Life Update - January 2020

Hi,

HAPPY HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! It's 2 of 365 days of 2020. I am excited of what will come my way this year ether good or bad but praying that it will has lots of good than bad.

Last year was a good year for me but also some are bad. I would like to recap the events that has happened last year.

February last year I lost my 10 year job, yup I thought that job will last for a lifetime but it did not :( That's the time that I realized that the job I have online doesn't last long, what I mean is I cannot stay with one boss only. My skills will stay but staying on one boss for a long time until I get old is not possible. I can work with many bosses in this kind of work I choose to have. I already gave up my teaching career and my licensed to teach will expire until 2022, after that I can no longer renew my license. And teaching is not what I wanted to do. Yes sabi nga nila is "Sayang naman yung pinag aralan mo" well my answer is that "Wala namang masasayang kahit na yan ang pinag aralan kung hindi mo naman mahal o gustong gawin ang trabahong yun." I still believe that we have only one life, why choose to do things that you don't like? Choose always to do things that make you happy :)

Because of that loss of job, I choose to have a 3 day vacation at Boracay together with my friends to release my hurt and can start to move on.

Boracay 2019

After my travel, God was so faithful that He gave me a new work :) Yes my heart has been broken when I lost my 10 yr job but our God said that I should not worry and sad because He has another job for me. God is really good all the time. 

Down to August-September was the hardest trial I went through. I did not expect that it would happen. I've been heartbroken starting of the year, but as the year ended I got heartbroken again. Our two dogs Winston and Browny passed away for two consecutive months. Browny passed away last August and Winston last September :'( . Browny has been bitten by something that we we're not able to identify and Winston got the virus that has no cure which is the Canine Distemper. I brought them to the vet but it was too late. This is my lowest time last year. They have been with us for 11 years already and it was not easy to let them go. One week I have cried when they pass away, I realized that it was more painful than having a break up. It was already 4 months and until now we have no new dog yet. I am still healing until now.

After that loss, I decided to travel again and this time I went to Bangkok, Thailand last October 2019. It was a quick weekend travel but it's one way of healing from pain I felt when my two dogs passed away. I was with my travel buddies Mai and Diane. 

Bangkok, Thailand 2019

So even I go through trials last year, God was still amazing granting the desires of my heart. I do love to travel and my work and God was so good granting me those desires. 

For this year I still look forward for more travels and hopefully God will grant my heart desire also to find a man whom I can consider to settle with. Yup since I'm turning 32 this year, I am not anymore getting any younger but older, lol!Haha . I've been single for 3 years now and for the past 3 years I did not even feel that I was alone. But this year na realize ko nang dapat magka love life na ako uli,hehe. Wala pang suitable man but praying God will let us meet this year. Hindi na ako bumabata bes! Hahaha.

Also I have this plan to go to Japan for the last month of this year. Please help me pray that this plan will come true :)

Thank You and Choose to be Happy Always!

Robinsons Place Iligan Opening + My Financial Situation

Hi,

Robinsons Place Iligan has their opening last July 26, 2017 in Iligan City, yup my city. I've been living in Iligan City since 1997 so I've been living in this city for almost 20 years already. My mom and I left my father's hometown in Samar, Leyte when my father died because my mom wanted to live near her relatives. I graduated my primary until tertiary in this city, I did not experienced living outside this city even though I am travelling to some places I like but this city is the city I can call my home.

Iligan City has only 2 big malls for now, we have Gaisano Mall City Iligan and now Robinsons Place Iligan. Our city is not that big when in comes to land area but I am proud to be an Iliganon. We are two hours away from Cagayan de Oro City which is more progressive than our city but if I were to choose to live in these cities I still choose my city. Because of the war situation now in Marawi City our security situation has been threatened. It's only been an hour or so that our city is from Marawi. During the war our city accepted refugees from the war and the residents of Iligan adjusted to our new residents. Our city is composed of 50-80% Christians (not really sure about the percentage) and 20% Muslims. Even though the city is not a 100% Christians residents there was never a discrimination from the two groups and we treat each other fairly despite the differences.

The Robinsons Place Iligan is only a few kilometers away from our home, we only ride a tricycle and a few hiking to go to this mall. This mall is much bigger than Gaisano Mall so most of the people now are visiting Robinsons. During the opening the opening guest artist is Daniel Matsunaga, sadly I was very far from him so I was not able to see his face clearly :( Me and my family visited the mall on its opening, we only took few pictures inside the mall.

My mother and lola.

Me at Daiso Japan. I really love Daiso Japan, when I go to Cagayan de Oro City I always go to this store.

Me, mom and lola.

Lola, My Cousin and his son, Mom.

Robinsons Place Iligan is a one stop shop of all the things you need, they have there Supermarket, Department Store, Movie World, Restos inside. When you think of it this mall is really a temptation for unnecessary spending, hehe. There prices of goods is also high compared to other small stores in the city. Right now I am planning not to spend so much time in going to this mall. I should resist the temptation to always go to this mall because actually when you are inside you will really be tempted to buy anything that is inside. 

