i

A Qualitative Study of Spending Behavior of ABM Students in STI College Malolos,

Bulacan

by

Ivan Vince Longa

Christel Anne Quijano

Eloisa Vergara

A Research Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for Practical Research

Humanities & Social Sciences

STI College Malolos

March 2017
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Chapter 1

The Problem and its Background

Introduction

Allowance is the amount of something available or needed for a particular purpose, word
that is usually associated with students and school expenses. According to a research of
Westwood College in U.S. (2009), most of the seniors and college students spend the least of
their allowance in transportation, books and supplies but spends 40% on discretionary
activities— entertainment, apparel and services, travel and vacation.

STI Malolos is a school located in Brgy. Dakila, Malolos, Bulacan along McArthur
Highway. Just a few meters away from some public establishments where every ordinary
students can hangout or spend their money whenever they want to. STI Malolos offers some
senior high programs and it includes the whole Academic Track strands and some strands in
Technical-Vocational Track which are tourism, culinary and computer-related specializations.
Inside the Academic Track is where ABM or Accountancy, Business Management belongs. This
strand tackles about business and accountancy studies including entrepreneurship, organizational
matters, stocks and shares etc. Looking inside their courses or subjects, it teaches the students
about the issues regarding expenses and it includes money. If these students are being taught
about money, then they have a big opportunity of understanding spending it wisely. Even though
they're just students and not yet applying the major purpose of their strand as an accountant or
businessman they are still part of our economy.

Statement of the Problem

Questions regarding the study are listed below.

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1. As a youth and part of the society, how does an STI Malolos ABM Student spend his/her
extra money from their allowance after having the enlightenment of some ideas in
economics?
2. What are the major factors they are facing in spending their “baon” and how do they
budget it?

Significance of the Study

Nowadays, it's undeniable that our allowance or “baon” have a huge amount compared
to the past generations. There are so many factors why this phenomenon happened in our
generation, some of them are increase of some school-related goods, mode of transportation,
school fees or just simply because of the demand of the majority of teens/youth nowadays. This
study will benefit the following:

 ABM Students – this study will tackle their understanding about their expenses and
spending behavior. It will enhance their capability of applying their knowledge from their
field of study to the real world and as a part of their daily practices.
 Parents – this study will provide a sufficient number of information to enlighten and give
insights for the ABM students’ parents for they are the most affected in terms of
monetary issues intertwined with the Kto12 Program.
 Teachers – this study will help them in giving aid to their students’ understanding and
providing their plans and procedures in delivering every lessons related to their program.

Assumptions of the study

The researchers seek to describe how much allowance are given to ABM students in
general, where they spend their allowance and how at the same time they budget it. This will
illustrate different mindset and behaviors of the students towards financial matters. The study
also aims to benefit ABM students, parents and the ABM advisers & teachers upon the
information gathered on the end of thestudy.
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Scope and Delimitations

This research study was limited and conducted only at the Systems Technology Institute
(STI) College Malolos during the second semester of the school year 2016-2017.The respondents
of the study are Grade 11 students, specifically Accountancy, Business, and Management (ABM)
students. The researchers have planned to interview 8 ABM students either male or female. This
is used in order to formulate an effective study regarding the spending behavior of ABM
students.

Definition of Terms

Some terminologies that are going to be frequently used are enlisted below for the better
understanding of the study. The source of the following definitions was gotten from
dictionary.cambridge.com:

 Allowance– amount of money given to ABM students. A share or portion allotted or

granted.
 Baon – Filipino translation of the word “allowance”. Also means something that is
brought for in case of emergency.
 Budget - the amount of money that is available for, required for, or assigned to a
particular purpose.
 Spending -to use up or pay out.
 Behavior -the manner of conducting oneself.
 Spending Behavior -defined as the act of disbursing money in response to an action,
environment, or person in the satisfaction of needs and wants.
 Money -something generally accepted as a medium of exchange, a measure of value, or a
means of payment.
 STI – serves as Systems Technology Institute, one of the largest networks of for-profit
information technology based colleges in the Philippines.
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 ABM – serves as Accountancy, Business, and Management, is a strand perfect for those
inclined in mathematics and for those persons who want to venture into the world of
business, marketing and enterprise.

