Realizing things amidst typhoon

We were stuck in the office when typhoon Ondoy hit (international name:  Ketsana).  HR department distributed Fita biscuits to tide us since all stores are closed, or already without food.

During and after the storm I realized a lot of things.

1. I failed in the emergency preparedness category.  All I had in my bag is a small package of cupcake and several packets of 3-in-1 coffee.  Nothing that can significantly help me last an emergency.

2. My first aid kit is sadly lacking. There were several paracetamols, a gauze pad, tape and White Flower for nausea, but there were no bandages, Betadine, triangular scarf or cotton.  I don’t even have tissue paper.

3. At home last night, I was stuck for a long time staring at my budget.  My net salary now for half a month was the gross of what I was receiving for a whole month about a year ago.  Yet, I still do not have a category for charity.  That’s got to change.

4. Our home is not emergency-proof.  We lack containers to store water. Our emergency light is busted. Food is not a problem since we have a store.

5. My emergency fund is too small. It needs to be raised to about 6 months of my salary.

6. Our significant documents are not kept in waterproof containers.

I will need a solid plan on how to tide us over in case of another storm (God forbid).  We have faced fire before, when I was young, which took everything my parents built. It was heartbreaking.

All I can do now is to pray for my friends and countrymen to be safe.

Sunday…

and here I am, multitasking.

I am attempting to tick off tasks that has been in my to-do list for the longest time.  One is to copy old pictures to discs and free up some space in my laptop.  I am a bit jittery about deleting photos and relying on the durability of discs, though.  This will only be temporary, I am planning on getting a 1 TB external harddrive as storage.  It will cost me a few thousand pesos, but I’ll incorporate it in my budget once I can.

I’ll also be updating my PF worksheets; I did a bit of shopping/grocery yesterday.  Bought 4 clearbooks for my department, to be reimbursed, of course.

On top of that I am also manning our small store right here in the house.  Later I’ll have to wash the dog, change sheets, wash clothes, clean up my bit of space.  Attend mass, which is the most important part of my Sundays.

Have a blessed, productive Sunday, everyone!

Toying with the idea of moving

Traffic is getting horrendous by the day.  It adds unnecessary stress to my already stressful yet uneventful life. 

Imagine getting up by 5AM each morning, out of the house on or before 6:30, wait for a shuttle to work till about 7-7:30, or on a really, really, really bad day, till past 8AM.  You get to the office just on time, using up the grace period given to managers.  You start your day  hungry, smelling of vehicle fumes, cigarette smoke and own sweat. 

Then, after doing all you’re supposed to do at work, you get out by 5:30 or 6PM.  Fall in line for the shuttle home, then, traffic.  Again.  Reaching home by 8PM, you are expected to be ravenous.  Hungry.  Tired and irritated.

This, my friends, is just a regular day to me.

And they expect you to be on top of everything.  Every bit of finance & admin division’s operation. Gah!

I am seriously thinking of moving to Makati where I work.  There are some rooms for rent that are within walking distance from the office.  Will definitely save me lots of time and energy.  However it will not exactly save me money.  I will still have to shoulder the same expenses here at home, plus the cost of my living alone.  Room, food, electricity.  Plus I may have to buy some appliances I will need if not already provided by the owner.

Can’t imagine how my family will react if they know of this plans.

HSBC Customer Service, expect me tomorrow!

Currently, I am maintaining two credit cards:  one is a supplementary from my sis, and one primary.  Last July 8, I received the billing for the primary card inclusive of annual fee (1,200). 

Immediately I called customer service and asked it to be waived.  The person (Sally) gave me instructions on how I can have it waived.  They are no longer implementing the minimum spend amount this time.  Instead, they required me to use the card at least 7 times regardless of amount (total and per transaction) for the next 30 days.  I said, ok, pretty easy.

It was easy.  When I went for some groceries, I divided the items into two and  told the cashier to swipe the same card but different receipts.  Would have divided it into 3 receipts, however, the limit was 2.  July was also my birthmonth so alot of eating out for me and my friends and family.

Sally the customer service person said they will have the annual fee reversed on the next bill.  That was supposed to be in August.  Tonight, while brushing my teeth, I suddenly remembered the said annual fee and wondered if it was already reversed.  I dug out my credit card statements and guess what? September bill has arrived and still no reversal.

I am going to bring these billings from June to September and make them have a piece of my mind.  I even have the ID number of Sally in case the person I will talk to tomorrow will deny that I called previously for a reversal.

If ever, that 1,200 will pay for bit more than 50% of the new shoes I purchased about 2 weeks ago.  Ha!

An emo post (go and read something else!)

Haven’t had any drive to do anything lately.  I used to love reading, now it’s lucky if I finish a book in a quarter.  Used to be a sucker for rock/alternative music, live concerts, mall tours of bands I used to love.  Used to squander half of my monthly salary on CDs, scouring out of the way malls for CD sales, secondhand shops for CDs disposed by previous owners, even eBay, forums, local websites.  Now I only get to listen and sing to old, cheesy stuff about emotions.

