If you’ve ever worked in a typical Philippine workplace, you’ve seen firsthand how payday is practically a cultural event. The 15th and 30th inevitably mean lines at the ATMs, crowded food delivery apps, and more road traffic, thanks to spontaneous shopping sprees.
Unfortunately, for many Filipinos, sweldo seldom lasts through to the next payday. The “one-day millionaire” phenomenon doesn’t always fix itself when we earn bigger salaries either, with many employees simply using their fatter paychecks to fund more luxurious but still fleeting moments of happiness.
You don’t need a financial advisor to tell you that this isn’t ideal. Fortunately, you don’t need a drastic lifestyle overhaul to put your earnings on the right track. Try these practical payday tips to start growing a healthy nest egg before you retire.
1. Setting Aside Money First, Not Last
A fundamental mistake is only saving whatever’s left after spending. To build a good momentum, what you need to do instead is to consider your savings to be a fixed cost. The moment your sweldo hits, allocate the amount you’ve committed to your savings account or, better yet, a high-interest time deposit account like Maya Time Deposit Plus.
Maya Time Deposit Plus is one of the highest-interest-rate time deposits in the Philippines, and it comes with some special features. Unlike how time deposit works at traditional banks, Maya Time Deposit Plus allows you to top off your funds when you get more money on hand. And because you will not be withdrawing funds like you normally would with a savings account, you’re more likely to see the benefits of compound interest work on your funds.
With time deposit interest rates of up to 6% p.a. on 3-, 6-, or 12-month terms, you’ll enjoy the time deposit account of a bank focused on your wealth creation journey. You can even start with just PHP 5,000 and top it up as you go, with the total computation of time deposit earnings increasing the more cash you put into your fund.
2. Keeping Your Money in a Safe, Regulated Digital Bank
Fly-by-night savings and investment scams are becoming more commonplace. This is exactly why you must store your money in a platform that’s fully regulated by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
Maya is a BSP-supervised financial institution (BSFI), with Maya Savings deposits insured by the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC) up to PHP 1,000,000. Maya also employs leading-edge digital security features to keep your funds safe from emerging scams and other threats. Whether you’re using a savings account or a time deposit, you can rest assured your cash is protected by the Philippines’ #1 digital bank.
3 .Making it a Point to Earn Big from Your Savings
While time deposits are a great way to avoid spending all your cash at once, you still want to make sure that your regular savings accounts work as hard as you do. With Maya Savings, for example, you’ll enjoy some of the best bank interest rates available in the country, starting at 3.5% p.a. Even better, you can boost your interest earnings up to 15% p.a., just by using Maya for everyday transactions, like shopping online and in-store, paying your bills, or buying load. You’ll need a savings account anyway, so why not make sure you have the best one?
4. Create Specific and Realistic Payday Goals
Defining your money goals and giving each a deadline can improve your commitment, making them a reality sooner than you expect. With Maya Personal Goals, you can create up to five unique savings goals—be it saving for a new work laptop, building your emergency fund, or something else—and earn up to 8% p.a. on balances of up to PHP 100,000 for each one. The interest is tiered, starting at 4% for the first PHP 20,000 and gradually rising to 8% for amounts above PHP 80,000, so your savings grow more as your balance does. Once you’ve set them up, you can top them up each payday to see real progress down the line.
If you want bigger earnings, you can also open up to five Maya Time Deposit Plus accounts. While you can’t withdraw funds as easily compared to Maya Personal Goals, the basic time deposit rates are higher, making Maya Time Deposit Plus the perfect instrument for saving for big future goals, like buying a car or a home. Whether you go with Maya Personal Goals or Maya Time Deposit Plus, you’ll enjoy a clearer picture of your progress.
5. Stop Celebrating Payday. Instead, Celebrate Progress
Instead of rewarding yourself with a shopping spree each and every sweldo day, commit to celebrating only when you hit specific milestones. Did you finally hit your PHP 50,000 emergency fund? Did you stay within budget for the entire quarter? Once you treat those milestones as wins worth celebrating, you’ll soon find it harder to justify meaningless splurges.
Turn Each Payday into a Money Milestone
Your payday might not always feel like much, but with Maya, you can ensure that each one is a stepping stone toward real wealth. Whether you're saving up with Maya Savings, achieving your dreams with Maya Personal Goals, or securing the foundations of wealth with Time Deposit Plus, Maya puts your financial future right in your phone, giving you full control in just one secure app.
Download the Maya App today and start building wealth, one payday at a time. Your future self is counting on you.
