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| IG post from Toni Yee, our contribution for our snacks |
I think everyone will agree if I say that being a college
student is really expensive. I’m not even talking about the tuition fee,
miscellaneous fee, and org fee because even the daily expenses going to school
is definitely something we worry about (if not us, then our parents or guardian
who supports us).
As for me, being a Communication major is a ‘butas-bulsa’
experience every day. IT IS EXPENSIVE!
When a subject requires you to come up and produce a fashion
show in two weeks, you do it in two weeks! It doesn’t matter how many hours you
sleep in a day, how much bucks you shed, or if you are still eating or not, you
just have to do it. Find a model, get their clothes, chop chop!
I wasn’t prepared most of the time having a daily allowance
of P75.00 from first to third year and P100 on my senior year). I always end up
broke or in debt (thank you friends for helping haha) most of the time. But of
course, there’s my savings and scholarship allowance to help me make do. My
daily allowance may seem small but I made it through; P17 is for my fare going
to school (P10 tricycle ride going out of our village and P7 jeepney ride going
to school); P35 lunch meal allowance; and only P7 jeepney ride for my way back
to our house since I walk from our village’s drop-off point to our house, it’s
a walk-able distance but I ride tricycle going to school to prevent getting
sweaty and late for my class but it’s different after school since I also enjoy
walking and gazing in the night sky.
DAILY ALLOWANCE EXPENSE
SUMMARY
|
FARE
(TRICYCLE AND JEEPNEY)
|
P17
|
LUNCH
(CANTEEN)
|
P35 (55 if we’ll dine at McDo)
|
FARE
(JEEPNEY)
|
P 7
|
TOTAL
|
P59
|
|
|
*THE P16.OO REMAINING IS USED FOR SNACKS OR MISCELLANEOUS
FEE (E.G. PHOTOCOPY AND PRINTING)
**Okay, P75.00 is the amount of money given by my parents
and most of the time I have more than that on my wallet but it’s from my
personal savings and the lots.
Most of us Comm majors aren’t financially ready. We often
buy sulit meals for lunch and sometimes we skip it all together since every
minute of our day counts for us, we actually don’t mind not eating at all because
we are often too busy to even remember! Sometimes my expenses are way higher
than my allowance, especially when friends decided to eat on fast food chains
or cafes (laser glare to you guys).
I hate being broke the most. I feel so vulnerable when I’m
broke or even just being close to being broke. That’s why I want to share some
tips I used to save during my college life. This definitely helped me in so
many levels, I can’t guarantee the same to you but it’s worth the try.
Here are they:
1. PACKED LUNCH
Sooooo elem. I
know people will raise their eyebrows on this since it seems childish but trust
me, it’s not! College students can also do it too!
Shy or scared that you will be mocked? Don’t worry because
you’ll be amazed how others will find this nostalgic and will join the
bandwagon and be your lunch buddies. You’ll be amazed how many people will ask
for a bite of your lunch and say how they missed it and there will be others
who will say they are jealous of you because you can do it, other households
were often too busy to even make breakfast for their family because of their
works so packed lunch is an instantly no go for them.
You just have to have a group of friends who wants to save!
Actually this packed lunch thing helped me and my college friends a lot. During
lunch breaks (if we remember to eat) we spend almost an hour just arguing and
deciding where to eat, so whenever we bring packed lunch we always save money
AND time. For me, this is one of my biggest lifelines in college since lunch is
my biggest daily expense. Having trouble on what you’ll bring to school? Don’t
fuss, you don’t need to go all out for your lunch. Mostly I bring sunny side up
eggs (I LOVE SUNNY SIDE UP EGGS!), processed foods since they can be easily
cooked (longganisa, tocino, embutido, fish, or meatloafs), and less messy
compare to Adobo, Sinigang, and the lots. Just remember to have enough amount
of rice and fruits if you can. A little weigh on your bag is definitely worth
it.
2. BRING ENOUGH MONEY
This tip is probably the best and most effective advice I
can give to anyone because I saved using this tip.
So during college there will be times where your class
schedule only starts in afternoons or that some class will be moved to another
time schedule, hence unexpected expenses since you’ll be waiting for hours. In
my case there are times where we only have classes for the entire afternoon so
I’ll eat at home for my lunch and only bring money for transportation (this
plus Tip #6 is a perfect combination).
There will be moments where you’ll be tempted to buy stuff
and foods especially when you see that they are on sale or that a new product
is out. Most often than not our thinking will let us buy that thing because we
know that we can, recalling the stash of cash we have in our wallets. So
leaving your excess cash at home will make you extra careful to buy anything.
