money smarts – Jellybeans in the City

Sharpen your money smarts with these online money games

Let’s face it: chances are, many of us aren’t money-smart.

Some of us can go through our entire lives without knowing how to make budgets work, save our earning, handle debt or even make our money grow into wealth.

Sadly, most of the education we received growing up involved practically anything except money matters. Whether this is due to the lack of appreciation of our educational institutions on financial literacy or the tendency of the academe to look down on matters of coin, this situation leaves us at a loss when it comes to financial problems.

What is money smarts?

Money smarts, otherwise known as financial literacy, refers to the knowledge and skills required to manage one’s personal finances effectively. It involves understanding how to earn, save, invest, and spend money in a way that maximizes one’s financial well-being and minimizes financial stress.

If you feel yourself lacking in any of these skills, you may need to brush up on your money smarts.

Budgeting. Can you create a budget and stick to it? Do you understand the flow of your income and expenses and therefore know how to allocate your money accordingly?
Saving. Can you put aside some money for short-term and long-term goals? Should a medical emergency that brings astronomical hospital bills, a major purchase such as a downpayment for a house, or sudden unemployment arise, will you have saved funds for it?
Investing. Can you make your money grow aside from just working several jobs, thereby getting passive income? Would you know how to invest your money and manage your risks to support your goals?
Debt Management. Would you be able to manage your debt responsibly, such as paying off high-interest debt first and avoiding unnecessary debt?
Financial Planning. Can you plan your finances for a long-term basis taking into consideration your goals, income, and expenses? Can you plot out the steps you have to take and adjustments you need to make with how you earn, spend and save your money to be able to achieve your goals?

Why is it important to have money smarts?

Money smarts is important because it allows us to take control of our finances, bringing about these benefits:

Financial Stability: It helps us ensure that we are living within our means and saving for our future.
Reduced Stress. It provides us with the know-how to manage our finances effectively, eliminating guesswork and uncertainty.
Better Financial Decisions. It allows us to make informed decisions about our money, particularly in terms of investing, saving and spending.
Increased Wealth. It helps us increase our wealth over time through making smart financial decisions and investing in our future.

How to develop money smarts

If you find yourself lacking in money smarts, it makes sense to start developing it. The prospect may seem daunting at first, but with some dedication, you can take some steps to improve your financial knowledge and skills:

Get in the know. Educate yourself about personal finance by reading books, attending seminars, or taking online courses about the basics of budgeting, saving, investing, and debt management.
Start budgeting. Creating and sticking to a budget is an essential component of money smarts. Track your expenses for a month – including all expenses such as rent, utilities, food, and entertainment – and factor those into your budget.
Set financial goals. Have a definite goal in mind to help you make smart financial decisions and stay motivated to do so while saving for a down payment on a house or paying off debt.
Start saving today. If you haven’t already, set aside a portion of your income each month for an emergency fund or long-term savings.
Manage your debt. Being entirely debt-free is not the main goal as debt can help fund investments or assets to improve your life while allowing you practice good payment behavior.
Invest wisely. Investing can help grow your wealth over time, but it’s important to get into it with eyes wide open. Research different investment options, such as stocks, bonds, and mutual funds, and choose investments that align with your financial goals and risk tolerance.
Benefit from the wisdom of others. Seek advice from a financial advisor or mentor who can provide guidance and support as you work towards your financial goals. You can also make use of online resources such as MortgageCalculator.org to deepen your knowledge about personal finance.

A fun way to sharpen your money smarts

Aside from providing a range of educational resources on mortgages and home buying, MortgageCalculator.org also offers free and easy -to-use mortgage calculators to help users calculate various aspects of their mortgage payments and, ultimately, their financial health.

It also houses a variety of engaging and educational money games that can help users improve their money smarts and practice their financial decision-making using real-world scenarios. Over time, as users develop their financial acumen, they also develop their confidence to make sound financial decisions in real life.

