stuff and stuff

after seeing videos ang pictures of people i worked with at accenture, bigla akong na-homesick! anovash.

On a whim nagpunta kami sa Ruapehu last weekend. It was a 4 hour drive one way and medyo mainipin na ako sa byahe pero ok naman because 80% of the off-road scenery were new to my eyes. Enjoy naman, pero mahal ang winter holidays ah.

This was long overdue! Siempre pa gusto ko lahat makapanood ng video ni Liam bub kong cute :) Here is the link to his infectious laugh! Ayluvet!!!

Hi, 

The world hunger crisis is all over the news this week. In just three years, the price of staple foods like wheat, corn and rice has almost doubled. If we don't do something soon, hundreds of thousands of people face starvation and a hundred million more could fall into extreme poverty.

I just took action with the ONE Campaign and you can too, here: 

http://www.one.org/hungercrisis?rc=hctaf

"It is even harder for the 

maski nakanganga ka pa matulog, guapo ka pa rin. 

Liam Conor Lafavilla Rousseau

13 February 2008
8.33 lbs.
20.8 inches

Pics here.

Kahapon binisita ako ng manager ko na naka-leave rin for a week. Dahil namatay si Heath, we thought of having a Heath Ledger Memorial DVD Marathon.

Heto ang list ng DVDs na ni-rent namin:
- Ned Kelly
- Monster's Ball
- Brokeback Mountain
- Lords of Dogtown
- The Four Feathers
- Sin Eater

Around 2 months back we watched his movie Candy. Akala ko nga ang ikinamatay nya was the same scene where he walked in on Geoffrey Rush's character who overdosed and died on the couch. Ang tragic if ganun nga pero wag naman sana!

Sayang talaga that he's dead now.

sa totoo lang, hindi na applicable sa times ngayon ang rules ng MTRCB. tama bang X-rated ang short film na "A Day in the Life of President Arrovo"? one-sided daw kasi yung film. lahat ba ng films multi-sided? i just thought of Jaws that i recently saw again. di naman naipakita ang side ng mga sharks sa movie na yun. ano ba?!

art is art is art. i don't know why they seem to believe it has anything to do with reality. somebody who is into arts dapat ang nasa office ng MTRCB eh.

this is what's making my morning a little bit frustrating.

The real identity of Mona Lisa was finally identified. Her name is Lisa Gherardini del Giocondo.

Further details can be found in http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/01/16/mona-lisa-identity.html

2007 was a really good year for me. 2008 will even be better! looking forward to parenthood and reaching our goals.

we, jon and i, have set S.M.A.R.T. (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, time-bound) goals for this year and they are mostly comprised of financial-related things. i suppose parenthood does that to a person. you know, being more assertive with stabilizing the future and all that mature adult talk. i'm glad to mention that we have started investing. one goal this year is to begin diversifying our portfolio slowly but surely. i'm taking the lead, just because i have the interest, and i'm still learning the ropes. i read blogs and blogs of personal finance and even got myself a wealth guide from my bank! we started conservatively but i'm sure we'll get into the risky side of things. hehe.

so did you end up with resolutions or goals?

here are photos of our trip to sydney and kiama, new south wales in ozland. enjoy!

click click

the other night while chopping onions, an idea suddenly struck me and i shared it with jon while eating. naisip ko na susubukan namin ang technique na ito para turuan namin ang aming anak about valuing savings and learning how to spend money. matagal-tagal pa naman obviously, siguro not for 7 or so years from now, pero susubukan pa rin namin.

my parents have been really instrumental sa pagtuturo samin about money. lahat ng mga nababasa ko na financial advice narinig ko na sa kanila mula pagkabata. pero na-realize ko di rin pala effective kung theoritical lang. binigyan naman nila kami ng money baon apart from food nung nag-aaral kami. nag-ipon din naman kami with whatever was left of my P20/day baon. yung P20 na yan, 4th year high school nako nyan ha! bago umabot yan, may negotiations pang naganap, just like asking for salary increase ang dating. pag pasko naman, siempre panahon ng mga bata para magkapera. kaso mautak ang nanay ko, may mga times after ng pasko na di nya kami binibigyan ng baon kasi raw may pera naman kami. iba naman yung pamasko eh! pero naisip ko wala naman din kaming naging plano para sa napamaskuhan namin kundi gastusin lang din sa mga bagay na di gagastusan ng parents namin dahil kapritso nga lang mostly.

