Skip to main content

Payday Blowouts Are Another Reason to Get Trapped in Debt

Translation: Is there anything left in your salary?

Payday usually happens on the 15th and the end of the month or gets adjusted if the 15th and month-end are weekends. I was thinking about how people tend to think about their paychecks. I'm just reminded of how payday tends to be associated with one thing--blowouts. I remembered writing about how poor priorities create the financial woe trap. This time, I decided to focus on writing the problem of blowout day on payday. It's a common problem that's keeping some Filipinos from improving their lives.

There's nothing wrong with having a blowout. However, it should always be treated as it is--a want. You had your paycheck? That's just the beginning of your income. You will need to start to think about expenses depending on what they are. These are the needs such as groceries, electricity bills, water bills, rental fees, etc. These bills should always come first if one expects to be able to have money to enjoy.

I think it's a problem how people think the revenue is the profit. Revenue is the sales for the day. The net profit is when revenue is deducted from all expenses. In the case of some workers, not everyone will be paying taxes under the TRAIN law. What they need to think about is paycheck should enter into savings. It would be paycheck minus expenses. It would be to see how much money is left after all necessary expenses are paid for. Yet, I observe that such a mentality is almost absent in the Philippines. Then, some of them even start to blame capitalism even if they were paid more than the minimum. Capitalism isn't to blame that they chose to overspend.

What happens next is rather tragic. Ran out of money on payday? Well, the "solution" is to borrow more money to get trapped in more debt. It's hardly a solution to borrow money from illicit sources such as five-six lenders. They get the money and what do they do after they ran out of money for payday blowout? I guess they'd probably be buying cryptocurrency (in hopes of getting rich fast) or even gambling. That's why I even wrote about the irony of turning down investments while having a gambling addiction. I bet some of them may have even pulled out of AXA to play Axie Infinity. The news of Axie Infinity's crash is a lesson yet some people still believe such scams. I think it's because they want to get rich quick instead of getting rich right.

Here's something to think about--so what if one becomes a "killjoy" for not participating in blowout on payday? That person, for all we know, must be raising children and paying fees. Paying of necessary fees is way more important than a blowout on payday. Nothing is wrong with having a blowout. Just make sure that one can afford the restaurant, that bills are paid, and as said, treat it as a want and not as a need. 



Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

Davide vs. Mahathir: Which Lolo Should Filipinos Take Economic Advice From?

The real issue isn't that something is old or new. Instead, if something old or new still works, or doesn't work! Many modern laws are built on some ancient principles, while adjusting to the current times!  The Constitution of Japan is actually older than the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines. However, it's more effective for the reasons that (1) their constitution is silent when it comes to regulating economic activities (ex., protectionist measures), and (2) it's a parliamentary system. Honestly, it's a pretty straightforward constitution compared to ours! As Mahatir Mohamad turned 100 today, I would like to raise up Atty. Hilario G. Davide Jr. once again. The problem isn't Davide's age but his unwillingness to embrace change when needed (read here ). This time, it's time to bring up a contrast between wise old people and unwise old people. A young person can be right where the old person is wrong. A young person can be wiser because he or she lea...
Read more

Filipino Manufacturing's Golden Age ENDED Because of the Filipino First Policy

Here's a picture from the Dose of Disbelief Page on Facebook. Here's something that it wrote: Filipinos once trusted locally made products more than imports. Before World War II, the label "Made in the Philippines" carried prestige, not stigma, reflecting a strong sense of national confidence in domestic production. Local products such as shoes, cigars, textiles, furniture, and food were often preferred over imports. This preference was rooted in the belief that local goods were better adapted to local conditions, tastes, and were often of comparable, if not superior, quality. This period showcases a strong historical era of consumer nationalism and thriving local industries. We need to look into the context of Filipino history  If we look at the Philippine history timeline , we must account for 1935-1940, during which the Philippines was under the Commonwealth government. Independence was declared from Spain on June 12, 1898. However, there was a transition period w...
Read more

Confusing Foreign Direct Investment for Foreign Imperialism for the Bajillionth Time

I guess those fools of the Philippine Anti-Fascist League (and many of its deluded supporters) either refuse to get it or are blatantly lying. Almost every rally held by what many believe are CPP-NPA legal fronts also confuses foreign investors for foreign invasion or even foreign imperialism . Once again, do I need to say that 100% FDI ownership is all about the shares and not land ownership ? What makes it even more hypocritical is that they are actually recording these things on imported media . They're sharing their anti-FDI rants using imported devices, imported platforms, and imported social media (read here ). When I do ask them on Facebook, they say how can they take them seriously and that they're "simply forced to participate in capitalism". Did anybody (especially those they call "evil capitalists") force them to buy the expensive Apple equipment when they could've settled for Xiaomi or Huawei?  A simple research on the dictionary will tell us...
Read more

Filipino First Policy Linked with Crab Mentality

Having sea crab yesterday or just eating crab, I always think of that old commercial in the 1990s. It was called, "Iwasan ang crab mentality." or "Avoid crab mentality." This makes me recall a scene when I was a child. I saw a pail full of mud crabs (called alimango in Filipino) and if one crab got out, the others pulled it down. The TV commercial showed how if the crabs got together, they could all escape their grizzly fate of becoming eaten for human consumption. Chefs are just lucky crabs pull each other down. However, it also shows that the crabs would rather all be cooked together than let that crab escape.  Unfortunately, crab mentality is one of the biggest problems in the Philippines. It's not all that unique among Filipinos. However, it doesn't Filipinos should ever take comfort in engaging in a crab mentality, just because other people do it . Here's an interesting excerpt from Inquirer   by Jerry Peres de Tagle PhD: Studies in human behavior ...
Read more

"First Bitter, Later Sweet" Beats "If It's Bitter, Just Add Sugar" Mindset ANY DAY

Back then, I wrote an article where I discussed the stupidity of the "If it's bitter, just add sugar." mindset . In Cebuano, it's, "Kung pait, butangi lang ug asukal". The mentality itself has kept many people poor. It would go with how people just want to have a good time. It can be observed in how people deal with their salary hence explaining their financial situation (read here ). With Christmas just around the corner (read here ), it's very easy to land into the dreaded Holiday Debt Trap (read here ). What's next? Would those members of the labor union blame the government and entrepreneurs for the bad decisions they made themselves?  What's with the typical Filipino mindset about money (and sugar)?  Please note that I'm not attacking every single Filipino  there are Filipinos who are mindful of their money. Instead, I'm tackling the predominant mindset brought about by the "Kung pait, butangi lang ug asukal" mindset. It se...
Read more