Theoretical / Conceptual Framework

The concept of microeconomics will enter when talking about allowance and savings.
Some variables or data that we manage to figure out are the following.

 Academic Excellence

 Projects & Activities

 Amount of Daily
Output
Allowance
 Frequency of hanging out

 Peer Selection

 Appetite

Figure I. Conceptual Framework showing the spending behavior of selected ABM students of
STI College Malolos
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Chapter 2

Review of Related Literature and Studies

According to Department of Education, the additional two years in High School is not
necessarily about expenses. Furthermore, Senior High School will be offered free in public
schools and there will be a voucher program in place for public junior high school completers as
well as Educational Service Contracting (ESC) beneficiaries of private high schools that chose to
take Senior High School in private institutions. Unfortunately, this statement does not cover most
of the miscellaneous fees.

Allowance & Expenses

Most teens will usually have one or two sources of income, either allowance from their
parents or from their job (Felipe, 2007.). The manner in which students manage their money is
based on several factors such as age, personality traits, and knowledge (Norvilitis, et al., 2006.).
Also, students are in a unique situation because they have restricted incomes and high expenses;
therefore, they manage money differently (Micomonaco, 2003.). The more knowledge students
have about their financial responsibility and status the less likely they are to be in debt
(Norvilitis, et al., 2006.). It clearly states that students are very different with each other, even
though they are having the same amount of allowance, their expenses still vary.

Relationship between allowance and expenses

Over longer periods, consumption will gradually regain the long-run relationship with
income (Pollock, 1999.). Students should maintain their priorities in spending so that it won’t be
a problem if they are cut short on their budget (De Guzman, M., et al., 2012.). Budget is a
financial plan that lists expected expenses and income during a particular period. People saved
diligently for major purchases keeping plenty of funds for unforeseen emergencies (Ritzer,
1995.). It’s very important to make sure that you have enough money to cover the cost of your
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tuition fees and living expenses before you begin your course. Majority students perceive
themselves as more in control of their finances than minority students perceive themselves
(Micomonaco, 2003.). Therefore, budgeting is the most important factor to consider in keeping
allowance and expenses balanced with each other.

Impact of budgeting on school expenses

The success and importance of budgeting relates to the identification of organizational

goals, allocation of responsibilities for achieving these goals, and consequently its execution
(Shah, & Robinson, 2007. Drake, & Fabozzi, 2010.). It is one of the most successful and useful
management accounting techniques that can reap handsome rewards if properly understood and
implemented (Allaham, et al., 2012.). Without sufficient financial aid, students increasingly turn
to loans and credit cards (Long, B., 2009.). To sum it up, budgeting has a wide range of usage
and is the most common systematic procedure in order to build up a better savings.
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CHAPTER 3

Methodology

The purpose of the study is to determine the allowance and the use of money
management practices of ABM Students in STI College Malolos. The objectives of this chapter
are to (1) describe the research methodology of this study (2) explain the interview usage and (3)
describe the procedure used in collecting data.

Research Design

In order to gather the necessary data, the researchers used qualitative method. Qualitative
method of research is an inductive approach, and its goal is to gain a deeper understanding of a
person's or group's experience (Myers, 1997). Qualitative researchers seldom measure anything
in the classical meaning of the natural sciences, but rather scan for patterns in the data that create
or reveal something new which furthers understanding (Stenbacka, 2001.). The terms
“qualitative” and “quantitative” imply something about the type of data that are collected. Thus,
it may appear that the distinction between these two research approaches lies solely in the data;
qualitative research is concerned with text or other non-numerical data, while quantitative
research is concerned with numerical data. This distinction, however, is only at the surface. The
differences between the two are much deeper, and go to the context in which the research is
conducted (Bogdan, R.C., & Biklen, S. K., 2006.).

