Do I prioritize investing or focusing on my wants and buying a game console?
Problem/Goal: Should I funnel more money for my investments or save up for a Steam Deck OLED worth PHP 39,950?
Context: My EF is fully funded for 6 months na. I'm also setting aside budget for investing and for my health insurance. Pero take note, beginner pa ko sa investing so maliit pa lang yung naseset aside ko for investment (around 2k per cutoff) dahil na rin di pa ko maalam kung san talaga okay mag-invest. I want to be a bit more aggressive so gusto ko magstart mag-invest in mutual funds and see my money grow more there. With the little reading I've done so far, mas okay raw mag pool muna ng money and mag-invest quarterly rather than every month if konti pa lang kayang ipasok. So my plan is to save up every quarter then invest (2k per cutoff * 3 months = 12k quarterly). As for my insurance naman I don't have one yet, but I'm setting aside budget because I plan on purchasing annually.
May budget rin for daily expenses, and even for the random luho purchases like Shopee stuff or food cravings I want. So all my needs and savings are fixed and budgeted na, especially since I live below my means as much as I can. With this, I have an extra 2k per cut off. Iniisip ko na kaysa mapunta sa random bullshit purchases na I tend to make when I see extra budget in my daily expenses, I can place this money elsewhere.
Now I really want a Steam Deck OLED rin for the longest time hahaha since its release pa nga. With the news na rin of the increased prices of RAM, napapaisip na ko to go save up for it habang di pa OA yung price. Ang naghohold back sakin kasi are my goals in life. I have plans to job hop and to get fit this year. Yung sa job hopping, naiisip ko na need ko mag-upskill. Naiisip ko: if bibili ako ng Steam Deck OLED, may oras ba ko maglaro if ganito yung plans ko? Or if bibili ako ng Steam Deck OLED, makakapaglaan pa ba ko ng oras to do my goals in life? What if distraction siya? Pero I've wanted one talaga ever since its release hahaha.
So here are my options thinking all this over:
A) Place the extra 2k in more investments (magiging 4k per cutoff ang pagseset aside ko for investment)
B) Place the extra 2k in upskilling (if tamarin ako mag-Youtube kasi di ko maisip how to structure my self-learning so bibili na lang ng certificate course emerut)
C) Place the extra 2k in saving up for Steam Deck OLED
D) Do a hybrid plan of placing 1k for investments and 1k for Steam Deck OLED? Not my preferred option because I rather focus on one thing na lang... naiisip ko mas mapapahaba saving journey ko when I should have just chosen to prioritize better.
Writing everything down, alam ko what I need to prioritize, pero ang hirap ng feeling na there's something you want pero you're actively pushing it away... if that makes sense hahaha
Previous attempts: just that I planned my options A, B, C, D as I listed above.
Posted Mar 1, 2026, 1:51 AM UTC