from this history ko nakuha ang idea na isusubok ko sa anak ko. i will encourage my son to save tapos whatever he decides to put in his bank account, dodoblehin ko. kung mag-decide sya to put $5 aside, i will add $5 more. not only in theory, but he will be given the chance to have some control of actual money that he can check on the internet himself. lahat ng mga gusto nyang bilhin na alam namin ni jon na kapritso lang, sya ang magdedecide kung huhugutin nya sa savings nya, pero siempre dadaan samin dahil kami ang magwi-withdraw naman. pero in a way mapapa-isip sya dahil pagdating ng panahon na yun, magkano na ang Wii or PSP or some other expensive toys meron tayo ngayon or future ones na magagawa pa lang? i don't think that i would be buying my child those expensive toys, siguro 1 pero yun lang. i will support pa siguro kung educational activity, pero not toys na tulad ng PSP. ok, back to my topic.

main point is that my child would stop and consider his decision first because it would not only be his parents' share that he'd spend but his hard-earned savings also. sa kakapiranggot na allowance nya, mahirap nang tipirin yun lalo na sa dami ng temptations everyday. especially kung nakikita nya ang power ng compounding interest, kahit naman sino mag-iisip kung worth bang bawasan ang ipon nya for that toy.

at sana pagdating ng panahon na kumikita na sya ng sarili nyang pera, hindi sya mao-overwhelm sa biglang jump ng hawak nyang pera from allowance to net salary. yan pansin ko ang madalas na problema ng workers fresh out of college eh. bago pa man mag-umpisa sa first job, iniisip na pano gagastusin yung first salary nila. i don't remember thinking like that kasi more or less bawat sweldo ko non nagagastos ko. di ko alam san napupunta! ahahaha!

buti na lang dito sa nz, i can open an account with my child. i can show him his savings on the internet but only his parents could transact on his behalf. valid ang ganung set-up until he turns 21 and after that i would have no more control. kaya kung sutil sya, i bet mawawala ang name nya sa account holders :-P

Inquirer.Net Blogs!!!

as in laking gulat ko! basa-basa ako ng recent entry tapos, whoa, blog ko yun ah! ahahahaha! buti na lang mag-isa ako sa project room namin dito sa office kasi natawa ako!

heto heto po ang article - Not Shy Anymore

my (fan) reader carlo asked me about whether it's really true that renting makes you financially better off than buying. i don't exactly remember the words in Rich Dad, Poor Dad book but i do remember the bit about renting being better. pero-subalit-datapwat-however, hindi ko naman sinasabi na buying property is not a good idea. ok sya KUNG income-producing ang property na yun - like a row of apartment housing or maski 1 unit lang na pwede mo ipa-renta.

i found a blog that describes the whole scenario sa language na maiintindihan ng simpleng Juan dela Cruz tulad natin. american ang blogger pero who cares, we are all on the same boat as human beings pagdating sa pag-aari ng sarili nating tahanan. ito yung blog entry tungkol sa renting, kung bakit ok sya maski retired na tayo.

another calculator - Rent vs. Buy Calculator - para magbigay ng idea bakit ok lang mag-rent maski old na tayo.

more articles:
Why Rent? To get richer!
Buy If You Must. Why Must You Buy?

ever wondered when you'd be a millionaire? i know i will only post a calculator of sort, but what you should be interested in is how quick you'd earn the NEXT million, and the millions after that, once you have 1 million! oo no, mas mabilis siempre!

note on the first calculator - the federal rate is your withholding tax. there is no need to set state tax if you're in the philippines kasi wala naman non don, unless sa US ka nakatira. the average annual gain is the interest rate. if you're going to use your savings money sa calculator and you have 2.5% interest rate, use 2% for a conservative estimate then compute again using 3% para mas gamay mo kelan mo mararating ang unang milyon mo :)

use this link if you don't care how long it takes: http://cgi.money.cnn.com/tools/millionaire/millionaire.html

use this link if you want to set a time: http://sorted.org.nz/calculators/goal-machine/page1.php

enjoy!