Research Participants

The participants for this study were 8 enrolled Grade 11 ABM students in STI College
Malolos during the second semester of the school year 2016-2017 only. They are gathered via
convenience sampling also known as snowball sampling. Snowball sampling is where research
participants recruit other participants for a test or study. It is also a non-probability sampling
method (Andale, 2016.). The specific strand is divided into three sections. The researchers
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have therefore chosen random suggested students in ABM-1 and ABM-2 to conduct the
interview unto.

Data Gathering Procedure

The researchers conducted the interview through a direct interaction with individuals on a
one to one basis or individual interview. Interviews are particularly useful for getting the story
behind a participant’s experiences. The interviewer can pursue in-depth information around the
topic. Interviews may be useful as follow-up to certain respondents to questionnaires, e.g. to
further investigate their responses (McNamara,1999.).

Research Instrument

The researchers designed a face-to-face or personal questionnaire instrument consisting

of 10 questions to assess the spending behavior practices of STI ABM students considering their
differences. The questionnaire is designed to be a semi-structured interview. It is often preceded
by observation, informal and unstructured interviewing in order to allow the researchers to
develop a keen understanding of the topic of interest necessary for developing relevant and
meaningful semi-structured questions (Bernard, 1988). Semi-structured interview is desired to
obtain first hand data from the respondents so as to formulate rational and sound conclusions and
recommendations for the study (Sincero, S. 2012.). Some of the questions that are asked in the
actual interview are listed below:

Question #1 “How much is your daily allowance?”

This question seeks to know and give the idea to the researchers on how much money
does an a ABM student possess daily for it sets them apart in general.

Question #5 “Do you save in a continuous manner? Why? Why not?”

This question seeks to distinguish the ability of each respondent in saving their allowance
or “baon”. It will also give a better understanding for the researchers about the differences of
each student in handling their extra-money.
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Question #10 “What are the ideas in ABM that aids you? How does your strand helps you in
understanding the importance of right way of spending your money?”

This question seeks to determine the knowledge of each participant according to money
management and how does it affects their spending behavior. Their answers also serve as a
bridge of their understanding towards application in real life situations specifically in spending
their allowance.
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Chapter 4

Presentation, Analysis, and Interpretation of Data

In this chapter, the information and data gathered after the interviews are presented,
analyzed, and interpreted. The results and findings of the study are all presented in a tabular
form. The aim and purpose of this chapter are (1) present the data gathered from the chosen
respondents of the study as well as their brief background (2) tabulate the data collected
cohesively and divisibly (3) generate themes according to their statements.

Participant’s Profile

Under is a brief background of all the respondents interviewed. Their names are
presented as pseudonyms in order to keep their identity in privacy or confidential.

Student no.1 “Hailey”

The first ABM student we interviewed was Hailey. She is 17 years old and her daily
allowance is ranging to 80-100 pesos per day. She knows when and how to save money but all
the time she seem to be thriftless because of her wants. Because according to her she stress-eat.

Student no.2 “Glen”

She is 17 years old and her baon is 250 pesos per day. She knows how to save money for
her future needs. She spends great amounts when it comes to school works and projects. She uses
what she have learned in their previous topic to the reality in life because they have business

Student no. 3 “Baby”

The third ABM student we interviewed was Baby. She is 17 years old and her baon is
100 pesos a day. She knows how to save and spent a great amount on school works and projects.
Baby saves when she wants something like books. She knows how to budget her money.
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Student no. 4 “Gara”

She is 16 years old and her allowance per day is 150 pesos. She is thriftless person she
knows how to save but she still has nothing left money after the day. She said she just really can't
apply it right now.

Student no. 5 "Bieber"

His allowance per day is 120 per day. He says that he's not a wise person yet when it
comes from spending his allowance. He can't apply what the teacher's taught to them because for
him, it's very hard to save money until you have school works or other school related situation
that requires money.

Student no. 6 "Bong"

His daily “baon” is only 100, something he admits that he finds very difficult to budget.
Bong save up a money for his wants not for future needs but he considered that his not a wise
person in spending a money because of continuously buying foods for himself.

Student no. 7 "Caitlyn"

Caitlyn considered herself as a wise person when it comes from spending her allowance.
Her "baon" is 120 per day and she only spends for transportation because she packed foods so
that she has excess money.

