From maid to financially made
“Personal finance is 80 percent behavior and 20 percent head knowledge”
Aiza’s (not her true name) mom worked as a household help almost all her life, yet barely makes both ends meet. When Aiza turned 14, she had to stop schooling to join her mom and help support her two brothers. It is always disheartening to hear stories that someone very young has to leave school to help provide for the needs of the family. It’s a common cycle and how does one in that particular situation possibly stop it?
Aiza joined my household-help work force at the age of 19. When she came to our house, all her things fitted in her small bag—three pieces of t-shirts, two worn out shorts, some personal things plus the jeans that she was wearing.
What struck me during one our conversations was her dream of saving enough puhunan, go home to the province someday and have her own small animal farm. She sounded certain of her vision to uplift the financial status of the family. I remember telling her that, if she leaves, the reason should not be to transfer to another employer, but to fulfill her dreams because her savings is enough.
It became a challenge for her to unlearn sending almost all her money to the province. I advised her to leave a significant amount for her personal needs and savings. When her brother was accepted as a construction worker, her mom stopped working in Manila. With a little savings plus the money that Aiza gave, her mom started to take care of two pigs, few ducks and planted some vegetables in the province. When the price of palay was low, Aiza would request for two months salary advance, so her mother can store some sacks. When the price of rice went up, her mom will have them milled and sell them for a good profit. The business slowly grew and it has finally unburdened Aiza of her monthly support to the family. An opportunity came for Aiza to buy a 100-square-meter lot, adjacent to their house in the province. The seller, who happened to be their neighbor, agreed to be paid in terms—P1,500 per month. Being situated in a far province, the lot only cost P15,000. The old small sawali house was renovated to a bigger, semi-concrete, home a few years later.
Aiza would always show me pictures of the fruits of her hard work and savings. She seldom buys things, for herself and finds satisfaction with the clothesline in the ukay-ukay. On her days off, I don’t mind giving her extra money knowing that it won’t be tossed away in unnecessary things but for a simple treat to herself.
After five years, she bought an adjacent 90-sq-m lot which costs P20,000. Together with her boyfriend, Nardo, who owns a small vegetable farm and does some copra work in the province, they paid the property in less than a year. A year before they got married, they decided to build their own small, but descent, nipa hut. After staying and working with us for almost nine years, she went home and they got married. With the monetary gifts received from their wedding they started a 12-sq-m, small-time piggery. Nardo would buy two-month-old piglets, feed them for four months and sell them gaining a net profit of no less than P3000 per head—that’s P12,000 from four pigs every four months. In the province, stores can lend you animal feeds, where you can pay them back with a little interest after selling them. This system helps those who have limited cash flow to sustain an animal-farm business. Their buying, storing and selling of milled palay continued along with the livestock business. She also started a small e-load business and a pocket Wi-Fi where she earns P200 on a good day. A pocket Wi-Fi, by the way, gives you mobile Internet access wherever you go, while a maximum of 10 users can connect to it. That enabled Aiza to create her own mobile-Internet Wi-Fi hot spot and whoever wishes to avail of unlimited Wi-Fi connection among her neighbor pays a daily rate of P20.
It always breaks my heart letting go of a trusted help. But being an advocate of financial literacy, I rejoice when anyone of them succeed in her financial journey from being a maid to becoming an entrepreneur.
As famously said by Dave Ramsey, a well-known financial guru,
“personal finance is 80 percent behavior and 20 percent head knowledge”.
Aiza has a little knowledge, but has the right behavior on handling money. It was not how much she earned, but how much she saved and making that savings earn more. Applying the principles that she learned has permanently changed her life. Rooted in Aiza’s heart was the value of hard work, discipline and delayed gratification gave her a fighting chance to break from the cycle of poverty.
Irma Lasquety is a registered financial planner of RFP Philippines. She is the Owner and Senior Consultant of RIJ Management Consulting Services.
Source: http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/from-maid-to-financially-made/
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