Tips For Preparing Chinese New Years Without Disturbing Family Finances

Chinese New Year (Photo: Pixabay)

JAKARTA - Chinese New Year is synonymous with red angpau. The amount of red angpau during Chinese New Year depends on the financial condition of the giver and how close the person's relationship with the recipient is.

It is recommended that givers of angpau prepare funds in advance. Moreover, if the number of those who are given angpau is not necessarily the same every year. Branding and Communication Strategist MiPOWER by Sequis Ivan Christian Winatha, MM, RFP® reveals tips for preparing red angpau so as not to interfere with other financial posts and tips on how to use them.

According to him, one of the references in simple financial planning in the allocation of income is to use the principle of 10 percent for good, 20 percent for the future, 30 percent for paying installments, and 40 percent for financing needs.

If you give angpau then the funds that must be prepared are included in the category of goodness budget. For those who receive angpau, the money you receive is categorized as non-routine income.

"The charity budget is not mandatory, but whatever your income should be, try to set aside income for this post," said Ivan as quoted from ANTARA, Sunday, January 30.

People who have implemented the 10-20-30-40 principle will be greatly helped in managing expenses because with this post they can help others without sacrificing other posts, including when celebrating religious holidays, such as Chinese New Year.

Ivan suggests that you prepare this post in advance so that the family budget is not disturbed and the Chinese New Year's happiness is not reduced.

Then, how to know the amount of funds that must be saved to prepare red angpau? You can make a simple plan, which is to calculate the number of children or relatives who will be given an angpau and then estimate how much money will be given.

This is because the number of people given and the amount of money are not necessarily the same for every Chinese New Year celebration. Plus, our financial condition is not always the same every year.

Apart from angpau, there are other costs that must be prepared to celebrate the Chinese New Year. List all the costs required and estimate the amount.

You can increase 5-10 percent from the previous year's value because the price of goods may increase or become scarce, such as the case of the increase in cooking oil prices that occurred at the beginning of 2022. You will later get a range of amounts of money that you routinely have to set aside every week or every month.

“If your income is only enough to finance your daily life, then if you want to give money, invest in advance in low-risk instruments so that the money you invest is not a lot, but if you do it regularly in the long term, you will still get returns, even if the amount can be increased, so more than what you need to give angpau," said Ivan.

If there are remaining funds, you can manage them again, for example meeting other needs without having to disturb the routine budget, adding mutual funds, or top-up unit link insurance.

Then, where is the source of funds for red angpau? Usually comes from income or savings that you set aside. However, according to Ivan, it doesn't always have to be from salary.

When you get THR, annual bonuses, or fees from additional work, if it is managed properly for routine expenses or intentionally set aside since the income is received, it can be used to prepare Chinese New Year gifts.

For those who have unlimited income from investing in stocks or are adept at trading forex or bitcoin, it may not be too confusing to prepare red angpau or can choose various investment instruments to get big returns.

However, for those who are not new to trading or have limited income only for living expenses, they can look for additional work income without disturbing their main job by utilizing their expertise or network of friends, such as being a photographer, MC, graphic designer, content creator to becoming an insurance agent.