Student no. 8 "BFF"

Her daily allowance is 170. She says that, she is a person who spends a lot of money
when it comes for foods but if she needs to buy something she saves money for herself.
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Presentation of Data

TABLE I. Amount of Daily Allowance

Daily Allowance Amount No. of Students

Php80 – Php100 3

Php101 – Php150 3

Php151 – Php200 1

Php201 – Php250 1

Table 1 shows that the chosen ABM respondents have a wide range of allowance
amount, starting from Php80 up to Php250. The researchers divided the range of the data into
four parts. It shows that 3 ABM students have allowance ranging from Php80 up to Php100 and
also 3 with Php101 up to Php150. Meanwhile, only 1 student has allowance ranging from
Php151 to Php200 and another 1 student having an allowance ranging from Php201 to Php250.

TABLE 2. Frequency of Spending Great Amount of Money

Frequency No. of Students

Rarely 1

Sometimes 2

Almost Always 5
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Table 2 shows the ABM students frequency of spending their allowance in a great
amount, either for their wants or needs. The data collected shows that 5 out of 8 students spend
their allowance in a great amount almost always. Only 2 student overspend sometimes and
another 1 student rarely.

TABLE 3. Frequency of Providing Savings

Frequency For Wants For Needs

Rarely 1 2

Sometimes 0 2

Almost Always 1 2

Table 3 shows the frequency of providing savings of ABM students that we decided to
divide into two which are for wants or for needs. The data gathered shows that only 1 student
save for his/her wants rarely and another 1 student who also save almost always for his/her
wants. On the other hand, there are 2 students who rarely save up for his/her need rarely, another
2 that provide savings for their needs sometimes, and also 2 students who almost always save for
their needs.

TABLE 4. Responses of Participants towards Major Factors and Focus of ABM Students
in Spending or Saving

Responses of Participants towards Major

Factors and Focus of ABM Students in No. of Students
Spending or Saving

Self-Satisfaction 3

Academic Matters 3
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Emergency Purposes 2

Table 4 shows the frequency of responses of the respondents regarding the major factors
and focus of ABM students in spending or saving their money. 3 out of 8 respondents gave
emphasize at self-satisfaction. 3 out of 8 gave emphasize towards academic matters. The
remaining 2 out of 8 didn’t have any concrete emphasis hence they cited emergency purposes
regarding their major focus.

Table 5. Major Factors and Focus of ABM Students in Spending or Saving

SELF-SATISFACTION
Hailey: Aids me? Lessons or ideas in ABM helps me to save and earn. Maybe to be wise in the furture
but I can't apply it right now because I do stress eat. I stress eat so, I usually biy lots of food but then I can
apply it on my study and hopefully in the future I could also apply it and lessons that I've learned in
ABM.
Gara: Kapag naisipan ko lang. Madalang di pa naman kase ano, yung wants ko medyo mahal
kaya ayon siguro tinitipid ko talaga kunwari isang buwan, isang buwan akong magtitipid.
Caitlyn: Oo, kasi sa tingin ko hindi katulad ng mga ibang mga estudyanteng katulad ko, ako din
nakakapagipon ako personally and hindi ko na kailangan humingi ng pera sa mga magulang ko
para makuha ko yung mga gusto ko.

ACADEMIC MATTERS
Glen: Lagi din. Kasi sa mga project ngayon parang kailangan mag-aano ng pera kase mas
magiging maganda yung project kapag something na high quality yung pinasa mo tyaka alam
mong mataas yung grade.
Bong: Madalas, kasi yung mga ILS.. puro yung performace task.. puro product, kailangan yung
mga magazine..

Bieber: Siguro mga nasa 100 pinaka mababa na yung 60. Linggo-linggo pero kasi ngayon araw-
araw (referring to school activities).

EMERGENCY PURPOSES
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BFF: Depende kapag may occasion magiipon ako pero kapag walang occasion na pupuntahan
uubusin ko lang yung pera ko sa pagkain.
Baby: Opo-opo, eh kasi mahirap na kapag yung mahirap kasi yung wala kang matira sa money
mo so kailangan ayon may nasasave pa rin ako.

