Stop Associating Overspending With One's Pinoy Identity

Photo courtesy of Asian Policy Press

I remembered writing a post on the bad habit of using one's Pinoy identity to justify one's blunder. Now I decided to write another related post because of some recent life events. It's because it's noticeable that the problem of many Pinoys for such a long time is to associate the culture of overspending with one's Pinoy identity.

It's typical to have a scenario when a Tsinoy says, "You should learn to save money for a rainy day." then some Pinoys tend to say, "Racist! Go back to China! We are Filipinos so we overspend!" When a Pinoy tells a fellow Pinoy, "You should learn to save money too!" then the possible response is, "Are you sure you're Pinoy?" This is the irritating pattern because some Pinoys just love to use their Pinoy identity to justify overspending -- which in turn is really hindering their own personal progress. Worse, such values are also one reason why the Philippines has been stuck in debt -- whether it's the Marcoses or later administrations.

This is the situation I noticed. I could say in Tagalog, "Mahirap na, magastos pa!" or in English, "Poor and still overspending." I can give some scenarios which I see everyday in the Philippines. You may notice that some squatters' areas have houses that even have lots of appliances and even having an airconditioner in that filthy area -- hence there's the tendency to steal electricity from hardworking neighbors because they can't pay for it as a result. You may notice some people buy expensive cars and they can't even afford any maintenance fees and gasoline fees. It's sometimes crazy to think how the better earner is driving a Toyota while the one with much less income is driving a Mercedes Benz or a BMW but they are BWN (broke without money).

What's the typical situation during payday in the Philippines? Many who receive their salaries on that day end up spending most of the money if not ALL of it during that day. Payday means it's time to go out with one's barkadas or peers. It's barkada night or peer's night. While having an eat out is okay but not to have an eat out whenever it's pay day. They also buy what they want without thinking of the long term accumulated expenses. Worse, if the money during payday can't suffice they borrow some quick loans (such as Indian 5-6 vendors) without thinking of the consequences. Isn't it any wonder why being broke is a very common thing? It's like buying a car but you don't have budget for gasoline or buying an airconditioner but you can't afford to pay higher electricity. 

It's also the reason why so many OFW families tend to remain poor. I guess there's the hype of earning much bigger salaries in first world countries. Many of them spend the money as soon as the remittance comes instead of putting aside some money for savings. Isn't it any wonder why many of their savings accounts are down the drain? They should understand that there's a PHP 10,000.00 minimum balance or it will suffer from penalties. But no, they instead spend and spend the money. Worse, if the so-called "bagong bayani" or the "new hero" willfully allows himself or herself to become the new Automatic Teller Machine. This in turn makes them easy target for drug syndicates because of the promise of easy money. Hmmm... should the Philippines receive an award for inventing the first human ATM? No, that kind of award shouldn't even be a reason to shout out "PINOY PRIDE" because it brings shame to the image of the Pinoy. 

Worse, you've got the self-entitled crowd who thinks that their poverty entitles them to be refunded for their wastefulness. This would start with using one's poverty as an excuse not to pay bills and rent at the proper time. They think that the world owes them a living when in truth they owe the world a living. The anti-elite crowd hate the rich but tend to love having expensive stuff. Their hatred for the rich regardless of said rich person's character may stem from the fact they think that they are entitled to beg. Worse, this kind of mentality has encouraged squatting which hurts the livelihood of hardworking Pinoys. Isn't it any wonder why progress is so slow in the Philippines aside from poorly thought out economic policies? 

It's more than time to stop saying "I'm a Pinoy and I'm proud to overspend!" but instead it should be, "I'm a Pinoy and I save for a rainy day!" This isn't the call to be like be stingy but rather to be moderate in one's spending habits. You can go ahead and have a good time but make sure you still have savings. You can buy a car but make sure you have budget for gas. You can go abroad but make sure you've set aside money for more important stuff. If anybody wants to use the whole, "But saving money is a foreign or Chinese concept!" then why in the world are they overspending on stuff born out of foreign influence such as the One Direction tickets or for appliances that are obviously not made in the Philippines? As said, it's time to stop overspending and start saving because the consequences will spare no one.