personal finance: the state of my financial health

I am in a bad mood. I am sad, close to depressed. Drama queen is reporting for duty.

Eh kasi naman, I accounted for my assets, liabilities, income and expenses last night to put all those preaching about personal finance into action. And I was not happy with the result. 

visit Real Living magazine website

It did not help that we went to the RL Space exhibit today and learned how much like this and like this and like this will cost. The pressure to cut down on expenses is on. 

I need to be more prudent in my spending. I should avoid going to the mall (I almost bought a camera today despite of the current state of my financial health). 

I should also cut down on my food costs. Kain kasi ng kain ng kain ng kain. Walang katapusan. :)

I should continue to pray for good health for myself and my family. We have had financial setbacks from the previous years due to sickness in the family - from my laparascopic surgery to TL#1's bout with the kawasaki disease. I also gave birth to two kids in a span of 4 years. Major expenses. 

TL#1's first visit to Singapore Zoo in 2011

I used the dream calculator in the brighter life website to compute how much I should be saving in a month for a certain goal. For example, if I needed P100,000 for TL#1's Singapore Zoo (re)visit for his 5th birthday next year, I would have to save P8,244 per month in a savings account or P7,991 per month in a mutual fund account. That's on top of my required 10% savings of net pay per month. 

I'm trying hard not to think of or rely too much on the windfalls (variable bonus) that I may receive next year. A good portion of this year's bonus is already set aside for our future home furniture and fixtures. Kulang pa! I will most certainly have to exhaust my emergency funds as well. 

I. AM. AIRING. MY. DIRTY. LINEN. IN. PUBLIC. Shamelessly so if this will help me put my finances in order. I need to think out loud to hear my rational self. 

I remember buying my iPad online three years ago and having it engraved "this purchase marks the beginning of financial freedom".

living the good life

I have also blogged about it here - my very first post in my previous blog. Until now, it is a work in progress but I am trying to take steps to reach it (with emphasis on the word TRYING). 

I don't think I will ever embrace fully the "rich" mindset. I am more of an emotional person than a practical one. But I value my time and I know that the only way I can own more flexibility in how I spend my every waking day is to gain some degree of financial freedom. I don't want to grow old fully dependent on my monthly salary as a hardworking backbreaking employee. 

No more excuses. 

P.S If you are interested in investing in the stock market, you may wish to visit the husband's website You Become What You Think About. He's more nerdy and finance savvy than I am.