Frequently Ask Questions

1. Where are you from?

I am from Taguig City. I grew up in Metro Manila but we have a home in the province (Boronggan,

Samar) which I wish to visit someday.

2. How old are you?

I am 23 as of year 2016. Most of the people around me will agree that I look and think older than my

actual age. 

3. Are you single?

As of this writing (November 2016) yes. I’ve been single ever since I started SavingsPinay and I think

my standard was actually set higher because of the blog. For me the right one should be financially-

able and can accommodate the lifestyle that I need and I want. You can visit my personal blog

IzzaGlino where I mostly write about my singleness. 

4. Do you have a day job? If yes what and where?

Yes I do have a day job. I work as a Technical Documentation Specialist in an IT firm at Makati City. If

you want to know what Technical Documentation Specialist do CLICK HERE. Follow up question

normally is how much my income is as a Technical Writer. I won’t say my exact income for privacy

reasons but technical writers have competitive salary. You can read How Much Do I Really Make?

and Where Does Your Income Go? for a better explanation and glimpse on my financial life.

5. Can you enlighten me about your side jobs? I mean the things you do on your spare time that gives you extra income? How did you start?

The same year I started SavingsPinay I understood that one source of income is not enough. This

realization led me to a number of talents turned extra income. Below are the different things I've

tried and I am still doing to make extra money. I also mentioned some related links that will help you

6. I want to hire you as my wedding host. How much do you charge per event?

Thank you first and foremost for the opportunity. Hosting special occasion is something I really enjoy

doing. I host not only weddings but also debuts, milestone birthdays, company events, etc. I charge

depending on type of event, location and duration. To reserve your date do email me personally at

izzaglinofull@gmail.com. Hosting fee range from 5,000-9,000pesos.

7. Can you write for me or for my business?

Sure! If you think that my writing style fits you and your business you can as always shoot me an

email at izza@savingspinay.com.ph. I do write for blogs and brands of different genre. Send me a

message of your specific request and I’ll reply immediately.

1. When, why and how did you come up with SavingsPinay – A Personal Finance Blog of a Common Pinay?

It all started in 2013. I was working as a Marketing Assistant in a milk tea shop at Aseana Pasay and

have been living from paycheck to paycheck. READ: My Life, My Job, My Career and the 6 Success

Tips that Helped Me. One day I realized na ayoko na. It is time to change my financial situation. I go

online and search about savings, budgeting and investing. I found helpful sites like Ms. Kristine of

CallMeKristine, Ms. Maria of PinasforGood, Ms. Jill of FrugalHoney and Ms. Lianne of The Wise

Living. My interest in personal finance grew right away. I go to business and investment section of

book stores and feed my mind. I even bought my first financial book – Ang Pera na Hindi Bitin by

Ardy Roberto.

During that time I was already blogging at www.izzaglino.blogspot.com which is a beauty and

lifestyle blog. Personal finance is a very different topic so I decided to create a new blog. Hence,

SavingsPinay was born. At first I was just sharing about my personal journey and have no

expectation at all that the blog will be big. Nagulat na lang ako when my post So I Entered the

Wrong BPI Pin Thrice went viral. From then I decided to create more informative post and to widen

my niche to common valuable topics involving money.

2. Where do you get blog post ideas for SavingsPinay?

Majority of my time is spent reading. I love reading other financial blogs and learning from them too.

I also enjoy digging to Pinterest for added blog post inspiration. For me blogging is part of my

identity already and I am really proud whenever I have a new post published. Aside from local

personal finance bloggers I mentioned in Question #4 I also love reading Making Sense of Cents,

Smart Passive Income, Mint Notion and The Extra Income Project.

Also you may notice that most of my posts are personal basis like My Swirl Rewards Card from The

Coffee Bean, which I really have and enjoy the benefits. The post How to Retrieve Your BPI Express

Online Account Name and Password also happened to me and I really did the process I mentioned

on the article.

3. What’s your blog process?

I have to say that the effort I put on my blog varies depending on my mood and my work load. I have

days when I am super productive and some days I just rest and succumb to my laziness. But to

answer the question below is how “my ideal” blog process works.

