‘It all started with…’

There are days when you’re happy with what you’re doing and there are days when you doubt the importance of what you’re doing. There was one such day last week. It seems like the universe somehow senses these days because whenever I feel this, I receive messages from my readers that cheer me up. 

One such message came from Doris Dimailig, a wife and mother of two boys from Digos City, Davao del Sur, “My son Jed won the Outstanding Kiddie Saver Award given by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), thanks to your book ‘The Retelling of The Richest Man in Babylon.’”

I was delighted to read the story she narrated to BSP that led to Jed’s winning the Outstanding Kiddie Saver Award. This is how his story starts.

The first page of the story submitted by Jed’s mother to BS that made Jed the Outstanding Kiddie Saver Award. From the PDF shared by Doris Dimailig 

Jed’s story goes on, “He opened his first savings account at the age of nine using his savings from selling ripe mangoes. He has a treasure box where he keeps his passbook, bills and coins that he saves from his allowance and other sources of income like doing simple household chores. Later on, he started using the money jar system. He has three jars – one for tithes, one for charity and one for savings and investments. For his 10^th birthday, he opted for a simple celebration. Instead of having a party, he used the budget to add to his savings.” This story earned Jed the BSP Outstanding Saver Award from BSP. (Click link)

Jed Dimailig, receiving the Outstanding Kiddie Saver Award from BSP. 

Not only has Doris applied the FQ lessons she learned in raising her own sons. She has also been sharing them with others. She has gifted some friends copies of “Raising Pinoy Boys” and “The Retelling of The Richest Man in Babylon.” In fact, she has been invited to give a personal finance talk to the teachers of Digos Elementary School, the biggest public school in their city.

Doris Dimailig shared with me her draft presentation to the teachers of Digos Elementary School (right photo); Our photo together taken during the Kerygma Wealth Summit (left photo).

Doris is very happy with how Jed is continuing his habit of saving and investing and she continues to share that with other parents. For me, I was thrilled to learn that I was part of this young boy’s “It all started with…”

Let me share with you a few “It all started with…” stories from some of the people I have interviewed for my FQ Mom Channel.

Matteo Guidicelli 

“It started with my first passbook when I was eight years old. My tito gave it to me for a gift. It had P500! I was living in Cebu that time. I kept that. It was so precious to me. I would always go to the bank and put more money – 100, 200, and I would see it grow grow grow!”

(To see the full interview, click the video thumbnail below.)

Piolo Pascual

“It started with the paluwagan. I learned early on in my life how to save up from your allowance, by putting part of it in a paluwagan. You know that in time it will grow. I was still in grade school. I practiced this even at home and in class if I wanted to save up for something, instead of putting it in a piggy bank. Pag nakikita mo nang lumalaki, you realize the value of saving.”

(To see the full interview, click the video thumbnail below.)

Judy Ann Santos

“It all started with the Mighty Kid shoes.”

“I started working when I was eight years old, getting bit roles receiving P500, P1,000, pero ang daming chicklet at sampalok na ang mabibili non ha?”

“Ikukwento ko. I was doing a commercial, bit role lang, pamparami ng bata sa scene. Ang sikat na sikat noon si Isabelle Granada and Chuckie Dreyfuss. Yong scene was luksong tinik, ako yong nasa baba. Pagtalon ni Isabelle Granada, natadyakan nya ako sa mukha! Nagkaroon ako ng bakat ng Mighty Kid shoes nya sa mukha! Hindi ako naiyak kasi si Isabelle Granada naman yong nakatadyak sa akin at hindi naman sadya. Pero naging motivation ko yon para makabili ako ng sarili kong Mighty Kid! Doon ako nagsimulang mag-ipon.” 

“So ang ginawa ko ganito. Dati kasi pag sumusueldo ako, binibili ako ni Ate Binay ng prize gaya ng champoy at squash seeds na 100 grams sa may sakayan ng jeep pag pauwi na kami ng Antipolo. Pero dahil gusto kong makaipon ng pambili ng Mighty Kid shoes, hindi talaga ako bumibili ng prize ko non. Inipon ko yong sueldo ko. After two months, nabili ko yong Mighty Kid shoes. Nakaramdam ako ng feeling of accomplishment, pera ko to, pinagtrabahuan ko to!”

Bo Sanchez

“My awakening started in my late 20s. Here’s the story.”

“I came to know God when I was 12, started working in the ministry when I was 13, working in the slum area, living among the poor, loving it, and having this belief that to love the poor I needed to be poor. Then in my late 20s I was already having questions in my mind. There was this conflict within me because so many people would come up to me to ask for prayers for all sorts of things, and 50% would be about money like, “How can I pay for the tuition fee of my kids?” And I could only pray for them. I had no advice to give them because I didn’t know anything about money. And then when I got married at the age of 32, that really got me thinking, “I can’t be poor, kawawa naman mga magiging anak ko! So I had to question my basic philosophy that God wanted me to be poor, that to be a good person, you had to be poor. These had to go back to the altar, ‘God, what’s your mind about money, about wealth?’ And that was my awakening.”

(To see the full interview, click the video thumbnail below.)

It’s amazing how simple “It all started with...” can grow into something extraordinary. Just like Jed, Matteo, Piolo, Juday and Bo, our journey to financial happiness has to start somewhere.

What is your own “It all started with…?”

Better yet, can you help others in starting their FQ journey? Look around you. Start with people in your circle of influence. It could be as simple as giving a book, sharing your experience, or designing the allowance of your kids or the salaries of your employees to include a Pay yourself feature.

Cheers to starting your and other people’s high FQ journey! 

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Rose Fres Fausto is a speaker and author of bestselling books “Raising Pinoy Boys” and “The Retelling of The Richest Man in Babylon” (English and Filipino versions). Click this link to read samples – Books of FQ Mom. She is a behavioral economist, a certified gallup strengths coach and the grand prize winner of the first Sinag Financial Literacy Digital Journalism Awards. Follow her on Facebook & YouTube as FQ Mom, and Twitter & Instagram as theFQMom.

ATTRIBUTIONS: Image from rbgstock.com, photos from reader Doris Dimailig modified and used to to help deliver the message of the article.