The Most Common Budgeting Mishaps Of Filipina Housewives

2 min read By eCompareMo on May 10, 2015

In this day and age where lines are slowly being blurred and traditional roles are slowly fading away, it seems that one common household role appears to be resilient to such changes is the housewife. For Filipino families, the housewife serves as the anchor of the family by keeping the family’s finances in check. While housewives have a natural knack for making sure that the budget of the family is correctly allocated, there still are times that they make mistakes that can lead to financial troubles in the future. What are these common mistakes that Filipina housewives commit?

Not factoring savings in your budget

When housewives take out their nifty budgeting tools to compute for the expenses for that month, they always factor in the basics: food, utilities, other payables like rent, and other necessary expenses. However, what most housewives tend to overlook is setting aside a portion of the income for savings.

Read: (Top 4 Smartphone Apps To Help You Budget Wisely)

While it may be difficult for some households to add savings to their monthly budget—probably due to having insufficient income or other reasons—it is beneficial for housewives to take the initiative to start a savings account. You may not be putting a lot of money in it, but what matters is that your savings account is growing over time—and you’ll be surprised how little amount you set aside for savings goes a long way.

Staying away from other financial discussions other than budgeting

Tracking of the expenses and allocating budget may already be a tedious task, on top of all the motherly duties housewives have to do. However, some housewives tend to stop their financial duties there and keep their hands clean from further financial discussions like retirement planning, investments, and others.

Why should housewives have a say when it comes to these things? Primarily, you should be concerned since as the partner of the husband, you should be knowledgeable of the financial affairs that concern your partner. Furthermore, these things will, one way or another, affect the way money flow your home. If your partner doesn’t want you to involve in those talks, tell him that.

Asking for total control over the account of your partner

Before the two of you decided to live under one roof, there is a high possibility that each of you has your own savings account. However, as your setup changes, so does the way you handle your money. Unfortunately, some housewives would rather have total control over the finances of their partners—including their personal bank accounts.

Read: (Are You Financially Ready To Start Your Own Family?)

When it comes to having separate accounts, it is perfectly okay to have your own accounts and not mind how much money is in there; after all, you’re both adults and you are entitled to that. However, you need to make sure that the priority of both parties is the family bills, and you can do whatever you want with the remaining balance once they are all taken care of.

As a housewife, you will always be faced with different challenges when it comes to budgeting. However, keep in mind that budgeting is no easy task, especially that you are taking care of everyone’s needs. Just remember that it takes a while to have the knack for intelligent budgeting and treat your mistakes as a learning curve.