In 2005, I worked as a Furniture Designer in China. I had a good job in Cebu, but the furniture industry slowly dissipated and I was scratching surface to make ends met. I have two children and my money was just enough for our daily expenses and, most of the time, nothing was left for savings or for emergency needs.

When an opportunity knocked at my door to work abroad, I welcomed it without any misgivings or second thoughts. After all, I would be doing it for my family it would be an opportunity for me to send OFW remittances to the Philippines

My first week in China was hard, but I survived. I had a very good salary --- much more than what I had expected. I was earning $1500 a month and, at that time, the currency exchange rate of a dollar into pesos was around P55.00. Obviously, I was very happy as an overseas Filipino worker (OFW) and a father to my family for I was able to provide everything they wanted. 

For three years, I worked hard in China. Aside from my regular job,  I also had other sidelines. I sent 80% of all my earnings to my wife. However, having too much money tempted her to begin going out with friends and eventually became unfaithful. After years of sending her monthly remittances, I found out that she has spent them all to her boyfriends. I was devastated and wanted to die, but the love for my children and the thought of what will happen to them once I am gone prevented me from taking any drastic action against myself or my wife. Eventually, I applied for annulment and continued to work overseas for what was left of my family.

My children, being young,  were still with my wife and I only sent a monthly remittance of P5,000 for their food expenses. I assigned to my sister the payments for their school’s tuition fees and other relative expenses for I no longer trust my ex-wife. Being totally disheartened by the arrangement I have set, my wife left the kids to my mom and never came back. Without having second thoughts, I left my job and rushed back to the Philippines to personally took care of my kids. 

I had saved enough for myself and my children which enabled us to live comfortably despite having lost my job. Since the furniture industry in Cebu was no longer as flourishing as it was before, I invested around P100,000.00 to grow bangus (milkfish) and prawns in a fishpond I bought in Bohol. I entrusted its management and care to my sister-in-law’s brothers and even paid them more than the minimum wage. But I found out that the fishpond was not very well taken cared of as it should be which eventually resulted to a very poor harvest. Instead of confronting them, I just charged it to experience. 

I shifted into another business which was hog raising, but the profit was not that big and the labor was so extensive. I tried another business again and again before I realized that I was not cut for this. I became desperate as my savings slowly diminished and the needs of my children had increased. I had long days of thinking, worrying, and sleepless nights about what must be done. 

With so little money that was left from my savings, I accepted a big financial help from my mom and built a small sari-sari (convenience) store. With God’s blessing, the business brought in bigger profits. As my store grew, so does my goods. I had sold rice and became a distributor of softdrinks and beers to smaller sari-sari stores.

I may no longer be earning as much as I did in China,  but I am happier now being with my two kids who have been my inspiration and motivation to persevere and work harder. 

As an OFW working abroad, I am duty bound to send remittances monthly to my family back home to the Philippines. I don’t mind doing this because it is for my family. But coming from a humble abode, it is hard for me to send money for my parents back home for they have no bank account. This is not a shocker in the Philippines.

I have been working for about a year now here in England. But during my first few months of working here, I had trouble sending money to my parents. Good thing that one Filipino nurse intended to spent a vacation with her family in Cebu. So, I called my mom to contact my co-worker on where they could meet to get the money I sent. However, it is not always possible to find a Filipino co-worker in England who is scheduled to go home at any time, and I could not solely rely on friends to help me send money to the Philippines from time to time.  I need to find a safer, reliable, and more convenient way to send money back home on a regular basis.

Remittance companies in England are quite expensive. Still, I tried making use of their services to create a money transfer system between me and my family. For months I did this and was satisfied with the kind of service I enjoyed. However,  when the time came that I need to send bigger amounts of money immediately for my father’s hospital expenses, the service fees charged against me were ridiculously high. I tried sending it through banks this time, but they even apply bank charges as much as $30 or more.

I was mumbling about this experience when a housemate told me to try Qwarta Padala since it only charges P200.00 as its fixed service fee for every money transfer transaction, regardless of the amount of money I send. According to her, she has been sending her remittances online using Qwarta Padala, and found it to be safe, reliable, and user-friendly. It also applies higher currency exchange rates if I want to send money in Philippine pesos, giving a higher value for my money’s worth.

