Credit Card Spending for 2010 Review

Patterned after my 2009 post.

As I sat and waited for 2011, I had this nerdy edge to do this CC Analysis again.

Credit Card: BPI Edge with E-Credit
Penalties Paid: Php 0
Annual Fee: 0. Easily reversed, no need to fight for it.
Period: January 2010 and December 2010 (12 months)

Percentage of Expenses swiped in CC: 37%. (Expenses is defined as Net Income less Savings/Investments).

Lowest amount swiped - Php 90++ for junk food
Hight amount swiped - Php 4,000+ only. My biggest purchase of the year - an LCD TV - was paid for in cash.

The 2010 CC Pie Chart

Necessary Stuff, 11%
Halved from 2009 - since I didn't buy a laptop this year. Still includes my eyewear, really-must-have books and magazines, haircut and music-related purchases.

Clothes, Shoes and Accessories, 21%
Up from 19% in 2009.I bought less shoes this year because I lack space and I diverted the fund to travelling. I got more interested in using make-up because of the four weddings I attended this 2010. Not bad. I am not out of control here.

Food- 27%
Up from 20% in 2009. Lots of family meals, friends meals and my office snacks. So that's where the pounds came from. (Grrrrrr)

Naki-Swipe - 13%
Almost the same rate as last year. I still volunteer my CC for swiping purposes. .

Gifts - 7%
Did I become more kuripot this 2010? Down from 9% in 2009.

Travel - 6%
Online ticket purchases, travel gears, travel stuff (sublock, food, etc.).Same rate as at year. And I thought I travelled more this year.

Donations - 7%
My sponsorships billed thru my credit card. I also signed up as a sponsor in WWF. Less hassle in paying. Nakatulong ka na,may points pa!

Whatever stuff - 6%
Doubled from last year. Looking at the breakdown, it really comprises of the "whatevers" - slippers, random stuff from National Bookstore, random stuff from Landmark. Gotta keep an eye on this on 2011.

Entertainment - 2%
Movie and concert tickets. Same rate as last year. A measly 2% for my share. I so love Ayala malls for accepting BPI CCs to buy movie ticketts.

Amount of Monthly CC Swiping:


Spikes:
Less spikes for 2010 compared to 2009.
May - bought CDO tix, Swiped for others more than usual.

That's it! No spikes even for December 2010. And all my gift purchases are already in my December billing statement.


Freebies analysis:
BPI promos sucked this year. Sucked big time. There were gap periods with their promos. They had this Timezone promo I completely ignored. I just claimed a total of 11 free items - with a retail price equivalent to approximately 1,000? Or less. I hated the Goldilocks promo too. I hope they offer better deals this 2011.

So all in all, my CC usage looks pretty good and almost boring for 2010. No major cc swipings done. No interests and penalties paid. Let's hope I can keep this up this 2011!

Credit Card Spending for 2009 Review

Why am doing this? Blame it on being an accountant coupled with my fear of being wrongly billed or overspending. But I do want to check how having a CC affected my spending habits.I got my credit card last December 2008.

Credit Card: BPI Edge with E-Credit
Penalties Paid: Php 0
Annual Fee: Free for the first year, reversed for the next 6 months
Period: December 2008 - December 2009 (13 months)

Percentage of Expenses swiped in CC: 38%. (Expenses is defined as Net Income less Savings/Investments)

Lowest amount swiped - Php 70++ for toiletries
Hight amount swiped - Php XX,XXX for laptop

100% Pie = CC usage.

Necessary Stuff, 22%
This one is quite misleading. It is 22% because I bought a laptop this year. So huge chunk of the 22% pertains to that purchase. This also includes my eyewear, really-must-have books and magazines, haircut and music-related purchases.

Clothes and Shoes, 19%
I buy cheap clothes. Thanks to Trinoma Landmark. Tutuban and 168 clothes are sold in Trinoma landmark anyway.I bought more expensive shoes this year. And this chunk excludes all of those I purchased online (which requires bank deposit).

Food- 20%
Comprises of my food intake paid thru CC, birthday meals, family treats, groceries and pasalubong. Groceries also include some bathroom items but that is very minimal so I didn't bother taking that out of this slice.

