Hi Mommies, it's me, Mhownai!

Since the Enhanced Community Quarantine was extended until April 30, 2020, we are into the extreme pressure now in terms of money more than ever. As we all know, most of our employees have received their monthly salary left and 13-month pro-rated bonus. So the question is, where will you get the funds for the succeeding weeks.

As homemakers, we need to take action on this- maximize the budget and make the most out of it.

Find out how much do you have right now for the family's budget

Hi mommies,

Hi Millennial Mommies,

How are you?

We are down on the 3rd week of our Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) and at this point, many people regardless of their status are focusing on one thing- survival! Living here in Quezon City, unfortunately, we haven't received any relief and supposedly it is the Third Wave already but the only thing the LGU provided us are Enhanced Community Quarantine Pass.

We were left with no choice but to occasionally go to the nearest grocery to buy supplies but the problem is: it's either they are running out of supplies or they are on the edge of closing due to the same reason.


As homemakers, what are the vital things we need to purchase to survive this EHQ?

• Food (Rice, Canned Goods, Noodles and Produce)
• Water
• Medicines (Vitamins for our kids and adults)
• Prepaid Load (for communication to our loved ones who are miles away)

So here's what I found out as a solution:

Crowd Store Finder is a website that is similar to Waze or Google Maps but specifically works to find stores, banks, pharmacies, and remittance centers that remain operational. As we all know, one of the primary purposes, why the government established an Enhance Community Quarantine, is to prevent people from staying outdoors that increases the risk of being infected with COVID-19.


Crowd Store Find relies on the information shared by volunteers from Good Vibes Digital PH- a group organized by Trinmar Boado, winder of the Clash Codes competition at Multisys Technologies in 2019. Boado works at the Department of Science and Technology's Metal Industry Research and Development Center (DOST-MIRDC), mentioned that there are more than 100 volunteers who coordinate safely from their homes.

"This technology reminds us that sharing of [information] does not just save the time of other people but also their lives," Boado mentioned. 

This is a great way for us to save time, effort in visiting familiar stores that happen to be closed due to the EHQ, it's also a great way for us to consolidate our trips outside meaning we do all our errands all in one trip- an ideal way to limit ourselves to being in contact of the outside world and avoiding ourselves from being infected with COVID-19.


ABOUT GOOD VIBES DIGITAL PH

The creator of ‘Crowd Store Finder’, GOOD VIBES DIGITAL PH is a team of volunteers from government agencies, non-government organizations (NGOs), and private companies, working remotely to help develop digital solutions to address people’s needs during the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) period. The team is spearheaded by Trinmar Boado, an award-winning Information Technology (IT) expert at the Department of Science and Technology (DOST). For more information and media queries, send a private message to m.me/CrowdStoreFinder.


To use the website, visit bit.ly/CrowdStoreFinder on any mobile, tablet or computer devices. Follow Crowd Store Finder on Facebook at fb.com/CrowdStoreFinder.

Hello, it's me, Mhownai, your millennial nanay!

Just like you, I'm also stressed, pressured and slowly losing my sanity with this COVID-19. It's normal but we cannot surpass this challenge if we will let stress consume us. Haven't you noticed when you are stressed, you cannot think straight and worse, you tend to feel tedious, irritated and lose connection with our family.

So take it easy, calm yourself down and know that we will all surpass this together.

Be cautious, be alert, prepare for the worse

This may not sound healthy but know this if you have already set a plan for your family, then you don't have to think about what you need to do if the worst-case scenario occurs- if enhance community quarantine will be prolonged if the government won't be giving any relief regardless where you live if your employers of clients won't pay you on time. It's better to know what to do in times like this.


I know moms, we are really good when it comes to advance thinking, we are so cautious; this skill will be beneficial in times like this.

Prepare your family's budget

For me, the best thing we can do is be wise when buying basic needs. It's very important to also have a budget plan in order to make ends meet. In my personal experience, as a freelancer, to be honest, my clients haven't paid me yet. I'm fortunate enough to still live with my parents so we tend to combine all our salaries and savings in order to suffice our food supply good for at least a month.


Here's my personal thing when it comes to budgeting at this point of time: 

I separate my budget into 6 different envelopes. Half of the entire salary will go to the daily needs and the remaining 50 percent will be divided into 10% and will be placed on 5 envelopes. Each envelope corresponds to a specific need for our family:

• Everyday needs: Daily food, Load Allowance for every day, snacks and all. At this point in time, we spend the 'everyday envelope' every other week since we limit ourselves going outside so weekly market visits became every other week- this is in terms of meat and vegetables which is very important since we need to be healthier as ever.
• Emergency funds: This is one of the things I tend to do regardless if there's a pandemic virus or not, this is for unforeseen circumstances in our lives such as house and car repairs, accidents and sudden death. Since panic buying happened before the community quarantine, I spent some of it in order to supply our needs for the entire month (I bought tons of diapers, milk, canned goods, and cleaning supplies). This envelope will be consumed once the everyday needs run out or if my clients haven't paid me yet and we need to do restocking.
• Celebration: Think of this, what you will do after the COVID-19 will be eliminated? Of course, it's better to celebrate. My partner, Jerico and I planned that when the government declared that the Philippines is COVID-19 free our first agenda is to have a staycation. So despite our financial struggles now, we tend to keep a part of our budget in our future staycation. It also keeps me going and it gives me hope that all of this will soon end.
• For the Business: Little did you know that my partner and I have 3 micro businesses on IG and I am an owner of a digital marketing agency. Now that most of the businesses are affected, I tend to keep a part of my salary for my upcoming marketing campaigns as soon as this pandemic virus is over. We business owners need to prepare and tune up our game and turn things around for our business.
• For Payments: This will be allotted for my employees and for the bills payment which tends to be used every month. Before the community quarantine, I manage to pay all my employees their salary and half of their 13th month. It was an amazing feeling- helping other people despite your own struggle and this will make them feel that they're special. Now that we are on enhanced community quarantine, I am forecasting that some of my employees will be asking for a cash advance and although they haven't asked one yet, it's better to be prepared right?
• For my Personal Savings: What's working when you don't have any savings, right? Although everyone is stressed right now when it comes to their income, it's better to have your own personal savings so that when you want to buy something luxurious for yourself, you won't go on a guilt trip for buying it for you- and that is the purpose of this envelope for me. I tend to disregard myself after working so hard and providing for my son and helping in the household which is definitely wrong, this pandemic virus made me realize that it's also beneficial to treat yourself every once in a while because you definitely need it! Although this purpose can also go for the Celebration envelope, it's no harm to save one for yourself, right?

Hi, it;'s me, Mhownai!

Do you have an Emergency Fund? 

As mommies, we really need to have this but if you don't have yet, that's okay. I was in the same situation as you a few years back. I don't really know that this is important not until I experienced being broke, jobless and my son was sick ALL AT THE SAME TIME. Imagine, as a single mom who also is a student- how can I surpass this.

So let me share with you my personal experiences but before anything else, let us talk about how important having an Emergency Fund is whether you're earning more or just enough for your daily living.


Financial emergencies are unforeseen events in your life that require you to use your money immediately. However, these types of emergencies should be related to your health, your family's health, your family's future and/or assets.

Hindi kasama yung kelangan mo bumili ng TV kasi sobrang liit ng TV mo hindi mo mapanuod yung paborito mong Teleserye sa hapon. Hindi rin kasama yung pagpaparebond mo ng buhok dahil mukha ka nang haggard ha? 

Emergency Situations such as Job Loss, Health Issues, Accidents, Fire, Home Repair, Auto Repairs and more. These events should be spent using your emergency fund.

Now that we have understand where and when should we use our Emergency Fund, now, we should know why we need to acquire a good enough amount of Emergency Fund.


In Case You Lose Your Job

As we all know, we can never can tell as to when we will lose our job, most especially if you are a Freelancer like me, I must say, I'm not as fortunate as some of the high paid freelancers who earn so much and/or find more clients so when they lose one, they can easily find a replacement. So it's very important to save for a rainy day for these sudden situations in order to still provide for our family while we are looking for a job.

Same goes for our husband and corporate mommies, we may never know when we will be laid off from work and still, even though you have been with a member of the organization for a very long time, there's no guarantee that you will stay forever in that company. Put it this way- if you will be laid off, then you have enough money to get updated requirements, money to support the family, and most importantly, you have enough money to find another job.

Health is Unpredictable

This is the primary reason why I decided to start an Emergency Fund. Let's be real, fewer Filipinos own a health card and that is purely understandable: Filipinos, in general, opt for survival than security. As a single mom, I more focus on my son's needs rather than saving for a rainy day. But this is so wrong!

If our little one or our husband got sick, where will you get your funds? When will you take them to the hospital? As we all say, prevention is better than cure. So it's better to bring them to the doctor to take urgent care rather than take them to the hospital when the situation is worse. Trust me, I'm always seeing myself in the Emergency Room because I hate going to the hospital to have myself checked.

It's really important to have enough money for any health, dental issue.

Sudden Death and Accidents

This is one of the most terrible situations that will happen to our family yet, unfortunately, we cannot control it. This is why for these situations, it's very important for you to have the funds for it. Lucky if we don't use it but if we do, at least we have money to use.

I remember when our house helper's son died unexpectedly, she didn't have that money to use in order to go to his son's location nor to spend for the burial. With my Emergency Fund, I was able to give her some cash to bring with her to support her transport fee and support some of the burial expenses.

Lowers Down Stress and Financial

Imagine if we have enough money, how does this feel? Of course, we can achieve peace of mind and clarity in our hearts. When I accumulated some Emergency Fund, I am not bothered to go to the hospital or face unexpected scenarios because I know I can carry on with our life.

Now there's a COVID-19, this is where we spend most of our Emergency Fund goes. Most of the people don't have that money to do panic buying which is why we can use this fund to supply our family's needs what's more, now that there are more clients pulling out because their income will also be affected due to the fact that most businesses are closed; some Filipinos are either work from home or no work, no pay at all. Having that emergency fund will give you peace of mind and we won't have so much stress as to asking ourselves where we can gather enough funds to support this long-time quarantine which can be prolonged depending on the situation.

Keeps You On A Budget

As homemakers, we mostly do the budgeting, if we also know how to allocate our money, we have enough cash that we can use on a daily basis. With this method as well, we avoid overspending and go beyond our target budget because our funds are already assigned to a specific category.

Stay tuned in my upcoming blogs as to how we can budget our money more with a minimal income and build our emergency fund little by little.