Curious about what she was telling me, I opened my laptop and began searching for www.qwartapadala.com. Indeed, I found the site. I started browsing its Help pages until I found myself registering for an account. I was required to fill up personal information including that of my recipient.

Still curious to find out  the veracity of my housemate’s statement, I  initially created a money transfer transaction and sent P2,000.00 to my family. Indeed, I was charged a service fee of P200 only. I readily received a text message from my cellphone confirming the transaction I created under my Qwarta Padala account. A few  minutes after, my Mom called surprised to have received a text message at her cellphone about my money transfer.

Taking the opportunity of presently talking with my Mom, I instructed her to proceed to any M. Lhuillier branch around town and bring with her at least two IDs with pictures. True enough, my mom was able to receive her money fast. Yes, electronic transfer is fast, but Qwarta Padala is fast and cheap. For a Filipino nurse like me, that is a big deal.

Sending money to my family is like sustaining their life amidst the difficult situation in the Philippines. Every penny saved is an additional remittance I could happily send to my family.

Discovering Qwarta Padala, made me realized that indeed there is a company who willingly thrive to help OFWs like me. We don’t make a lot here, that’s why I am glad that Qwarta Padala is not all about profits and cutting throats. 

It has always been hard for Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) to be separated from their families as they work abroad. Much harder it is for them to maintain financial stability through the years out of the meager incomes these OFWs receive and the lifestyles they keep.

Wealth cannot be achieved overnight simply because a member of the family is working abroad. It  simply means having enough money to provide the family’s basic needs, a few of what we want, and be able to give some to others. It may be true that the generated income from abroad is higher, but how to keep this money in our pockets is the biggest challenge.

The famous financial analyst in the United States, Suze Orman, came to the Philippines and shared some of her expertise on how to handle your finances. Her financial advices are truly an awakening and must be heeded by every Filipino. Her rules are so simple yet hard to do. Orman urged Filipinos to live below their means, but within their needs. She encourages people to get as much joy out of saving as one does out of spending. She also warns Filipinos not to dwell much on credit card debts whose interest rates soar as much as 36% in a year. Instead, she wants them to make a habit of buying things in cash.

She stressed that one does not have to buy things and go places in order to impress other people, especially people they do not like. Material things and possessions will never define who we are. One should be satisfied, contented, and proud of what we have and what we are. Instead of focusing our minds on buying things, it is imperative to save.

According to her, the first step in saving money is to purchase a house instead of paying rents for something that will never be ours. She emphasized that owning a house will make us feel secure and safe, considering the fact that the reason we aim to acquire money is to keep us secure and safe all the time. Owning a home makes us feel powerful.  So every time an OFW sends money to the Philippines, they should know what should be on the top of their priority list.

She also urged Filipinos to invest in mutual funds and investment funds as they do not require anything to keep, to replace, and no capital gains tax. Mutual and investment funds are good places to put our money since the Philippines has the potential to go further in terms of its economy. Also, we can sell these funds at anytime unlike in real estate investments where we cannot sell them right away in case we need the money. It is also possible that prices in real estate may suddenly drop and will not give us back the amount we expected, when sold.

Orman also warned Filipinos that jewelry is not a good investment since its value depreciates. It simply means that we cannot sell it more than the price we payed for it. In the long run, jewelry gets lost and may even be stolen.

Overall, she urged Filipinos to save, to invest, and to be ready for their retirement. Investing money is not just for the rich, but it is for people who look for security even after retiring.

“You cannot put off preparing for retirement any longer. One is never too young to start investing, but there will come a point when it becomes too late,” says Orman.

She encouraged Filipinos to educate themselves with the importance of saving and familiarize themselves with many investment options in the market.

“If I could just educate everybody to, rather than buy that watch or gadget, put that amount in a mutual fund, then I would be okay,” says Orman.

“I believe that once people experience how it is to save money, they will realize that it leaves a better feeling than acquiring a new watch,” she adds. “Once they get a taste for it, they will keep on eating it.”