Naki-Swipe - 14%
When the group eats, I volunteer my credit card. For points of course. And I get freebies for the 1K above purchases. This slice comprises of those who pay me their share. So that's a win for me! Includes plane tickets bought online for others as well. I'm quite surprised it comprised 14% of my total CC amount.

Gifts - 9%
Gifts for family, friends, Christmas gifts, exchange gifts

Travel - 6%
Online ticket purchases, travel gears, travel stuff (sublock, food, etc.).Excludes the cash outlays related to travel. Now that's another story, and another project.

Donations - 5%
My sponsorship to World Vision is billed thru my credit card. Less hassle in paying. Nakatulong ka na,may points pa!

Whatever stuff - 3%
I'm so happy this is 3%! This comprises of my impulse buys of stuff. Prior to having a CC, I already have a impulse buying limit of Php 20/day. This means that my I can't purchase unplanned items above Php 20 - like CDs, books and stuff on sale. Since I had a CC, I was worried that this may balloon my purchases. Apparently, it did increase my impulse buying but the amount is just minimal. Really! I hope I can continue this level of spending in this category.

Entertainment - 2%
Ticket concerts. A measly 2% for my share. Those swiped for others are included in the "Naki-swipe" category.

Amount of Monthly CC Swiping:

I've also decided to make an analysis on the amount I swipe in my cc. Results are shown in the line graph below:

Spikes:
June - bought my laptop
August - birthmonth, lots of purchases and treats
October - SM Megamall Sale. Bought shoes for my Dad. Gosh, men's shoes are costly.
December - the Holidays of course

Overall, I think I've got my swiping under control.

Benefits of Using a Credit Card
- No need to carry cash all the time
- I get "praning" with overswiping that can lead me to financial ruin. Hence, I can still keep my spending at a minimum.
- Freebies!The table below reflects the number of freebies I claimed during this past year. BPI has really cool CC freebies!

That's a total of 44 free meal items! Assuming each items costs Php 50, that's a total of Php 2,200 free items. Of course, one should consider just to buy the item itself rather always try to spend Php 1,000 in one sitting.



So that's my credit card spending for 2009. I'm hoping for better CC deals this 2010. Cheers!

Cheers for Credit Cards

I finally got my own personal credit card last year and whispered a prayer that I may use it wisely. So far, I am. Not to brag, but I haven't paid any penalty so far for late payments (okay, so maybe a little bragging). In fact, I just realized that I am spending less (really) when I got it. Not because of paranoia, but because it affected my budgeting habit.

See, for example, I budget my total weekly expenses to be Php 1,500 for food, transpo, entertainment, mini expenses. I allocate Php 500 of that for CC purchases. So I only withdraw Php 1,000 for my weekly cash. Then by Friday that week, I would realize that I haven't swiped my CC for the week, and there's still leftover from my Php 1,000. Then I would miraculously survive a weekend gimik with that leftover. Now there's that excess Php 500 budgeted left unspent. Around Php 300 unspent if I swipe for coffee. With that set-up, I was saving unconsciously.

A sign in Bench Trinoma:


Moreover, I've been swiping petty expenses lately. Swiping earns you points. I recently bought toothpaste and tissue paper amounting to Php 70+-ish and presented my CC - just to test if they would accept. Hoorah! They accepted it! I am more confident now in using my CC even for cheap purchases. Who cares anyway if they think I don't have the cash? Bwaharhar.

And the freebies are simply love. With BPI, you can enjoy a multitude of snacks from using your BPI CC. Jollibee, Chowking, Goldilocks and back to Jollibee again. I even save more money since my merienda is also free. I do hope I can continue my no-late-payment record til eternity. Teeeheeehee.

Shop! Spend! Wisely.
Cheers!

Citiseconline

Since I started working, I've been self-educating myself about finances - earning, saving and growing money. I've basically gotten tips online: Blogs like Millionaire Acts and Ready to be Rich. proceeded to read on Pex's forums on Personal Investing and Money Management, and bought myself one of Colayco's books. So after three years of earning and saving (and spending of course), I finally got the time and courage to grow my savings.

For the past month, I spent a considerable amount of time online reading about the stock market and Citiseconline.