Major Factors and Focus of ABM Students in Spending or Saving

1. Self-satisfaction

The table shows that the students spend and save their money for self-satisfaction to satisfy
their wants. They used their money to be happy. It pleased them when they buy the things they
want. Interviewees on this table seems to be delightful because of saving for their wants thinking
that after they save they'll get the things that they will content them.

2. Academic Matters

Interviewees in this table spend and save their money for academic matters. They believe that
if they pass high-quality projects they'll get a higher grade. These things are the needed one.
Interviewees in this table were given projects and school works most of the time, which requires
a lot of money.

3. Emergency Purposes

Interviewees in this table save their money for their future. They save for their needs or for
their wants. These students of ABM seem to be future oriented. They save for unexpected
projects, outings or things they want.
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Chapter 5

Summary of Findings, Conclusions, and Recommendations

This chapter presents the summary of the findings, conclusions from the research, and
also recommendations for future researchers of this topic. This study was taken at the Systems
Technology Institute Malolos, Bulacan particularly with the Accountancy, Business, and
Management students pertaining to the topic about how they spend their daily allowance. In this
chapter, the following questions will be answered:

 What are ABM students’ priorities in spending their allowance?

 How do they budget their expenses?
 How their allowance does affect their behavior?

Summary of Findings

After analyzing and interpreting the data we gathered, the researchers summarized and
categorized the phenomena that are occurring based on the spending behavior of the ABM
students of STI College Malolos. ABM students tend to have less than Php100 allowance
daily and can stretch up to more than Php200. Their estimated average allowance is more or
less Php136.25 a day. Selected ABM students also spend great amount of their allowance but
varies. Only 1 out of 8 (12.5%) of ABM students spend a great amount of his/her allowance
rarely while 2 out of 8 (25%) of them spend great amount of their allowance sometimes. On
the other hand, 5 out of 8 (62.5%) of ABM students spend a great amount of their allowance
almost always. ABM students usually save up for their needs that 6 out of 8 (75%)
respondents cited this as their priority. Still, saving up for their needs are also varying for 2
out of 6 (33.33%) do it rarely, another 2 out of 6 (33.33%) do it sometimes and the remaining
2 out of 6 (33.33%) do it almost always. Meanwhile, the remaining 2 out of 8 (25%) students
clearly states that they save up for their wants, whereas 1 out of 2 (50%) do it rarely and also
1 out of 2 (50%) do it almost always. As for the main factors for them to spend or save 3 out
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of 8 (37.5%) ABM students cited self-satisfaction as their reason, other 3 out of 8 (37.5%)
ABM students cited academic matters as their cause. The remaining 2 out 8 (25%) ABM
students cited emergency purpose as the main factor for them to spend or save up.

Conclusion

Based on the findings of this study various conclusions were drawn. The expectation of
the researchers that ABM students’ have different expenditures and savings provided even
though some of them has the same or exact amount of allowance is validated. Most of ABM
students tend to overspend their allowance as the findings shows that more than a half (5 out of
8) of them do it almost always. Most of ABM students (6 out of 8) cited their needs
(transportation, right amount of foods, school-related expenditures) as their main priority to save.
Based on the findings, ABM students have difficulties in saving for their wants. In spending and
saving, specifically both self-satisfaction and academic matters is the main focus of ABM
students. Based on the findings, least number of ABM students who doesn’t have a specific
reason to spend and save considers emergency purposes as their priority.

Recommendation

The following recommendations are created based on the findings and conclusion of this
study in benefit of the future researchers:

 After conducting the research, we advise that the future researchers to focus in either the
needs or wants of ABM students.
 It is also possible to conduct a future research in other Grade 11 strand specifically in the
Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) strand for they are known
also in spending great amount of money.
 The nature of their school expenditures is also an advisable topic for it can widen the
scope of this research.
 Future researchers may also conduct a study towards the behavior of ABM students
regarding the input and output of their projects or school activities.