DDHK.ORG - Basic financial management:
- Determine the goals to be achieved.
- Plan, with formulas Salary - Savings = Expenses.
- Create a budget and record expenses.
Salary money that has been deducted for savings is the remaining salary funds that we can spend each month. Possible to be sent to Indonesia, perhaps also to make ends meet at Hong Kong.
The concept of spending, Needs vs Desires. We have to really predict whether the goods we are going to buy are really what we want or just our momentary desires.
Sometimes, because there is a sale and the price is cheap, we are then interested in buying a product. In fact, we don't really need these items. For example, the item is in the form of clothes, maybe in fact there are still 2 pieces of clothes in the closet that we haven't had the chance to wear.
Maybe we have experienced, after payday, then a week has passed, we wonder, where our money went last week. How come suddenly the monthly salary has been sold out or has decreased quite a lot?
This often happens, if we do not do good planning with our salary money.
Case in point, the story of Siti. The contents of his wallet on the 1st day of payday amounted to HK $ 5,410. It was only on the 7th day that he only had HK $ 3,310 left in his wallet. He wondered where his money had gone. On the 13th day, the money in his wallet was left HK $ 2,720. Again he wondered, what was the money used for? Things like that always raged in Siti's mind.
On the 19th day, Siti became even more confused. This is because the money in his wallet is only HK $ 1,710 left. In fact, the time for the next payday is still long, still 12 days away. On the 25th day, Siti's wallet left HK $ 320. And, on the 31st day, or the day before payday, the money in the wallet has run out.
Suddenly, there was a sudden need. There is a request from the family from his hometown. He needs HK $ 2,500. Since Siti was never clear where her salary went and she never saved money, she did not have an emergency fund, in the end Siti decided to borrow HK $ 2,500.
Habits like the case of Siti are often experienced by friends of Indonesian migrant workers in Hong Kong. Hence, the survey results show that as many as 86 percent of Indonesian migrant workers in Hong Kong have been in debt.
Why is that? That's because it never took notes. So, the money continues to decrease without realizing it and eventually just runs out.
So that we don't experience things like the case of Siti, we have to make a budget and record our expenses every time we spend money. Here's an example:
The savings of HK $ 1,550 is the salary we save every month for the 3 goals that we want to achieve in 2 years, as discussed in the previous meeting. (see: https://ddhk.org/menentukan-target-dan-tujuan-menabung/)
For the rest of the salary, we have to make a budget of HK $ 3,080, whatever will be spent within a month. For example, like the example in the table above. Next, we record the details, where we spend the remaining money from our salary. Every month, we analyze our budgeting records and the use of our money.
That way we know, where our money goes every month. We can be disciplined and calm.
Having set aside a salary of HK $ 1,550 for savings, for future purposes, we friends don't have to worry anymore about spending the remaining salary of HK $ 3,080 per month.
To make it easier for friends to make financial planning, you can download Enrich Planner App on Google Play. This app is the only personal finance app available free of charge to migrant workers in Hong Kong. Here we can record what our goals, daily expenses, so that the use of our money can be more structured.
Features available in the Enrich Planner App:
- Determine and monitor financial goals.
- Track income and expenses.
- Calculating the currency exchange rate.
- Calculating loan interest.
- Notification for loan installment due date.
- Available in Indonesian and English.
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By Medya Putri, Trainer and Financial Consultant of Enrich, presented at the talkshow online series "Wisely Financial Management", Saturday, March 20, 2021.
>>> Follow the online talkshow series entitled "Wise Managing Finances" with other themes, on Saturday night, March 27 and April 3, 2021, LIVE on the Facebook page Dompet Dhuafa Hong Kong. [DDHK News]
