Filipino ladies all over the country have been killing it at their careers. Now it’s time to take charge of your finances as well. Here’s how.

Who run the world? Girls! This statement ain’t just from a popular song, luv, but it also rings true, especially for women in the Philippines. Throughout the years, Filipino ladies have been kicking ass at various workplaces and industries that have been previously dominated by men. More and more opportunities have been opening in different careers for women thus making this once-underestimated sex more independent in their finances, personal development, and work.

Did you know? The percentage of female managers in the Philippines is a whopping 47.6%, making our country the fourth highest proportion of women managers in the entire globe! Now that’s a feat for Filipinas! Having female breadwinners in families is no longer uncommon, so taking charge of your financial life as a woman is a necessity at this point—whether you’re supporting anyone else or just yourself! It’s a vital life skill everyone needs.

You’ve got the opportunity to keep growing on your own terms and of course, your road to financial independence is sure to be a fast ride despite all possible roadblocks, like starting a family or childbirth. Yes, we know it sounds daunting, especially if you’re not too familiar with financial literacy, but talented ladies and strong women from all over the world can do anything if they set their minds to it!

Consider this your short guide! To help you out on your #StrongIndependentWoman lifestyle, consider these handy tips that can prepare you financially.

1. Take control of your (or your family’s) finances and build a working budget.

Because the Philippines bagged the number 1 slot in Asia in terms of high-ranking females working in businesses, families with women as breadwinners are usually on top of the household finances. Also—some ladies are just more organized than their male counterparts. Apart from this, keeping a proper budget can truly enhance anyone’s life by a thousandfold, whether you’re single living on your own or need to support your family members.

Keep in mind that you should, as much as possible, be debt-free. Set budgets for everything—meals, house bills, groceries, lifestyle, and other aspects of your life. This will allow you to keep your expenses on a tight leash and at the same time, allow for savings to grow. There are very convenient Google Sheets templates online that you can use for free to help you out if you don’t know how to code. If you want to put everything on your mobile phone, money management or budgeting apps are the way to go! They’re extremely easy to use and you’re also able to sync your bank accounts and automate some payments. Thanks to technology, budgeting is so much less complicated than before. Yass, kween!

2. Work out your taxes and set aside money for them.

When you’re working your butt off as a #GirlBoss and handling multiple projects at the same time, it may be easy to forget your taxes. DON’T. One of the conveniences of having a full-time job is getting your taxes deducted and filed for you. Because you don’t have this luxury anymore, you need to calculate your taxes according to your income bracket and make sure to file them at least quarterly. You don’t want big tax surprises by the end of the year.

If you don’t have a regular 8-5 job and are a female freelancer, hire a personal accountant who can do the dirty work for you in the future! This’ll be a great investment in your freelance life and will also save you a lot of time that you can use either for more projects or for more rest.

3. Don’t have a love life? Don’t worry. Just fall in love with BIG SAVINGS and keep saving, especially for emergencies!

If you have a partner in your life to help pay the bills, then that’s great. If not, that ain’t a bad thing too! Women don’t need anyone to keep them up on their feet. Also, it’s one less mouth to feed! Either way, you’ve got to save, hun! You need savings that you can access for times that are hard, like, let’s say, a global pandemic for example! Kidding aside, there will definitely be instances when you need to bomb a huge amount of money that you don’t necessarily have, like for a major operation, a death in the family, home or car maintenance, and other unfortunate events. Here’s where emergency savings come in. It’s good to open one with a digital bank that lets you earn huge interest rates, and an awesome example is Tonik!

When you open a Stash with Tonik, your savings will earn you 4% interest per annum. That’s a lot bigger than what traditional banks can offer you. What else is amazing about it is that everything is easy and done online. It’ll save you a lot of free time too, since you won’t be running physical bank errands for your financial needs, and you can use this time to do more important stuff. And again, your money is gonna grow by a LOT! That’s a great perk because of the pay difference between men and women, and we ladies have got to make our money work even harder.

4. Organize your income into separate accounts or wallets if it’s possible!

Now that we’re on the topic of savings and bank accounts, so that you won’t get confused, it’s best to segregate your income into different accounts or savings wallets. Here are some samples:

• Living Account – Used for your daily expenses, from food to utility bills.
• Emergency Account – Used for emergencies only, like the events mentioned in the previous number.
• Big Expense Account – Used for a big purchase you’ve been itching to buy, like a brand-new camera for photography, property maintenance, concert tickets, or even a plane ticket to your dream destination!
• Retirement Fund – Used for...well, your retirement, of course! We’ll get more into this later.

Another convenient tip — Stashes at Tonik allow you to do this and create different pockets/wallets according to different uses. It’s a neat feature that this digital bank has, letting you organize your finances even better. Cool, right?

5. Start preparing for your retirement fund as early as NOW.

Okay, admittedly, if you’re in your early 20s and still starting your big and exciting adventure, retirement may be the farthest thing from your thoughts right now. But we swear that if you get started on your retirement earlier, the better! That way, you won’t get worried about growing old, not getting married (or actually getting married and still having to support your family), and agonizing over what might happen to you when your body is too worn out to do any kind of work. While it’s cool to start looking at investments that’ll give you huge returns after quite some time, an easier and less risky way to prep for your retirement is to open a time deposit account.

Wait—you might ask about time deposits and their notoriously low interest rates! Here’s where digital banks come in again. Because their operations are completely online, they can actually afford to give you bombing rates that’ll let your money get BIG. Tonik, for example, allows users to avail of one time deposit product that offers 6% interest p.a.! That’s larger than any other digital bank in the Philippines. You can just keep your hard-earned cash here and watch it grow as you get older.

6. You can’t predict the future, so get insurance.

As an independent woman, you’ve got to be ready for whatever the future holds for you. Be prepared for whatever might happen to you and find the right insurance for you. If you’re just concerned about your health, then get a prepaid health card if you don’t already have health insurance from your place of work. If you’re a breadwinner to your family or are planning to have kids in the future, then make sure to purchase life insurance so you know your loved ones will always be safe no matter what. It pays to be prepared!

7. Track every single thing, from income to spending!

It might be easy to lose track of your income and expenses when you’re juggling so many different things at work, so make sure to keep your records in tip-top shape! Got projects? Write them down and how much your clients owe you, and when they plan on paying you. Got expenses and bills? Track everything on your budgeting app or on your financial Google Sheet. We promise it’ll be so much more convenient if you keep tabs on everything. Don’t rely on your memory, even if it’s like an elephant’s!