Author Archives: Issa

Beginning Philanthropy

A Chance to Shape the Future

Going to orphanages, or the home for the aged, or seeking out the poor and the downtrodden – to reach out, to help – it is not something one thinks about on a day to day basis.

But they – the abandoned, the old and forgotten, the poor, the downtrodden – their existence is a day to day reality.

But many people do not care – either because they do not have the time and have their own worries, or they have nothing to give. It is the government’s job, after all, or those with millions to spare.

For a long time, I had those sentiments.

I used to think that as long as I minded my own business, do not take advantage of people, take really good care of my family (charity begins at home), and smile (well, I think this is important), then I am off the hook of what they call “social responsibility”.

Posted in: Advocacies, Wealth Attraction , Tagged: Advocacy, Beginning Philanthropy, Bill Gates, Charity, Generosity, Orphanage, Philanthropy, Rhonda Byrnes, Sun and Moon, Warren Buffett

Stopped Reading or Watching the News But Then the Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Happened

March 17 9:14 am , Issa

Replanting, Rebuilding

I used to love reading newspapers.

It was in fact the highlight of my day. I could not get enough of them, and would read not one but two or more of different newspapers. And if I make it home before 7 at night, I would switch on the television and hungrily watch the news, letting it envelop me, allowing the visuals – grim or otherwise – to reiterate what I already know.

It is funny really – the way news would explore every avenue and have every possible slant and not stop until a news story is exhausted. And I mean, exhausted.

But after some time, I realized – all the news I have been reading and watching, all that corruption and greed, all that plummeting of the stock market and political upheavals and the skyrocketing of gasoline prices – all of those would get me to a panic, and get me depressed.

I was engaged, involved, but depressed.

Congratulations to the Winners of The Walking Eater

March 16 11:09 am , Issa

Win! Win! Win!

Thank you for joining The Walking Eater Contest. Winning two (2) Walking Eaters each are … drumroll please … Patrick Carlos, Teeyah and Polinda Usero. Congratulations!

Read More →

Posted in: Contests , Tagged: Contest, Danvic Briones, Financial Tracker, MoneyDoctors, rich, The Walking Eater, Winners, Winning, You Want To Be Rich

Domestic Diva

March 14 9:09 pm , Issa

Swells

I am not.

I mean I cook and bake sparingly, sweep the floor occasionally, arrange the closet (that I have ransacked for something to donate, or wear or throw away) some of the time. But, I will admit this, I do not know how to clean the bathroom, have never done the laundry (do not even know how to operate our washing machine), and have never prepared my daughter’s school lunch (a horrible realization). But you see, that’s how efficient my staff at home was.

Okay, I know what you are thinking. But please hear me out.

My justification (mostly to myself) is that I work. And when I am home, I take care of/talk to/ play with – the kids (yes, this includes the husband) that I have no time or energy to deal with housework. And, well, yeah, I had helpers.

That was until some 10 months ago, when my maid of 5 years left me. (sources said she fell in love, got married, got pregnant, worked somewhere else, went back to her province – there were so many versions and I do not even know the real story.)

Posted in: Life Stories , Tagged: Domestic Diva, Househelp, Losing Househelp, Yaya, You Want To Be Rich

A Discovery In the Culinary Capital

March 13 9:48 pm , Issa

Photos courtesy of Madelene Uyehara

Cross-post from MoneyDoctors Blog.

Pampanga. The birthplace of many chefs extraordinaire. So it is no wonder that there are some great restaurants in the province. But only some. Hubby and I wondered about this and surmised that because every other Kapampangan is a cook, every Kapampangan is a food critic. I mean, the standards are set so high! Before you can entice a Kapampangan to come hither to a restaurant – the cuisine has to better than what their mothers and lolas cook. And that is a tall order.

One brave soul is Araceli Timbol, a graduate of the Center for Culinary Arts, Manila, who also trained at The Blue Elephant, Bangkok and Culinary Institute of America at Greystone in Napa Valley. Tucked away in what was once the neighborhood of the rich in metro Pampanga is her The Village Chef.

We heard about The Village Chef from hubby’s sister and brother who were raving about it. It was hubby’s birthday and we thought, what a great excuse to splurge!

And so we did. (splurging is allowed some of the time)

Posted in: Food, The Philippines , Tagged: Araceli Timbol, MoneyDoctors, Pampanga, The Village Chef, You Want To Be Rich

Sometimes I Do Not Agree With Ramit Sethi of I Will Teach You To Be Rich

March 4 10:09 pm , Issa

Crimson

Well, at least, one time I did not.

Because, in an email to me about his “breathtaking insight about customers and human behavior,” he discussed two categories of customers:

Posted in: Financial Education, Financial Planning , Tagged: Customers Signing Up, Diamond Hotel, I Will Teach You To Be Rich, People Who Will Never Pay, Ramit Sethi, Sales Pitch, Shangrila, Timeshare, You Want To Be Rich

Do You Want to Win An Expense Tracker?

February 27 12:55 pm , Issa

Your Personal Expense Tracker

Everyone needs one.

And borne of a MoneyDoctors story, we have produced one. And we called it The Walking Eater.

Thing is, it is not just a MoneyDoctors story. It is actually our story. My husband’s story.

He is the walking eater.

Posted in: Contests, Financial Planning , Tagged: Expense Tracker, Joe Ferreria, Money Doctors, Salve Duplito, The Walking Eater, You Want To Be Rich

If It Does Not Make You Money, Cut the Time You Spend Doing It In Half

February 23 9:25 pm , Issa

Cut It

Or obliterate it altogether.

But boys will be boys. Will be boys.

And my husband, is a boy. (still a boy)

He always has gadget fads that he swears will not last. But they keep morphing into some other fad, that I want to scream to him: Yes honey, they do not last but they always, always get replaced with something else that take your time away from us!

Like now, it is his PSP and his Tekken game. He plays it every chance he gets – when waiting for an appointment or before the start of a meeting, in the bathroom, in his office (I bet – but he owns it so I think it is okay), in my hospital bed (when I was recently hospitalized), downstairs in our house when my children and I are having playtime and how-are-you-time upstairs, in our bedroom when the lights have been dimmed and my baby boy who is trying to sleep could not sleep because he is distracted by the eerie disco lights and slightly muted sounds from the PSP game.

I could go on.

Please allow me.

Posted in: Financial Education, Life Stories, The Basics of Finance , Tagged: Boys will be boys, Danvic Briones, Distraction, Fairy Tail, Gadgets, Games, Naruto, Playstation, PSP, Tekken, Time Stealer, You Want To Be Rich

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Author Archives: Issa

Beginning Philanthropy

Going to orphanages, or the home for the aged, or seeking out the poor and the downtrodden – to reach out, to help – it is not something one thinks about on a day to day basis.