Working Series 1: Paid!

My financial (re)dependence on my mother ended when my ATM card yielded those precious pesos. A smile proudly displayed on my face as I held my hard-earned money. I quickly told my mother and close friends of my new-found fortune."You're the property of the people now" was what they said. I understood what that meant. It scares me, I have to honest. Others said, "Palibre!" I smiled. Much as I would want to share the first fruit of labor, I simply couldn't because I had bills to pay. Close to four months of unemployment left me poor and with delayed payments! I had monthly responsibilities to my housing loan and the credit card companies. Only when I have fulfilled those responsibilities would I be able to truly flash my close-up smile again. But I am smiling nonetheless.

The thought of regular income gives me the kind of security that I have been deprived of for many weeks. I have been assessing my spending habits. I must save! A new workmate of mine, an intelligent fellow, presented me with an equation on savings. He illustrated that most Filipinos' idea of saving, and I adhere to this, is

                               SAVINGS = INCOME - EXPENSES

when it should be this:

                               EXPENSES = INCOME - SAVINGS

 Smart fella, huh? or Bobo lang ako?


The fact that it lingered on me meant it had a purpose. I just had to act on it. I thought that my scrimping on things would do it, but, definitely, it's more than that.

View from the overpass in Roxas Blvd

Roxas Blvd