Bills Budgets And Bank Accounts Things To Do 3: Fill & Download for Free

Yesterday my bank account was at $-50.In my negligence, I forgot that a $115 Wordpress charge would hit if I didn’t cancel it.… I didn’t cancel it.Then Spotify took $10.No.Acorns swiped $5.Shit.And my electric took $65.Aw, fuck.Including food, gas, and bills, I now needed to come up with a few hundred dollars before the month was out. I had negative dollars in my checking account and $0.02 in my savings.I couldn’t sleep. I kept running the math through my head — even if I got enough to pay my bills, it wouldn’t be enough for the $100 in gas I’d use (3 trips to Denver and driving to and from Wyoming adds up quickly). And food? Forget it.The next few days did not help.My car flashed a “low tire pressure” light and I could tell one back tire was going flat. When I put in for an appointment at the mechanic, the site said it’d cost $50.UGH.I got a bill in the mail for bloodwork I needed a few months ago. $100 DUE IMMEDIATELY, it said in menacing bold font.Cool.My mom reminded me that I had to get a storage unit before I moved in December… a unit I’d need to procure this week. $85, please.Fuckin’ great.A bit of money came in, but compared to what needed to go out, I was screwed.I’m gonna be honest, this situation happens to me a lot — partially because I’m terrible at budgeting and partially because I’m poor. It seems like I’m always stressing about how I’ll make it all happen.What stresses those around me out is that I usually worry about it for a day… then I move on. I live by the quote, “Things have a habit of working out, you know. Eventually.”So I let them work themselves out.Today I went to the mechanic to fix my leaky tire and get an oil change. I was mentally ready to part with $50+, but when the guy came inside, he smiled.“All covered. You’re under warranty. Normally we’d charge for the tire, but I told them you mentioned the nail stuck in it and they waived it.”I can’t speak for the lab bill (which I still haven’t paid), but for the storage unit? Turns out Mom gets a discount, so they waived all of the admin fees and deposits for us.And on top of it all, someone I forgot I did work for a few months ago messaged me out-of-the-blue asking how much she owed me — and Venmoed me tonight.So while this month is still going to be tight… I’ll make it. I always do, somehow. *I’m a notorious pessimist but when shit really is going to hit the fan, I’m a pretty firm believer that things have a habit of working out. You know. Eventually.And I don’t plan on giving that up anytime soon.There’s a bunch of information I didn’t include here because it’s boring that explains how I went from $-50 to being able to pay my bills for the month. Long story short, drug dealing. Just kidding, robbery. Just kidding. Some of it is reducing the expenses mentioned here and getting that extra cash I wasn’t expecting; the rest is super tight budgeting and trying to move up when certain clients pay me. Also, not paying my car payment on time. Because that’s responsible.But things have a habit of working out — so I’m not worried.

