Budgeting Case Study:

How I Raised PhP 173,500

(approx. US $3740~)
in 3 Months
I hope this story about my
experience helps motivate you to
get clear on your immediate money
goals, and give you ideas on how to
get scrappy and resourceful to
reach your targets.

Saving money is one of the most

unexciting responsibilities as an
adult, but I find that if you really
know WHY you’re working towards
it — then you become more
determined to find ways (instead of
always succumbing to excuses and
impulsive buys).

Hope you find this valuable!

- Arriane

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 “I want to ______…

but I don’t have money.” Here’s the truth:

I used to SUCK at earning money.
I’m not exaggerating, but when I sent out an e-mail to my
All my older mentors & business friends would tell me that
readers asking about their biggest struggle in going after
this was my biggest weakness, and I have to step up.
their Big Goals — MORE THAN FIFTY ladies e-mailed me that
statement above, in some form or the other:
See, I came from an NGO & social development background. I
wanted to do good in the world. Unfortunately, the prevailing
• “I don’t have money, so I can’t travel.”
mindset is: If you want to do good in the world, you CAN’T
• “I don’t have money, so I can’t pursue my dream business.”
earn a lot from it.
• “I don’t have money, so I can’t leave this soul-sucking job.”

So I really really really sucked at earning money in the first 4

I don’t know about you, but all those statements sound like
years of working. I pursued (and completed!) a lot of very
you’re letting yourself be ruled by money.
successful passion projects, spoke in huge conferences, got
featured in major publications, but — behind the scenes, I
You’re letting the lack of money — dictate what you can and
wasn’t earning from them. (In fact, I was losing money from
can’t do. That’s money slavery right there.
doing most of these projects).
And the bad thing about this is: The more often you say it, the
more you believe it. It becomes your Life Mantra.
I did a lot of that stuff for free, or almost free, largely because
I felt guilty about charging. I gave extremely valuable help, my
Do any of the previous bulleted statements sound like a good
skills, and my time to a person or group, but wouldn’t charge
Life Mantra?
them because I felt awkward and guilty. Whatever skills I had,
I felt insecure about monetizing them.
… I didn’t think so.

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 My story:

• quit my job,
Quitting my job + getting better at • make the jump to becoming a full-time entrepreneur on
budgeting, saving, and earning
 my own, and
(aka #adulting) • do a 3-month Sabbatical trip to the US

After 4 years (it took a long time), and a lot of bad When that came around — I was ready.
experiences, I slowly became better at earning.
(Well, kiiiiiiiiinda ready. I mean, I don’t think anybody can truly
I forced myself to learn how to become better at earning be FULLY ready for that scary jump. I was as ready as I could
money, because I realized: be at that moment. Unless you’re Beyonce.)

I wanted to
HERE ARE THE EXACT STEPS I TOOK TO
(1) do work I was very passionate about, RAISE MONEY FROM MY DREAM:
(2) work that had a bigger purpose, AND
(3) I wanted to earn a living from it. STEP 1: I ASKED MYSELF… WHAT WOULD BEYONCE DO?
… Just kidding.
And I decided – those 3 things shouldn’t be mutually
exclusive. Here’s an overview, then I’ll discuss each in detail:

So, around July of this year, when I had that lightning bolt • STEP 1: ROUGH VISION + CLEAR TARGET
moment when I realized that I wanted to become a full-time • STEP 2: SAVE
entrepreneur doing passionate, purposeful, and profitable • STEP 3: SELL
work, and decided to: • STEP 4: EARN EXTRA (*MOST IMPORTANT STEP!)

