By Christopher Cervantes, RFP

ONE evening, after my coaching schedule in Ortigas, I was in the elevator, on my way to the parking area, when I overheard some millennials conversing. They were talking about how they were going to prepare for the new year. One shared that he was completing his list of goals using his newly acquired planner from an expensive coffee shop, while another talked about decluttering. She shared that although she had been doing this every year, this year would be different because she would be using a Marie Kondo method. I just brushed it off, thinking the term was just another example of gay lingo. Then I kept hearing about this Marie Kondo a few days later. Because of that, I consulted Google.

According to Wikipedia, Marie Kondo is a Japanese organizing consultant and author. Her method, known as KonMari, consists of gathering all of one’s belongings, one category at a time, and then keeping only those things that “spark joy” and choosing a place for everything from then on.

After reading that information, it immediately sparked not only joy in me, but also a fresh idea. I know that this method is not only applicable to decluttering our home, but also our finances.

Think about it. Almost every day, money goes in and out of our wallet or bank account. Some are important in making sure that we would get through the day without a problem, but some transactions are done without conscious thinking, whether they are valuable or not. We wake up in the morning, ready to face the challenges ahead, and we muster enough courage to make sure that we would stay this way until the end of the month. After receiving our salary for the month, we pray that we would remain steadfast for yet another month.

Perhaps because we are too busy making money, we are failing to manage it. As long as money flows, it sends a silent message to us that everything seems to be okay. When we suddenly lose our job and money stops flowing, we become concerned and try to organize everything. But what can you organize if your bank account is empty?

Allow yourself to live another decade by leading a meaningful financial life. Maybe it’s about time for us to do a “Money Marie Kondo.” As she once said, “the best way to find out what we need is to get rid of what we don’t.” And maybe that is the reason some people are having a financial crisis: we don’t know already what area of their finances they still have control.

There are two options that you can use: the first, unsubscribe to everything and only subscribe back to things you genuinely need; the second, go through each particular expense and analyze it.

In the first option, if you have a stressful life in making ends meet, let go of all your expenses. If you analyze your budget, you would notice that majority of your costs involve minor things. These include fancy coffee, subscription fees, dining out and other unnecessary miscellaneous expenses. If you are paying for a zero-interest installment plan, check your balance to go. If you have savings, you might want to consider paying it in full already. But after doing that, please stop subscribing to the idea of buying things that you can’t afford now using your plastic money. Then whatever is left on monthly payable, try to organize it with your monthly budget plan.

In the second option, you may go through every single expense, then see if you need to retain this recurring expense every month. Of course, you need to pay your electric and water bills, but other costs, such as online movie subscriptions, need to go if you are starting to depend on your credit card to get by every month.

In the KonMari method, you only need to retain the things that spark joy and discard the rest. In finances, you have to be very careful in stating what joy means. Buying fancy coffee to ensure that you would be able to get that 2020 planner you have no intention of using might bring temporary happiness, but not real joy. For parents, you may start setting aside a budget for your children’s education. For empty nesters, investing for your golden years is also a wise move. I’m sure all that will spark joy. Every new year, when I do our financial plan review, seeing that I am getting closer to the goals that I set years ago, brings not only joy, but also assurance and confidence.