What can P400.00 do for  you nowadays? You can buy cell phone load, have Starbucks Coffee with your date, 2.5 meals at McDonalds, watch a movie with popcorn, buy a t-shirt on sale, buy a CD… or, attend a life-changing event that will finally put you in a path towards achieving Financial Peace.

Call Jenny Ignacio – Magalong at 09391177856 or send email to jcignacio.magalong@gmail.com

… con’t.

We make that realization and resolve to be more faithful in the achievement of our financial goals—we start being conscious of the way we spend, avoid borrowing, stick to our budgets better, saving more and being more financially responsible. We experience some form of financial renaissance and we get back on track with renewed vigor. But like the way we treat Holy Week, our dedication is short-lived and we go back to our old selves and repeat the cycle all over again.

What we all need to understand is that in achieving our financial objectives, we need to be disciplined and deliberate. Our short bouts of financial epiphany will not bring us the financial security we are all aspiring for—just as a week of being pious will not really bring us real spiritual freedom.  We build our financial strength one step at a time, day by day, peso by peso; we build our spiritual strength by every intention and action we take, also day by day, minute by minute. Here’s the good news, both quest can be possible if we sincerely desire it, live by it and, most important, depend on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Let us stay the course in achieving financial freedom and our salvation. Despite the seeming obstacles, we will triumph if  we persevere.

“Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.”—James 1:12, NIV

It’s Holy Week once more. This is the time many of us Filipinos try to become pious, try to seek penance for the many sins we have committed during the past months. Churches will be filled more than usual and many will abstain from things like meat, Internet, etc. Some will even take drastic means to wash away their sins and hope for blessings to come by doing more sacrifices, such as walking all the way to Antipolo or even inflicting pain on oneself through self-flagellation. For a few days in a year, the nation becomes united in its devotion, in its desire to make amends and to rectify its faith.

We all know how the story will end, of course; after Holy Week, we will go back to our old ways and go back to our own self.

In many ways, how we treat Holy Week is how we treat our financial goals. We set out our goals, become passionate about achieving them for a while, and then when the honeymoon stage is over, we go back to the way we used to do things and we are nowhere near our goals again. How many times have we sworn off using our credit cards irresponsibly? Then we see our favorite store put up its ubiquitous sign “SALE” and then we totally go berserk. How many times did we start off sticking to our budget, then totally go overboard by the end of the month, repeating the same mistakes month after month?  Then by some force of circumstance, we come to terms with how we have been treating our personal finance; It could be a book we read, a seminar we attended, an article we stumbled upon  or even someone who made us realize how far off we are from our financial goals…

… catch Part 2