Wallet Therapy + Stock Trading 101: Saving Up and Making Money Work for You

When In Manila, it’s pretty hard to save up money when the cost of living is high and there are so many tempting buys everywhere! Despite these circumstances, it is not impossible. We can still have financial freedom if we choose to. Attitude is our most powerful tool and investing in financial knowledge is a great help. The Wallet Therapy + Stock Trading 101 Seminar is the perfect starter for any individual who wants to take charge of one’s finances and make money work for them.

I cannot say that I’m the most frugal and money-wise person on the planet. I also get those impulse buys moments and I don’t always keep track of my cash flow. There was just one moment when it finally hit me that Hey, I need to save up money for myself and my family!

Last June 23, I attended the Wallet Therapy + Stock Trading 101 Seminar by Absolute Traders and Bizwiz Resources. It was held at the Philippine Stock Exchange – Ortigas. Although I was eager to learn about money matters, I was also afraid that I would be the only one unknowledgeable about finance term. But hey, I was going at the Wallet Therapy + Stock Trading 101 Seminar to learn so be it!

Time to learn at the Wallet Therapy + Stock Trading 101 Seminar how to get these money management skills to use!

I remember while taking a photo of the door sign, someone approached me to have a conversation.

Him: So we can take a photo of the tarpaulin?

Me: Yes, I guess so. I need it for an article. I’m from the media.

Him: I’m a writer myself. So you write about finance?

Me: Oh, I know nothing about Finance Sir. I write for event coverage. And I got interested in this seminar.

Him: Well, you look young. How old are you?

Me: 21 years old Sir.

Him: How young! Better start early in investing on stocks! It’s a smart start.

Little did I know that I was talking to Edmund Lao, a well-known finance expert and writer. He was also going to attend the Wallet Therapy + Stock Trading 101 Seminar. Talk about an early start in Finance 101!

Participants waiting for the Wallet Therapy + Stock Trading 101 Seminar to start

Host for the day, Jeffrey Yu

The Wallet Therapy + Stock Trading 101 Seminar started around 1:40 PM. I thought we would go straight to a lecture but then the host made us turn to the first page of our hand-outs and then I saw a Human Bingo card. We were asked to go around and meet our companions for the day’s Wallet Therapy + Stock Trading 101 Seminar. The other participants were shy at first so the host encouraged them to stand up and mingle with the others. I was actually enjoying it since I like interactive activities during seminars. It’s fun to meet people who are somehow like-minded with you in interests. (Well, since you are both in a seminar you were interested in. Right?)

After about 5 minutes, the host huddled us and asked about our progress. He asked who got 6 names and above. I raised my hand and he made me come up in front. I was a little shy because here were these financially-educated people and I was utterly clueless about the topics that day for the Wallet Therapy + Stock Trading 101 Seminar… plus the fact that it seemed like I was the youngest participant!

I won in the first activity! How “bibo” can I get? (photo by Ernest Ang)

Human Bingo Activity. Hola to everyone who signed my Bingo Card!

After the participants were pumped up from the warm-up activity. The host introduced us to the first speaker, Mr. Boom San Agustin. When he went up to speak, he seemed kind of intimidating at first (or was it just me). He had the whole corporate look and had a strong aura. Turned out he was actually the opposite! His talk about Wallet Therapy at the Wallet Therapy + Stock Trading 101 Seminar was very light but informative. What I thought about seminars regarding financial concerns were very technical and very hard to process but he made the experience enjoyable.

He said he is currently working on the last two chapters of his book and I know I’m gonna buy that book when it hits our bookstores!

Wallet Therapy + Stock Trading 101 Seminar with Boom San Agustin

There are three points from his talk at the Wallet Therapy + Stock Trading 101 Seminar that really struck me the most which I want to share with you all.

1) Saving up is empowered with a mind set. To be honest, this is the aspect I suck the most. I can’t keep my mind focused on goals I set! Boom San Agustin said that there is no excuse for saving up. Not even a small salary is an excuse for saving up. If you want to save up, it’s all up to you. We can make do with toning down our luxurious lifestyles and still live for the next day. Guess who’s passing up that delicious cheeseburger that she was going to eat for dinner later? (raises my hand up high!)