Want to try your hand at honing your own money smarts through online games at MortgageCalculator.org? Check these out:

Cashback: Give the correct change for each transaction by selecting the bills and coins needed to correctly sum to the customer’s change amount. This is perfect for teaching kids about the value of money (because they, too, need to develop money smarts!)
Stocks: Ever wondered what it was like to be one of those day traders at Wall Street? This game simulates the up- and down-trends of the stock market while the player tries to buy low while selling high.
Red Outpost: Colonize Mars by sending astronauts to harvest food and mine valuable goods. The game approximates the dynamics of building a new economy from the ground up.
Coffee Shop: Build your coffee shop business by managing your inventory, cashflow, pricing and formula taking the fluctuations on the demand for coffee based on the weather. This teaches players to balance both internal and external factors in growing a business.
Sort the Trash. Move the recycling bins across the screen to catch recyclables such as cans, cartons and bottles. This is a good approximation of the need to weed through all sorts of trash to get the items of value.

These are just a sampling of the games available at at MortgageCalculator.org. Browse through the various categories to find the games that can help you grow your knowledge and skills on financial matters while providing you with lots of fun!

By providing an engaging and interactive way to learn about business strategy and personal finance, these games make learning about money more accessible and fun, which you can then apply to your real-life money strategy.

No matter which stage in life you are right now, developing money smarts is the best way to take control of your finances to get you to achieve financial stability. Honing your financial literacy will help you make smart financial decisions to set you up in a good financial position for life. So take the time to learn about money and take full advantage of the resources available to sharpen your money smarts.

How to stick to your New Year’s Resolution to save money

At the start of every year, we usually make promises to ourselves to be better or do better at various aspects of our lives.

These New Year’s resolutions may involve taking our personal relationships to the next level, pivoting our career paths or leading healthier or more active lifestyles.

Often, we also resolve to be better with our finances, especially when it comes to our savings.

What are savings?

Savings comprise the money that we have left after we subtract our spending (the cost of the goods and services we purchase) from our disposable income (i.e. what is left of our income after taxes).

This can be set aside for planned major expenditures in the future such as school tuition, home or car purchase, vacation or even retirement.

Why is it important to save money?

Having ready cash to spend on the things we want (such as the wedding of our dreams or a grand graduation gift to our child) and need (such as home or car repairs) is always great for our peace of mind. Going into debt for these major items, or even for small expenses, not just adds to our stress but may also derail our financial standing in the future.

Also, in case of unforeseen circumstances such as medical emergencies, having some funds set aside that we can dip into so we won’t go into heavy debt is such a relief, isn’t it?

Hence, we have an urgent need to save money.

How to save money

We already know that saving money for our future is essential: the problem is how to go about doing it.

After all, with the rising costs of living, the near-constant stream of messages in the media to always consume, consume and consume some more, plus the emotional high we get when we acquire something, we often finds ourselves reaching for our wallets again and again.

In this kind of environment, saving money is near impossible, isn’t it?

From my experience, this can be achieved by creating opportunities to increase our income and reduce our expenses. This may sound complicated at first, but with a few adjustments in how we view and treat our money, we can soon come up with a sizable pot for our savings.

Ways to increase your income

Saving up requires you to have earnings from which you will draw your savings. Earning more money, therefore, gives you a bigger room to spend (or save) money.

Pursue a job promotion. If you’ve been with your current employer for quite some time, you excel at what you do and are open to taking on additional responsibilities and work challenges, going for a promotion (and the pay increase and perks it brings) is one way to significantly grow your earnings.
Start a side hustle. If a promotion at your current job is a long shot, you can supplement your earnings by making money out of your talents and skills that provide value. In my case, I accept content creation assignments and writing jobs for food businesses. This way, I get to sharpen my skills as a content creator which also benefits my existing job as a marketing professional, while making some money on the side.
Create a passive income source. You will be surprised at the ways you can make some money with little to no effort. These include property rentals, royalties from published works and sales of online products. For example, I have enabled ads on my blog and while its earnings are still minuscule at its early stages, it still adds to my earnings with no additional work required from me.

