The Bottomline
The official publication of PICPA Negros Oriental Chapter
Second quarter issue series of FY 2022-2023
Chicka-Chicka!
Feature articles and anything under the sun!
#ThrowbackThursday
Last December 18, 2022, PICPA Negros Oriental Chapter visited two previous Chapter Presidents: Cristy Rona and Betty Jane Martinez. For the new breeds of PICPAns, you may not be able to witness them in their youthful years, but these two strong women are considered to be among the pillars of PICPA Negros Oriental Chapter.
The pictures below manifest how active they are in PICPA:
CPA - Cada Piesta Adto?
There's no doubt that Filipinos love to celebrate, and the people of Negros Oriental is no exception. In fact, there are Fiesta celebrations here each month! It has also been jokingly said that CPAs could also be short for "Cada Piesta Adto" or "goes to every fiesta". Who doesn't want a sumptuous meal to recharge after a stressful day at work?
Mark your calendars! Here's the list of fiesta dates per city/municipality in Negros Oriental:
Learn more about festivals and fiesta celebrations in Negros Oriental:
Noche Buena food recipes shared by content creators
We've collected videos from different content creators in Tiktok and Facebook sharing their Noche Buena tipid tips
Christmas Budgeting Tips
by: Kristine Alos
Here's 4 of my budgeting tips for the Christmas season:
1. MS Excel Grocery List
I have 2 types of grocery list: the traditional pen-and-paper list, and MS Excel list. Yes, you’ve heard it right, you can have MS Excel right into your phone. The best part is that this app is FREE! Both available in the App store and Google Play Store.
So, what’s the difference between using the pen-and-paper list and MS Excel list? I just use the pen-and-paper list when I’m buying small purchases, and which I am confident that the total would not exceed my cash on hand and debit card balances. BUT, when it’s “petsa de peligro” period, or when I’m making large purchases, I use MS Excel to be able to track the total even before arriving at the counter. I even included a budget limit, and it would tell me how much from the budget is left.
Most of us have this dream of being able to buy whenever, wherever, and whatever we want in the grocery store without having to worry about how much to pay. It gives us the sense of financial freedom and happiness. But when times get rough, having your grocery list in MS Excel could help you be more in control of your budget.
2. Gift price limit
No offense to anyone, especially to those who believe that “when you offer a gift from the heart, it doesn’t matter how much it cost you”. However, when you are on a tight budget, and you need to attend at least 3 Christmas parties with exchange gifts, the price tag might be your first consideration in choosing gifts.
It’s unusual for exchange gifts to have a “maximum” value. But instead, we practiced setting a “minimum” value of the gift. This gives everyone the freedom to give a higher value if they want to. The “maximum” value would just then be your internal self-control to make sure that you don’t exceed your budget limit. Example, when the minimum value for an exchange gift is P500, you set a limit to your purchase at P700.
Christmas is a season of giving, that’s why we need to be smart in our purchases, choosing the right gift that would make the receiver happy while maintaining our budget limit, so we could have more to give to others (and save us from the headache of overspending).
3. DIY bundles
When Christmas is approaching, we see “Christmas bundles” being sold, comprised of various grocery products wrapped in plastic or basket. This is a great “gift on the go” to those who are in a hurry, or too tired to make it themselves. But have you ever considered how much you would have to pay if instead of buying the bundle, you buy each component, and pack it yourselves? It may sound a little bit excessive, but yes, I DID THAT! And guess what? I just saved around P1,000 from making my own bundles. (Forgive me for being such a cheapskate).
4. Preserve and reuse decorations
Putting up decent Christmas decorations is expensive. As much as possible, make sure that your decorations will outlive its expected useful life! Use plastic containers to store decors after the Christmas season. Plastic containers don’t rust, and won’t be infested by termites. You don’t have to spend much on expensive containers, there are bake shops that sell their used containers from margarine, shortening, etc.
Tiktok Trends in 2022
You got the groove? In case you missed it, here are some of the TikTok trends during 2022
Relatable Memes for Accountants
#relateMuch? Here are a few collection of memes relatable for accountants
