Emergency Fund

[cosmochick]

Kailangan ko talaga ng sangkaterbang willpower not to touch my savings. I'm a designer bag addict kasi. Kakabili ko lang ng bag and gusto ko na namang bumili ng bago. Arrrgh. must.exercise.self.control.

[mameejhy]

^ganyan ako dati. Pero nun na realize ko na kung yun ipinambili ko sa bags ay iniligay ko sa mutual funds siguro milyonaryo na ako after 6 months of investing.

[chicafabulosa]

my hubby told me to have at least 50k always for the emergency fund and also credit card is for emergency use only. which is true lalo na lagi nasa travel si hubby so di namin masasabi when kame magkaka emergency.

[artificialstar]

thanks for the inputs. i learned a lot

i'm still starting to build my safety money. i hope to reach 1/4 of my goal by the end of the year. kinuha ko kasi first yung insurance, MF and stocks, tapos may monthly expenses pa. ang hirap pala i-build nito. buti nalang single pa ako, and still living with my parents so hindi pa ganun ka laki ng responsibility ko kaya todo save as much as i can.

i tried researching what SDA mean, pero hindi ko makita. what does it mean, mga sis?

and also, where should i best place EF? sa bpi maxi saver or time deposit? and saan dito ang may mas malaking interest? may nabasa akong article na hindi nya nirerecommend yung time deposit kasi you would not be legible for the interest if nag withdraw ka before the period ended.

[sachism]

Special Deposit Accounts. It's like TD, but with this you have to wait dor the maturity date. Unlike TD na pwede pre-term. Nas mataas ang rate for me bg SDA. Kung EF, i either put sa maxisaver or sda.

[augots]

late bloomer ako sa pagsave! nung maliit pa kasi kami, puro tipid tipid tipid.
now na nag-earn na ako ng income, puro gastos naman! i'm such a material girl :p
now ko lang narinig ang about sa "emergency fund." lahat kasi ng ipon ko e "Savings."
Maganda pala talaga if you label your savings: emergency fund, travel fund, etc.
well, better late then never.

[artificialstar]

^^ thanks sis

^ ako rin sis. i realized this after 1 year of working and asked myself "saan napunta yung earnings ko?" lol

[sachism]

you're welcome sis. sabi nga nila. TODAY is always the best time to start

[artificialstar]

my self-control in terms of saving for emergency fund is futile. napaka dali lang kasi i.withdraw pag nasa ATM. unlike sa MF and stocks, ang hassle i.withdraw hindi pa naman umabot ng 25k or 50k yung money para mag apply ako ng maxi saver sa bpi.

okay kaya tong BPI Easy Saver mga sis? P200 lang yung initial deposit. haha. may P5 charge if may withdrawals, tapos P10 charge if sa branch mismo. so parang mapigilan ko sarili ko na magwithdraw because of the charge... here's the link for those who are interested: https://www.mybpimag.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=899&Itemid=1056

pwede kaya to ma convert to maxi-saver pag umabot na sa 50k? thanks!

[mxherr5]

Wow, do you think that would be an effective deterrent
so you won't touch your savings?

If that's the case, just open a regular savings account
and tell your parents to charge you the 5 peso/10 peso
when you do any withdrawals.

At least mapunta sa parents mo yung charge hindi kay
BPI =D

One more question, if you have say a chinabank ATM card,
do you take time to find a chinabank ATM or do you just withdraw
from another bank's ATM and thus incurring the usual 10/11 peso
withdrawal fee?

[artificialstar]

^ kuripot ako sa mga charges eh. kahit yung isusukli ng cashier, dapat sakto. sakto naman binayad ko, bakit kulang ang sukli? and about withdrawing thru ATM, i do withdraw from the same bank, kahit mataas pa yung linya

[mxherr5]

Well if you think the psychology would work on you..
Tapos as soon as you have enough to open a passbook
account, withdraw it in all one go na and open a better account 

[artificialstar]

yes sis, yun din plan ko. i'll open a maxi saver account if i have enough money na

[kirei_me]

How much ang Price range ng EF niyo?

Ok na ba yung 100k?

[mameejhy]

^It depends sa needs mo. Worth at least 6mos of your expenses.

[ayrise]

i'm currently building my emergency fund ..  as i've recently had this 'financial freedom epiphany'    .. still trying to build all of it...

my plan is to save 35% in UITF (Bonds) - to somehow combat inflation and then 70% in two banks - one in Manila and then one here in singapore where i'm based..

i'm posting here possibly to ask if you think putting it in UITF is a good strategy or just put everything in the Bank? kasi i was thinking na at least a part of it will 'earn' and as i've said somehow beat inflation...

Looking forward to reading your insights mga sis! TIA

[ikaela]

^Hi sis, me again, from the stock market thread.

You've got the gist of an emergency fund right. Yes, you can and should keep part of your EF invested so it's not just sitting in some savings account giving paltry <1% returns and being eaten away by inflation.

I like the UITFs in BPI because they have zero holding periods. And in case you need the money, you can redeem shares from anywhere and anytime online and it'll be withdrawable the next day. I don't know if other banks offer the same in their UITFs -- I haven't looked into it.

Actually, if it were just up to me, I would keep my entire EF invested. But since the Philippines is still very much a cash-based society, I can't do that and have to maintain a stack of cold, hard cash or its near equivalent.

I wish I could also rely on my credit card for super-dire situations, but again, credit cards are accepted only in select places in the Philippines (not even all hospitals accept CCs). Okay sana -- you're given about a month until the credit card bill is due, and in that time, you could sell shares of investments for funds. This will only work, of course, for people who have a high credit limit and don't max out their CCs.

[nathanielle]

My husband and I have emergency funds, saved simply as savings account. I'm thinking of putting it in BPI's Direct Save up, which includes insurance that gives up to 2M face amount. Is it better to put it there (we don't have any other insurance plans) or invest in other investment vehicles like UITF? Thanks!

[cussler]

My husband and I have emergency funds, saved simply as savings account. I'm thinking of putting it in BPI's Direct Save up, which includes insurance that gives up to 2M face amount. Is it better to put it there (we don't have any other insurance plans) or invest in other investment vehicles like UITF? Thanks!

That's nice to have an emergency fund. having a mutual funds are more ideal to be financially secured. MF is different from UITF. 

[ikaela]

^^If the free life insurance sounds like a good deal to you, sure, why not? To others, a slightly higher interest rate is the better deal. But I wouldn't rely on BPI Save-Up for life insurance if you don't have one yet.