My current financial situation right now is quite bad, I am two months deficit on my budget. My travel to Bohol last month was not even planned and I was not able to save in advance on that trip. For next month August I wanted to see to it that I will save for a travel fund. The worst part of my situation now is I have 0 emergency fund :( I still have my VUL paid automatically monthly, my long term healthcare which is KAISER, and my FAMI Equity Fund. My income monthly mostly goes to this, my breakdown is below:

VUL(AXA) - PHP 1522 (to be paid 10 years)

KAISER - PHP 2647 (to be paid for 7 years, right now I am paying it for 5 months already)

FAMI Equity Fund - PHP 2-5K per month

Do you think this is a wise decision for my finances? I am finding it hard to saved for my emergency fund because every time I saved 3 or 2k for my emergency fund I always touch it. I am putting my emergency fund in a cooperative instead in a bank or atm. So when I touch it, my emergency fund goes to zero again. Do you have any suggestions for me? I really need a help on this. And I noticed that we have a huge expenses on food. I gave my mom 7k per month for our food expenses and I noticed it was not enough for the 3 of us. I have a debt of PHP 2100 right now and will pay it next month. I don't really like to have a debt. I don't have a credit card and I am not planning to have. I have only one atm card where my payroll goes every month. Do you think I should open another bank account for my savings? I apologized I have so many questions on this post. My mind is really not in a good mood because of this financial problem I am having. I am hoping I can still go back on track next month. For unnecessary expenses, I don't always go out because I am working at home, during my pay day I treat my mother and lola twice a month only. I don't also buy new clothes every month, or make up because I don't wear make up, I only wear a powder and a lipstick every time I go out. I don't wear make up because I have an acne prone skin and I am sensitive to products that I don't normally use. I only spend on a facial cleanser, shampoo, conditioner, lotion and other needs for myself. I  have my tracking spreadsheet where I tally my everyday expenses but in the long run it was not effective, I get bored after a few months of doing it, I tried the envelope system and it did not work also. Right now I am doing my budget system on a notebook but I don't tally my expenses.

Hoping that next month I can still go back on track on my finances. Thank you for reading this post, if you have any suggestions on my questions feel free to comment. I really do love to see any comment on my post :)

Till next time.

Cheers,

Phone Repaired + Busyness

Hi,

Yesterday my phone has been repaired! Yepeey! Thanks to Mama for it, the repair costs PHP1100, expensive but I choose  it to be repaired rather than buying a new phone. I accidentally drop it in the rest room when I attended one of my leadership meeting of SFC and the screen's LCD has been broken. I used it for a couple of months with that screen being broken, hehe.

This week has been a very busy week until now, like I said in my previous post I was hired last Thu. The work is very easy but there are a lot to do but I am not complaining since this is an answered prayer :) I've been praying for this for a couple of months already, I have been declined to previous job applications and I think there was a purpose I was declined because I will be hired for this job I am doing now. I am still praying that this job will be for long term. But of course I am not neglecting my first and regular job with my kindest boss, I am still working for him, I am still doing the task I am supposed to do each day. My job online makes me happy so I am thankful to God for what I have now.

I received my 2 weeks pay for this new job and I am now calculating where it should be spend because I don't want to recklessly spend it to anything that I want, I have to think always that needs is more important than wants.

I have a wedding to attend to this coming Saturday and I was able to buy a new dress yesterday, it cost PHP299, it was an elegant blue dress, the price was worth it. I am now thinking if I should buy a new shoes or new sandal to complement the dress. I saw a nice shoes last Monday and it cost around PHP380, it's quiet expensive for me but I still need to go to other stores if there is anything I can find that is worth the price. This coming January 2, 2017 there is another wedding I will attend to. Ugh there are a lot of wedding this year for my friends that I have attended to, hehe. They are asking of when will I be, eh how can it be I just broke up recently with my ex-boyfriend, lol! Well seriously wedding is a serious matter to me, I should not be pressured when it comes to that. Wedding or marriage is a lifetime commitment and it should not be taken lightly by anyone. It is sacred and should be treasured. For me there is always a perfect timing for that and I am waiting for God's timing about that matter :)

This month has been a very happy month for me, I got to spend it with my family, we go out to eat and spend time together.

I am planning to go back investing a small amount to FAMI this month. I had stop it last year, I hope I can go back in track in investing.

Talk soon.

Cheers,

My

Budget and Expenses Tracking

Hi,

I have this red notebook that looks like a wallet when you take a first glance at it but it is actually a notebook, hehe.

I bought this notebook at a department store, it cost about 140 pesos, I am not sure of this because I can't anymore remember the price. This notebook was intended to track all of my expenses and write my monthly budget.