I am a 33 year old Filipino male. I'd say I am moderately wealthy. My wealth did not come from business or hard work. I won the lottery, 16,000,000 Pesos. That's currently $322,734USD.I work as a Virtual Assistant, earning about $400USD a month, i'm still working even after I am already a millionare. The money came so fast that I did not know what to do with my life.I was in the office doing my job when I remembered to check the lottery result, it was before lunch break. Then I saw the numbers. All six digits on the small paper I was holding matched the winning lottery numbers. I was so shocked that I won, i forgot to eat lunch. I filed a 2 day vacation leave for the following week so I can claim the money. I live in Cebu, and I have to claim the money in the lottery main office located in Manila.I did not tell anyone that I was holding a ticket that is worth 16 million pesos. I couldn't even get some sleep, not because I was stresed out or anything like that, I just can't wrap around my head on what I will do with the money.So the day came that I will fly to Manila to claim the money. When I arrived to the Philippine Charity Sweepstake Office building, I presented my credentials and told the lady in the front desk that I was there to claim my winnings. She then made a phone call and asked me to wait for a few mins as someone will be there to meet me. I was assisted to one of the office to meet the head of the department. There I presented my ticket and ID. He had someone verify the ticket, few minutes later that person came back with the validation. After a few minutes more I was handed an envelope with a check inside. It was like a dream, opening the envelope and seeing the check with the numbers written on them. over 16 million pesos. He was smiling, I was smiling. All I said was thank you. I was pretty much in awe and all of it has not totally sinked in. We shook hands, he congratulated me and I left.I then went to the nearest bank and opened an account for the money. I withdrawed a small amount as pocket money on my way back to Cebu.It's not really that hard to be a secret millionaire. Well, for someone like me who doesn't really have much wants in life. Though I have millions in the bank, I still continued to work as a VA. What changed is that when payday comes, I use my salary to treat everyone in my floor. I still eat at fast food chains like before. Pretty much doing most of the regular things I was doing.After a couple of months I decided to take all my money from my bank account. I bought a motorcycle, a Kawasaki Ninja 300, my long time dream motorcycle. Then a bought a piece of land south of the city, near the province, had a small house build there. I bought a deposit box and stored some of my money there. Then I rented an apartment, bought another deposit box for that apartment and placed my money there as well. I then went to my friends, those who are very close to me. One friend I gave him 150,000 pesos ($3,000) and told him to keep it a secret to anyone and to use the money for his family.I opened an bank account for me niece and deposited 1 million pesos for her future. She can only use it once she turns 18 years old. I gave my brother 1 million pesos for him to use whatever he likes.I'm not having a problem 'blending in'. People ask me where I got the money to pay for the motorcycle. In my country, you can get a motorcycle through motorcycle dealer loans, and what's what I used. Motorcycle loan is a common thing. They did not suspect I paid cash for it. No one else knew about the 2 safehouses I have, where my money are stored and I intend to keep it that way.I can say that with the money i have, I can live as a king for the rest of my life. I don't spend on luxury items and I do not have an expensive lifestyle. I spend on what I need and think twice if it is a want.EDIT:I understand that keeping my money in safehouses is a dumb thing to do. I know that. I prefer to have my money with me than to have the banks keep it. I don’t trust the banks. Period. One more thing, the maximum amount insured for depositing your money to a bank is 500,000 pesos only. So, if the bank shuts down, whatever the amount you have in there, only 500,000 pesos will come back to you.The thing is, the house I have built is just a small house, just like the rest of the houses nearby. I look like just anyone else and no one can tell that I have millions with me, let alone hidden inside my house. Yeah, I have a nice ride but it’s a ride anyone who is in my line of work can afford. People have asked where I work, and I tell them, and they immediately know that I am capable of paying for such ride.No one can steal my money if no one knows where they are. Whoever tries to steal the safe would have to destroy the door or the wall for them to carry it. Good luck with that. On top of that, my money if safely hidden. The safe is hidden and the visible safe is empty. Typical Filipino mentality is if you do not have a big house, it is obvious that you do not have much money. let alone keep money in your house.Investing is a good idea as some of you mentioned, spend some of my money to earn more money. At my current financial state, I really don’t need any more money. I run a small online business and it is going well. I still have over 10 million left and my monthly spending is less just about $300 and I am earning money from my job. Basically, you can think of my money as something for emergency purposes. LOL.Like i mentioned above, I don’t live a luxurious lifestyle and I am happy with my life. I have the things I want and need. I do not hunger for money as I have more than I can spend.Thanks for the feedback, though!SECOND EDIT:Someone asked how I am able to live my life with just $400 a month.Here’s the breakdown of how I live my life before I won the lottery.I commute to work, spend $1 for transportation, that’s already a round trip. No, I don’t own a car. Never said I own one.I eat lunch at a fast food chain with $2–$3 meal. Another $1 for an afternoon snack.I cook at home, typical budget is $3.That’s my typical daily spending, $10. That’s $300 for 30 days. So i still have $100, right?Once a week, i watch a movie in the big screen, I spend $7 for movie ticket and snacks. That’s $28 for 4 weeks.Average monthly electrical bill is $11. Yes, I don’t use that much electricity.That leaves me with $61, about 3,000 pesos. And that’s 3,000 pesos ON TOP of my savings, no, not the lotto money, ok? From the 3,000 pesos, i give 1,000 to my mom and 500 pesos to my brother.I still have 1,500 pesos for personal use. I normally don’t have anything to spend that 1,500 pesos. And then the next pay day comes in. Another $400 and I still have money left from my previous pay.What about leisure, you ask? I live near mountains and near the sea. I either just do trekking or fishing. I’m not the type to go out town for a vacation. Anywhere quite with trees is good enough for me. That’s how I am able to live by such small amount.On paper, I am married.In real life, I am single. Single, as in no GF.And no, my ex doesn’t know about the money. We’ve been living our own lives for over 3 years now. I have no intention of letting her know I am now a millionaire.

The key to saving money from a salary is controlling your spending.Why? Because most people—even those with high salaries—live paycheck to paycheck.I saved over 50% of my salary last year by following these 3 simple steps:1. Know Your Free-to-Spend NumberFirst, take your post-tax salary number. For simplicity, let’s say it’s $5,000 per month.Then subtract your monthly bills—things like rent, cable/internet, and phone; let’s call this $1500.Then subtract the amount you want to save every month. Let’s say that’s $1000.The remaining amount—$2,500 in this case—is the amount you have free to spend on discretionary items this month.Divide that by the days in the month, and you’ve got a free-to-spend number for each day. Things get so much simpler when you know you can spend $83 dollars today.2. Track Your SpendingYour goal is to spend no more than your free-to-spend number above. To do that, you need to know how much you’re spending day in and day out.You can do this by adding up your transactions from your bank accounts and credit cards every day in a spreadsheet.If you want something more automated and live in the US, my company Swish makes a free app that calculates all this for you.Unlike other budgeting apps, it’s so simple you’ll actually use it!3. Eliminate Waste to Increase Your SavingsFinally, you should cut out unnecessary expenses.This is normally the thing people tell you to do first, but honestly I think that’s totally backwards. If you try to live like a monk, you’ll never stick to your budget.But once you know how much you can spend each day, it’s way easier to decide if buying something is actually worth it to you.Will these shoes really make me happy? Do I really need that extra drink?If yes, buy it! If no, save the money so you have more free to spend tomorrow.