How do you spend your first paycheck? A finance expert weighs in.

When one begins to start earning their own money, one of the most daunting tasks is learning how to manage it. Senior Financial Advisor, Certified Associate Financial Planner, and content creator Antonette Aquino shares tips on how to build good financial habits for yourself as early as your first job, or if you’ve been working several years and want to improve on your money management:

 

1. Prioritize spending on needs and avoid splurging on things that will not bring you value in the future. Aquino also says that we can treat ourselves once in a while to enjoy the fruits of our hard work…for as long as it doesn’t jeopardize our future.

2. Pay yourself first. Before paying for bills, commit to setting a percentage of your income to savings and investments. This includes putting money into your investment accounts and buying insurance. Make sure to do this consistently!

3. Use the bucketing method to separate your finances. For people who are still trying to get the hang of saving, Aquino recommends trying out the bucketing method which allows you to have a clearer view of your spending and saving habits when all your funds are separated. Instead of having all of your money in one savings account, It is best to have four kinds of accounts:

1. Operating Fund - Allocate money for recurring expenses such as quarterly, monthly, or annual bills in this account.
2. Emergency Fund – Allocate 20% of your income to this account for unforeseen expenses such as a medical emergency or a job loss.
3. Financial Freedom Fund – This account is for the achievement of life goals and dreams, which include retiring early or going back to school.
4. Happy Account – This account is for all of your leisurely expenses like travel.

4. When you earn more, don’t immediately upgrade your lifestyle. If you continuously level up your belongings and lifestyle every time you earn more money, you will never be able to hit your targets. Remind yourself to live below your means until you’ve begun to hit them.

5. The longer you put off investing, the harder you’ll need to work to get to the same level of financial freedom as someone who starts investing earlier. If you start saving and investing as soon as you start earning, you will reap the benefits of financial freedom sooner rather than later.

6. The importance of saving money is simple: It allows you to enjoy greater security in your life. If you have cash set aside for emergencies, you have a fallback should something unexpected happen. Once you’re in the habit of saving, you’ll forget there was ever a time when you didn’t save. In this area of life, the habits you build will make all the difference.

 

Start your financial journey with GSave

For those who want to begin their journey to financial stability, look no further. GSave, the first-ever savings account which you can open and maintain on your GCash app, has now built the GSave Marketplace — helping you control your money conveniently through safe and secure digital banking.

 

The GSave Marketplace lets users select a bank partner depending on their needs. Whether it’s interest rate or account accessibility, GCash provides trusted bank partners for you, including CIMB Bank and BPI.

 

With CIMB Bank, your money can grow at 2.6% interest per year - one of the highest rates in the country.. Meanwhile, with BPI, users can now open a BPI MySaveUp account through the GCash App, allowing them to easily view their balance, deposit and withdraw at their own convenience. BPI account holders will also be issued an ATM card for their account, so they can access their funds via BPI branches and ATMs nationwide.

 

Following through with its promise to provide a hassle-free experience to its customers, all you have to do to start your banking journey with GSave is a valid ID to verify your GCash account. Through GSave Marketplace, users can rely on and easily access where users can choose from a variety of saving products.

 

Get started on your savings today with GSave!

 

To know more about the service, visit https://help.gcash.com/hc/en-us/sections/360004696233-GSave

 

About GCash

GCash (G-Xchange, Inc.) is the #1 Financial App in the Philippines. Through the GCash App, customers can easily purchase prepaid airtime; pay bills at over 1,400k partner billers; send and receive money anywhere in the Philippines, even to other bank accounts; purchase from over 5M partner merchants and social sellers; cash-in and cash-out at 232k partner agent network; and get access to savings, credit, insurance and invest money all at the convenience of their smartphones. GCash is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mynt (Globe Fintech Innovations, Inc.).

 

GCash was recognized by The Asian Banker (TAB) and by the IDC in 2021 for its outstanding digital financial inclusion programs impacting more than 60 million Filipinos in the country today.

GCash Futurecast 2021: The Country's Undisputed #1 E-wallet Shares a Peek Into its Newest Innovations for the Year!

 

GCash - Futurecast Unlocking Everyday Innovations. An exclusive peek into the future as GCash, the country’s undisputed financial app unveils the most exciting suite of services available inside the app. Be part of this milestone revelation as GCash unlocks the most innovative services in these areas - Lifestyle, Financial Services, Entrepreneurship, and Social Impact.

Hosted by celebrity Bianca Gonzalez, GCash FutureCast will let you in on the latest solutions designed to empower every Filipino, make their lives more fun, convenient, and truly rewarding while helping them contribute to the good of society.

