If you came here for expert advice on personal finance, I’m afraid you won’t get it. I have a funny relationship with money, you see. We were raised in a household where money was tight. Properties had to be pawned in order for us to continue our education, hence I’ve always had a fear of losing money. This money personality quiz affirmed that for me.
However, in the same way that I learned how to not think much about getting high grades and having titles and owning name brands, I also eventually saw money as just money. I’ve always thought of it as something I’ll have the capacity to get. I didn’t want to be lorded over by it, didn’t want it to control the flow of my life.
I’m not getting any younger, though. As much as I’d like to squash the system and tell the man to suck it, I have to face my personal finance with more seriousness. I have been trying to get better at it for three years, and here’s where I’m currently at.
My personal finance in 2020
My husband and I share everything. We pool our finances and spend and save based on our combined earnings. I’d love to show you a chart with exact figures but for privacy reasons, of course, I won’t. So let me give you a rough idea of what we’re looking at each month. Here are the things we pay for:
- Rent
- Car loan (we have roughly two more years to go)
- Mortgage (We bit the bullet this year — yes, in the middle of the pandemic. I can talk about the reason behind our decision in another post.)
- Utilities (electricity, water, part of our internet — the company I work for pays for a portion of it) and groceries/food
- Our daughter’s tuition
- Both of our insurance policies
- A few credit card purchases.
The pandemic has made me paranoid not only over the virus but also the uncertainty of jobs at the moment. This same pandemic, however, has also brought out my trigger-happy purchasing tendencies. I have not made a big purchase, though, so I don’t feel too guilty. I spent mostly on beauty products, and I can always have this blog as an excuse for buying them. We also had a side hustle selling plants, so that covered some of our restaurant takeout expenses. My husband has also started trading his music stuff and he earns a bit from that too.
Looking ahead
We save a portion of our income for our emergency fund, which we’ve yet to finish. In truth, we already dipped into it because our car had to have the battery replaced. So that’s first on my list.
After that, we’re looking to invest. The first goal for that move is to set up a college fund for our daughter, and then a retirement fund for us.
To make sure I achieve these, I’m hoping to get a side hustle that helps us augment our current income. I’d love for this blog to be that, but the last time I earned from this was early this year and it’s not as consistent. Doesn’t mean I won’t try though! But I’m definitely open to more opportunities.
Aside from setting these goals, I’ve also been frequenting a few finance blogs. Plus, I’ve started reading up on posts from #personalfinanceph on Instagram to learn more about improving our current money situation.
How about you? Let’s talk about personal finance.