I started tracking my budget when I was 26 yrs old. Now, I'm 33 so nagkaron na ng evolution ang budget sheet ko. Pa detail sya nang pa detail from mere income, savings and expenses, to detailed investment objectives.

So true, we have to save for leisure din. Pero one that we CAN afford. Baka naman mapabongga ang leisure, in the end baon naman sa utang. hehe.
My family has savings account, checking (for rentals, payments), direct savings (higher interest), stocks, mutual funds, and insurance. Don't get me wrong, diversified ang investments namin pero it's not really that much kasi we're still starting as a family. What we do is we religiously allot and deposit a portion of our income to these investments. Patience pays off in the end.

Like other moms here, hindi ako mahilig sa gadget. Apir tayo, nicola_juliano. Yung phone ko pinaglumaan ng sister ko, at yung husband ko, galing sa Sun plan ko ang phone nya. It's not that I don't like technology and innovation, and it's ironic because I am a software engineer. I should appreciate technology more than anyone else. I just don't find it fascinating to spend much money and time staring at gadgets, when I could do the basic things I want with a free phone.

^about mutual fund in Manulife. I don't have an idea, but I have a mutual fund in Sun Life. I think both companies have good reputations. You can check the capital of the companies (or the premiums). If they have a weak capital but serving many clients, I don't think they could survive the market. Sabi nga lahat ng investment parang sugal. Even my Sun Life agent does not guarantee that I will get returns kasi the market changes. So nasa risk tolerance mo din how you would handle loss.

Anyway, I advice you try to invest what you can risk now, and observe how your money would perform.

Experience is the best teacher. By the way, nalugi na ako nang malaki once, sa isang pension plan company na biglang nag advise na kunin na ang pera namin. But that didn't stop me from investing on other means.

I just did more researches, and more keen of company profiles. I don't expect na hindi na ako malulugi ulit, but we'll never succeed if we stop trying.