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 STEP 1: ROUGH VISION + CLEAR TARGET Then, I computed the maximum of how much I needed to
save per month (in terms of % of salary) in my last 3
I laid out a rough itemized list of what I wanted to do, and months at my day job — and adjusted my spending
what I would need: roundtrip ticket, daily allowance, budget accordingly.
capital for business tools, etc. Nothing very specific, just
made sure to cover all the necessities. Meaning: More breakfasts & dinners at home, less Uber,
less bookstore shopping.
And then, I researched/estimated how much each item or
activity would cost. I pared my life down to my true essentials – and was able
to save about P 28,000  from my salary in the span of 3
I then pegged my TARGET AMOUNT: PHP 155,000 (or months.
$3260), and my DEADLINE: early October.
However! I decided to split this P 24,000 into 2 parts:
I then drilled that target into my heart and mind, I prepped • P 14,000 – Passion Project Fund
myself for battle, and then went straight to work. No • P 14,000 – Emergency Fund*
overthinking.
*IMPORTANT!

STEP 2: SAVE I decided to leave this 20,000 untouched as my
emergency fund, THEN added the 14,000 from my salary
FIRST, I took stock of my existing savings. At that time, I savings, so in total, I had P 34,000 in my untouchable
only had around P 20,000 ($435) in my savings account*, emergency fund. I made a commitment to myself to not
because I had just shelled out money for an emergency spend any of this money so I would have something to
expense, and the rest were in my untouchable life come back to at the end of my 3-month Sabbatical.
insurance plan.

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 STEP 3: SELL STEP 4: EARN EXTRA

(*MOST IMPORTANT STEP!)
I cleaned out my closet: I set aside everything I wasn’t
using, but were still in great condition, so I can sell them. I set out on a plan to make extra income, using only three
things: my time, my skills, and my knowledge. My skill:
I organized a garage sale (with some friends) to sell old teaching/public speaking. My knowledge: personal
clothes, shoes, and books. I was able to earn about P systems (goal-setting), and marketing/branding. The
6,000 ($120) from this. Two birds with one stone: You’ve earning plan: Teach workshops.
decluttered your house, and you’ve earned money!
I put out a small announcement that I was going to teach a
Then, about a week before I left, I managed to sell my old goal-setting workshop & pre-sold seats: This means I
DSLR lens on OLX — which actually made me go way past already started collecting payments without spending
my monetary goal. I sold it for only P 36,500 ($775), and anything on venue + materials. Once I had enough
while it was sad to part with my favorite lens, but it enrollments to cover venue, that was the only time I
propelled me forward towards my goals. Bittersweet.(I decided to green-light the project and make a bigger
also posted it on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, but it sold announcement to get more students.
on OLX.) Here’s what my ad looked like:
I ended up holding 4 workshops, where I earned about P
117,000 ($2480) in total.

Important Note: This step helped me reach 65% of my

money goal. Can you imagine how FAR away from my goal
I would have been… if I only relied on my SAVINGS?

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 To recap, the formula I used was:

(SAVE) + (SELL) + (EARN EXTRA)
 BONUS!
(14,000) + (42,500) + (117,000)
Check out the next page for a
With this simple equation (and a lot of hustling & sleepless worksheet you can print and
nights), I was able to raise a Passion Project Fund of PHP
answer for your own budget
173,500 ($3760) in 3 months.
brainstorming!
My Passion Project being: To work on launching my own
business, while learning how to live independently in Liked this e-book + worksheet? Tag us on Instagram
another country. @thepurposefulcreative and let us know!

All in all, it wasn’t an easy journey: I barely had any free time at
all, and I really dialed down my lifestyle and stopped buying
any new material things for months and months on end. No
shopping. Period. I also started preparing more meals at
home, and eating out way less. It was definitely a long period
of major frugality.

But I’ll end with this: It’s a cliche for a reason, but every single
time I hear or read this — I’m reminded of just how true it is:

If you want it bad enough —


you’ll find a way.

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 My Passion Project Fund
What I’m Raising
Funds For + WHY
It’s Important To Me:

Target Amount: Deadline:

Current Bank Amount I Want To Save

Balance: Per Week ’Til Deadline:

Items I Can SELL To Earn Extra Money: Other Ideas To Earn Extra Money:

My Ideal Formula (aka How I Hope My Plans Will Pan Out):

+ + =
SAVE SELL EARN EXTRA TARGET AMOUNT

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