“He who buys what he does not need, steals from himself.” This was wisely written in a Swedish proverb as it speaks straightforwardly about the contrast between a person’s wants and needs. 
However, in today’s digital and technological age, millennials (1980-1994), Gen Zs (1995-2009), Gen Alpha (2010-2024), and now Gen Beta (2025) often feel left behind if they cannot buy the latest gadgets, follow new trends, or subscribe to new digital platforms.
All of these come with a certain price to pay, making it crucial to control expenses—a discipline that is often rare among teenagers and even young professionals.
My Journey to Saving and Investing
Over a decade ago, when I had my first earnings, I was too frugal to spend. Maybe it’s because I had no interest in gadgets and tools. I was more into food.
Despite being an accountant with the right skills and position to save and invest, living in the metropolis and carrying the weight of family obligations made it difficult to prioritize saving and investing. More often than not, I found myself succumbing to spontaneous spending, which made it hard to stay on track.
Read: An Accountant’s Journey in the BPO Finance & Accounting Industry
However, through persistence and discipline, my approach gradually evolved. As such, I would like to share with you how I saved and later invested for over a decade which modestly led to my financial stability by the time I was in my 30s.
Practical Steps to Save Money
Saving is a portion of income not spent on immediate consumption. It can be done by setting aside money before expenses or by saving what remains after spending—the latter would result in better financial self-discipline.
For some general advice, here are nine (9) practical steps to develop good saving habits:
1. Set Clear Boundaries on Social Spending
If you rarely go out with your friends and officemates, it doesn’t mean you’re being unsociable or distant. They know you care about them. Sometimes, it’s just better not to go out when there’s pressure to spend more than you need to.
2. Plan Out Your Expenses Well When Socializing
If in case you really need to go out, you must be aware of what and how much you’ll be spending. When you’re with your loudest friends, it’s hard to resist their jokes and invitations to fancy places. But the time spent together is just as important over extravagant venues.
3. Prioritize Saving Before Spending
To build good financial habits, make saving a priority rather than an afterthought. As Warren Buffett wisely said, “Do not save what is left after spending but spend what is left after saving.” This means setting aside a portion of your income first, then budgeting the rest for your expenses.
For example, if you skip a night out, allocate the amount you would’ve spent instead and put it straight into savings. This way you’ll be able to see the money you save grow over time, which can be a great motivator.
4. Open a Bank Account
If you’re new to saving, start by opening a bank account instead of keeping your hard-earned money in your piggy bank.
You can opt for a traditional bank or a digital bank. The interest may be less than expected, but at least it earns until you are ready for the next big step, which is investing.
5. Keep Track of Your Income and Expenses
Once you maintain a bank account, be sure to keep track of your income and expenses. Use a simple daily sheet to write down what comes in and what goes out.
If you’re comfortable using Excel or other modern financial tools, take advantage of them to streamline the process and gain better insights into your spending habits.
6. Track Your Savings Monthly and Aim for Growth
Track your monthly savings and try to beat your last month’s deposit. It may feel like progress is slow, but at least it’s gradually increasing.
7. Build the Habit of Tracking Daily
Make it a habit to track your spending every day. Then before going to bed, check if you have recorded and tracked everything. Doing this regularly will help you develop financial discipline and stay on top of your spending.
8. Avoid Impulse Purchases
As you get better at tracking your expenses, it will become easier to resist buying things impulsively. If you want to buy something, take a moment and wait. This way, you’ll have time to think about whether or not you really need it, or you just want it.
9. Buy for Yourself, Not to Impress Others
Lastly, don’t buy things just to make a good impression on others. Flashy things only impress people who have less than you, but truly wealthy people don’t buy things to show off.
You could look at billionaires like Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk or even the late Apple founder, Steve Jobs—they do not dress to impress.
Investing: When and where to start
My first salary after becoming a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) amounted to only twelve thousand pesos excluding taxes. I lived with my parents, brothers and sisters.
I started with a five-thousand-peso deposit and grew it monthly. My goal was to achieve ten thousand pesos savings per month. As my income grew, my target saving limit grew as well.
For over ten years, with my habit of saving, I was ready to invest big time.
Understanding Investing
Investing is to grow your money over a period. You expect a positive return in the form of income or price appreciation, with statistical growth over what you have initially put in. In other words, investing is utilizing your savings with the goal of earning higher returns.
Choosing the Right Investment for you
So, what and which are the possible forms of investments for young professionals and even for those who just saved too much money?.
Typically, before you open an account, banks and other financial institutions would ask of your spending and saving characteristics. This is to identify whether you are classified as a low-risk or even high-risk taker.
Opening a Passbook Savings Account aside from a Payroll Account
According to the 2021 Financial Inclusion Survey, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported that account ownership of Filipinos significantly increased to 56% in 2021 from 29% in 2019.
The number of Filipino adults with an account more than doubled to 42.9 million in 2021 from 20.9 million in 2019, or equivalent to 22 million adults who became financially included in the span of two years. The BSP even set a goal of 70% in 2023.
However, I noticed among my co-employees and friends that they do not have a passbook savings account but just maintain the company’s payroll account for their savings. It is counterproductive as your payroll account is your day-to-day source of cash for expenses.
