SHARING TIME: PIGGY BANKING ADVOCACY

This is our first public appearance (as if we are hiding like fugitives). Seriously, I was invited by a group which advocates financial literacy. Isn't this our advocacy too right? Without hesitation, I agreed to share our experiences in the past two years of piggy banking. I just hope we are able to inspire others and follow what we have worked on.

My special thanks to the Pioneer Insurance Team, especially to Ems for allowing me appear in their event. Together, let's help as many Filipinos as we can to become financially fit and smart.

Event: MPOWER: FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT
Date: May 7, 2015
Venue: L'Fisher Hotel, Bacolod City
Organizer: Pioneer Insurance

SHARING TIME: 1st Speaking Engagement

I'm invited to share about our piggy banking experience tonight at L' Fisher Hotel, Bacolod City, 6:00 pm. Excited to touch lives, inspire others into piggy banking. See you all!

READING TIME: Origin of Piggy Bank

The Accidental Invention: The Origin Of Piggy Banks

June 4, 2012 | 

These days the piggy bank is taken for granted — it’s a coin bank, shaped like a pig. Kids love them. But where did they really come from? Why do people around the world stuff loose change into small pink pigs?

The origin of piggy banks dates back nearly 600 years, in a time before real banks even existed. Before the creation of modern-style banking institutions, people commonly stored their money at home — not under the mattress (or hay rack), but in common kitchen jars. During The Middle Ages, metal was expensive and seldom used for household wares. Instead, dishes and pots were made of an economical orange-colored clay called pygg. Whenever folks could save an extra coin or two, they dropped it into one of their clay jars — a pygg pot.

Vowels in early English had different sounds than they do today, so during the time of the Saxons the word pygg would have been pronounced “pug.” But as the pronunciation of “y” changed from a “u” to an “i,” pygg eventually came to be pronounced about like “pig.” Perhaps coincidentally, the Old English word for pigs (the farm animal) was “picga,” with the Middle English word evolving into “pigge,” possibly because of the fact that the animals rolled around in pygg mud and dirt.

Over the next two hundred to three hundred years, as the English language evolved, the clay (pygg) and the animal (pigge) came to be pronounced the same, and Europeans slowly forgot that pygg once referred to the earthenware pots, jars and cups of yesteryear. So in the 19th century when English potters received requests for pygg banks, they started producing banks shaped like pigs. This clever — albeit accidental — visual pun appealed to customers and delighted children.

Early models had no hole in the bottom, so the pig had to be broken to get money out. Some people say that’s where we get the expression “breaking the bank,” but serious academics disagree. The idiom “break the bank” means to ruin one financially, or to exhaust one’s resources. The term is believed to originate in gambling, where it means that a player has won more than the banker (the house) can pay.

“Jehoiada the priest took a chest and bored a hole in its lid. He placed it beside the altar. The priests who guarded the entrance put into the chest all the money that was brought to the temple of the Lord.”
— 2 Kings 12:9

Western Europeans weren’t the only ones making piggy banks. Indeed the first true piggy banks — terracotta banks in the shape of a pig with a slot in the top for depositing coins — were made in Java as far back as the 14th century. Not many ancient Indonesian piggy banks survive today, since (like all early piggy banks) they needed to be busted apart to get at the coins. Unbroken Javanese piggy banks are very rare. In Great Britain, a 650-year old Majapahit terracotta piggy bank was offered for sale at £6,000.00 (just under USD$10,000).

The oldest known money box dates from 2nd century B.C., found in the Greek colony Priene in Asia Minor, and features the shape of a little Greek temple with a slit in the pediment. Money boxes of various forms were also excavated in Pompeii and Herculaneum. A biblical reference to a money box can be found in the Old Testament, in the second book of Kings.

Majapahit Piggy Bank (Circa 15th Century) - The animal depicted is technically not a pig but the Javanese celeng, a small, swayed-back, black-skinned wild boar. Some theories suggest this design was exported from Indonesia to Europe, but that isn't likely.

So that explains where the “pig” part came from, but how about the word “bank.” Way back when, the word “bank” originally meant the same thing as “bench.” You see, when money first started changing hands in Northern Italy, lenders did business in open markets, working over a table. These Medieval Venetian banks were set up in main squares by men who both changed and lent money. Their benches would be laden with currencies from the different trading countries. The Italian word for bench or counter is “banco” from which the English word “bank” is derived. (Some argue this is where the term “broke the bank” comes from. The Italian expression “banca rotta” means “broken bench,” with a broken bench possibly symbolizing that a money lender was out of business.)

The Piggy bank Today

Today piggy banks have become and enduring icon for financial literacy — a tool to teach kids about the importance of saving money. The power of this symbol is so engrained in culture that it now transcends physical coins. PNC has embedded its unique “Punch the Pig” automatic savings tool into its online Virtual Wallet product.

To this day in some European countries, notably in the Netherlands and German speaking countries, it is customary to give piggy banks as gifts because pigs are associated with luck and good fortune. At New Years, so-called “Lucky Pigs” are still exchanged as gifts. In Japan, the Maneki Neko, or money cat, is often placed in the home to help bring good luck and fortune to the household. Maneki Neko’s are often used as a kind of piggy bank, too, holding loose change and money for the family.

Article taken from this site http://thefinancialbrand.com/24204/history-of-piggy-banks/

STATUS UPDATE: YEAR-ENDER (YEAR 2)

Happy New Year! 

I know this is late, but better than never.

We are now on our 3rd year guys. And we are going strong. I know that the future is uncertain, but our discipline, consistency and determination, will drive us further.

Our 2nd year had past with major changes. These are:

1. We have new a depository bank. I transferred all our savings to OCCCI (Metro Ormoc Community Cooperative). Yes, this is a cooperative. Aside that their office is just a walk away from my place, investing in cooperative offers many advantages.

2. We invested portion of our savings to Royale Business Club amounting to Php18,000.00. This investment will accelerate our drive to reach our goal. Although, this will take some time.

3. Another investment that we have this year is our coffee vending machine which amounted to Php6,000.00. This investment is contributing additional Php 1,000.00 to our monthly deposits. As of December, it contributed P8,500.00 already and counting.

Total Funds

                    Cash in Bank (as of Dec. 2014)           Php 14,815.29

                    Investments:

                              Royale Business Club                       18,000.00

                              Coffee Vending Machine                    6,000.00

                    TOTAL                                                Php 38,815.29 

I can't believe it! We are now almost 40K. To track with our 1M goal, by 24 months, we are expected to save Php28,415.00. But as we can see, our total funds now is already Php38,815.29, 10k beyond our target. With continued effort and prayer, our 1M goal will be realized sooner. 

Plans for 2015

I am optimistic for this coming year. With our investments in placed, let us be more courageous to take this program into the next level.

This will be our plans for this year:

1. Invest another Coffee Vending Machine. We just need to find a good location where we can station our vendo. It will take Php 12,000.00 from our savings.

2. Work out our investment in Royale so that it will start generating income to our account. This is not easy, but let's make this happen.

3. Continue our advocacy in piggy banking. We will intensify our campaign for smart piggy banking so that we could influence more people into saving. Isn't this our primary reason why we came up with this saving program. 

4. Build an online community who share the same passion in piggy banking. I don't know how I can do this, maybe we can start in our FB account.

Again, all these things are impossible without divine intervention. That's why, we give back all the glory and honor to our Almighty Lord Jesus Christ.