8 TIPS ON SPENDING AND SAVING

 1. If you feel that the weekly allowance your parents are giving you does not seem to be enough, then nobody has to tell you about inflation. You’re actually experiencing  it. You know the problem of stretching each peso as far as possible.

2. When you spend more than you earn or receive, you help contribute to inflation. When you buy more food than you can eat, you help raise price. So one way students can help beat inflation is by spending less and saving or investing more.

3. Saving begins with wise spending. Nobody can tell you how to use you money wisely, whether it’s a quarter or a hundred pesos. What might be wise for one person might be unwise for another. But there are certain rules which can help you get the most for your money.

4. One such rule is to practice comparison buying. If you’re going shopping for something, don’t just walk into a store and buy what you want at whatever price they’re asking for it. Check out the same item in another store and see which is the better buy.

5. You must likewise avoid “impulse buying” – walking into a store and plunking your money down on the spur of the moment. Decide what you want first. Plan what to buy, and buy only what you really want. Make sure the quality meets your needs. Be selective. After all – it’s your money.

6. Learning how to understand newspaper, magazine, TV and radio advertisements can also save your money. Items “On Sale” may not always be good buys.

7. Stores use the word SALE a lot now because of inflation. They feel it attracts customers. A sale item may be worth the price it’s selling at, but it may never have been worth the price the stores say it used to sell for.

8. Finally, you should take advantage of consumer education courses now being offered or to be offered in some of our schools. Such courses teach us how to spend your money wisely. They teach about proper use of credit and how to make you’re really getting what you pay for. There are also some magazines which give consumers comparative buying and testing information.

                How can a young person, burdened with such demands, save anything?

                First, he must discover where his money is going. To do this, he must keep a record. In the beginning, the record must be itemized to the last centavo. Boring? Yes, indeed. But after two months of writing down every expenditure in a notebook, he’ll have a clear picture of where his coins are dropping. The result may be a shock.

                Remember, money – even in small amounts – gives freedom to do something on your own. It is your tiny edge against poverty; the edge that can grow in strength and sharpness to an instrument for carving out a solid financial future. And the whole process can start with a saved peso – or even a centavo.

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Special Credit to: Julio F. Silverio