Day#7: Commit to Learn a New Skill

This is Day #7 of “25 Days to Healthier Finances”, a series of blog posts where Frugal Pinoy readers and myself work on 1 task a day to make our financial lives better. Please stay tuned for the next installment of this series, which will be up tomorrow.

Here’s today’s installment:

After graduating from college, most people stop being active learners. True, they might be learning new things at work, but the urge or motivation to pick up a new skill seems to lessen. Some common things they say:

• Gusto ko sana mag [insert activity here] kaso hindi ako marunong.
• Kung pwede lang ay naging [insert career here] sana ako, kaso wala naman akong alam/talent/degree/time para dun.
• Magagamit ko ba yan sa career ko?

Today’s Task: Commit to learning one new skill

To get those excuses out of the way, you just have to take a step and learn one new skill. No matter how simple or how complex you think it is. Pick something you’re really interested in doing.

Of course, you can’t learn it all in a day, but spend some time today looking for the resources that will help you learn. Commit. Schedule your learning sessions.

Even if you spend money on books or attend classes to learn, remember that it’s an investment. Just make sure that you try free resources first, so that you have a good idea whether you can be diligent or passionate enough about it. You can get free tips and lessons from the following:

• How-to videos on YouTube
• Blogs and web sites
• Experienced friends and relatives
• Volunteering
• Joining special interest groups

Here’s some simple, overlooked skills that can actually save you a lot of money if you learn how to do them well:

• minor vehicle repairs and maintenance such as changing the oil and other fluids, replacing wipers, checking tire pressure
• replacing a fuse from a broken appliance
• home cooking your own meals (rather than ordering food)
• brewing your own coffee (instead of buying from coffee shops regularly)
• troubleshooting your computer
• sewing and mending clothes
• home improvement and repair skills (even if you choose just one aspect such as patching holes in ceilings or fixing plumbing leaks)
• how to grow your own herb garden
• landscaping
• how to cut hair (if you have kids)

Some complex skills that may require more considerable training:

• how to speak and write a new language
• building your own computer
• how to use a graphics design program (such as Photoshop or Illustrator)
• how to code a web site from scratch
• writing
• programming
• animal care (including pets and livestock)

What new skill are you going to commit to learn today?

Image by ywel from sxc.hu