Growing up in a Chinese family, we were instilled with the value of money. We couldn’t just spend money since we were brought up to keep in mind that money is hard-earned and should be spent wisely.
As we moved to a home just a few steps away from school to beat the everyday traffic, my brother and I would go home for lunch. We got snacks we wanted when we went to the supermarket with mom. Because everything was supplied, we were given only a small monthly allowance. It’s not that much, but I would find ways to let it grow.
At a young age, I was reselling stuff to cover my expenses. In elementary, I started playing table tennis. Whenever we traveled to Hong Kong, I scouted for table tennis rackets and rubbers and sold them. I then supplied myself with upgrades as well. When I studied Biochemistry, I would buy lab gowns and dissecting kits, to name a few, in bulk and sell them to my block mates.
When I was reviewing for the board exam, I was able to connect to Casio Philippines and sold many units of scientific calculators as well. Thank you to social media because it was the best medium I used to advertise whatever I had on hand, including antigen test kits during the pandemic.
I enjoyed these experiences. Profit came secondary, though. I was happy to find ways to take advantage of the situation, determine the demand and help save prospective clients’ time by delivering quality products I could find in the market. This is how I started to earn some margin to earn and save for my wants.
As I go through life, I learned that earning money is important, but having a goal for that money is even more important. The money I’ve been earning is not only to cover today’s expenses, but also to save up for the future. When I landed my first job, I secured my emergency funds immediately. Lo and behold, this emergency fund became usable during the pandemic when my application to Elevate was on hold. This sustained me during the five months of the unknown as Elevate was still figuring out how to navigate the next steps for our batch.
I also started to invest in Pag-ibig MP2 during my first work, as the company offered direct salary deductions. This helped me save money as it was automatically deducted.
One time, my friend’s mom started to share how she gained P20,000 from one of her UITFs. This stirred my interest and made me research what UITF is. I then opened my first UITF account with BPI using my first Christmas bonus. During the pandemic, when my job started and my income became stable again, I saw the stock market go down. I took advantage of this opportunity and bought some undervalued stocks to invest in.
These different opportunities opened the door for me to study, manage the risk and earn some money. Now, as I build my assets, I realize that saving up is not just for my expenses now or for the future when I retire, but also for my legacy for the next generation. This is to help them start their lives better with leverage, and not to start again from the beginning.
Building assets for the next generation and passing this strategic mindset to them on how to earn will be the best inheritance they can have from me.
The author is an MBA student at the Ramon V. Del Rosario College of Business of De La Salle University. She wrote this reflection paper for her class on Integral Human Development. She can be reached at [email protected].
The views expressed above are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the official position of DLSU, its faculty, and its administrators.