Overseas workers have always been given the connotation of being well off. In the contrary, we often hear ourselves say “Ang tagal ko na dito sa abroad pero wala pa rin akong naiipon (I’ve been here in abroad for too long yet I still have no savings). The truth is we really are rich. Most of us earn more than what we could’ve been earning if we are working back in our home country, but the question does not lie with how much we earn, but where does our hard-earned salary go?
Okay, before you close this window and check your Facebook instead, let me clarify that this is not an article on financial literacy. I will not give figures or percentages of where your income should go, but hopefully, this will be a reality check not only on needs versus wants, but a call on living the simple life.
I sat with a fellow Singles for Christ (SFC) member, Bro Rico Gamboa at a coffee shop to help shed a light on this “simple living advocacy,” and while he said that ordering coffee was not necessary but I insisted on treating him. It was my invite, anyway. He was not there as a brother who is an expert or did a research on the topic, rather, he is the living testimony of the advocacy. This is his story.
Working in Dubai for 9 years, Rico is having the time of his life, and by this famous phrase I don’t mean the luxurious life of popularity, wealth and fame. He is living a simple, happy and contented life. He works as an office assistant at an Auto Spare Parts Company and though his pay is not enough to support all his 9 siblings, he still managed to send his niece to a private school and financially support his sisters one at a time. “I made it clear to my family that I can’t help everyone, but I will give what I can.”
Okay, before you close this window and check your Facebook instead, let me clarify that this is not an article on financial literacy. I will not give figures or percentages of where your income should go, but hopefully, this will be a reality check not only on needs versus wants, but a call on living the simple life.
I sat with a fellow Singles for Christ (SFC) member, Bro Rico Gamboa at a coffee shop to help shed a light on this “simple living advocacy,” and while he said that ordering coffee was not necessary but I insisted on treating him. It was my invite, anyway. He was not there as a brother who is an expert or did a research on the topic, rather, he is the living testimony of the advocacy. This is his story.
Working in Dubai for 9 years, Rico is having the time of his life, and by this famous phrase I don’t mean the luxurious life of popularity, wealth and fame. He is living a simple, happy and contented life. He works as an office assistant at an Auto Spare Parts Company and though his pay is not enough to support all his 9 siblings, he still managed to send his niece to a private school and financially support his sisters one at a time. “I made it clear to my family that I can’t help everyone, but I will give what I can.”
Simple living doesn’t mean Rico doesn’t spend on himself or has to lock himself in his room to avoid spending. As a matter of fact, the first thing he does every pay day is treat himself with a shirt or good meal. Then he completes his obligation to the church and his family and allots some savings that no matter how small, it is still savings. The remaining money will be his challenging budget for the current month. This has been the routine for 9 years.
When I asked if he has a loan or a credit card, he immediately answered “no” as if I asked him if he robbed a bank. “Credit cards are just temptations to get the things you can’t actually afford. No matter how many flowery words the bank will say for you to get a credit card, it all boils down to one thing – it is a loan.”
Rico doesn’t have a fat bank account, or a collection of gadgets, expensive clothes, shoes and all the other things we talk about all the time and drool over, yet he is amazingly rich in other things. He is a SFC household leader, SFC Dubai Church Integrations Head, a member of music ministry, choir, creatives, Kids for Christ, and lectors and commentators guild of the church. He is rich in service, something with actual value in our permanent address, heaven. The interview didn’t last an hour. It was straightforward, no need for deep elaborations. Maybe because it is pretty basic, and it’s ironic how something so basic can be flushed out of our systems. We always think of grand and new things that can satisfy us when it is not actually “things” that does that. Rico doesn’t have everything but he doesn’t feel deprived at all. On the contrary, he feels happy and blessed having the simple life.
Walking back home, one simple line from Rico echoed in my mind. Back at the counter, when I was about to order coffee, he said “hindi na kailangan nyan” (no need for that). I believe we would have had the same great conversation even without the coffee. “Hindi na kailangan…” How simple life can be if we always ask ourselves - “Do I really need this? Does this really matter?”… and just treasure the ones that actually do.
“For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world” -2 Corinthians 1:12 (KJV)
By Sis Grace Ababan
SFC UAE
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