My previous yaya opened up a joint account last July 2017.

Our deal was to deposit php2,500.00 per cut-off of her salary so that she can save up for a house and for her three children’s future.

After opening the account, she practically forgot about it, trusting me to drop php2,500 each payday to her account. Please note that our yaya’s salary was php10,000 a month then, so half of her salary goes to her expenses, while the other half goes to this account.

See below the deposits made on her behalf:

The only time I did not deposit was when she has an immediate financial need and requests that I just give her her entire salary and not deposit for that cut-off.

So by December 29, she’s already “saved” ₱31,500 (or USD 600).

Please note that the minimum monthly wage for a yaya in the Philippines is only ₱3,500 per month (USD 67.50), so this is a lot of many for them.

To her credit, our yaya never checked this bank account. So, she didn’t really know how much money she had. All she knew was that she had money.

When we took a year end vacation, we also gave yaya a 10-day off, which she spent with her mother and family.

“Ma’m, can I withdraw ₱5,000 of the money I have on my bank account?” She asked me.

“Of course! It’s your money,” I replied. “You can withdraw it anytime you want for your needs.”

“We will go to Baguio so we need ₱5,000,” she explained. “You know me… I’m the type who will not overspend. I will ask you first before withdrawing the money.”

“Oh no worries,” I said. “You can get the passbook from Joy if you want to withdraw. It is our joint account so all you need is your ID to withdraw.”

“Sure Ma’m, you can trust me,” she promised.

We got back on January 7, and she asked for an extension of leave since she was apparently not feeling well. When I got back, I saw her withdrawals.

Despite only asking permission for ₱5,000, on January 3, she withdrew ₱16,500.

Two days later, she withdrew another ₱10,000 for a total of ₱16,500.

Then the same day, thinking that it’s a joint account and probably assuming that it’s connected to my personal account, yaya once again withdrew ₱10,000 despite only having a balance of ₱5,031.57.

The bank refused to give her the money as overwithdrawals are probibited. Also, this needs my permission to empty and close, since I am the joint account holder for this account. However, the bank still recorded her overwithdrawal, much to her embarrassment.

Please note that coupled with her December salary and 13th month pay, yaya technically had ₱45,000 to spend. This she finished in a span of 3 days.

How did she spend it all?

Remember when I said they went to Baguio?

Apparently, she brought her entire family 8 of them — 3 kids, 1 of her kid’s boyfriend, her mother, 2 cousins — plus my husband’s manager’s family, 5 pax with her to Baguio.

Happy days in Baguio

Her budget was originally ₱5,000, but upon seeing how much money she had, she gallantly paid for most the entire trip for everyone, literally emptying her account.

When I asked her why she still had to pay for her cousins and an entirely different family, she merely shrugged and said it was difficult to say no especially when she had that much cash on hand.

I didn’t really mind — it was HER money and she can do whatever she wants with it. I was however miffed that she tried to overwithdraw, since she was willing to try and see if she can since she knew I was her joint account holder. Maybe she thought she could have access to my account too since I was a holder.

At the end of January, she tried to borrow ₱9,000 from me so that she can pay for the fare of her mom and her two cousins to go back to the province.

I said NO.

For one, we really don’t allow cash advance or bale in our household. This is made clear before we employ help.

Two, she had at least ₱45,000 in the beginning of January and stupidly spent it all.

Three, I also didn’t want to put her ₱9,000 in the hole. I didn’t think she needed to answer for all her cousins’ fare back. The money she loaned today, she would have to pay for in the next couple of months.

Lastly, paying for her cousins’ fare is NOT an emergency. If they wanted to go back, they can very well find the money for their own fare. Why should yaya pay for them?

So what did yaya do?

She went to a loan shark and borrowed ₱20,000, and used her motorbike as collatetal.

At the end of the day, giving her more money put her deeper in debt. Her relatives used her as an ATM until she ran out of money, and because they thought she had even more money, they pressured her to borrow money to pay for their expenses.

Two, she really couldn’t handle a large amount of money. She was fine when she had little, but upon realizing she had money, it was Christmas time all over again and she cannot stop herself from spending it all.

Lastly, the money funded her vices and caused her eventual employment termination.

Because she had money, she got herself a boyfriend who encouraged her to spend on him. She paid for their dates and more. He dated her for the money. Ultimately, it was because of him that she got fired (long story).

My yaya was corrupted because of money. The same way that lottery winners cannot hold their money for a long time.

Of course, not all yayas are like her, and more yayas are more prudent than mine, but it is true — giving yayas more money is NOT the answer IF THEY DON’T KNOW HOW TO MANAGE MONEY WELL.

If the yaya does not know how to manage her money, giving her more money will only speed up her misfortune and demise.

In a way, I think that huge amount of money was the beginning of the end for our yaya.

After she left our employ, she jumped from one employer to the other and never regained proper long term employment. And she never managed to save up that same amount of money that she did with us.

So money is not always the answer. Paying a yaya more is not the answer. What’s the answer then?

Only the Lord knows.

Have a good week everyone!