“Walang hindi kakayanin para sa pamilya.” (There’s nothing I can’t do for my family.) This is what Shirley Aguinaldo answered when asked about her greatest motivation to keep going despite the challenges faced in juggling different online jobs and side hustles. The happiness of her family fills her up and gives her the strength to get by day by day.
Shirley B. Aguinaldo is a 37-year-old entrepreneur and online seller across various digital platforms. She is also an active client of TSPI. But above all these roles, she is first a wife and a mother. Her day starts in attending the needs of her family. After fulfilling her duties, her full attention will be turned on earning money. Shirley is fearless. She is not afraid to try new things, especially on exploring digital platforms; that’s why she has more than one way to provide for her family.
Shirley offers assistance to her customers who want to pay their bills (Meralco, Loans, Pag-ibig, SSS) online. She uses TrueMoney to smoothly conduct her clients’ transactions and to ensure that their payments will be received. She personally lines up at the bank to deposit all their payments. She earns a total of P8.00 for every transaction.
Because of the rising demand for money transfers through GCash, Shirley decided to use her loan from TSPI, amounting to P50,000, as a fund in her GCash account. She charges P5.00 for every P1000 transaction. This rate is considered low compared to other GCash outlets, which is why she has a lot of customers in her community. She mentioned, “Ito talaga ang malakas ngayon sa kinikita ko” (this gives me a bigger income these days).
She also sells different items on Lazada. Some of her products are bed sheets, cover sets for motorcycles, underwear, beauty products, and whitening products. She also engages with other sellers and participates in Drop Off, where she helps other sellers sell their products. Her average earnings from her own sales and drop-offs on Lazada are P8,000 per month. If she has spare time, she also sells thrifted clothes through Facebook Live, and earnings from this are used for their daily expenses.
Effects of Pandemic
Her life completely changed the moment she discovered how to earn money across different digital platforms. Shirley recalled how tight their finances were back then when her husband was the only one working in their family. She said, “Halos dalawang beses lang kami kumain.” (We only eat twice.) This got worse when the pandemic happened. This unexpected occurrence pushed her to find ways to provide for her family. She took advantage of the surging demand of digitalization and explored it even more. She also made double efforts to find items that she can sell in Lazada at a lower price.
Digitalization Paved a Way
Her hard work didn’t go to waste because it led to good results. Not only did their finances improve, but she was also able to do a lot for her family. She paid for the renovation of their house, bought new appliances and even paid for all the expenses of the funeral of her grandparents. Shirley is a full-time mom, so being able to make money through digital platforms is a huge blessing for her. It has paved a way for her to both spend time with her family and meet their needs.