I also used to enjoy eating out, coffee and movie by myself.  Now, when alone, I get the stupid feeling of loneliness in all the things that I do.  Buying lunch, shopping, gym.

I miss my old friends.  They are now scattered somewhere else:  abroad, other companies, other departments in different and out of the way floors.  Sure there’s always a way to connect with them, have a get-together sometimes.  But it’s just not the same.

Blame it on the weather.  Blame it on the season.  Blame it on the stress brought by work.  Or maybe I am just getting old.

Thank you!

Regardless of how seldom I post (and when I do, it’s not PF related), there are still some souls clicking on my blog.

I am not even updating my NetworthIQ!  Tsk tsk.

Whoever you are, thank you for visiting.  I can’t promise any substantial posts (blame it to life), but promise, I’ll TRY.

And, those blogs that are in my sidebar, rest assured that I read your posts, either through your blog, or using Google Reader.

Goodnight, world!

Hiring update

Finally!  We have a new supervisor, and it’s a he.  My female staff were counting on a guy, and the male ones were hoping for a girl… jokingly, of course.  However, the guy’s married with a kid.

He will start on the 22nd.  Now, I have to draft all his to-do list.  This should free up some of my time and focus on managing rather than doing supervisory to routine tasks.

Also, I get to decide on his salary.  His asking was 18k, same as what he is receiving from his current employer.  Before I made any decision I asked my current supervisor about his salary.  My objective was to not let the starting salary of the new supervisor be equal or higher than his.  I like the peace and harmony of the group.  In the end I gave him 19K plus benefits, insurance, etc.

Hoping for the best.

Gotta love bargains

I haven’t written anything related to personal finance, in case you haven’t noticed.

Thing is, everything is doing fine.  Staying within budget, saving for stuff that I need, for the vacation planned months ago.

Last Saturday, I skipped gym because my shoes has reached its end of life.  I am considering repairing it, which should give it a bit more use but it can no longer be my main gym shoes.

So…I bought a new pair.  Took the train to a certain mall where the other malls dump their old stocks.  This mall sell the shoes for as much as 50% off.  I roamed around, considered brands as Nike, Adidas, Skechers but they did not have any in my size.  Roamed some more and I saw The North Face.  They had some shoes in my size, and I bought a pair for 2k, marked down 50%.

The pair is mostly gray, with red on top.  Not exactly the style or color that I would choose but I don’t want to pay full price.  It should serve its purpose, and I’m happy for that.

It’s another long weekend…

and I am doing something for work since yesterday.

It’s been crazy busy in the office.  With my ex-boss gone, and the turnover of task from her to me was rushed, I am now left with my old responsibilities plus hers that, I should admit, are far from clear and easy to me.

I had most of my tasks as a supervisor turned over to the now-supervisor of the group, but he, too, is still adjusting and so I can’t very well pressure him too much.  We are currently in the process of hiring an assistant supervisor, and I have a new staff replacing an old one who’s last day of reporting will be on the 10th.

So yesterday morning, right after breakfast, I sent an SMS to all of my subordinates and asked for the reports and reviews assigned to them with the frequency of reporting.  Objective is to lay down everything being done by everyone to give me a clear view of who is overloaded and who’s not.  Then maybe some reshuffling, reassignment, additional tasks is proper for some.

I will have to do some unloading of tasks to the current supervisor, then to the still-to-be-hired asst. supervisor, old and new staff.  Until then, I will have to deal with the stress and pressure of delivering my old reviews AND what my ex-boss did.

No rest for the wicked.

No rest for the wicked

Today was a very busy one.  I got in the office at around 8AM and updated my PF spreadsheet.  My official time is 9AM so, no, I did not use any paid hours (just resources *grins*).

8:30 saw me riding the elevator to the 28th floor to conduct review of the Treasury department.  The managers in that area were not yet ready for me, but still, I did what I had to do.

8:45, I was already tackling the company’s collection division’s reports.  Answering emails, checking accuracy and validity of reports, rebutting complaints and all.  This went through the better part of my morning till lunch.

1PM, I faced a mountain of clients’ folders applying for the company’s incentive scheme.  Then by

2:30, interviewed 2 applicants for the supervisory position in my department.  One was OK, however, he should work on his tact.

3:00 our SVP asked for me to discuss something that needs to be reviewed.

4:00, there were lots of people in our area.  It was the birthday of my associate and food was abundant.

5PM, another interview.  Waste of time, IMO.  I continued tackling the clients’ folders till 7:30PM, then finally, I went home.

Came in at about 9PM, had a bit of TV and scratch-my-belly time with my dog and now, bit of blogging before I hit the bed.

Tomorrow’s another day.