My Monthly Budget

Expenses Tracking

I tried the excel and a budget and expenses app before but it was not a success. Even though I am in front of my computer always for work I still forgot to track it using an excel. On the other hand, a budget and expenses app does not work also. So I decided to buy this notebook and until now I am still using it, this is a success.

On my budget list, I mark check on the amount I spent for me to track if it has been paid or not. On the expenses I sometimes forget it :( , it's just that I am comfortable doing the budget than tracking my expenses. I am planning to buy a bigger notebook next year for me to track my expenses. This notebook is not that big so I just list my budget on that.

Just this early evening my Financial Advisor Vanz Go from AXA message me on Facebook an excel file that tracks my budget and expenses. She made it on her own and it was really good. I will try that this month and see if it work for me. 

How about you? What are you using to track your budget and expenses? Just leave a comment :)

Cheers,

Blessings PLUS Lesson PLUS NAGGING

Hi,

It’s been a while since my last post about my life update and this is the 2^nd one after that. It’s just that I feel annoyed today and other stuff I am thinking. Let me start with this.

The past few months was a very relaxed month for me, relax for me means that my job was currently not in a good situation and my boss has a very few task each day for me to do. So it’s kinda frustrating instead of enjoying because for the past 6 years of working online I used to do so many tasks every day. My boss told me the reason behind this, it’s because his business is very down already and he’s finances is really tight right now. He ask me a favor to cut down my pay so he can longer pay me even if tasks are low and asking me also if I can save more on my pay, and I said yes to it since I am used to live within below my means. Last month, November he surprisingly sent me my 13^th month pay, I did not expect that because he said that the business is down but my kindhearted boss still sent me the full amount. I really cried when I received that, it’s just that it is a blessing in disguise. When the money is on my bank account, I took 10k and put it to my emergency fund and spend the remaining 5k to pay off my debt. I should not supposed to take out that 10k because I am thinking if what will happen if my boss can finally decide not to pay me, that 10k will be my emergency fund just in case.

After that blessing, another one came, I was hired as a part time virtual assistant to a new employer but I am hoping this week he will let me start the work he will be giving me. I am thankful to God that the employer is kind also and hope to work with him very soon.

Then last week my first life insurance policy from AXA came, my financial advisor says it was a 2 years in the making, hehe. Because we had a talk about it 2 years ago, at that time I am still not sure if I have to buy a life insurance because I am contented for the things that I have that time, I have my Mutual Fund with FAMI, SSS, PhilHealth, St. Peter Life Plan and some emergency fund, so I said to her that I don’t need a life insurance yet. Then month of September we met again and talk again about it, this time around when I talk to her it’s kinda like I am interested already, we talked more about it and finally I decided to buy. This month I finally got my policy from AXA.

All was good actually after these blessings but this month November 23, 2016 my friend posted on Facebook that her dog was shot with a gun by their neighbor. Most of my friends commented an angry comments about it and myself took immediately into action to help her. I help her carry the dog to the veterinarian clinic and pay all the expenses without unknowingly putting into mind that I am already slashing the 10k amount I put for my emergency fund L yup, my 13^th month pay was lost. I don’t want to really nag about this since I sincerely wanted to help the dog and my friend, it’s just that when I think about it, the help I gave was already too much. I didn’t anymore think what will happen to me and to my family since I am providing for all their needs if my income will be lost, that emergency fund is the fund I am depending on if ever there will be emergencies that come my way. This is a great lesson for me when in terms of finances or money. It is ok to help but helping too much is not good especially if it concerns your own welfare. Right now, my friend called me that she cannot get the dog because the vet clinic is asking for a payment again for them to release the dog, eh I don’t have any more money to help her, I said to her that I don’t have any more money and instead she can asks my other friends to lend her money. Am I a bad person for nagging about this? It’s just that sometimes my own actions on helping others make me think if I am doing the right way or not. By the way I volunteered to pay all the dog expenses because she said she has no money and she will be delivering soon for their first baby on the 1^st or 2^nd week of December.

Anyhow, I didn’t tell my mom about this L for sure she will get angry with me.

Please let me know what you think about my nagging part.

Thank You

Cheers,

Life Update...It's been ages!

Hi,

It's been ages!!!Oh yeah my last post was August 2015 and it's October 2016 already. I really miss u all!

It's been 13 months which is 1 year and 1 month ago since I wrote on this blog. A lot has happened during that 1 year and 1 month to me, I can't specifically mentioned all of those but I would like to summarize what really happened why I am out in the blogging world. I apologized for being away for so long. I missed writing to this blog.

Ok, let me now start my summarize story here.

Last August 2015 in my last post I mentioned about being a judge in my previous school where I teach before in there Ms and Mr Nutrition Month. I also got myself enrolled in a NC 2 Food and Beverage short course as a requirement in my application for a public school. All teacher's are required now to have a NC 2 certificate aside from the 4 year Bachelor Degree. I finished that for 4 months only and passed the national certification exam after that, the short course was expensive and it depleted my Coop savings :( yeah but I know knowledge can't be bought. During that 4 months also, I have met my first boyfriend and now an ex-boyfriend. We are classmates on the class where we met. I will no longer mentioned him here since we already parted our ways last July 17, 2016. Haha I still remember the date but anyways that's all about him, thank you, lol!

