that If I received a call I need to tell the operator some code. But so far I did not receive any call from them. I tried to log in and I received an OTP. So it's okay now.

However, when I tried to login from the BDO app, no OTP came. In other words, I can not subscribe again the mobile app OTP generator. Anyway I'm okay with it as long as when I login from website I should receive OTP.] 

Thursday, January 16

Daldalan with Don Juan: On stocks trading, stock market and life in general



On Sunday I had the opportunity to meet my friend Don Juan. We drove to Kuwait City, ate breakfast at Jollibee and went to the seaside. On our way, we talked about the stock market, stocks trading and about life in general.

Pasensiyahan ninyo dahil medyo napahaba ang aming kwentuhan. 

We seldom talk nowadays as we are now working from different companies. We used to work in one company before. Below is the first part of our daldalan. I will upload the second part soon. I split our daldalan in two as it is too long to be in one video. Anyway, if you want to know when and how we got into the stock market just click the play button above. 

In the video description I provided a link to OFSI and Trader's Lounge.