Perhaps it has something to do with all the numbers I have been looking at or maybe the Ilocano genes in me kicked in but after finishing my tax forms I started auditing my salary, expenses, and savings. Since I started working here last year I ought to have at least $1,800 savings given I should be saving $200 every pay day. When I was finished with my audit I was dismayed to know I only saved one-half and a bit of my target. I know I shouldn’t be dismayed when I do online banking everyday. I know how much I have in my Savings Account. But one always wonders where do their money go when they see they have a high net income but a low savings. I’m not satisfied. I guess “should be saving $200 every pay day” being the operative phrase made me cheat on my savings.
It was so easy to move money from my Savings to Chequing account especially over the holidays, I remember even thinking last year, "I can start saving on 2009 because there's so much expenses at the beginning". I did start saving this year but the fact that I lost $800 on my savings makes me somewhat of a Scrooge this year. As I tracked my first quarter history this year I can see remnant traces of me moving some of my money from my savings, little bits only but it still amounted to $100!!! Oh the disadvantage of online banking! It’s so convenient. So convenient indeed to lose my savings. In three easy steps my Savings account can have $0.00 balance. My bank should not make it easy. I should go through gazillions of warning pop-ups that if I transfer so and so dollars and spend it I will be grumpy and whiney and bummed out. Since earning a measly .05% interest is hard enough withdrawing money, swiping my card, transferring funds online should not be that easy! It’s not even amusing that they name their online banking “EasyWeb”.
If you knew me well enough, you are right that I have created an Excel file with my calculations. Since I’m not happy with my current output I started projecting the amount I will save if I continue with the $200 savings per pay day. The result? Nine thousand four hundred dollars. $9,400 only. Crap! I don’t know (and really don’t care) if you find that amount substantial. But if you find it too low, mind you, I came to this country classified as a LOW-SKILLED worker!. Anyway, $9,400 can’t even put Kitty Kat through school for two semesters. Okay, so maybe it is good enough but since I’m used to getting five figure salaries not lesser than 35 thousand pesos per month my mind process the 9,400 as pesos. I know that if I convert the 9,400 at the current conversion rate that is three hundred forty-seven thousand pesos which is not bad but the predominant factor in my mind are five digits. I have to make my savings reach five digits, nothing less and only more.
I started becoming creative. If I paid, in $50 installments, the amount I cheated used for Christmas gifts and stuff I have no clue what anymore last year I can earn $10,400. Not bad. As I appraised my black and white spreadsheet I realized I was actually giving $100 to Jac every pay day too for our paluwagan*. And will end when we’ve given $1,700. Although that amount doesn’t count as savings as I will use it for my family’s plane fare when they visit me on August, I thought that technically I am not spending $300 per pay day. If I can do it now, I can do it again when I’m done with my $50 installments. Oh the figures started improving when I started making changes. When I saw the final numbers I was pretty pleased with the end result. Since I included the US Dollar Savings Account I recently opened the figures jumped a bit more, now if only the US dollar can lower a little that way I can buy som more. Since my mood improved I started coloring my Excel file to ensure I know which dates I will increase the amount I will move to my Savings account and on which date. Now the final stroke. I know the General and the Colonel will ask me how much I am saving, since I don’t want to divulge the dollar amount (I know, just like me, they will find it too low) I computed the percentage of my savings per annum. I am actually saving 45% of my net pay.
The tricky part is making sure I will stick to it. With this plan, I may not be able to buy my XBox 360 Elite. I will have to be contended with my Nintendo DS. And if not, well.... I can always borrow Arnie’s. :D
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