Sun Life #Money4LifeChallenge

Most of us doesn't want to talk about money matters especially us, Filipinos. Our financial 

literacy remains low. Who cares about Dow Jones index, Mutual Funds, Bonds, Stocks and among 

others. Maybe some will answer, "I'm not in Finance or I'm not a Financial Analyst to be involve on 

that words". That is reality, we should admit that we really don't care talking about money. But, we 

wants and needs money, right?


I worked as a Team Leader in a Marketing Research company. I'm an employee for almost 10 years 

and I should say that my salary is enough just for myself alone. I'm still single at the age of 34. I'm 

living with my mother who is a Pensioner (SSS) and my brother who stopped being a driver due to 

his illness. 



Every month, my family faced a lot of billing statement such as Monthly amortization (condo unit), 

Monthly dues, Electric Bill, Water Bill, and Cable Bill. Thank God that we always settled these on 

time but there are times that we are short. The money we spend from paying those bills came from 

the rent since we owned several apartments.



I am fortunate that I am employed and even I'm always online (Internet) and texting too much 

(Mobile), I haven't expend on that because I have Company load allowance. I also realized 

that being employed, HMO is very important. When I was hospitalized due to Breast Cyst in a hotel 

like St. Luke's in BGC early this year, the bill amounted Php17,000.00. It's a big amount plus the 

medication afterwards. Now I realized it is expensive when you get sick. For people who are 

Unemployed, for sure it's a big problem because how they're going to paid the hospital bills and the 

medicines. Even you seek government agencies like SSS and Philhealth they just help you for a 

small amount. Expect long queue lines when you visit their branches and several follow-ups. 



My daily expenses usually are the food and transportation. Even I'm done in my breakfast at home. 

I still eat when I arrived in the office. I usually buy foods in a 'Carendia' or sometimes if I want an 

unli-rice I go to Lawson. If Payday, I eat in a fast food together with my office mate. 



As we all know, traffic is terrific during peak hours. I'm living in Pasig City and working in 

Ortigas Center but the travel time sometimes a disaster. Heavy traffic and at the same time no 

available Public Utility Vehicle, that's my everyday woes as a commuter. It's kinda stressful. Then I 

go home late at night then spend more time watching TV while browsing my phone alone in my 

room and woke up late in the morning especially during weekends.



At my age, I always think about my future. Yes, I have small amount of money in the bank but I'm 

lack of ideas how to earn more. I'm a type of person who prefers cheap clothes, foods and stuffs. 

Most of the travel and stuffs I had are just free. Of course, I want to buy a branded one, owned a 

dream car or travel around the world but am I going to experienced all of this if I'm already married 

or it's better make it materialized what I want right now? Well, there's a lot of expenses questions.

Last July 16, 2016, I attended the 2nd session of Brighter Life Institute Workshop in SunLife's 

headquarters at Bonigacio Global City. Its about Planning and Managing Expenses led by Mr. Aya 

Laraya, who is an advocate of Financial Freedom and a Brighter Life Coach. It's a day full of 

learning. Mr. Aya is very informative & I just realized that I have to plan and manage my expenses 

not tomorrow but today. I'm so grateful that I heard his talk and it awakens me somehow.



Spend wisely. Save.That's a very common words that we often heard. I learned from Mr. Aya the tips 

in saving money, break free of expensive habits, don't buy what you don't need and try making goals.

Since most of us has a Smart phone there's a lot of Applications that are free to download, you must 

try Wally+. This is a personal Finance App. It will help you control your money, balance your 

income and expenses and makes you understand where your money goes.

If you're looking for life insurance, annuities, group life, health, disability insurance etc. Sun Life 

Financial offers financial services and products. Just check their website:  www.sunlife.com.ph. For 

inquiries or if do you want talk to their Financial Advisor, call Trunkline: 555-8888 and 

their Call Center (Sunlink): (632) 849-9888.