A lot of opportunities come along my way during those 1 year and 1 month but I declined them all, YES who would believe I have the guts to declined them since I am a type of person who always accept anything that throws at me and specifically it is a teaching job. Since I got my degree all I really wanted was to teach in a school but there is something along the way or i think on myself that blocks it for me to achieve it. After I graduated from College last 2009, I had an experienced working online and the work is flex, I own my time and that interests me a  lot. While working online I still applied in schools to be a teacher and they hired me but only for a few months, a 2 month, 3 month or 5 month contract only. So during the day I worked as a teacher and at night as a virtual assistant online. It was really hard to have 2 jobs at the same time, I lost so much weight and was not sleeping very well. After that experienced teaching I had stop last 2014.

Right now I am still working online but my current employer has a problem on his business and this keeps  me worried if when will I have this kind of job. I don't know where will I go if this will happen, I am financially depending on it. Plus the very sad part of this was that my savings has been depleted already, meaning I have 0 savings or emergency fund, 8k only in FAMI-SALEF since I withdraw a 25k to buy my new laptop now to use for work. Yes very sad right :( but I am not losing hope, I am praying that I will be out of this situation soon and will got my finances back on track. I am also planning to buy a VUL from a friend this month.

I don't want to dwell and think about the negative side right now and I am now thinking on the positive aspect of what's best to do about my situation. I have a plan to go back to teaching next year. I don't really know yet right now on what to do but hoping the situation I am in right now will not last too long.

Since right now I am not busy with worked I can now have the time to update this blog always. :)

Talk to you soon.
Cheers,

Budget Adjustment + Financial Update

Hi,

It's been a while I haven't posted about my finances. I have told you on my previous post that I was laid off from my first job and the result is that my income has been down to 50%, yes half of it, it was not easy at first but I have accepted it and moving on. Had accepted a replacement job right away after I was laid off but it does not work out. I am used to work flex, meaning I own my time, I will decide what time I will start and end my work everyday and it does not work for a night owl like me.

Ok here it goes, my finances has been down but that does not stop me from continue living within my means. This month is a breakthrough on my Emergency Fund, I was able to save 30k for it and right now I am very happy :) it is already 2 months of my salary that I was able to save. Yay! So I am excited to put more to it until I get to 6 months worth of emergency fund. It has been almost a year that I've been struggling to save for my emergency fund, I had lots of unexpected travel plus expenses last year that I was not able to hold up and my emergency fund was nearly getting to 0, oh yes at the end of last year my emergency fund went down to 2k, unbelievable and not desirable either. I don't want this to happen again to me this year.

My FAMI-SALEF is growing, I started with only 5k as an initial investment last March 2013 and continue adding up to it until now with a 1k amount every month, oh yeah small but small does still matters :) , and right now I have 30k+ total investment with a 2k+ gain, yay a lot to be thankful for!

Our St. Peter Life Plan, our because I am paying two every month, for me and for my mother, this sounds morbid but I am just securing the future. I have only 9 months left to pay the maximum 5 years contract. Another milestone on my finances :) After I finish paying for this, I can now add the amount to my FAMI-SALEF. I want to diversify my mutual fund investment this year, I would like to open an account to Sunlife and choose the balance fund, I want to try a balanced fund also, but still my priority this year is my emergency fund, maybe next year I can open another account at Sunlife.

So for this month and the rest of the year my budget will be adjusted, no more unnecessary expenses, like clothes, bags, shoes, etc. I should only purchase the needs. Sometimes I do splurge on some wants but hoping to still stick to my budget. I have a fun fund of 500 php on my budget this month, so I am hoping to stick hard to this.

This is all for now, till next time.
Cheers,

Up and Down Life Struggles

Hi,

My last post was about my travel adventures during the summer of 2015 and indeed it was a blast! Hope I could travel again by summer of 2016 :) crossing my fingers. I am looking for more travels to come.

When June 2015 came there are a lot that has happened to me. I officially enrolled my one last required subject for my Masters in Education Major in Educational Management which is Statistics in Education before proceeding to my proper Thesis 101 and 102 this second semester of the year or maybe next year. But when middle of June 2015 arrived, I was laid off from my 2nd Online work and has left me hanging on my finances. I thought I should drop the subject because my other job online is enough only to sustain my families basic needs plus other bills or insurances that I should pay every month. But when I take a good look at my finances I can still continue studying the subject I enrolled. One subject cost about PHP3000+ in one semester, so I decided to continue. All I need to do is to have a very tight budget and no more unnecessary expenses.

