What Does "Kuripot" Mean?

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source: http://abcnews.go.com

I remember back in my last job in the Philippines where co-workers would ask me if I can join them to go out and have a night out and I would say "no thanks" and they would say that I am so "kuripot" which I shouldn't be because I am still single and have no obligations yet in life.

People say your "kuripot" when you don't spend for pleasure or worse when they just wanted you to treat them for whatever favor that is and you refuse. Well most of the time the same people don't understand your situation or maybe don't understand why you are saving up. People who usually ask you to go out with expect you to treat or pay for the tab because they themselves don't have money and just want to forget about it by asking someone who has to pay for it. But of course not all who do that are actually broke some just wanted to have fun...

Yes the word "kuripot" both has a bad and good meaning.

Let start with the bad meaning.

Kuripot may be similar to the English word "miser" which Wikipedia describes as:

a person who is reluctant to spend money, sometimes to the point of forgoing even basic comforts and some necessities.

 That is the bad in the "kuripot". If a person just hoards money and not really use it to his benefit then that is a not so good practice. I remember what Bob Proctor said about money, that is money should be circulated. Money should not be tuck under one's bed or else it would lose its value.

source: http://faculty.fairfield.edu

Also if you need to see a doctor and you are hesitant because you believe the doctor would just rip you off that would be a not so good attitude. You have been working and working hard to have the money and yet you wont spend it for your well being.

So this is a bad picture of a "kuripot."

With that we can now make a good picture of a "kuripot."

If you have read the book The Millionaire Next Door one characteristic of the millionaires in your own neighborhood  is that they are tight with money. They don't actually live a misers life but are actually very wise in where they spend there money.

They look at alternatives to some of life's wants like for example why would they buy a very expensive shirt which they would only wear once when hey can get a very similar one in a store that goes on sale or maybe borrow  it from a friend or relative who has one.

The good picture of a "kuripot" is a wise investor. He or she does not spend on unnecessary things but, as Bob Proctor said, circulate money in which he or she  earns  more thus making money his or her slave rather than he  or she is a slave of money.

source: http://www.nexusanime.cz

Make your money work hard for you.

A lot of young people now a days specially those who just jump in the work force save money for the wrong reasons. One saves so that he can buy the latest IPhone or the Samsung Galaxy tab. One saves so that she can finally buy that Louis Vuitton bag she has been envying all her college life. 

They save up for the wrong reason.

Why not save up so that you can put up a small or a sideline business? How much would it cost to have your own and mobile reloading station? All you need is the capital to purchase and load up for the cellphone credits which you can retail in your office and neighborhood. Or how much would it cost to put up a small and seasonal "palamig" for the summer or "goto or mainit na mami" for the rainy days in the front of your house which is near the tricycle waiting area? 

A good "kuripot" is the one who saves money in order to get more money so that he or she can secure the future. 

It is all in delaying gratification: endure now and enjoy the fruits later.