GSave: Master Your Money, Grow Your Funds

Insured by PDIC, GSave is the fully digital, secure, and hassle-free savings account that was built in partnership with CIMB Bank, wherein the only requirement to start is an ID and a smartphone. It’s fully accessible once the account is created; and has no maintaining balance, no fees, and no initial deposit. With GSave, users can enjoy an annual interest rate of up to 4%一one of the highest interest rates in the country compared to local banks. To help users make the process of saving more seamless, there is an auto-deposit function that lets them schedule periodic deposits to their GSave account, provided that they have sufficient GCash balance at the time of the scheduled auto-deposit.

GLife: Seamlessly Switch from Pay-time to Playtime

• There is no need to install extra apps on the smartphone to access on-demand products and services. With just a few taps, users can easily browse through over 30 different restaurants, lifestyle brands, and essential services with more coming every week; and pay for them effortlessly through fast and secure online transactions.
• Partner brands can reach a wide audience and speak to millions of potential customers within the GCash app while keeping their visual brand identity intact through a flexible and customizable interface design.

GLife: Seamlessly Switch from Pay-time to Playtime

GCash QR on Demand: The New & Better Way To Send & Receive Money

Allows users to securely send and receive money without having to worry about “wrong sends” due to incorrect numbers, or giving away personal information such as their mobile numbers. Users can easily generate their own Personalized QR code and use this in place of giving their GCash number -- perfect for either small businesses or personal use. 

How To Generate & Customize Your Own Personal QR:

GCash Now Made Accessible For OFWs

With a verified account, every OFW can now cash into his/her own GCash wallet via our international remittance partners. They can then remit those funds instantly in the app via a P2P transaction, send money to a PH Bank account in real-time, or very soon, through our upcoming G-Padala service, send money to a non-GCash user for cash pick up anywhere in the country making it easier for Filipinos overseas to manage and have better control over remittances sent back home. 

GSave: Master Your Money, Grow Your Funds

Insured by PDIC, GSave is the fully digital, secure, and hassle-free savings account that was built in partnership with CIMB Bank, wherein the only requirement to start is an ID and a smartphone. It’s fully accessible once the account is created; and has no maintaining balance, no fees, and no initial deposit. With GSave, users can enjoy an annual interest rate of up to 4%一one of the highest interest rates in the country compared to local banks. To help users make the process of saving more seamless, there is an auto-deposit function that lets them schedule periodic deposits to their GSave account, provided that they have sufficient GCash balance at the time of the scheduled auto-deposit.

GInsure: Protection & Peace Of Mind For All

• GInsure is the convenient and affordable solution to help Filipinos make their money work for them while protecting themselves and their families amidst uncertainty. Through its partnership with Singlife, users will be able to avail themselves of insurance that protects them from the costs of medical emergencies such as COVID-19, Dengue, and accidents, for as low as P300, with benefits stretching up to as high as half a million pesos per person.
• With GInsure, users will also be able to avail themselves of products such as Cash for Medical Costs, which covers medical costs beyond just COVID-19 and Dengue including terminal illnesses; and the recently launched Cash for Income Loss due to any cause, which essentially gives Filipino families a safety net in case their breadwinner is unable to work due to an unforeseen reason. Today, over 100,000 Filipinos are already protected by GInsure.

GInvest: Unlock Your Life Goals At Any Stage

• GInvest is one of the in-app financial products that allows Filipinos to invest for as low as P50. With the help of international Asset Managers and GCash’s partners in ATRAM, people can now choose from 5 different funds, ranging from local or global funds to invest in depending on their investment strategy.
• With GInvest, GCash aims to break the common barriers and make investing easier, less intimidating, and always accessible for all. Users of GInvest will be able to view the past 1-year return of the fund they’ve selected, monitor the movement of the fund in the charts displayed, track their transactions as they’re processed, and check on the value of their investments in real-time.

GCash & Unlocking Social Impact

• CSR efforts of GCash in partnership with CHED, tertiary education institutions, and the National Youth Commission to promote financial literacy
• This includes plans to work closely with existing partners including BSP, DTI, and GoNegosyo to launch high-impact and creative programs to make learning about finance easier and more approachable while reaching as many Filipinos as possible. 

Kaya Mo, GCash Mo Roadshow

An easy and interactive approach to financial literacy that maximizes social media platforms through talk shows with influencers & KOLs, and robust learning materials like coloring books, e-Komiks, sari sari store collaterals, and games. 

Future-Ready Hackathons

One of the GCash Social Impact projects aims to help identify pressing social problems and implement viable solutions to address these problems. Winners of the hackathon will be recognized through the GCash Innov8 Awards. 

G NA! IDEAS Para Sa Pinas

A virtual ideation competition for netizens where they brainstorm and propose what they can offer in terms of sustainability, with focuses on education, innovation, and inclusion. 

GCash For Good

A community initiative is done in partnership with NGOs to help provide aid during different crisis situations

GForest

• An environmental protection feature that transforms the GCash app into a platform where users can collect enough green energy to plant virtual trees.
• When users plant a virtual tree, GCash then plants a real tree -- which users may select within the app -- in designated areas like the Ipo Watershed.