But a test of my faith and decision making strike me in the first week of July 2015. My boss who laid me off has referred me a job online again that I can possibly work with. Shocking as it may seem but the hiring process was very fast. My former boss contact me via skype because the person he referred me with wants to interview me immediately. The interview process was  very light and it took us only 2-3 hours to finish the interview and tadah I was hired! Yeah! really fast, I did not expect it but God does really move in mysterious ways even though I didn't ask for it. That day when I am officially hired, I started immediately with the task handed to me but they have rules to be followed. I should start work ing 8 am in the morning till 5:00 pm in the afternoon, a Time Doctor should be installed to monitor the time  being spent while working, no social media sites should be open while working, and lots more rules. I am kinda overwhelmed about this, and I said to myself  "Oh they are very strict!" but then I continue. The next working days was very torturing because I am used to sleep very late at night and wake up late in the morning. My body had a hard time coping up, getting up early to start working at 8:00 am is really hard. I've been stressed a lot trying to do a 40 hour work in a week, I am used to work flex, meaning I own my time, I choose what time of the day I will work and I usually preferred to work during early evening till midnight. I ask my close friends on what will I do and listen to each of their advises, most of them said I should continue and only one of them said that I should not. In times like this that I am really confused on what to do, I always go to Church to pray, I ask God for discernment on what to do.

This week I finally decided, I quit the job! I realized that I should choose the job that makes me happy. Money should not always be the solution for everything. I must choose my hearts decision over my head. And after I said that big decision I felt relieve and happy about it. Why do I stay on a job who does not make me happy, right? So from now on I will choose those that will make me truly happy.

SO CHOOSE HAPPINESS ALWAYS :)

Cheers,

November Life Update

Hi Everyone,

Few more minutes to go and December is really here,yeah Christmas month is really here!!!I am super excited what will be December is for me and my family.

The month of November is not a soooo good month for me. I will tell you the details of why it is not.
In my last previous post to this blog, I have wrote about my November 2014 Budget and Plan. My Budget plan was a failure or I mean I failed doing it :( sad it is! no matter how I tried organizing and budgeting it does not succeed every time I do it, I even downloaded an app to my phone to track my expenses each day but it turned out bad, I had used it only for a few days and later on I stop using it. Arggg I don't know why I can't succeed in budgeting. But I am hoping that one day I can succeed doing it, it was really hard but I will really try again.

Despite the unsuccessful budgeting scenario, my November 2014 plan turned out well. Out of 5 plan I listed, I had successfully did the 1, 2 and 3, that plan is listed in my post here. I am happy that out of 5 I was able to do at least 3, I am building up again my emergency fund plus my FAMI-SALEF investment is growing, I mean I was not able to skip even a 1 month of adding an additional investment to it even at least at its minimum of PHP 1k.

Then the plan to enroll again in my Master's class continues for this 2nd semester, I was able to enroll 6 units, 3 units each for its subject. I enrolled 9 units last semester but this time around I cannot anymore manage to enroll 9 units because of my workload online plus the 6 units I enrolled this sem includes the Research Methodology subject which we will already start to write our own thesis, yeah thesis!This time around it is a Master's thesis so I did expect a difficulty on it , it is very different than the Undergraduate Thesis. My class is every Sunday only, I choose every Sunday because Monday to Saturday I am fully loaded with work to do. This afternoon when we had our 2nd class, my mind is full of questions like: Is this problem I choose for this thesis is really what I want? Can i do this? Do i have resources to do it? How will I do it? There are still a lot that is on my mind right now :( But I do hope I can really do it, please pray for me :)

Now, the worst part that I am gonna tell you on this post was the issue that happened to me this month. Well the issue has been settled already last few weeks of this month but still I want to write it here just to burst out what I feel. This is an issue with a guy in the community I am serving for almost 2 years, I had encountered many ups and downs while serving the community I belong but I endure all of those but I don't know that this time around I was really affected. Maybe because I have also some issues on myself that I don't know why until now it still existed. In this blog I have wrote about me being single, and until now I am, it's not that I am too picky, or no one dares to appreciate me but maybe the Lord has a better plan for my love life. I am now 26 years old but I was not able to experience yet being in a serious relationship, the word serious means really serious to me, meaning the guy will not only tell his intentions to me but also to my family, it has not happened so I guess it's not yet the right time. The issue that happened this month was, one member of the community who is a brother/male/guy posted something in our community page that affects me, he is posting it because he pity the guy who I did something wrong daw!That guy whom he said I did something wrong sent a group message to all citing that I did say bad to him when we meet at a mall here in my city. When I read the post and someone told me about that text message, my reaction was WHAT???WHAT IS HE TALKING ABOUT??? :( :( ...I got really mad an instant, yes instant!Why? How I can say something bad to him if I did approach him and offer my hand to shake with his but after that I said I must go now because I have also a friend who is waiting for me. That guy I approach misinterpreted my action. Then the member posted after a week or so onto our FB page about what happened. That is the last stroke that my patience has gone, I didn't even react about the text message and the false judgement about me. But that post is very rude, disappointing, and BIAS! Well this issue has been finished already now and I learned my lesson also. The lesson was, don't react to any bad comments, FB post, or any person who tells you that you did this or not if it is not true! If it is not true then don't ever react, really a lesson learned. We are only human, we commit mistakes and sometimes if other's say something bad about us we instantly react. Social media like FB, Twitter, Instagram has some disadvantages too, anyone can say something bad or good about you so it's up to us if we will entertain those or not. We should all be responsible on each of those social media we are using.

