With the recent changes in my life and career, I knew I’d have to make corresponding changes in lifestyle.
Leaving Smart has created a significant reduction in my incoming cashflow. Thus, I’ve made a couple of decisions that will help me protect my finances from leaking away.
Many times in the past, I’ve allowed my cash to leak away in all sorts of expenses. We learn from our mistakes. If we don’t, the lesson is repeated until we do.
So here goes a growing list of guidelines for some lifestyle changes I’m making.
- Eat at home more often – I used to have breakfast at the Smart Cafeteria, lunch and dinner outside. I probably ate at home around 3 times a week. I don’t want to call this guideline “Eat out less often” because that sounds like a goal of deprivation. I’d rather eat home more often :-)
- Use more FREE WiFi hotspots – I’m learning which public areas have free WiFi. I don’t want to be accessing from cafe’s too often – magastos pa rin when I buy a drink.
- Less of Mobile facebook/gmail/twitter – When I was with Smart, it was typical for me to access FB/gmail/twitter on my mobile phone any time of the day. This cost me P10/30mins. Now I’m being more selective of when I access these sites.
- Less calls, more efficient texting – It was a slight adjustment to have to be more conscientious about voice call usage. Typically I wouldn’t hesitate making calls to colleagues at Smart. Now I need to think twice whether a call is required or if SMS (or email) can do the job better.
- Unlimited calls subscription – I got myself a mobile landline. I also got myself a subscription to unlimited calls. This will allow me to make business/personal calls at a more affordable price.
- Smarter commuting. Less taxi rides, more jeep/bus/train rides. Plan trips better, batch meetings/errands in the same locations. I also use a courier service that takes care of picking up and delivering documents or packages.
- More selective buying. I’ll be comparing prices more these days. Whereas I used to buy things without looking for other better value items, this time I’m more conscious about saving a little more and protecting my cashflow.
- Shower everyday. Now that I have more time in my hands, I get to shower everyday. Hahaha! :D Sarap pala maligo araw-araw! (just checking if you’re really reading).
Apart from these changes that are meant to protect my finances, there are lifestyle changes that I cherish much for the value they give me.
- I take afternoon siestas these days. :-) My parents always took their afternoon siesta. In most of my 12 years of employment, I haven’t had this luxury — until now! :D Wahoo!
The other day, I had a feast of my home-cooked steamed creme dory, miso soup and freshly sliced veggies …
After my sumptuous meal, I called my parents.
I asked them: “Are you taking your siesta now? … ‘Coz I am! wahoo!” :D
Ah, simple pleasures!
There’s so much more to life and I’m loving discovering this new way to live.
ka edong
Natuwa ako sa siesta because I can relate to it… Doing it since I started the tutorial :) FYI: taking a nap improves learning (got that from my student)