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Money Saving Tips for New Parents

Having a new bundle of joy brings so much excitement in the family. This change in the family brings so much excitement in budgeting too…or challenge? Becoming a parent also means forgetting your late night meet up with friends and staying away from the shopping malls to buy your personal stuff.

As new parents, sometimes you are in a blind spot and you just live paycheck to paycheck because your focus suddenly becomes the basic needs of your family, especially of a baby.
As a mom with an 18month old daughter, I would like to share with you main items on how I and my husband were able to save while enjoying being parents.

1. Breastmilk or Formula Milk?

Today, breastfeeding becomes a priority (RA 100028). When I was still pregnant in 2015, I researched on it and just like new moms, I feared that I might not have the physical capacity to breastfeed my little one.

There are support groups you can go to if you need more information, the very first person to go to is an OB-GYNE, also a lactation expert and you may also want to check The Breastfeeding Pinays FB Page which is recognized by the DOH.

In financial planning, consider both. What if breastfeeding is not possible? A formula milk allocation in your cash flow should be reflected every month. A formula milk today costs Php 700 – 1,500 per week depending on the brand.

If you are lucky to breastfeed your baby, then in replacement of formula milk fund are milk storage bags, breast pump kit and breast pump and bottle hygiene kit fund in your cash flow which may cost you Php 500 – Php 1000 per month for the milk storage bags and breast pump hygiene kit while a onetime payment of Php 2,000 – Php 5,000 for a breast pump kit.

To save up if your baby is on formula milk, you may ask a budget friendly brand without sacrificing the wellbeing of your baby.

2. Baby Clothes and other stuff

I bought new born clothes which are good for two weeks only because I am glad to receive hand me down new born clothes. I am lucky to have a mother in law who took care of her grandchildren’s newborn stuff for years and all clothes look as if it was just bought a few months ago
.
You may want to consider a baby shower not only because, as couple you want to celebrate that moment, but of course friends would really love to give you gifts that you or your baby needs as he or she comes out into this world.

Make a list also of the remaining stuff you might need such as the bottles, sterilizers, medical kits and others with prices then make a comparison among shopping malls or stores so that when you
are going to prepare before the baby comes out, you know where to go to. This also helps you to not go over budget.

When my daughter turned 1 year old, she received a whole new set of new clothes and shoes as gifts too!

3. Vaccines

Allocate at least Php 3,500 per month for vaccine. There are vaccines that will range from Php 1,500 to Php 5,000 or more depending on what type of vaccine. If for example, your budget of Php 3,500 is not consumed then add it up to the next month. With the kinds of viruses and diseases today, it is best that you follow the vaccine schedule of your baby. I have friends who are near their local government health center, it is cheaper to get the vaccines from there and of course, you are lucky enough if your baby’s Pediatric doctor is a relative, you’ll sure save a lot.

There are some parents who say that if a baby is exclusively breastfed, vaccines are not needed. Seek the help of an expert before you make a decision.

These are just 3 items to consider not to mention the type of hospital you prefer to deliver your baby. Government assistance is also a great help in the funding that you might need when the baby is coming out. Some parents prefer a private hospital, maternity hospital or a doula.

Whatever amount you are able to save, allocate the difference to investments to prepare for your child’s best future, a major planned expense and of course your retirement.

Jendee S. De Guzman, RFP

Associate Financial Planner – (AFP)

Chartered Trust and Estate Planner - Graduate

Life Insurance Advocate
jendeesapo@gmail.com

Personal Finance: Sunshine After the Rain!

Recently, I was interviewed by a student who was tasked to make a write up for her journalism class and an HR Practitioner, who is making a research on money habits of high maintenance executives in the country today. The interview happened on two different occasions and both set of questions touch on saving, investing and risk management or may I say personal finance.

During the Q & A, it reminded me about my journey in personal finance. In 2003, Just like a typical fresh graduate, I landed a career in one of a well-known engineering company in Quezon City and as a fresh graduate no one taught me about the habit of saving. All I know is to receive my salary, help my family pay bills, eat and save whatever is left – in my wallet. Yes, not even save in a bank.

Investing to the stock market, mutual funds, UITF, VUL or risk management through insurance is an unfamiliar ground to me. Fast forward 2011, I found myself, on my 4^th employer with at least a VUL (Variable Unit Linked) in place, with very little savings, with 2 credit cards – which I thought  were  extra cash for me and unhappy with career. One thing is the same since 2003, I have not developed a habit of saving and investing. Why?

No one taught me about personal finance. No one even approached me and told me that managing your money can determine a successful retirement or an achievement to unlock dreams such as travel goals, business goals and many others. Imagine, that has been 8 years, by the 8^th year who knows I might have achieved bigger monetary dreams and goals.

But as what Bro. Bo Sanchez said in one of his books; your past does not define your future. Hence, in 2012 I joined one of the top life insurers in the country and I got exposed to risk management and get to know a lot of financial experts in all areas of financial management – not only insurance - whom I gained ideas on personal finance.

Invest in Yourself

Since joining the life insurance industry in 2012, I realized how our culture as Filipinos differ from other countries. The habit of saving, investing and security is not inherent to us. Also, as what Mr. Efren Cruz, RFP wrote in his book, Taming the Rebellious You, our brains are designed to be loss averse. Thus, humans are not really into spending for something to save because the brain is trained to see that as something at a losing end.

What I did, the moment I realized there is something wrong on how I handle my finances (gosh! I was still single at that time but no savings at all!!) – I started to invest in myself by reading books on finance such as books by Mr. Chinkee Tan, Bro. Bo Sanchez, Mr. Efren Cruz, Mr. Ardy Roberto and many others. I started to attend seminars such as iCon of Mr. Randell Tiongson, RFP, the Financial Fitness Forum and Financial Advisors Congress of RFP Institute and learned even more about programs to enroll with when I attended another iCon event in 2015 that leads me to attend a course on Personal Finance which is the Registered Financial Planner (RFP) course in August of 2016.

Execute

Since the certification process as RFP, I began to love to beauty of Personal Finance and how the different areas of financial planning matters in a household. Now that I am married with an 18month old daughter, I realized that execution is crucial to calibrate our goals based on the resources we have.

Areas on Financial Planning

In financial planning, the areas to consider are Cash flow management, Insurance Planning, Investment Planning, Retirement Planning, Educational Planning and Estate/Wealth Management. With these areas to consider, it is important to match the current resources available for you and your family to achieve a certain goal.

The common question of a pinoy, “Ano ang pinaka best na investment?”, the answer is always, it depends. You match a certain investment vehicle according your goal (Retirement, Education or Major future purchases). Considering the inflation rate of the country that averages at 4% over the last 20-30 years, your money in the bank may lose its value by the time you retire after 20 or 30 years. Planning is important.

Financial planning may seem simple looking through its technical aspect but our day to day money decisions are influenced by our behavior or emotions. For the past few years of my exposure in this industry, determination and discipline are key attitude to financial freedom.

Regardless of how much time you spent on reading and attending seminars, without determination to calibrate your money decisions and discipline to implement your plan, after a year or another 5 years, a financial planner will lecture you about this all over again.

Personal finance in a nutshell is both technical and emotional indeed. At the end of the day, what matters most is that you are able to put everything in order. There is always a sunshine after the rain anyway.

Jendee S. De Guzman, RFP

Associate Financial Planner – (AFP)

Chartered Trust and Estate Planner - Graduate

Life Insurance Advocate
jendeesapo@gmail.com

                                  image from: http://blog.instavest.com/top-5-personal-finance-podcasters