This post is a bit long, hehe but forgive me since I am not always posting on this blog. Till my next post :)

God Bless Everyone!Happy Sunday and Merry Christmas!!!Yehey!!!!

Cheers,

November 2014 Budget Plus Month Plan

Hi,

It's October 30st today while I am writing this post. So before October will end I want to write about my budget and plan for November.

Below are my plans and budget for November.

Budget for November 2014

Plans for November

I really crossing my fingers for this budget and plan for November. I will update again about this at the end of the month if I had achieve or successful about this budget and plans.

Till my next post.

Cheers,

Financial Status Update As Of October 2014

Hi Everyone,

I really miss writing to this blog, right now I am very confuse on what blog to maintain writing with latest updates about me, this blog or my other blog? Which is which? But right now I decided that I write this update on this blog.

My financial status since January 2014 is not soooo good honestly but I am trying my very best to improve it until now, it's already month of October and only 2 months more to go before year 2014 ends. January until last month August, my expenses every month got bigger and bigger, unexpected expenses or impulse buying occur that I haven't even noticed that it does really had a big impact on my way to a frugal living. Even though expenses got higher I still manage to monthly add to my FAMI-SALEF investment and MSU-IIT Cooperative savings, so even I have lots of expenses I still had something left in case of sudden emergencies or money trouble emergencies.

Last February I had two travels that I did, first was at Dakak Beach Resort at Dapitan Zamboanga del Norte and 2nd was at nearby city of Cagayan de Oro. So these travels of course needs money :) Then last June I go to Dahilayan Adventure Park at Bukidnon, unfortunately we were not able to ride the zipline because it suddenly rain when we get there. Last travel but not the least was our Mindanao Conference at General Santos City, the travel was really worth it, expenses was worth it, hehe. Travelling is one of the things I cannot even regret spending my hard earned money.

Plus I enrolled again with my Masters Degree in Educational Management this first semester that costs me about PHP8000 almost. This is an expense that I personally say an investment for myself, education is one of those things just like travel that I did not even regret doing.

So here is my financial status update below:

1. I got 4k almost in my MSU-IIT Cooperative savings account.
2. 23k almost in my FAMI-SALEF account.
3. EON Unionbank ATM Account - zero (arrgg i don't want to be shy about this, I learned my lesson now, that I should also saved up 10% every payday to this account, fingers is crossed about this)

I am still thankful to God that despite so many responsibilities at work and home, I still have something I can saved up for the future and not go into debt if ever. Plus starting from this day forward, I will limit all my wants and be more concerned on my needs. Wants are clothes and expenses that I did not need. So I hope I can keep with this promise to myself. And by the way because of those clothes, my closet has no empty space anymore to put all those clothes I bought that I don't really need, sigh....


Thanks and till my next post soon!

Cheers,

Favorite Quotes About Money and Christianity

Hi,

It was 1 week ago that my Masteral's Degree class started and I must say it is not very easy. Why? Well, since it is already a much higher level than my undergraduate years and it is expected that we already know what we are doing. I got a total of 9 units this summer fro SY 2014-2015 which is equal to 3 subjects. Our class is during Thursday to Saturday at 8:00 am to 5:00 pm. Each subject has a reports to reported in front of the class with the assigned topic that the teacher give. Luckily I have 2 teachers that is considerate and kind :) thank God!

This week we have no class, yehey! Why? Because as Christians we should give this week to our Lord Almighty who was crucified to save us from our sins. This is the time of the year where we should all repent our sins and start living the life that Jesus want us to be. On Holy Thursday which is today I will join the Visita Iglesia, an activity where we will visit 7 churches within the city of Iligan. I am joining this kind of activity every year with my Sister's and Brother's in Singles for Christ.

Now let me show you my favorite quotes about Money and Christianity, the following quotes I grab them from my friend Google :) I will give 10.

So these are my 10 favorite quotes about money and Christianity. How about you? You can share it here and leave it as a comment below :)

Cheers,

Book Review: OMG! Where Did Your Sweldo Go?