2) Income – Savings = Expense. Well, that made me realize that my spending is wrong. What I did before was save what was left of my money after I spent it on “expenses” (which most were unnecessary anyway). What I doing now and tucking in those extra overtime pay right in the bank after I get it. Makes me resist the urge to go to the mall and drown in incessant impulsive buying.

3) Every time I will purchase something, I should think first if it’s a trinket or a treasure. A treasure is something that would help me earn money and a trinket won’t. Shoes? Treasure because you can’t go to work without them. Cellphone? For some trinket, for some treasure. It depends on the person. After the talk, now I have that little dialogue on my head every time I’m thinking of buying something. It really helps me evaluate my purchases.

Yes, there are cures! There is hope for our ailing wallets!

After the Wallet Therapy talk at Wallet Therapy + Stock Trading 101, another activity came up. We were given ampao envelopes and the host asked us to write our whole names at the back. Then he said this, “Imagine that you are going to invest money in that ampao. Think about your cash on hand right at this moment. How much are you willing to invest?” That got me to think and when we were all done putting in our investments, he suddenly made us pass around the envelopes which made the participants panic. I was also panicking because what I put in the ampao was my bus fare in going home!

When he made us stop passing around the envelopes, he made us open the envelope we were holding and look how much was inside.

Got this ampao from the stock trading simulation game.

The ampao I got had an additional hundred pesos inside it from I put in mine. The host asked, “Did you know how much were you going to get back when you put the money in the envelopes?” Now that’s when we realized that it was a stock trading simulation game. We didn’t know how much was going back to us but it is possible that a bigger amount would, just like what happened to me. As for the others, some got a smaller amount that they put. Well, they gave it back anyway so that took the worries off the participants.

A short break from the Wallet Therapy + Stock Trading 101 Seminar was given after the game where snacks from Melilea was served and participants got to know more of each other as well!

Brilliant minds still at work during the break at the Wallet Therapy + Stock Trading 101 Seminar!

I always thought it was like rocket science!

Wallet Therapy + Stock Trading 101 Seminar with Bonner Dytoc

Next up was the talk by Bonner Dytoc at the Wallet Therapy + Stock Trading 101 Seminar. I am utterly clueless about stock trading. When I read the newspaper, I see that little section at the left with the graphs and stock market information written and I can’t understand it so I skip it anyway.

Bonner Dytoc’s talk was really an eye-opener for me. That as early as now, I can invest in stocks. It’s not that complicated as long as you educate yourself with how you are going to get in the stock market and how you will build your portfolio. And one sure way of educating ourselves is attending seminars like the Wallet Therapy + Stock Trading 101 Seminar.

He had an activity where he showed how the flow of the stock market goes.

Yes, I’m not the only bibo participant at the Wallet Therapy + Stock Trading 101 Seminar! Volunteers for the stock trading activity.

Negotiating over stocks.. I mean, a projector remote.

He made the participants line up and sell the projector remote to the person next to them. With this simple activity, I got a grasp of how trading stocks go. It was great that he was illustrating complicated concepts through simple activities like this.

Now here’s the top three learnings I had from Bonner Dytoc’s talk from the Wallet Therapy + Stock Trading 101 Seminar:

1) Price is king. Even if there are rumors around that this company is not doing well, this company does… What still matters is the price of stocks of the certain company and not the news and press releases that are related to it.

2) A calculated risk is a risk well-taken. Stock trading is risky because what you are going to get back is never set. With knowledge in calculating stock prices’ movement, your every investment is a risk well-taken.

3) Set a satisfaction limit when investing in stocks. Well, I guess it’s human nature to always want more and have insatiable desires. This should not be the same with stock trading. If for example you bought stocks at a certain company for a certain price, you should set at what price it will hit until you re-sell it to other traders. The movement of prices at the stock market is very volatile so nothing will happen to your stocks if you always for its price to go up.

Group shot!

Wow, I’m actually surprised that wrote down all those new learnings from the Wallet Therapy + Stock Trading 101 Seminar. Well, maybe after saving up then I will go in and give stock trading a shot!

So When In Manila, attending the Wallet Therapy + Stock Trading 101 Seminar is being one step ahead in being financially educated and motivated to saving up and achieving financial freedom!