You are currently browsing the monthly archive for October, 2008.
No news yet about my sister’s breast exam. It’s midnight of Friday and the doctors are, I guess, taking their sweet time in releasing the results. I hate the feeling of waiting for something like this. Illness in the family is something that sits heavily in my chest. It’s crazy having to wait for exam results.
Not that I am suggesting that my sister has cancer, but if I do get cancer of any kind (knock on wood), and discover it in a middle stage, I don’t think I will ever let my family know, especially my parents. Knowing them, they will worry themselves sick that the three of us will end up in the hospital (knock on wood, again). Besides, treatments are expensive. Although medical tourism in the Philippines is being pushed by the government boasting of lower health care costs, only the tourists can really afford it. There is no way I will let my family go deep in debt for my treatments. No way.
Sometimes, it sucks not to be rich.
Major failure with non-financial goals. A lot of stuff was goin’ on during the entire October. A lot of them was sad, concerning one death of a close relative and several deaths with close friends’ relations. Aside from the one Friday where I went to the album launch, my entire October was grim.
On the financial goals, although my networth suggest that I triumphed over the great monster named Mr. Spending, I did not. The huge jump upward was caused by the first half of 13th month pay released early today (P10,500). Almost everything went to the personal improvement fund, and will be used this November. I am yet to set an appointment with my dentist for the fixed bridge, and the procedure is not cheap. Previous estimate was P17.5K, but I’m hoping he’ll give me further discount of up to 2K, we’ll see.
For all I know, every bit of cash I have will be used for something else, but, hopefully not.
November goals will definitely be less ambitious.
Wishing you all a great weekend and happy trick or treating!
My sister had an ultrasound done to her breasts and they found a couple of small lumps. Result as to whether it is benign or what will be coming in on Friday.
It was a shock. My sister is 32 and single. The second the news left my mom’s lips, the first thing I asked was if she has insurance. The answer is no. I slipped into the blame game for a few seconds (yeah, that’ how tactless a sister I can be) but shut up in time.
When I came up to our room I immediately checked my own insurance policy. The amount Manulife will give for the removal of a benign growth is very minimal but for a cancerous one, they may accelerate the benefit for the full face amount. Comforting, but who wants to make use of an insurance, anyway?
I recently asked the Great Guy Above for some sort of distraction since after the album launch I learned that the guy I’ve been pining for almost 3 years now is getting married (read: depression). I remember specifically asking for a happy kind of distraction. Well, apparently He has a different plan.
Please pray for us.
Subtitle: Hoping they will respond!
In relation to Frugal Bachelor’s post, if you are working for a listed company whose stock price took a beating during the latest trading days, will you buy some shares?
I did, hoping crossing my fingers that it will soon right itself. In my post a few days ago, I said I am privy to alot of sensitive info about the company. These infos composed of detailed amount of cash in time deposits, their maturity dates and rates, and banks where they are placed, cash in banks, etc. Also, I know for a fact that collection is steady and far from drying out. Sales are way up, too, since day 1 of 2008.
Thing is, the stock is in its 52-week low, and went far below par value. Current P/E is 5, which is obviously lower from few weeks ago.
Cash I used to pay for the stocks came from my various funds since I haven’t set up one specifically for investments (oh please, don’t scold just yet!). An investor ‘friend’ said I shouldn’t go into stocks yet since I rated myself with 10-20% in investing knowledge.
I am not at all nervous with the stability of the company, but I wonder if the share prices will still go up to its previous highs.
Still swooning over the delight of being able to watch Updharmadown’s album launch last night! I was with old friends, those I met attending gigs at the mall and bars. They haven’t seen me for more than a year and I was kinda glad they missed me. LOL!
The place was packed, which made me even more thankful we went about an hour before time. We were able to secure a very nice place right in front of the low stage. All of us were hungry (no dinner or even snack), or had somebody waiting outside the lounge, but we refused to budge from where we were standing lest the kids at the back will take our place. In my rough estimate, only half of the people who went to the launch actually got in the lounge. And we were a hundred or more inside. Air conditioning was strong but was not able to keep up with the energy inside.
Since I was smacked right in front of the vocalist (armi, i <3 you!!) , I was able to video the whole thing using my trusty Sony Cybershot. Poor quality but, at least I didn’t have to wait for the release of official videos of the event. I spent the entire afternoon today watching my videos and listening to the album, Bipolar.
The guys played about 12 songs, mostly from the new album, and 2 from the first, Fragmented. Fragmented was the one that had me hooked to this band. I love them, to say the least.
On the finance side, the P500 was a great deal. I got a ‘limited’ edition copy of the album, got them signed, I got an iced tea, and very nice spot inside the lounge. And oh yes, the videos and photos and the fact that the band members either gave me a high five, a slap on the back, and few lines of a certain song sung TO me. Yep, they know me as a fan. Looked and asked for me during gigs and online. What’s not to like?
Paid for the bus for two of the kids since one is still in school and one is a bum (oh joy!). Got off EDSA then took a cab for another P90.
Overall damage to my entertainment was a close P700.00.
All worth it.
Tomorrow, I am going to witness the album launch of one of my fave Filipino band, Updharmadown. These guys opened for Incubus when they performed here last March. Fee is P150 entrance with drink OR P500 entrance with drink, Limited Edition CD Packaging with documentary DVD.
Since I do love the band, and wants to have the CD (I was a collector), I will avail the P500 deal.
Yes, I am justifying the expense for tomorrow night. I have enough cash in my entertainment fund and I haven’t dipped in it since I set it up. Nope, I don’t have a distorted sense of entitlement and yes, I am babbling and maybe I have to stop now.