Hi,

Today I finally finish reading this book: OMG! Where Did Your Sweldo Go? By Lianne Martha Laroya. I had bought this book from her website - The Wise Living, you can visit her website to know how to contact her :). The price is PHP 299 + PHP 80 (shipping fee) = PHP 379 total. I am lucky coz I bought it during the promo period of December 2013 to January 2014. And now it is worth PHP 379 already, so I am lucky grabbing this, right? Below is what the cover of the book looks like:

The title of her book is catchy, right? This book is for 20s or 30s who are already receiving their sweldo or for those who were expecting to receive it next month or days to come. I've been interested on reading finance articles, blogs online last year and this book is my first book I ever purchase since then, hehe. Why? The generation now is very fortunate to have a easy access to internet and there are so many resources or websites in the internet that you can browse for finance topics and anything of a kind, also there are Ebooks also that you can download directly to your phone, so much convenience is offered for us. Despite all these convenience offered to us I decided to buy Lianne's book as a Christmas gift present honestly to myself last year but because of some uncertainties happen with Lianne's printing company it was delayed but hey it doesn't matter to me as long as I can receive it anytime on my doorstep and YES it did! I was on my travel last February that this book arrived at my doorstep and Mom receive it, it is only when I get home that I was happily and excited to touch it on my own two hands, hehe.

This book has 9 Sweldo Tips to be a 20-Something Millionaire. Yes, you heard me right, 20-Something Millionaire! :) So if you are in your 20s right now then it is possible to be a Millionaire,exciting! So keep reading...

The 9 Tips are very useful to me, I am turning 26 this coming June, I will not tell the date,hehe,secret ;) lol. And 2 of the tips I was not able to finish or do yet is my Emergency Fund and my Health Insurance. I struggle also until now on sticking on a budget every month from my salary or sweldo. One of the tip that I can be proud of right now that I am doing is my Mutual Fund Investment with FAMI. I started this last March 2013 with an initial investment of PHP 5000 and regularly investing every month of PHP 1000 until now.

The book will teach us how to figure out our own Millionaire meaning. What is being a Millionaire mean to you? Is it living comfortably when you get old? Travel to any places you want? Buy anything like shoes, dresses, bags you want? Help those in need especially your loved ones? etc, so there are a lot you can name of. While I am reading the book, I scanned through the page where Lianne put all the names of those people who define what being a Millionaire means to them and I AM ONE OF THEM :) hehe..I did take a picture of the page, yay!

I am at the top portion :) So very proud of it and thanks very much to Lianne for including me in her book!

You will learn a lot from her book and you will not for sure regret buying it. Your money will be worth it! So this book overall is deserving to have 5 stars and I will give it a perfect 5!!! The other tips are very useful and worth reading. I cannot anymore write all of those tips here coz I want you to figure or learn it yourself, hehe. I am very happy I purchased this book :) soon I will buy a new finance book and will write a review on this blog. I still have a lot to learn and way more to go to become a MILLIONAIRE!But who knows I will become one someday, hehe. It's not wrong to dream so keep working on it! Don't give up!

I will leave you a quote to think of:

"Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway." ~ Earl Nightingale

Cheers,

Why I Don't Like Debt?

Hi,

Why I don't like debt? I am having an issues on what to write today,hmm but this topic pop out to my mind in an instant :) so I am writing this now. I have several reasons of why i don't like debt and later I will enumerate it so please bare me. Today is Saturday and supposed to be a weekend that I should rest and enjoy without thinking about work. But even if i wanted not to work eh I need to, I need to make up the work I was not able to do last Tuesday because of the bad weather. I woke up at 10 am and started working until 4:30 pm coz I need to go to church every Saturday at 5:30 pm. After the mass, my friend Ana treat us for dinner as her late birthday celebration. It was a very happy evening with them (my friends Dave, Irene, Juvy, Desiree and Shayne) :) they are my close friends and bro/sis in SFC community. It was indeed a very nice and happy evening together.

Sorry if I brag about what happened today,hehe.. let me now continue why I decided to write about this topic.
Here are the reason why i don't like debt?

• I don't like to imitate or follow my mom's perspective of debt. She said that it is ok to have a debt coz she is also capable of paying for what she owe and i really DISAGREE with her. She has a pension but almost 70-80% every month goes to a lending firm. So for example if she has a Php 10,000 pension every month, what only remains is about Php 3000-2000. It does really sucks!sorry to say that. But even if I don't like what she is doing, I can't stop her even if i wanted to :(

•  I want to sleep comfortable at night without thinking of paying someone I owe her money.

•  I don't have a credit card and never wanted to have. Credit card is one of the reasons why many people have debts.

• I want to retire comfortably someday.

I am seeing it now that I have an emergency fund even if it is not that big coz I have something I can use in case of emergencies without going to a lending firm or someone just to borrow money.

This is all for now, till my next post.

Cheers,

My 2014 Short-Term Goals

Hello,

I cannot remember if I had my 2013 goals so I cannot check if I achieved them or not. But anyways if I cannot remember then I will instead write my 2014 goals.

