Trick or Treat: Zero Savings Wins the Best Halloween Costume

It's October 31 tomorrow. I remember writing a Halloween post about protectionist scare tactics. This time, I'm going to address a new issue. A lot of Halloween costumes these days are anything but limited to ghouls and ghosts. Some even dress up as angels and superheroes. Though, some people would still want to dress in the scariest costume, right? The meme above by the Simple Sum Philippines might strike a big point. It's because a considerable amount of Filipinos really have poor financial habits. It's almost as bad, if it not just as bad as the typical American and overspending. The scariest costume is a jar with a label that says PHP 0.00 savings.

As Christmas is around the corner, the November sale is around the corner. Why do so many people wait until the last minute? It's easy to reason about living paycheck to paycheck. However, one could examine the many dumb ways that the paycheck is drained after payday (read here). I believe it's often called the one-day paycheck. It's payday and yes, it's time for a blowout. It's payday and people suddenly decide to start splurging that money. They should've learned to manage the paycheck by dealing with what's important. After that, they can slowly invest what's left. Maybe, they can start investing at least PHP 5,000.00 to PHP 10,000.00 in a UITF stock fund. They can probably commit to cost averaging a sum that they don't need now. They may want to put aside certain wants and invest it. Instead, the typical habit has been spending the money like there's no tomorrow.

Halloween is over and November comes. The Early Christmas Sale is around the corner. The problem is they probably wasted the salary given on October 31. Trick or treat, they went out splurging the money instead of focusing on their needs first. They could've at least planned their Christmas celebration plans. Instead, they focused on having fun all the time. It's a result of the mentality of, "If it's bitter, just add sugar!" mindset (read here). They would rather have fun all the time, only to discover that they're going to be piling up in debt. No wonder last-minute Christmas shopping (read why you need to avoid it at all costs here) is such a trend in the Philippines.

The bigger nightmare will arrive from December to January. The spendthrift lifestyle can end up being buried in debt during the New Year (read here). They feel that Christmas isn't Christmas unless they have all the unhealthy food, the music, and all the desire to just add sugar to the bitter. They discover that they have no money already for the Noche Buena (read here). The scary truth will bite them back eventually when the New Year will not be happy because their debts be many. That's why the jar with no money is the best Halloween costume.

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