Being Mr. Scrooge

Dr. Noet Ravalo, Inquirer business-advise-giver, wrote that he "dissaved" over the holidays. He went on an unplanned vacation with his family, and they had fun. Interesting new word...
dissaved (dis-seyvd) - verb, antonym of save, not to set aside, not to reserve or not to lay by: to dissave money

In other words - he spent lots of money!!!

Here's an excerpt of his article:

"Over the holidays, my family and I dissaved. We took an unplanned family vacation to see relatives and friends we have not seen in over 10 years. My family thoroughly enjoyed it.

We always stress the virtue of saving because what we save is the treasure that we bring to the future. But what we often forget is that saving, in practice, does not mean that we should stop spending.

The point of saving is not only to accumulate but also to save for something. We cannot minimize for the sake of minimizing. Ebenizer Scrooge was a miser until the three ghosts put cause-and-effect in perspective. He had that privilege; some of us may come to that conclusion too late."

I personally think that he's feeling guilty and he's justifying his spending with this article. Hahahaha! I fully appreciate what he's trying to say and to some degree he's right. In a gist I think what he wants to say is that we shouldn't be frugal and deny ourselves of the utter pleasure of spending. I also agree that you need to have a goal for saving (retirement, vacation, children's education, emergency fund,etc). But, sometimes we need to minimize for the sake of minimizing - for the simple reason of building the habit of saving. (Plus its environmental to consume less! Be green!) I'm sure most if not all fall victim to making it a resolution to save at the start of the year and end the year without a piso - all blown out in holiday shopping! It's a vicious cycle. Tsk tsk. So save a few pesos everyday and make it a habit.

I have yet to find out if BPI does automatic transfer of funds (say monthly). What I'm doing now is to transfer some money from my BPI savings account to my BPI Trade account as soon as I deposit my salary check. I can't withdraw from my BPI Trade account so my savings are safely tucked in. A day before I receive my next salary, I empty any remaining money in my BPI savings and dump them all in my BPI Trade account - that's extra money saved. The key is discipline.

I also save all my P10 coins in a large old green lambanog bottle. That's my Christmas stash.

There's something in Dr. Noet's article that I just can't swallow:

"I know of someone who no longer takes his car to work. He has reserved parking space at work but he wanted to save on gasoline expense. In so doing, his mobile phone has been snatched twice in a shuttle service. Was it worth it?"

What's his point? It's like saying I got robbed because I left the house! I say ditch the car and keep your eyes open! I've been commuting since .... ever... and I have never been robbed. (I almost was, but that's another story). Doesn't your mother (how ever old you are) tell you to keep your phones in your bag/pocket and don't show it off as if its Christmas present? Yes, having your phone snatched twice is well worth it if you're gonna learn to keep a hold of it properly! I can go get a loan for a car but have not because the fuel prices are soooo high, traffic in Manila is so bad it's more convenient to commute, and imagine your carbon footprint! Of course a car would be good for your image (and ego) but it serves the same purpose as the MRT or the bus or the jeep... it gets you to where you want to be at less cost. I say buy a car when you can buy it cash, when you'll be using it for multiple passengers or for business purposes.

My personal goal for saving is for a business that will ultimately free me from saving. Put up the business first before the house or the car or anything else, make the business work, and reap in the goods! Ok, no body better rain on my parade and tell me I'm wishful thinking!