Hello, Super Normal Friends! Happy 2018!
I do hope your new year has gotten off to a good start. May not be great, yeah, but then we have a whole 365 (minus 17) days to turn it into one. That’s the best thing about new years, right? You have a reason to start fresh.
Anyway, the holidays had gotten the best of me for a time, as well as my brother’s and his family’s visit from Canada soon after, so I’m a late starter, somewhat, in terms of my real world concerns.
Some discussions about the changes made to taxation in the Philippines had been ongoing, and now the reality of it, and its impact to me, has become as real as it could get. Let’s just say that it is not impacting me in a positive way, and let’s say that the result is a considerable amount of money to be docked from my pay check in the near future.
Not good.
Some belt-tightening is in order, then. It’s either that, or some other drastic, earth-shaking event has to happen.
I will go with belt-tightening, thank you. For now.
Some ways I can save up a bit, here and there:
- Bring my own breakfast, lunch, snack to work. This goes for daughter, who should bring groceries during the weekday, so she can prepare her own meals instead of buying.
- Shop for fresh produce from the market, not the supermarket. Cheaper and fresher choices.
- Do my own laundry? Uhm.. That’s something to think about.
- Check out the best places to gas up. Not all gas stations are created equal, in terms of pricing, but I hear they get their supply from the same source, anyway, so there’s really no reason to be picky. Some may argue this, but gasoline is gasoline. Whatever makes the car, run…
- Review subscriptions. Do I really need Netflix? Errr…. Yes!
- Review subscriptions again.
- Make coffee at home. Limit Starbucks visit to once a month, if at all, from once a week.
- Stick to the shopping lists. It was made for a reason.
- Easy on the hobbies. Why get 3 pens when 1 will do? Awww…
- Absolutely no in-app purchases!!! (Yes, I am guilty. Please do not judge me.)
- Try to go for less to no “impact” living.
The last one’s a challenge, as it is so hard to maintain a “no impact” lifestyle. Will have to work on that now and share how I’ve progressed with that goal next week.
As they say, it’s not how much you make but how much you save, and I’m sure whatever take-home pay I end up with will suffice as long as we are smart and mindful of our expenses.
Sigh. Good luck to us all.
For information on the TRAIN Law, please click on links below:
Click to access RA-10963-RRD.pdf
https://www.entrepreneur.com.ph/news-and-events/the-extremely-busy-person-s-guide-to-the-new-tax-law-just-signed-by-president-duterte-a00246-20171219
http://kittelsoncarpo.com/the-train-law/
http://www.interaksyon.com/finance-officials-clarify-tax-issues-for-rohq-employees/
The Adventures of Super Normal Girl 