4 Pinoy Traits That Always Leave Us Broke

Like any other nation, the Filipino also have traits that are good and no so good.

We Filipinos are hospitable, friendly, creative and resilient people, which makes us very charming and admired. Unfortunately, most of our bad traits leave us broke and poor.

Here are the Pinoy traits that will always hinder us from achieving our fullest financial potential. Check them out so we can identify and rectify them.

Extravagance

Extravagance is the biggest trait that we Pinoys have that should stop. A bit of splurge is OK when you do it occasionally, but when you spend a lot every week, then you will not achieve financial health in the near future.

Unfortunately, this is also the biggest pitfall for OFWs and seafarers, which are coincidentally, the highest earning Pinoy groups. As most do not get to spend time with their loved ones, a ton of people from these groups tend to overcompensate by spending too much — then getting forced to work abroad again when the money well dries up.

How to stop being extravagant? Well, you can start by living way below your means. Live by the Kurot Principle which instructs you to never spend more than 10% of your income. If you missed you family, you can treat them to a modest vacation nearby your residence. What’s important is everyone is there, right?

Another way to stop being extravagant is to not care about what other people say. Which lead us to the next bad Pinoy trait…

Pakikisama (The Vain Type)

I am not referring to the “being kind to your neighbors” kind, but rather to vain type of pakikisama. When you think, “Eh ano na lang sasabihin nila kung di ako manlibre?” that is the type of pakikisama you should avoid.

Pakikisama affects us financially because we tend to spend when we should not. An example is unexpected treats to friends you have not seen in a while or buying a new cellphone just because your friends have the same model. Either way, you spend more than you should.

How to stop pakikisama from going bad? Well, you just have to learn to say no. If a friend asks you to treat him to Starbucks, then you should say no if you know that this is not in your budget. You should also learn to stop caring about what people will say. Do what you think is right for yourself.

Mañana Habit

Also known as ugaling mamaya na, Mañana Habit is the habit of putting important things for tomorrow. And then tomorrow. And so on.

This affects you financially when you your work late, delaying your payday, racking up debt just to make it when your bills become due. Worse, you can also lose your job (or clients) this way.

Delaying payment of credit cards and utility bills also incur additional fees and interests, which add up if you are not careful!

How to stop this? When it comes to work, there is no way around but to beat this habit. Putting off things for tomorrow is bad in everything, anyway. For bills, if you are too busy, you can set up automatic payments for your bills via your bank.

Colonial Mentality

This is having the penchant for anything made abroad. While it can be true that some imported things can be of better quality, this is not always the case. What’s always true is that imported things are always more expensive than their local counterparts.

Keep colonial mentality at bay by keeping in mind that it couldn’t hurt to try the local counterparts of your favorite imported brands at least once. If you like it, then great, switch brands. You will help keep Filipinos employed and help you save money, too.