When I used this on my senior year (with P100 daily
allowance) I only bring around P30-40 max and there will be excess on that
adding to the P60 I already kept at home.
EXPENSE SUMMARY
|
DAILY
ALLOWANCE
|
P100
|
|
SAVINGS
|
P60
|
*SAVINGS WHICH IS LEFT AT HOME
|
EXPENSE
|
P24
|
*ROUNDTRIP TRANSPORTATION
|
TOTAL SAVINGS:
|
P76
|
|
With this tip I saved more than half of my daily allowance!
Imagine, that is P76 per day and P304 in a week (we don’t have classes every
Monday) so if you continue that for a month you’ll have P1,216.
3. BRING SNACKS
During my freshmen year we always buy snacks while waiting
for our class to start. We buy cold water (oh please, the heated weather here
in the Philippines is no joke) and snacks from a convenient store near our
campus which sells product at a double cost. Clue: It’s a 24/7 convenient store
and I think everyone will agree about how expensive some of their products are
and give them credit for that since it is open anytime). So during my freshman
year I spent almost half of my daily allowance just for a snack that will only
last for a couple of minutes and looking back now I’m ashamed of how carefree I
am back then.
But thankfully, I learned my lesson.
There was a time wherein I had a bad day (girl stuff) and my
uneasiness just won’t go away, still experiencing them sometimes. And then I
discover that eating makes me feel better to the point that I bought a whole
pack of plain Rebisco crackers (the honey something flavor is still not
available that time) and ate it
continuously for the whole day. My friends even laugh at me wondering how on
earth can I eat all of it remembering how plain it tasted.
And that’s how my Rebisco cracker ambassadorship started
(self-proclaimed ambassador HAHAHAHA). Every single day I have one or two packs
of it in my bag and since then most of the time my classmate will always go to
me and ask for food when our class becomes too long. Even during seminars, graduation practice, and graduation ceremony,
I always make sure to have some and my classmate and friends can attest to
that. There were even a couple of times wherein my friends from other class go
to ours just to ask for food! Hahaha Imagine that? Food > Me. HAHAHA
Kidding.
So there, bringing snack not only helped me and MOST of all
my classmates and friends to prevent from starving. It also cut my expenses big
time. From around P45-50 daily (inclusive of drinks and snacks) to P51 weekly
(1 package x 10 packs can last up to one week).
4. DO I REALLY NEED THIS? MANTRA
I am a compulsive buyer.
I’m not proud of it because I know how bad it is especially in
my case since I’m not financially stable yet (being compulsive while being
financially stable is not good too)! But let me share how I slowly ease the
effect and how I surpassed temptations out there.
So as a maarteng
tao I always tend to buy this and that or try those and these, especially if it
has a golden red tag or if I’m in a second hand store. My mind will say that it
is wise for me to go and buy it since I’ll be getting it on a lesser price.
Maybe at some point that thinking will make sense but most of the time, the
items which are on sale aren’t really needed that much. That’s how they do it,
making you think that you need it and that it is a great deal when it’s not.
Okay, let say that an eyeshadow palette is on sale (say 50% off) but is it the
shade that you are using on a regular basis and/or appropriate to your
lifestyle? How would buying an item that will eventually become just another
clutter be called saving?
I’m a thrift shop
fanatic and around 40% of the clothes I bought there still haven’t been used by
me that much. Maybe it’s because I’m more of a casual shirt and pants kind of
girl (most of my thrifted clothes were leaning towards formal and corporate
wear) or just plain money-consuming-human. This, being compulsive, is my number
one problem especially if I am out there in the open circled by different
shops. When I really feel like buying certain items I tend to do tip number 2
where I bring allotted money for it but there are times where I don’t know what
to buy (times wherein I want to treat myself) so I bring more than enough money
with me.
Most of the time we are conscious on how we spend too much
but just shrug the mindset off because the thought and feeling of owning new
things is just plain addicting and satisfying! I do this (clothes or foods)
mostly after every final examinations or stress-inducing activities.
So if tip number 2 wouldn’t work then I’ll shift to this
saving tip, or what I also called as a guilt trip tip. When I see a great deal
I’ll stop for a sec and think about it thoroughly.
How much is it.
What is the status of
my savings?
Why do I need this?
How many times will I
be able to use this?
You have similar items
like that, what makes you think it wouldn’t end up like them, dusty and
forgotten?
