Year: 2019

More often than not, Filipinos would take the money-saving route when it comes to purchasing supplies. This is common among households and is a widely accepted strategy in order to save up for the unforeseeable future. However, cutting cost doesn’t always necessarily mean that you’ll be safe from huge expenditures in the long run. No matter how hard you try, there will always be situations in which you will have to shell out more than what your planned budget indicates. These are known as emergency expenditures, and if you’re not well-prepared, they would cost more than you can handle. In such case, you should know the proper dos and don’ts when it comes to saving, know how to separate fact from fiction. Here are just a few important pointers:

1. The amount you’ll spend on monthly groceries.

• Fiction: Always buy the cheaper alternatives.
• Fact: Items with a slightly higher cost would last longer and have a higher quality than the cheaper ones.

Consider this when buying toiletries and other items which you may use and apply on your body. Cheaper soap and shampoo may do more harm than good, causing a strange allergic reaction on your skin and scalp. The medical fees resulting from this may cost more than what you’ve saved. The same goes for cheap canned goods and ingredients. This doesn’t mean you’ll always need to choose the high-valued brands, but rather the mid-priced alternatives to them.

• The amount you’ll save in unplugging your appliances.

• Fiction: Your appliances do not consume electricity when turned off.
• Fact: They somehow consume less electricity when turned off, but are still making your utility meters run.

Even if you were to turn off your television, the fact that it still lights up its on/off indicator would mean that it still consumes electricity. The same goes for your radio, desktop computer, and even those over-charged cellphones and tablets you’ve unintentionally left overnight. Make it a habit to unplug appliances and devices when not in use. Believe us, you’ll be able to save more on utility bills this way.

• The amount you’ll save on meal choices.

• Fiction: Due to the current prices of vegetables, meat should be the immediate option when it comes to daily meals.
• Fact: Knowing the right place to purchase vegetables would allow you to buy them in a lower price, hence, enabling you to save.

Vegetables should always be a regular part of your meals. Of course, their current prices should not be ignored, but buying them from your local wet market instead of the air-conditioned groceries would at least help you avail a bundle with a lower price. Feel free to bargain with the seller, if you must. It is the wet market, after all.

• The amount you’ll save on membership cards.

• Fiction: You’ll always be able to save more using your grocery membership cards.
• Fact: Most of these membership cards only guaranty points, which you’ll be able to exchange for freebies, and not price cuts on your purchases.

Many have been deceived by these membership cards. It is not to say that all of them do not provide discounts every once in a while, as some variations of membership cards actually slash a few amounts off your purchase totals, but that’s exactly the point, only some of them do, not all of them. Of course, feel free to ask your local grocery stores and establishments about this detail, so as not to waste time and money in registering for these “exclusive memberships” which only reward a few sets of cutleries come Christmas time.

• The safety of your money, with regards to where they’re kept.

• Fiction: It’s better to keep all of your savings within the confines of a sturdy, metallic safe at home.
• Fact: The bank will always be a better choice when it comes to keeping your savings safe and sound.

Having your hard-earned cash near you isn’t always the best option. This doesn’t mean that you should just trust anyone to handle your life-savings for you, but rather, deposit them in a well-trusted bank. Keeping your whole savings at home, locked in a safe actually comes with many consequences, the sudden offset of fire, natural disasters, burglary, you name it. You wouldn’t even be at home the whole time, so there are instances in which you’ll be leaving your money unmonitored and vulnerable against crafty thieves. Never make this crucial mistake. Deposit your savings in a bank.

With all of that being said, you’re probably looking to open a bank account with a name and service that you can trust. Look no further than Cebuana Lhuiller’s Micro Savings. Initially offered in our Rural Bank branches, it is now available through our entire Cebuana Lhuillier branch networks. Simply put, you can use your 24K Plus cards at any of our Cebuana Lhuillier Pawnshop and Bank Branches in order to withdraw from or deposit to your savings. With a minimum deposit amount of only P50 and no minimum maintaining balance, it’s incredibly easy to apply for one. You can even check your savings amount via SMS. Visit your nearest Cebuana Lhuillier branch now – we assure a fast, easy and secure transaction.

Teaching your kids to save at an early age would be beneficial for their future. Aside from the fact that it would develop a lifelong habit to use their money wisely as they grow up, they would also be disciplined well enough to not spend their future earnings in one go. Indeed, teaching your kids the value of money in their younger years would yield great results in the long run, but such task is not easy. As a parent, you should orient them that if  they were to sow as early as now, they would surely reap a great reward. Of course, it would take a lot of convincing to make them follow through with this life lesson, but perhaps you may inform them of the following examples, a few rewards and incentives that they may encounter along the way:

1)Developing the habit to save would help them set aside a few amounts for future needs.

It’s basically telling them about the proper use of their lunch money. If they were to keep loose change from their daily allowance, come Christmas time, they may have enough for that shiny new toy they saw at the mall. Toys are always good motivators for kids, and you may use this to your advantage in training them to save. It would also avoid the unnecessary purchases of candies, since kids would usually avail sweets with their remaining loose changes at school.

2) Developing the need to save would reap higher rewards, something that they may even forget about.

This would be best implemented if you were to provide them with a piggy bank. The thing about piggy banks is that you wouldn’t be able to see or count the full amount, unless you were to break it open (though some modern piggy banks now have removable lids on them). Your kids would be inclined to drop their loose change after school in the piggy bank, and you should make sure that they do this every day. If you would implement this consistently, the piggy bank would be too heavy for your toddlers to carry, a little indication that you may now break it open, after which, allow them see the amazing result of saving. Sometimes, they may even forget about the rewards at the end, only dropping loose change in the piggy bank due to habit. Saving a little each day would result to huge savings at the end.

3) Developing the habit of saving would ready them for the future as whole.

Let them know that many grown-ups still struggle with their finances due to them missing this important lesson at an early age. While setting aside the darker details, in a very casual and kid-friendly manner, tell them stories of adults and families being stuck in the loop of debt, due lack of discipline with money. Yes, it is a very replaceable commodity, but lack of it thereof results to very critical situations, and even sometimes, into poverty.

With all of that being said, you’re probably looking for a bank that you’d be able to trust with all of your life’s worth of savings (and perhaps a Kids Savings Account for your little ones as well). Look no further than Cebuana Lhuiller’s Micro Savings. Initially offered in our Rural Bank branches, it is now available through our entire Cebuana Lhuillier branch networks. Simply put, you can use your 24K Plus cards at any of our Cebuana Lhuillier Pawnshop and Bank Branches in order to withdraw from or deposit to your savings. With a minimum deposit amount of only P50 and no minimum maintaining balance, it’s incredibly easy to apply for one. You can even check your savings amount via SMS. Visit your nearest Cebuana Lhuillier branch now – we assure a fast, easy and secure transaction.