 Weekend is a big part of my working process. I do a lot of batch work every Saturday and

Sunday. For example I take a lot of photos for IzzaGlino and my Instagram (@izzaglino) on

Saturday morning. By afternoon I edit and schedule all of my posts to be published the

following week.

 Sunday is all about planning for next week’s content. I go over my Google Calendar where

my Editorial Content is located. I do necessary changes in case the topic is already irrelevant.

If I feel like blogging for a particular topic I put it on the best date possible. Aside from

content planning, I also do admin tasks like filing photos and documents to the right folder,

tidying my desk (and my room) and so on.

 Monday is all about outlining the posts I’ll write for next week. I have an Evernote notebook

for SavingsPinay and IzzaGlino where I outline how the blog post will appear. I also use

template for common posts like First Impressions, Weekly Notes and Monthly Quick

Recaps.

 Tuesday to Thursday is all about writing as many blog posts as possible. I just write and write

during these days whenever my day job permits me.

 Friday is photo editing day. You all know that I use template photo for SavingsPinay as well

as IzzaGlino so my blog looks cohesive.

The above is just for the writing process. Other part of my life as a blogger involve social media

marketing (which I still lack), networking and replying to emails and so on. It’s like a business to be

honest. Your efforts will determine the outcome of your blog. But it’s rewarding after all. When I

read email and personal messages from people who are inspired to take over their finances thanks

to SavingsPinay I feel really proud and happy.

4. Do you have favorite posts in SavingsPinay?

I love all of my posts and each post published is part of what makes SavingsPinay, SavingsPinay. But

yes I can pick my favorites based on how good I have written them and the amount of effort I put to

write them. Here’s my list in no particular order

40 Financial Habits for Life

23 Motivational Hacks for Young Achievers

10 Things You Can Do in Your 20's that will Change Your Financial Life Completely

15 Smart Ways to Earn Extra Income

13 Things You Need to Deal With After Graduation

30 Do's and Don'ts of a Successful Person

5 Habits That Can Boost Your Savings

8 Smart Money Moves To Do In Your 20s

Confessions of a Personal Finance Blogger

How to Invest Your 5,000pesos?

How Much Do I Really Make?

Turning Your Salary to Income

How to Achieve Financial Stability in Your 20's

Different Ways You Can Apply the 52-Week Money Challenge in Your Life

Do It Yourself Spending Tracker

When to Quit Your Job and How to Do It

5. Do you advice about blogging?

Blogging is a big part of my life and it is a part of myself that I’m truly proud and thankful for. If you

really see yourself as a blogger then my biggest tip is to start now. It’s easy to create a blog

nowadays and you can find a ton of online tutorials for it. Next is to write posts that are valuable to

your audience. Your blog has to be helpful in order to gain organic readership. If you are just

blogging for the money then you won’t enjoy the whole blog life. You will easily get tired and burn

out. You need to be passionate about it.

6. You also travel right? How do you stay frugal when travelling?

I have a couple of posts on my trips such as Pampanga, Tagaytay, Caramoan and hiking adventures

at Mt. Manabu and Mt. Daraitan. I believe most of my trips are within the budget naman. Next year

I plan to visit more places talaga and really establish a travel fund. Also I’m in the process of getting

my passport para makapag out-of- the-country man lang ako.

If you want to stay frugal when travelling you have to do a lot of preparation. I love creative a

planned itinerary so I know how much I have to spend. Oooops I actually have a post about traveling

on a budget pala. You can read everything HERE.

7. Do you accept guest posts on SavingsPinay?

Yes I do accept guest posts on SavingsPinay. As long as you article is related in budget, saving,

investing, career and productivity and retirement. Also I read the guest post and assess whether it is

good to go on the blog or will be loved by the SavingsPinay readers. Here are sample guest posts I

have received and posted here on the blog: Philequity Dividend Yield Fund First Impression From

Geli and 4 Useful Tips To Live Below Your Means by Kyle

8. I want to work with SavingsPinay. How can I reach you?

Currently the blog is open for ads, sponsored post opportunity, product or service-specific review

and brand ambassadorship. I love working with companies in the field of personal finances. I work

with small entrepreneurs, women-focused business, new investment vehicles, financial apps,

personal finance books, money talks/workshops etc. and will be happy to work with you too. You

can shoot me an email at izza@savingspinay.com.ph or go with the Work With Me section for

further details and arrangements.

