I started to learn to budget my money during elementary days. With the little money I have in my pocket, I have to be wise about spending it the whole day if I don't want to study with an empty stomach. Sometimes I can successfully do that, but most of the time, it is a fail. I mean, I want to blame those vendors outside school for selling those food snacks. And my big mouth couldn't help but give in to the call of those good-looking snacks on display (≧▽≦). As a result, my money didn't even last until the afternoon break, lol. It's a good thing, though, that I go home to eat lunch because if not, I'll really starve myself to death.
But at least, I only have to suffer during the day because I can still get money from my mom the next day. I don't do "allowance" because mom didn't allow me. For sure, she knows already that an "allowance" will never work for me, so she just gave me enough money for the whole day to spend. I got 5 PHP, that's still a good amount, but still not enough for me, who's a devourer. But I'm really not in need of lots of money for other things except for food. Adults are the only ones who have to do that.
Same during high school, my money got tripled that time, but sadly, my lunch is already included in that amount. So I can't even have a snack during our break time. That's the hardest for me. That's why I promised before that I'd save a lot of money and will never starve myself once I get a savings. But then I become an adult, and that's where it becomes harder for me. Adulting is really, (≧▽≦) sigh.
But anyways, thanks to this experience I learned hoe to actually manage my money. I don't really spend if it's not needed. Though I indulge myself sometimes, still there's a limit. But, as the days go by, managing a limited money is really hard, and it gets harder everyday.
Now that Christmas is really fast approaching, I can't help but think about the spending money I have to prepare for gifts and some expenses meant for Christmas and the new year. Although it's my oldies who really spend most on that, giving a share will not be too bad. And it makes me feel happy too whenever I can help, you know, so it's no big deal. But every time I have to spend some money, I can't help but sigh, because even though I have savings and I can still replenish them with this side hustle, it's still a pain in the arse for my wallet.
I mean, for sure, everyone who has to spend even on regular days feels that way too, right? Right? Lol. So anyway, for this season, I will use my savings again to contribute even a little for this year-end celebration. I'm just lucky that Mom doesn't require me to contribute, but because I don't want that, I will just volunteer to get this particular thing for that special day. Example: I will buy two to three boxes of pizza and ice cream for that day as my contribution. Mommy F and Mommy D will be responsible for the main dish and dessert.
We don't really prepare that much because there are only four of us. Just one to two dish is already enough, and one special dessert, Mommy D will be the one who'll spend it. So, yes, they don't require a huge contribution, but even so, I still have to prepare and budget my money to spend here because that's not the only expense I have to think about. And it's really hard now because I'm not sure if you know this, but I'm really in need of huge amount of money for my surgery, so I am being tight right now when it comes to my expenses.
But this won't stop me, of course, from spending for this season. As of now, I already have savings that I can use for that special day. I just hope that I don't have to use that too for something. But, if ever, I will still be ready and prepare for backup money, especially for gifts to my oldies. Really, I never really did this before, but now that I can earn too, doing this will make me so happy, especially since I can make my oldies happy too. And it's all thanks to this side hustle of mine, special mention to Hive.blog.
So how can I make this happen? I am actually starting to cut off my other expenses, or overspending, especially when it comes to food. Although food is important, there are times that I can't stop myself from spending more when it comes to food. To the point that, even if I just ate 2 hours ago, my mouth will want to eat again, and you know what's next after that, lol. Although I am not that hungry, the cravings, you see, for some particular foods are just (≧▽≦). But I'm cutting this now, so no more! (≧▽≦)
Another thing is that I really have this habit that, when I am too lazy to go outside to buy something, instead of going there myself, I will just ask someone to buy it for me. And you know that there's nothing free now in this world, so I have to give extra money to the one who'll go buy it. And instead of spending less, I tend to spend more because of that. The money that I intend to spend on that thing will get doubled, and that's a big decrease in my budget. This too, I have to cut it off and will just do it myself instead of asking someone.
Furthermore, I will have to also cut off my overspending when it comes to the internet. I mean, load for my internet connection. You see, I have two smartphones, and I really hate that I can't do my side hustle when my other phone has a low battery. So having a dual phone is a big help, but then, because it is two phones, I will need two SIM cards too, both with a load, to access Hive. Because of that, I spend more on it than is necessary. Although it helps, it is still not recommended. So the next time that my other SIM card internet promo ends, I will not buy it anymore. For me to be able to save more, not just for this year-end celebration but also for the other upcoming expenses,
So that's it. If we want a result, we need to change something, it all needs to start with us. Right? Right? So guys, if you have this same habit like mine, maybe it's time to, you know, change it a little?
So hey @usagidee, @jane1289, @jenthoughts and @bananzell, how's your year end preparation this time? Know more about this on this LINK.