Category Archives: Financial Education

What to Do, If You Can’t

September 11 1:34 am ,

Cloud Bursting

You are writing.  You want to be shaken to your core, inspired beyond belief, get your thoughts flowing but the words won’t come.  Today is one of those days, you tell yourself, brows furrowed, while trying to figure out what it is you are supposed to do now.  How do you get to the zone?

If the experts are to be believed, there is no zone.  There is only you.  And that you are blocking you.

Or you are blocking your chakra.  And It could be stress, fear, insecurity or worry that are the culprits – negative emotions that are of your own making but ones you think you cannot heal or overcome – at least at that point in time when you are calling upon your inner genius.

But there is something you can do.  You can tap.

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Free is Good

August 10 9:38 am ,

Yours for Free

Free is wonderful.

So I spend about 5 minutes of my time everyday signing up for free stuff.  I do not even have to look for offers of the free stuff, it comes to my e-mail box every day.  And all I need is time on my hands (and for most free stuff offers, a US address).

See the picture on the left? I got all of those for free.  Included there is a big can of baby formula, baby magazines, lotions, creams, diapers, shampoos, conditioners – yes, most of them are minuscule and in sample form but I still got a giddy feeling getting them (weeeee! and you have to agree – they are great for out of town trips).  And I got coupons too, lots of coupons.  I am not sure I will be able to use everything, but the feeling of free is good.
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Posted in: Financial Education, The Basics of Finance, Wealth Attraction , Tagged: , , , , , , , , , ,

To Eat Out (Or Not)

August 6 11:52 pm ,

Fine Dining

A relative does not like eating out, even on important occasions.

You can actually feel his displeasure when we insist (except when it is the Sofitel buffet, which he loves).  This is because he thinks eating out is a waste of money.  This view is okay (and maybe true), except that he strongly suggests to everyone (read: bullies everyone) not to eat out (when it is not his money that will be spent).  And for special occasions (like Christmas or Thanksgiving), he wants the cooks in the family to do all the cooking (my husband outshines me in this regard so, no, I am not included in “cooks”).  That does not sit well some of the time with some of the members of the family, the ones who slave it out in the kitchen (who pay for the grocery too – a double whammy?).

But I know he means well.

Now, my husband and I look for every excuse to eat out.  For the past years, the lines between special and not-so-special occasions (or without any occasion) have been blurred for us. Name a restaurant, if it is good (and not so unreasonably expensive), we have probably eaten there (I partly blame food blogs, which I love to read).

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Posted in: Financial Education, Financial Planning , Tagged: , , , , , , , ,

Move Your Cheese

August 1 9:31 pm ,

Be Uncomfortable

“When I enrolled in Maven Secrets, I did not know what I was getting into. I only thought I would learn about blogging, get to know the man behind all those amazing features in Our Awesome Planet and, yes, dabble a little bit in internet marketing. I did not know that it will lead to my re-examination of my life, that it will change my life, transfer me from the confines of my glass penthouse to vibrant, more exciting possibilities. Let this serve as a warning and a warm welcome to those who will follow this unbeaten path.”

The above was my testimony for MavenSecrets when I attended its pilot class more than a year ago.  But its echoes reverberate to the life I know today.

MavenSecrets is an internet marketing program.  But it was also a way out – because like what it did to Anton Diaz, its founder (and to my other classmates), it strengthened my desire to leave the rat race and go after things that I am passionate about – like family and doing the things I could not find the time to do, the more important things that give life its flesh and its color.

Through having multiple passive income streams.

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Posted in: Financial Education, Life Stories, Mentors, Wealth Attraction , Tagged: , , , , , ,

A Garage Sale, Some Realizations

July 28 11:44 pm ,

Giving, Sharing

I will make an unusual statement: in some countries, it is easier to give.

First, a backgrounder.

In the US, we held some garage sales.  It is easy.  You just gather the things you do not use out of the closet (or the garage), put a price to it, set it up at your garage (or yard, for a yard sale) announce it over the internet or advertise in some local newspaper (for free), show up on the day with some loose change, preferably psyched up to deal with penny pinchers (who want your memorabilia for a song) and wait.  At the end of the day, you will have earned some cash, freed a part of your garage (or closet), and found homes for the stuff you would not miss anyway.

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Posted in: Financial Education, Life Stories, Wealth Attraction , Tagged: , , , , , , ,

Window of Opportunity and Other Random Thoughts on a Bus

June 5 10:21 pm ,

On the Way

Forgive me, but I have not ridden the public in a long time.

I used to.  In fact, everyday.   I remember that I liked it. The streets were not too crowded, the weather not as hot, the traffic not as bad.  A younger world.  And I think, a better world.

I would collect my thoughts in those 2-hour long drives from my college to my house.  During the commute, I would have conversations in my head, the role of the antagonist alternating between my mother and my best friend. It is the time when I would get what I thought were my best ideas – for scripts which were a weekly requirement in my course, for my thesis, solutions to problems, awakenings.  I would plan too, the strategies of my life without meaning to.  It is true what others say – there is so much creativity and movement that can go on in one’s mind when one’s hands are not on the wheel (a fuel for the debate of whether to have a car or not to have a car).

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Posted in: Financial Education, Life Stories , Tagged: , , ,

The Enchantment of A Summer House

May 26 1:29 pm ,

Paradiso

I irritate my husband with one habit.

I get myself invited to open houses – of summer houses – and I drag him with me.

For some reason, summer houses appeal to me.  I tried to enter an exclusive one once and I was turned away (not a member, no invitation from a member, no appointment to go in – how was I supposed to know it was that exclusive?).  And maybe that is where the appeal lies – it is so hard to get in (well, okay, that one time, but memories of experiences sometimes stick around longer than they are wanted).

Hard to get in but also hard to keep one.  But that is another story.

Summer houses in exclusive enclaves.  They are the playground of the rich, and when you own one, it means you have earned the right to squander money away – and squander you will because although you paid an arm and a leg for it, it is a place where you will stay maybe only 1 or 2 months in a year.

But like I said, I like them.  So yesterday, we went again to another one – in Anvaya Cove which is off the coast of Bataan, very near Subic Bay.

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Posted in: Financial Education, The Basics of Finance, The Philippines, Travel, Wealth Attraction , Tagged: , , , , , ,

Get Rich, Then Worry

May 23 9:06 pm ,

To what end... labor?

Everytime I see that little squirrel in Ice Age chasing his chestnut and then doing everything to protect it, including shunning love and running after it across the ages, I am reminded about how we are as human beings.

Some of us make it our life’s mission to get something, the more obvious of it are material things – money, jewelry, real estate, a way of life.

And then we make a showcase of what we have.  We parade that we have so much – like the jewelry and Louis Vuittons in the arms of women, parties in our lavish homes or summer houses, feeding ourselves in expensive restaurants, shopping.

Then the story turns something short of horrible.

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