Sorry, I am excited about the gig but can’t help but think about the expense, too!
Alrighty, payday is over and done. Let’s see what happened.
- Cash is up by P10,373.33
- Investments up by P5,191.1
- Liabilities up by a whopping P13,781.48
- Net worth is up by P1,782.95
Whoa.
Before you start shaking your head and go tsk tsk-ng over that jump in liabilites, let me explain.
Cash was up by 10K (a little smile, please?). P4,000 was legitimately savings and bit of income from my small business. This amount went to my various funds, 4 of which are funded for October. P2,600 was a refund from Manulife for surrendering the policy for the Affluence fund that I never should have taken in the first place. Almost 1K is partially income from buy & sell and partially reimbursement for some expense.
Increase in investments was due to purchase of 8K shares of the company I am working for. I am still holding 2K shares of it that I bought for a steep price and I am applying the concept of averaging. Crossing my fingers that it will work. Knowing the company (I am privy to some sensitive infos), the comeback is not far from the today so it makes me confident and not at all jittery.
Jump in liabilities is due to the cost of the stocks mentioned above that will be paid on Monday, so the cash will sadly be depleted. Also, phone and DSL bills are now enrolled in my credit card and a credit card fund is also setup for it’s payment.
I also would like to say that the balance of my tithe fund is looking really good, and I am excited to hand it over to the church or some other charitable institutions before the year is out. I have never given that kind of amount before, and it makes me feel a bit richer 
Overall, the past 2 weeks were not extra good, but I am not in any position to complain. My networth is still increasing, the slack is forgivable. I feel that I am doing so much better than most of other people. I may be wrong, but, I’d rather think I’m right.
Looks like the global economy will not be better for quite some time, and I can only be thankful for the graces I receive each day, knowing that I am not worthy.
Salamat po, Papa God!!!
Saturday has always been a shop day for me, with only half day of office work. As prices of food rise, my desire to bake my own bread rises with it. So yesterday, I bought two rectangular non-stick loaf pans (tin, as the Pyrex one was almost P500 apiece). In the grocery though, the only available yeast comes at a 500-gram packages which was too much for someone just trying her hand out in baking. So back to the shelves went the 2 kilos of flour.
Today I googled for a baking supplies store near my place and lucky me, I found one just one jeepney ride away. I have yet to receive a reply for my questions but I am very excited! I am hoping they have whole wheat flour and the ingredients for a basic loaf bread and buns. I also found this website, Breadtopia, with lots of recipes and videos of breadmaking. It will surely make my baking a lot easier (fingers crossed!).
Also, the container garden I talked about previously is becoming real. All day, I cleaned up the terrace on the second floor of our home. My fingernails are still black with dirt as I am yet to take a shower (poor notebook…mishandled by me!). I pruned all the tea bushes on the rooftop (actually, I butchered them!) that had overgrown so much they only left what I will call an aisle where you can walk. Brought the junk and the HEAVY potted tall plants from the terrace to the rooftop, swept the floor and what do you know, it rained! poured! Good thing I was able to finish hauling everything to the rooftop before it did. All in all, it was a good day’s work.
But wait! Work is not over yet. There’s the bit of laundry and ironing, and I’m going to prepare the ground beef my dad bought for me into hamburger patties. Soon, I will also have a home-baked hamburger buns to go with it!
Almost every forum I joined, PF blogs I read have something to say about coupons. A lot of people has saved couple of bucks doing it. So naturally, I searched the internet for coupons and promos applicable to us, Filipinos. Stuff like grocery, clothing, everything. As expected, nothing came up. Nada. Zip. Zero.
Then, just a few minutes ago, I was coming down the stairs when I glanced over at a bookshelf with Mercury Drugstore calendar hanging on its side. Whoa. Just below the calendar proper are discount coupons! Though most are for medicines we don’t really use (baby drops, cough syrup), the ones for October are actually coupons for Alaxan FR and tablet! Medicines that we sell in our sari-sari store (variety store, a common small-time business of families) on a daily basis. Discount is P1 per tablet/capsule for a minimum of 10 pcs. There is also a coupon for Alaxan tablet for P100 discount for 100s (still a P1/tablet) and P500 discount for 500s of capsule.
What I did was to cut off the coupons from the calendar and gave it to my dad since he and my mom are the ones who shop. I kept the P100 & P500 off coupons in case I decide to buy a box of Alaxan as gift to charity this Christmas. Also kept two P10 off coupons for 10s of tablet and capsule just in case. Definitely an amount I can sneeze at!
For you fellow Pinoys reading this blog, check out this site, Mercury Drug Corporation, and print and cut the coupons. Save you some bucks when the body aches and pains sets in.
Happy couponing!
For the 2 weeks, I budgeted P2K (originally 2.5K) for everything: fare and lunch money. It is very small, and I was almost certain it will not be enough.
Wouldn’t you know it, with only 5 more working days to go before the next payday, I still have exactly 996.5 left! We have work from Monday to Saturday, and fare is a flat 105.5 both ways everyday. So how did I make the 2k last for 12 days?
I brown bagged lunch! It’s nothing new, nothing innovative, nothing mindblowing, but it saved me money. I brought mostly sandwiches with fresh cabbage (in lieu of lettuce…it’s cheaper and more common) and tomatoes, bit of meat and cheese on wheat bread. Yum!
Tomorrow, I won’t do it, though. I will use one of the company-issued gift checks worth P100 (I still have 6 left) and buy myself a couple of dumplings and whatever’s on the menu.
What are you waiting for? Brown bag it!
They sent me some lovin'