Most of the time those above lines worked for me, although I
can’t assure you if this will work for you since you are the one who knows
yourself better than anyone else. I also advised you to use your weakness or
fandom, in my case it is reading and unforeseen concert.
This item almost costs
a book!
Get a grip! Troye (and
many more faved artists) will be releasing a new album so there will be,
probably, a tour so just freaking save your money!
5. MAKE A LIST FOR YOUR SAVINGS
Not just a list, but more of a goal on how much you have to
save for a specific week/month.
When I was around 16-ish to 18-ish I’m always frustrated on
how to make do with the small allowance I have plus the fact that I always
wonder how my money just disappears on thin air without my knowing where I
spend it. It really gets frustrating since I literally get lost on every aspect
of life because money is very important, and we all need to agree on that.
There were times where I thought I still have this amount of cash then found
out hours later before I go to sleep that I don’t have it anymore, trust me I always
can’t get myself to sleep because of frustration.
Just this year I started doing this spreadsheet thingy that
adults seems to do to manage and view their finances personally. The
spreadsheet helps in managing and controlling your expenses by putting your
daily/weekly/monthly expenses and savings so you won’t overspend on the
following days.
In my case I made a 4-column spreadsheet, renaming the top
tabs as follow; Week Number, Target Savings, Actual Savings, Total.
WEEK NUMBER
|
TARGET
|
ACTUAL
|
TOTAL
|
Week 1
|
400
|
400
|
400
|
Week 2
|
360
|
360
|
360
|
Week 3
|
380
|
380
|
380
|
Week 4
|
340
|
340
|
340
|
Week 5
|
400
|
260
|
-140
|
Week 6
|
360
|
240
|
|
Week 7
|
380
|
|
|
To further monitor my savings
I don’t just write down the amount but also when I acquired that amount of
savings. So for example my target savings is P400 for the first week, for that
whole week I’ll keep my mind on saving and at the end of the week I’ll encode
my actual savings on the spreadsheet. Hopefully the actual amount will be equal
or more than the target savings. Note that there will be times where your
actually savings is less than your target but it’s still okay. We can’t help
those times when projects and activities just keeps on coming. The main goal of
this activity/tip is not just limited to achieving the target savings but also to
not overspend your expenses to your savings. It is about knowing how much to
splurge on things for this day without spending yesterday’s savings.
6. HITCH
Get a grip because it’s not about getting a ride when you
are lost from a hiking or trip from someone you don’t know. It’s more of like
carpooling on a lesser level.
So in my case my biggest daily expense comes from food but I
also have a fixed expense and that is my transportation. On a daily basis I’m
spending P24-P44 (depends on the weather), although it may seems small for
others but trust me that when you are broke, and still has to pay projects for
school, even centavo is like a gift on a Christmas day for you. So at times I
do this hitching to save more cash.
My mother is a public school teacher and she goes to school
5 x week. So every weekdays Papa fetches her back and forth to their school
with our tricycle. To save more I managed to get myself up early in the morning
so I can tag along with them, they usually leave the house quarter before
seven. There was a semester where I had this 7AM class so tagging along with
them is very convenient and efficient. But there’s a semester where my first
class started around 8:30AM but I still tag along with them just to save more
money. It’s actually fine since I am carrying our publication office’s key that
time which is just a room next to our designated classroom so I just usually go
there and do managerial task that needs to be done for that day.
But that’s not the end of it. During that time Mama tutors a
kid so she usually ends up getting home late, say around 7-8PM (she is fetched
by Papa during that time). No, I didn’t stay and wait for that long. Why would I if I don’t need waiting. As a
Managing Editor and a student I usually do managerial works for our publication
between every class or after class since COMM usually takes most of our time
and in the process I always end up getting home late too. So no, I didn’t have
to wait because I go home late too. They became accustomed with my schedule
that they just usually text or call me to ask if where I am and their ETA to
the point of where they will fetch me (usually at CityWalk). Viola! Cha-ching
cha-ching cha-ching! This tip added to tip number 1 and 2 (if you missed
tagging along one way or another/if you need to buy some school materials) is
super wise!
Honestly, I don’t know if those above tips will float your
boats, they did for me so I was hoping it will do the same to those who will
try them. Just remember that without determination and discipline you will not
be able to do or move forward so it will always be depends on you. Just you. So
clear all the baggage and start anew.
Let’s hear from others, how did you manage to save or what
is the weirdest thing you did to save money? I like to hear from you so comment
down below.
