No, I didn't win the lottery nor the sweepstakes. A never-known rich uncle didn't die and left me with moolah. And nope, I didn't have to hock my furnitures or my baubles for extra cash either.
The money is from a designed-to-be-forgotten automatic savings programme that I committed to just a little over two years ago. And why is the money out of the savings programme and into my bank, you ask? In my bank where its oh so easy to access via direct debit in stores?
Okay, relax. This post is not a confession about an imminent shopping frenzy. (I haven't done anything remarkable these last few months to merit a shopfest. And I'm not depressed too, my trigger to go crazy.) From the title of this post, you can see that this is my testimony to saving.
Over two years ago, I was whiling my afternoon in Borders here, and as is my wont, I soon found myself with a financial self-help book titled The Automatic Millionnaire by David Bach.(I'm such a sucker for these kinds of books!)
After speed-reading through the book, the author had convinced me that I could save money without hardship if I capitalise on the automation of the ways of today's society by setting up a savings plan that I can forget about. This is done by allowing a bank or a financial institution to deduct a specified sum from my payday account, for example, every month without fail, right on the time when pay is banked in.
By doing this, saving is made automatic -- eliminating the usual excuses to not saving, like the Oh-I-don't-make-enough-to save or the I-just-don't-know-where my-money-goes, to I-forgot-to-transfer-the-money excuses. The rationale is, you won't miss the amount that is not even in the account that you work with every day. The author said this is the practical application of the Pay Yourself First motto of saving, which essentially means that one must pay oneself first (by saving or socking away an amount) before one pays the utility company, the credit card company, the grocery, the car company, etc every month.
And so, I soon called up my insurance agent to ask if they had such an automatic savings/investment plan that I could sign up with. She said yes, they do have it, asked me how much I was keen on saving a month, and voila, a few days later, I actually signed the paperwork for the scheme.
True enough, I soon forgot about the $250 that was deducted from my account every month since then. Until recently, when I remarked to my insurance agent-friend that I was financially gearing up for my first balloon payment in Sept for a condo we are paying for in Manila.
May: 'I think you have enough in your investment plan with me to pay about half of the P500k you are preparing for.'
Me (all agog): 'WHAT?!!! I do?'
May: 'I'm sure. Just do your sums. $250 over more than two years.'
Me: 'It's been two years since then? I can't believe that.'
May: 'Time flies when you're having fun, my friend.'
WOW! And just like that, I have an extra $6,000 in the bank! And it's all going toward an asset too!
Reflecting on this later, I couldn't help but be grateful and awed at the blessings I have been provided. I'm in no measure financially rich, but I have been blessed tremendously and right at the opportune moments too to have more than enough in the pocket to cover all of our requirements. To all these, I say, Thank You, My Lord. All glory and honour be unto You.
:-)
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