1. What do you mean my financial freedom and the journey to being a financially independent Pinay?

I started the campaign to financial freedom in 2015. Back then the blog started receiving attention

from women and men all over the world. Being financially free means having sufficient personal

wealth to live without having to actively work. For more reference on my financial freedom journey

you can click the following related posts:

How Do You Picture Your Retirement Age

Is Financial Independence a Realistic Goal for Pinoys

Why I Chose To Be a Financially Independent Pinay

2. I really want to fix my finances. How do I start?

I do receive a number of questions about fixing their finances and I come up with possible step-by-

step procedure. Now if you really need a helping hand I suggest you contact a financial expert so you

have someone to talk personally regarding your money situation.

 BECOME AWARE. It all starts with knowing and acknowledging your current status in life.

This will ultimately help you in creative your roadmap to success. Just like in any

mathematical problem you need to know the given before you can come up with the proper

solution. I suggest the following step-by- step guide on knowing your current status:

1. Take one day to undergo a personal financial check-up. This is a day dedicated for

you to examine you financial health (and wealth).

2. On your check-up determine you current net worth. Net-worth is equals to your

assets minus your liabilities. Read my post Why You Must Know Your FInancial Net

Worth Now! or request for the 2016 version of Financial Net Worth Template.

3. Once you have a clear knowledge on your financial net-worth you can now

determine which areas you need to undergo operation. Do you have enough

savings?! How about your credit card debts? Is it too much?! Do you own a thing

that you don’t use anymore but still has a competitive market value?! Knowing your

financial net worth will ultimately help you decide for yourself how to treat the root

cause of your problem.

 MIND YOUR SPENDING. Becoming a wise spender is a must in order to fix your financial

situation. The art of financial planning is not only centered on creating a budget, building

your savings, growing your investments and planning for your retirement. Proper spending

should also be discussed.

o Spend with your means

 Live a life focused in growing your money instead of wasting it. Mind how

much you earn and practice living within your means or less. Helpful post: 4

Useful Tips To Live Below Your Means by Kyle

o Follow a Budget

 For me a budget is just one of the biggest foundation of a strong financial

foundation. Try to learn how to create your first budget, how to effectively

use one, how determine your budget categories and more. Budgeting won’t

guarantee that your overspending attitude will stop but doing one

religiously will give you a benchmark to follow on your daily or monthly

expenses. Helpful posts: Frequently Asked Questions about Budgeting,

Anatomy of a Successful Budget, Budget Categories: A Basic Guide for Your

Next Spending Plan and How to Effectively Budget Your Money.

o Avoid Impulse Shopping

 Be very intentional on how you spend your money. As much as possible

avoid impulse shopping. Plan ahead of time whenever you make big

purchases. Keep a grocery list with you don’t buy unnecessary ingredients or

products. Also try the very famous no-spend day or no-spend month

challenge which generally means you will ban yourself from shopping within

a specific time frame. Helpful posts: 7 Awesome Tips That Will Help You

Stop Wasting Your Money and 5 Steps to Become a Smart Shopper and

Deal with Your Shopaholic Syndrome

 AVOID DEBT. Many SavingsPinay readers will share their debt struggle to me and look for

advice. I honestly don’t know what to say because I’ve never experienced being in debt. And

I also don’t plan to be in debt. Now in case you are reading this and you are in big financial

trouble or debt then the first thing you need to do is creating a debt-payment strategy. Try

to list down your debts and arrange them from smallest to highest. Also take note of the

interest earned for each debt. Now focus on paying the smallest debt first then work your

way to your highest debt. Every time you finish to pay a small debt take that money to pay

for your larger debt. You’ll be surprised how easy diminishing your debt can be. Of course

you need commitment in this.

 SET GOALS AND PLAN YOUR NEXT ACTIONS. Another great tip I can share to you is setting

goals. I enjoy doing this on my wee hours because it gives me so much inspiration to work

harder. Think about your life and what you want your life to be in 3, 5 or 10 years from now.

Create a bucket list that includes travel plans, things you want to do before you die and

more. When you start planning and visualizing your ideal life you’ll be able to focus on

possible next actions that will help you get to where you wanted.