Joy and Fabian Rodrigueza is a young happy couple married a year ago. Both have thier own jobs but earning basic salaries. Before marrying, Fabian already bought a small flat near his office for them to save up money coming from the daily fare. They try their best to save up thou most of their income goes to food, electricity, water and monthly tenant dues.
With thier situation, Joy being the woman in the family, would like to save up more so they could afford to buy additional appliances at home that are ergonomically design to fit on the small space. Add to that, is the possibility of the addition of another member of the family very soon.
Just like what we did on our previous Electrolux Save & Share Blog Series post (read here the article about Clothes Donation) I got to ask Electrolux ambassador’s Mommy Mundo’s Janice Villanueva & Chef Rosebud Benitez to share their experiences on how they manage to Save up money.
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What do you do to ensure that utility bills (esp electricity and water) do not spike up?
Janice Villanueva: My household consists of 8 persons- 5 family members and 3 household staff and keeping utility costs down all boils down to education. For my husband and I, the homeowners, choosing energy efficient appliances, using the right settings for specific situations, and knowing how to use appliances properly are the key. Trickling this down this knowledge to the household helpers and kids is also important. To give an example with the use of aircons:
- Buy an energy efficient aircon by checking the EE rating, make sure you buy an aircon with capacity that matches the size of the room.
- For the helpers, teach them how to keep the aircon filters clean, and how to turn the aircon on and off and set proper thermostat setting.
- For the kids, teach them that aircons consume a lot of electricity so every hour you save from aircon use can be a big deal. Tell them for example that turning on the aircon at 7pm instead of 6pm everyday, will save you a lot when you multiply each day by 30 days in a month.
Teaching kids is also based on age appropriateness- like for teens, you can teach them to use the timer already. For school age, teach them how to turn and set the thermostat knob to keep aircon energy efficient. For younger kids, teach them to use the fan when it’s possible and the aircon only when really really needed already. When talking benefits, you can even say that cost of that extra hour of aircon use amounts to the price of their favorite toy. Speaking in kids’ terms helps them understand better and allows them to be more involved.
Chef Rosebud Benitez: We’ve recently changed all our lights to LED to save on electricity and we make sure that we remove the plug of all appliances not in use. We also just had barrels installed that act as a rain saver to cut down on our water bill.
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As a parent, do you find it important to share the value of savings to your kids? If yes, how do you do it? At what age is it best to start introducing the value of money and saving? Any tips on how other parents can creatively do this to their kids?
Janice: Like in anything, early education is important. Making saving a habit and instilling this in our kids early is the first step towards their financial wellness. The most basic is to open a bank account for them. If they are of age, involve them in this process. Bring them to the bank with you, show them how you fill up the form and deposit slip, give their money to the bank teller and show them their passbook. Money gifts from birthdays and Christmas make good seed money for their first junior savings account. Show them how their money earns interest every month. Then every time they get money gifts or their weekly allowance, provide them with healthy reminders and prompts to make them decide to keep the money in the bank than to spend it.
Besides this, you can also have concrete activities to provide a bit more “instant gratification” and let them reap rewards of saving money. When my kids want a new toy and we will not buy it for them because there is no special occasion, they will save up for the toy and earn money by saving their allowance in school, doing chores at home (we have a rate card for different chores), make crafts to sell to their lolas, uncles and aunts and our family friends and even at some of the mini markets/ bazaars that I organize. They also sometimes work at our kid-friendly events as staff and earn an allowance which they also put in their savings fund.
Chef Rosebud: Yes it’s very important to teach your kids to save. You can start teaching them as soon as you give them allowance for school. What I did with my kids before when they were younger was I gave them piggy banks where they’ll put their savings. My kids had a competition as to who will get to save more between them. By December, we’d crack open their piggy banks to determine who wins. Whoever wins gets a prize from me. Now that they’re older, I made them open bank accounts for their savings.
Hope you’ve learn something from what Chef Rosebud and Ms. Janice Villanueva have shared. Saving is essentially needed specially if your on a tight budget, like Joy and Fabian Rodrigueza saving up as early as now would greatly help them in the coming future.
“The Electrolux Save & Share Blog Series is part of the Electrolux Delightful-E simple campaign which aims to help moms save not just money but also their precious time by making their everyday tasks delightfully simple and easy. It is a web series hosted by 10 of the top entertainment and lifestyle bloggers in the country where they get to ask Electrolux brand ambassadors Cheska Garcia Kramer, Chef Rosebud Benitez, Chef Bruce Lim and Mommy Mundo’s Janice Villanueva about creative yet effective ways to save household expenses and sharing blessings to others.”
For more information on the Electrolux Save and Share Blog Series, visit www.facebook.com/thelittlewhitebook or follow @ElectroluxPH on Twitter and Instagram.