I've decided to take a moderate-aggressive risk strategy in growing my savings - time is on myside anyway. Goal is semi-long term in nature anyway. I've decided to take the risk and open an account with Citisec. They do free seminars to educate people regarding the stock market. I attended their half-day seminar last Tuesday and spent three amazing hours being educated on the topics I did study in college. But they make more sense now. A lot of sense. Even if you have no plans of playing the stock market, your time will be well spent. I love it coz it does not sell hard-core to open an account with them - unlike when thinking of getting an insurance.

Will be depositing my initial investment tomorrow. I'm ready to play!

Credit Card Prayer

After 2 years of working. I got one.
Actually, I now have two. I was already provided with a corporate card. I decided to get a personal card for personal uses, of course.

I am quite proud being 24 without any debt nor have been in any serious debt in my lifetime. I don't buy what I currently can't afford. I'm quite used to the delayed-gratification practice and I always tell myself what emergencies could arise when a credit card would be a lifesaver. BPI's EPS works wonderfully for me. However, a cc would allow me to pay in installment - contrary to my delayed-gratification principle. Any-any-anyway, after all my arguments of not getting one, I got one - quite easily: BPI Edge Mastercard. Yeah yeah I know the BPI Blue card is a more sensible choice for earning points yada yada. But I'm a sucker for the Edge's design. Bleh.

And I pray that:

Let there not be any fortuitous event that would arise to prevent me from paying my cc debt on time.
Let my billing statement accurately reflect the purchases I made with my cc.
Give me the guidance to use the card wisely.
Give the the guidance that I may not be a victim of cc scams.
Give me the strength to say "no" to buying too may tempting gadgets since they can be paid in installment.
Let me still practice the value of delayed-gratification.
Let me not abuse this powerful plastic tool.

Wish me luck in managing this plastic gadget. I hope my next post won't consist of any credit card woes.

Snipped Gums, Expensive Medicine

I begged to delay the procedure for a year. So this year, I rounded up the courage to let my dentist aunt snip/cut my gums to let my last hiding wisdom tooth erupt. Half the wisdom tooth is already out, but the other half is blocked by my gums, so the gums have to give way for the tooth.

Despite the procedure being considered a "minor operation", it didn't hurt. I just heard the snipping of my gums but I didn't feel it. After the anaesthesia wore off, now that's when it hurt.

My aunt said I have to take Mefanamic Acid for a few days, 'til the pain subsides. Each 500g capsule costs Php 26.75. To be taken 4 times a day for about 3 days: 4 x 26.75 x 3=321 Okay. So there are more expensive medicines. But this is just a pain-reliever. The pain relief costs Php 0.074305 per second (Php26.75/ 6 hours/ 60 seconds). It's like campaign costs. You spend millions for your campaign, but it's really only Php 3 per Filipino.So maybe it's not that expensive.But relative to other medicines, this is expensive.To think that a Paracetamol/Loperamide really cures something, a pain reliever does not particulary cure something. Yet, the pain reliever is more expensive.

Maybe, I'm just being the kuripot me. Or given my pay grade level, a pain reliever is really expensive for me.

Millionaire

Your Chances of Being a Multimillionaire: 68%

You have a good chance of being a multimillionaire. Better than most people. You simply have a natural knack for money and the personality for success.

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How I wish...

Elegy to my P500

I lost my wallet...
I found it eventually.I left it in the lib.

Contents:
Before Losing:
UP ID
Laking National Card
Expired Driver's License
Medical Insurance Card
Old Receipts, Calendar, Draw lots paper and other stuff
P2,100 plus coins

After Finding:
UP ID
Laking National Card
Expired Driver's License
Medical Insurance Card
Old Receipts, Calendar, Draw lots paper and other stuff
P1,600 plus coins

That P2,000 was my payment for my grad pic chosen package. Initally, I decided to avail for the P1,000 package. But, well... Bwahaha.

I'm stil thankful though na hindi nilimas yung laman ng wallet. Tinira pa yung barya, pamasahe rin yun. May kelangan siguro bayaran talaga. Sana hindi naman mauwi sa bisyo yung P500 na nawala. Or automatic nya siguro kinuha yung reward nya for finding my wallet. Anyway, salamat pa rin sa kung sinuman yun.