i read this bit from an old article on Inquirer's Business section:

"The only reason you will feel frustrated with savings is because you think they’re investments, when they’re not. Savings form part of an investment portfolio only for liquidity purposes, not as a primary means to grow your financial net worth. The bottom line: never look to your savings as a source of income as it will not meet your financial objectives. To put it in context, a 2.0 percent interest rate on P100,000 will only give you P2,000 a year or roughly P167 a month. You will receive even less when the bank deducts the tax."

how true! so, what can you do to effectively save?

"Set aside money consistently until the habit is grooved. When you have enough to cover for at least three months of monthly expenses and another fund for emergencies, you should channel the excess amount to investments (e.g. RTBs, mutual funds). Know that the gains you derive from savings are beyond the deposit rate and the interest you get from it – they remove a lot of financial uncertainty and put you on the road to investing. Don’t look at your ordinary savings as a source of investment income. It wasn’t designed to be that way."

no doubt, i've been reading and reading and reading about money everyday! i swear my internet activity has been on these sites:

MSN Money
Money Smarts
Moolanomy

i have not made any investment activity yet because papers are not ready yet. iniisip ko rin ano bang meron kami sa bahay ngayon na natutulog lang na baka pwede kong ibenta sa TradeMe. sa ngayon we have 4 iPods - 1 Touch, 1 Nano, 1 Mini, and 1 Shuffle. tinanong ko si jon kung gusto nya ba ibenta ang nano nya dahil may touch na sya, pero ang sagot nya was "do you want to finally replace your mini's battery and sell it on trademe?". che. mababago ko rin isip ni mokong one of these days. it's hard to part with my mini kasi may senti value. ito na nga ba ang kalaban ng mga taong gustuhin mang maging practical eh di magawa. emotional ang spending habits ng most of us. i don't mind selling the mini if i really think about it. andun lang naman sya sa cabinet gathering dust. itong shuffle naman, gift ni jon sakin nung bday ko, kasi nga the mini isn't working properly and i just want a small-memory mp3 player to listen to music. pero dapat mabenta ko ang nano at mini, kung meron pa ring interesadong bumili.

marami rin akong damit na hindi ko nasusuot kaya di ako interesadong mag-shopping maski sandamakmak ang sale, lalo pa't buntis naman ako. the good thing about being consistent with reading these money sites is that it keeps me grounded. nagiging mas comfortable ako sa pagiging "frugal" without feeling deprived.

medyo in the distant future pa naman to, pero iniisip ko na paano na kung may mortgage na kami. sabi sa Rich Dad, Poor Dad di raw naman kelangan magkaron ng sariling bahay dahil puro outward ang flow ng cash pag bumili ka na ng bahay. how? pag nag-rent ka, you pay an X amount of money every month and yun lang. pag may bahay ka na, may property tax ka yearly na babayaran. kung sa pinas ang bahay mo, the bigger the house the higher the tax kasi based on floor area ang tax. may maintenance ka pa - re-painting, fixing of this and that. if you're renting, landlord mo na bahala sa mga fixing basta report mo lang.

siempre iniisip ko rin, well, i'll be a parent soon. gusto ko rin naman may bahay na kalalakhan ang anak ko tulad naming magkakapatid. eh kaso naman yung bahay ng parents ko nakatayo sa namana nilang lupa so yung pagpapatayo ng bahay lang talaga ang gastos nila. anyways, may project kami ni jon na sana matuloy namin in 2009 or 2010, property-related pero hindi namin sariling bahay. it's more of an investment na kasing mahal ng mamahaling kotse rito sa nz. if you look at it that way, parang ang dali lang ma-achieve kaya save save lang para matuloy :)

dahil malapit na ang pasko, here are some tips to get you through the cash flow of the season.

maybe it's the maternal instinct that's making me think of investing, i don't know but i'm getting eager to know how to invest.