1. Jog for at least once a week.

2. Write a post to this blog even once a week or a month.

3. Lessen spending too much on dining out. Or dine out only for once a month.

4. Teach in a private school. Will pass applications to different private schools until March 2014.

5. Enroll 3-6 units of Master's Degree.

6. Spent more time with family.

7. SAVE & SAVE & SAVE & SAVE.....

Hope I can achieve my short term goals for this year. Be this year a prosperous one Lord :)

God Bless to all of us,

Tracking Down June Expenses

Hi,

I have been tracking my expenses for 4 months now, I have started it last March 2013.  I am doing this stuff every month just to track where my money goes each day of the month. See below where my expenses go and how much.

June Expenses

Forgive me for the picture that is not really clear. I will just write the amount of my expenses below:

• Utilities (Electricity, Telephone, Internet) - PHP 2521

• Insurance (Life & Health) - PHP 2824

• Irregular Expenses - PHP 3659

• Help to Parents - PHP 13000

TOTAL = PHP 22004

My total expenses for June was PHP 22004. Hooray! My expenses for June is not that big compared to the last 3 months I am tracking it. 

My total expenses for March is PHP 27418, April is PHP 24994, May is PHP 29315 and now June is PHP 22004. I am very happy about this. I now know how to properly manage my money for the month of June. But I really need to still lower my irregular expenses. My irregular expenses are those expenses for eating out  with friends, transportation and groceries. 

I will make a budget plan starting this week for this month of July. I hope that my expenses this month will be much lower again just like the month of June.

Till my next posts,

Tracking Down MAY Expenses

Hi,

It's 12:02 AM of June 1, 2013 now, another month to experience new things and to discover new world that God has to offer :). For the past 2 months I've been tracking my expenses so that i'll know if I am effectively following my budget plan and of course being to live frugally at the same time. Don't be shock on what will I'll show you below on my expenses this month.

 

As you can see the expenses, I have very big expenses this month of May not like the previous month of March and April. My total expenses has been blown up to an amount of PHP 29315. My help to parents amount doesn't matter or does not hurt on my part because my family depends on me. The irregular expenses has increased but I have already told you that this month my acne has started to appear again on my face and I have to go to my dermatologist again to have treatments for my acne, an expenses that blow my budget up for this month. Below is the budget plan I made for month of May, so now you can see the difference on how much my expenses increased.

My supposed to be budget for May is only PHP 23100. But it ended up to PHP 29315. The difference is very big PHP 6215.

I know that this is not really a good news coz I do want to spend less on my irregular expenses and save/invest more. There are things that I can't control and need to importantly take care to like what happened on my face to have those acne back. But right now it is slowly been clearing up, the treatment has worked out. A lesson learned that I should really stick to the doctor's regimen and advised for me to do. 

Right now, I just lay out my budget plan for June, you can see the image below. So do hoping that I can follow this budget plan now and work slowly to building up my emergency fund for this month.

Till my next posts,

Who is Suze Orman?

Hi,

I've been busy lately and keeping this blog up to date seems a bit hard this days. But I know that blogging is not easy, it does requires patience and of course hard work. So I am here now to update this blog :) Why I am writing this topic now? Well, you know all the while that I reading and following some financial bloggers and reading most of their posts that catches my attention. One of their posts was all about "Suze Orman"? So I am really curious of who is there person that most bloggers are talking about.

So I research and read the blogs that talk about her and this is what I have read:

Suze Orman is one of America's most recognized expert in personal finance. She is called "a force in the world of personal finance" and "one-woman financial advise powerhouse" by USA today. A two-time Emmy Award-winning television host, New York Times mega bestselling author, magazine and online columnist, writer/producer, and one of the top motivational speakers in the world today, Orman is undeniably America’s most recognized expert on personal finance.

photo taken from his website: Just click here

Last night when I am browsing some bloggers post that I follow, I stumble upon a blog that featured a video about her interview in ANC by Karen Davila. CLICK HERE to watch the video from a blogger's post named Jill :) . A few minutes video that do tell everybody especially to us "Filipinos" to "live within our means but within your needs". A line that I quiet didn't grasp at first but later on I understand what she meant. We have to clearly understand the difference between a "want" and a "need".

I'll be posting next about an "Expense Tracker" from her website that I was able to grab on what she says on the video that I do really want to try. 

So keep reading my blog and watch out for it :)

Cheers,

Tracking Down April Expenses

Hi,

It's been a while I was not able to write a post for this blog. The month of April was the busiest month for me since 2013 came in. I had so many struggles in my service for SFC and other stuff I need to first do. But right now I want to write about my expenses for the month of April. I started tracking it last month (March 2013) and right now hope that my expenses for April will be lower.

Expenses for Month of April:

• Utilities (Electricity, Telephone, Internet) - PHP 2,285

• Insurance (Life/Health) - PHP 4, 905

• Irregular Expenses (Day to Day Expenses) - PHP 3, 304

• Help to Parents - PHP 14, 500

TOTAL: PHP 24, 994 

 

Last month my expenses was PHP 27, 418.5.

So the difference was PHP 2424.5, so I was able to save this money. This goes to my investment and my savings account.

Hope that this month of May I can still save more and invest more on my mutual fund.

Cheers,