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Excerpt

What does Marvin Germo spend money on? How do you maintain your mindset of thriftiness and financial discipline?

Marvin is a simple man. He spends his earnings mostly just on coffee, food, and the occasional vacation. 

In the past decade, Marvin’s income has increased dramatically. Despite this, his level of spending remains the same as it was before. 

This financial discipline has come from how Marvin experienced his family losing everything. He told himself that he didn’t want that happening to him as well. Marvin never got the opportunity to start a business nor was he given the money to make something.

He literally started from the bottom.

For Marvin, Financial Freedom is about being able to do what you want when you want to. The fear of not having enough is nonexistent. That was what drove him to keep pushing forward. He wanted a better life.

As time went by, he also saw that some people needed help. In John Maxwell’s words, “It should not be lonely at the top because a leader brings people along”.

How long have you been financially free?

Marvin has been budgeting for 14 years. He makes sure to set an amount of money for him to live comfortably on. The rest that he earns he invests again. His budget right now has stayed the same as the budget he had five years ago. 

The biggest misconception about financial freedom is going off and buying expensive things. Money was never a motivator for Marvin. To him, it’s just a tool to open up opportunities.

How were you able to achieve your financial freedom at such a young age?

Anyone can achieve what Marvin has done. They just have to remember that it’s proportionate to their lifestyle. They just have to lower their expenses to a certain degree. It depends on the lifestyle that you want. The more expensive your lifestyle is, the higher the expenses you have to consider. The cheaper it is, the lower that number. Marvin’s expenses are very low.

He rarely buys anything from expensive brands. And although he does pay extra for good food delivered to him, he believes it’s worth it because it saves him time that he uses to be productive. 

Marvin would usually tell people to save money. However, if you’re productive, then he will tell you to not just save but also go on the offensive and make more. If you don’t know how to make money, then go on the defensive and be as thrifty as you can. But if you’re entrepreneurial, then you should value your time. 

He also believes that time should be placed on a pedestal for everyone. It’s about how people manage their time to make the money that they can use as capital.

What is the secret of having a mindset like yours? What are some of the things that you keep in mind to ensure that your lifestyle is good for the next couple of years.

Marvin was with Manny Pangilinan a few weeks ago. He asked him how he does his money. Manny said that he separates his money into different accounts. So that it would look smaller than it actually is. Marvin does the same thing. He separates his money into different accounts and funds. They split all of their money so it would look small. This would make them feel like they have fewer funds so they will work harder again. 

Managing multiple accounts is difficult. But it worked well enough to bring Marvin to where he is today. 

Before Marvin became this amazing stock trader, he first struggled to make ends meet. He decided to save up and budget just PHP2000 for 2 weeks.

As it says in the bible, “When you’re faithful with little, you will be faithful with much”. Marvin pushed himself to the limit and by doing so, he became creative with how he spent his money. 

What people see now is very different from the life that Marvin had before. He did everything he could to save up while all of his other coworkers were out eating at fast-food chains or drinking at coffee shops. It was five years of suffering that led to success afterward. Marvin didn’t have his money back then, but he never thought that he was poor. His wallet was never a reflection of who he was as a person.

How many accounts do you have right now? How often do you move money in or out from those accounts?

Marvin doesn’t know how many accounts he has. He just keeps a spreadsheet of them in the safety of his home. Some accounts don’t freeze as long as the money keeps entering it, some don’t freeze as long as they stay above the maintaining balance.

What are some stocks that you’re holding on to right now?

SM Prime, Jolibee, Ayala Lands