at first tingin-tingin lang ako ng different types of investments - bonds, mutual funds, term deposits, etc - kasi nga wala naman akong alam sa mga ganun. nagbasa rin ako ng mga articles about investing. saving nga raw is not enough but one can start with it then move on to investing. that's a point to consider, lalo na kung kulang pa ang moolah mo for investing diba? may mga minimum kasi yang mga investments na yan eh.

so far i've been good about the whole pay-yourself-first (PYF) practice. kahit anong mangyari i do it. right now i'm able to put aside 14% for PYF. i'm always trying to achieve a higher rate maski irregular yung times na nagagawa ko yun.

ang maganda lang dito sa NZ about saving is their interest rates. mataas ang savings interest rate nila (as much as 8.2% p.a.) pero mataas din ang credit card interests. nakaka-engganyo magtabi sa banko kasi yung return lumalaki rin, especially for compounding interest.

at this time i have reached a decision to try investing in mutual funds. sana lang maging successful ako :) i will try with a small amount first, tapos tingnan ko kung anong klaseng investor ako based on my activities. it also helps to read Money Smarts and other blogs of similar category. i'm very much aware of my Latte Factor since i watched an episode of Oprah, and good thing mukhang i'm doing good about it. kaso ang sarap kasi ng kape sa cafes eh pero we bring baon regularly. that saves a good lot din. buti na lang i do the budgeting and have full control of money allocation. anyways, just a thought out loud lang... have you thought of investing yet?

habang naghihintay ako for another 30 mins (a.k.a. killing time at work) before our Christmas Lunch, magku-kwento muna ko 

oo, Christmas Lunch ng team namin sobrang aga! actually ang Christmas party ng buong KS (business unit where i belong) is on Nov 30th. hirap kasing mag-book ng time na alam ng mga EA na di pa nagsibatan ang mga tao for their holidays. ang naka-book sa calendar ko today is from 12pm to 5pm. hanep sa lunch :-) may inuman na yun. i think it's an English (if not European) thing ang Christmas Lunch. i forgot na naman to bring my camera. naisip ko na kanina bago ako umalis, nawala pa rin sa isip ko! 

anyways, nung monday nag-attend kami ng antenatal class namin. may isang nurse na andun to teach us first aid. alam mo napaka-helpful ng antenatal class. ang dami kong natututunan. ewan ko lang kung san offered sa pinas yun. we have activities to also learn our classmates. the latest one was to talk to a classmate and ask 2 interesting things about them. i was paired with Bryna (breh-nah) who apparently share the exact pregnancy history with me. pareho kaming nagka-miscarriage earlier this year and our due dates this time are just 2 days apart! ang galeng ano? 

dumating na ang belly belt ko kahapon at sinuot ko kagad! it's super supportive! di ko na kelangan suportahan ang lower belly ko pag tatayo ako or maglalakad ng malayo-layo. sinusuot ko sya under my garments. ayoko namang suotin on top of my clothes. para kasing men's supporter ang material nya. maganda lang siguro syang ilagay on top of my clothes kung plain ang suot ko, tulad nitong nasa picture. i love it talaga! 2 days ko pa lang syang suot pero i can't part with it. magiging helpful ito sa trip namin to sydney in 2 weeks. siempre pa, mega lakad/lakwatsa yun so kelangan ng support  you can but it from Prenatal Cradle.

malapit na ang pasko. dito sa work i already feel it na. not because of the Christmas mood tulad sa Pinas ha! kasi unti-unti nang bumabagal ang work. pakonti na nang pakonti. nagsasabihan na ng holiday plans. marami ang wala halos hanggang end of january. as in ganun sila mag-holiday dito! kasi kasabay yun ng school vacation ng mga bata, so nakikisabay na rin ang parents. Christmas here falls in the summer season, so mas summery ang moods ng tao kesa Christmasy. hay, miss ko na ang pasko dyan sa pinas. this weekend ang Christmas Parade in Wellington! if it rains, it would be moved to Nov 25th. i'm excited about anything regarding Christmas. it's my favorite holiday!