As an accountant, I’ve learned that business owners who mixed their business earnings with personal expenses would lead to a going concern situation in the future.
As such, treat your compensation as if you have a business and you must separate your business income from your personal income and expenses.
Take the amount you most probably don’t need and consider opening a passbook savings account or depositing the money to an existing passbook account to set aside money for future investments or unforeseen expenses.
From Passbook Savings to a Time Deposit Savings Account
Once you have enough savings in your passbook, you might notice that some funds remain untouched for months or even years.
At this point, it’s wise to transfer your normal saving deposit to a higher earning interest savings deposit. A time deposit or term deposit is a deposit in a financial institution with a specific maturity date or a period to maturity.
You can choose from terms of 30, 60, 90, 180 or 360 days with placement of Php 1,000 to Php 1 million with higher interest than your regular savings. Upon maturity, you’ll receive a Certificate of Time Deposit either in Peso or in US Dollar.
It’s also important to note that both regular savings and time deposit accounts are insured by the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC) up to a certain limit.
The PDIC was established under Republic Act No. 3591, as amended by Republic Act No. 9576, which increased the maximum amount of insured deposit from Php 250,000 to Php 500,000 per depositor.
All deposit accounts in a closed bank maintained in the same right and capacity shall be added together.
Although there’s a recent discussion in the Philippine Senate to increase the maximum limit to Php 1 million, the PDIC, under its amended charter, is mandated to protect bank deposits and can adjust the maximum amount based on inflation and other relevant economic indicators without the need for a new law.
All these serve as protection in case a person is a low-risk taker and just want normal savings.
Exploring Higher Interest with Digital Banks
Lately, the introduction of digital banks with savings and time deposit products has opened up new opportunities for Filipinos to earn more from their savings.
The BSP has granted digital banking licenses to six entities, namely:
Digital banks offer competitive interest rates, sometimes ranging from 4% to 15% annually or higher depending on whether they are offering promos during certain periods.
Some digital banks, such as UNOBank and CIMB Bank, have partnered with payment solutions like Gcash, allowing you to easily transfer and grow your funds.
Considering Insurance Products as Investments
Among your friends, there is one person, a Financial Advisor, who would offer everyone an insurance product. They are any product provided by an insurer such as BDO Life, Pru Life UK, and Sun Life.
Insurance is a crucial part of financial planning and can be a range of peso and dollar-denominated life insurance products, all of which can provide peace of mind for you and your family.
Choosing the right insurance plan depends on your needs. Options include:
- Term and Whole Life Insurance: Provides coverage for a specified period or a lifetime.
- Variable Universal Life (VUL) Insurance: Combines life insurance with an investment component, allowing you to grow your money while securing financial protection.
For a monthly, quarterly or annual premium payment that can range from Php 5,000 to Php 100,000, VUL policies can be used for long-term financial planning. VUL also provides death benefit.
Having an insurance while you are young is beneficial in case of untimely death and disability especially in the case of critical illness coverage.
If you think your savings are already at comfortable levels and you’re capable of paying the monthly or quarterly premiums, then it is highly advisable to have one. Do not just get for the sake of friendship with your financial advisor or due to peer pressure.
Venturing into Stocks and Other Investments
Once you have built a solid financial foundation through savings and insurance, you can explore more sophisticated forms of investments such as stocks.
Understanding Stocks
Stocks represent ownership in a corporation and provide stockholders with various rights which includes voting on corporate decisions, receiving dividends, and at the end, a portion of the company’s assets upon liquidation.
Previously, a traditional stock brokerage firm could help you buy and sell stocks, and you receive a certificate of stock, evidencing ownership.
But with the rise of online platforms such as BDO Securities, COL Financial, and BPI Trade, it has become easier to invest in the stock market. Opening an account with the same bank where you hold your savings can simplify fund transfers and dividend management.
Personal Story About Investing to Stocks
In my younger years, I initially purchased Php 30,000 worth of blue-chip stocks. Blue chips are companies that compose the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) Index like Ayala Land Inc, BDO Unibank, and San Miguel Corporation.
They are being traded daily and in high volumes. You can open an online trading account by submitting requirements.
However, I would suggest that you open a trading account with the platform of your savings bank. An example is when you have a BDO Savings account, you can easily open a trading account under BDO Securities.
It will have the same access as your BDO Online account and your proceeds upon selling of shares or even distribution of cash dividends would be deposited directly to your BDO Securities Online Account.
Other Investment Options to Explore
Beyond stocks ownership, consider other investment instruments such as:
- Bonds – Fixed-income securities with lower risk.
- Mutual Funds – Pooled investments managed by professionals.
- Treasury Bills – Short-term government securities with predictable returns.
Understanding your risk tolerance—whether low or high—is essential in making informed investment decisions.
The Bottom Line
Take the first step—start saving and investing while you’re young. As Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.”
Though he may have not referred to money, per se, it is about taking a positive step to create changes.
If you’re in your 20s, 30s, or early 40s, you know how challenging it can be to start saving for a comfortable future.
Yet, if your current financial situation isn’t where you’d like it to be, now is the perfect time to start saving and investing. Small, consistent steps can lead to significant financial growth in the long run.
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This article has been written in collaboration with Angelica Garcia, a content specialist at D&V Philippines.
