Know Your Expenses

Part of my life here in city is to find a living. Actually, that’s the main purpose why I’m staying here is to earn something for myself. One of the common problems that most of the entry level position earners encounter is to budget their own money. Engaging in this kind of situation will truly give you a head ache. Most of the time, you’ll find it hard how you can allocate your earnings from your expenditures. Living on your own is quite hard but there’s nothing you can do. You have to deal with it.

I already expect this, on my first paycheck, for sure nothing will be left for me. I really have to make a wise budgeting with this money. And to think of it, I cannot indulge my cravings this time. Hmm, well, that’s the first dilemma that I’ve been expecting.

I’m quite lucky because I don’t have to pay for any rental on my lodging. I’m staying with my aunt but still have to give her some credits for letting me stay in their home. Another thing to be thankful of is that I don’t spend that much for my food. Again, my aunt provides me, breakfast, lunch and dinner. The only thing that I provide for myself is my snacks at the office.

So, here’s the things that includes in my expenses. Number one is my transportation fare. Everyday I’ve been spending almost 90 pesos for all the fares, including the tricycle, jeepney, bus and sometimes LRT ride. My job is quite far from the house I’m staying to. But I’m quite used to the daily sort of tour everyday from Manila to Quezon City. And when the weekend comes, I have to extend my travel through our province in Laguna. Whew!

My number two expenses go with my knick knacks. These things include the toiletries (soap, tissues, cologne, etc.), snacks (dark chocolates, mints, etc.). The third part is for my medication. I’m opting to this regard this but since childhood I really don’t have a healthy body. I should keep regular dose of those thyroid related pills as well as those proton pump inhibitor drugs.

The fourth part of my salary goes to none other than my cell phone allowance. I know that there are also many people like me who include their cell phones on their allowance. This should not be taken for granted. Because sometimes we don’t even know that we’ve been spending so much on the things which is not that necessary to us.

The last part is the one that I will give to mother. But she always insists of receiving money from us. She says that we better keep it from our own future. Actually, I’ve been trying to save something for myself in every paycheck that I’ll receive. Although unfortunately, sometimes there are some guilty pleasures which I cannot resist of doing.

The urban life offers a fast phasing environment. If you really don’t know how to catch up on it, then for sure you will be left behind. Life has too much to offer and I am always surrounded with things that I wanted to buy. Unfortunately, not all the things that I wanted are the things that I needed. So, I need to balance my cravings beyond the stuffs that I wish to include in my possessions. We should know how to handle our money. But we should also learn to give credit for our selves for all the hard work that we’ve done.

Photos from Flicr.com