Ways to reduce your expenses

Increasing your income will be for nought if your expenses are increasing at the same rate, or worse, at a faster rate than your earnings. Cutting down on your spending will greatly increase the funds that you can set aside for savings:

Trim down your monthly bills. You hardly notice them but those monthly recurring expenses do add up. Prune off the monthly subscriptions that you no longer need or can easily replace. For example, you can limit yourself to maintaining just one video streaming subscription instead of five, or give up your gym membership and just learn yoga by watching free videos on Youtube. You should also check if you have a house leak that shoots up your water bill or set a timer for your heating or air-conditioning system to manage your electricity usage.
Prioritize your “treats.” Sure, you may feel like indulging yourself to a daily cup of handcrafted beverage at your favorite cafe, or getting a bi-weekly spa treatment but those little expenses do add up. Limit the frequency of your self-indulgences; not only will you save money in the long run, but the anticipation for the treats will make experiencing them even more special.
Shop smarter. If you’re used to winging it at the grocery or department store, it may be time to start shopping with a list. The exercise of making a shopping list involves assessing the things you have versus the things you need, minimizing overlaps or wastage.

Begin with the end in mind

By taking these tips to heart, you can find yourself accumulating savings in due time.

To really get you in the mood to save money throughout the year, it’s best to set a goal. It may be for something to reward yourself with – such as a trip you’ve been dreaming of taking or a new car – or something for your future – such as capital for your future business.

At SavingsCalculator.org, you can set the goal amount for your savings, the amount of money you currently have set aside, the interest rate and how much time you intend to save money for. The site’s calculator will then show the future value of your existing savings and how much you need to set aside each month to reach your goal.

Other calculators in the site can help you calculate:

the value of certificate of deposit investment versus a regular savings account
the money you need to set aside for your child’s college education
how much money you need to save to have a substantial nest egg upon retirement where you can withdraw a specific amount each month
what compound interest brings to your savings

Saving money may not get us that instant high we get from spending it, but it does set us up for a more comfortable future.

So stick to your New Year’s resolution to save money. Your future self will thank you for it!

Sun Life rallies millennials to reach for their dreams

If you feel like you’re headed towards a dead end, that you’re not where you feel you’re supposed to be, well, chin up, young person.

With its newest campaign, Sun Life Philippines is encouraging you to hit that reset button and claim a fresh new start in your journey towards the future you’ve always dreamed of.

Entitled “Ito ang Araw Mo,” the campaign launched on March 8 with a digital video highlighting the unique experiences of today’s generation, such as graduating in a virtual ceremony, exploring gaming as a career, pursuing online entrepreneurship, and starting a new family in extraordinary times.

The “Ito ang Araw Mo” campaign takes inspiration from the pursuits of the Millennials who are keen on building their career, growing their wealth, and finding self-enrichment amid the pandemic.

“The times we are in may have pushed Millennials to put their goals on hold, but it also brought out their creativity, resourcefulness, and undeniable spirit. They are well equipped to fulfill all their dreams, even as they navigate their way in a new environment,” Sun Life Chief Marketing and Client Experience Officer Gilbert Simpao said. “It all begins with recognizing the start of this new chapter in their lives, taking control of what they can accomplish today, while working on their bigger goals in the future with Sun Life as their partner.”

To inspire and enable them with specific actionable to-dos, Sun Life will hold an interactive workshop entitled “Build Bright Habits to Reach Your Goals” on March 20, 10am, featuring international author, speaker, and life coach Dr. Christine Carter and AHA! Behavioral Design Managing Director TJ Agulto.

These bright habits on self-improvement, relationships, and personal finance will be reinforced through a Facebook community where they can avail mini mentorship programs, weekly challenges, and exclusive promos in the company of their fellow goal-achievers.

Those ready to craft their financial plans and be experts in handling their money are encouraged to seek the help of a Sun Life advisor, who can help them create a financial roadmap that matches their needs and will put them in a better position to make their plans a reality.

“Ito Ang Araw Mo” updates and other relevant information will be posted on Sun Life’s various online platforms for those who wish to take part in the activities and for those looking for added inspiration.

“There may have been a tremendous shift in our lives, but Millennials have the power to realize their goals and aspirations. It can start today,” Simpao said. “Ito ang araw nila, and it would be Sun Life’s honor to be their partner for life in this journey.”

So equip yourself with the right attitude and the right habits that will help you as you forge your way through life. And, make sure to enjoy the journey as well.