Rent vs. Gas Expense - Is it time to move closer to work?

Should Pinays consider paying on rent and relocating to a place nearer to the office rather than spend on gasoline that is ever increasing in price?

I think this is a good idea but it depends on how much you actually spend on gas or in transportation expenses such as bus, tricycle, and train fares.

Rent usually costs 4,000 pesos up to 8,000 pesos. Of course, more expensive rent fees means more upscale apartments and locations. Aside from savings that you can make from transpo expenses, you also save on time and earn more opportunities to catch some sleep.

Imagine being able to walk to your office building and waking up to a maximum of 30 minutes before work starts. Wow, that is a dream come true for many Pinays like me.

One drawback is that you cannot bring your family and all your comfy furnitures with you when you relocate but you have more energy to work and less worries on making it on time or getting home safe.

Consider these options, I too am in the look out for space. During these times of price increase and heavier traffic, renting is an attractive idea.

Did Christmas leave a hole in your pocket?

Sure, Christmas was so much fun it wasn't hard to forget about budgets and savings. To be honest, Pinay Money Maker also exceeded budgets! But 2008 is approaching and we've got to take hold of our pockets and recover. Yup, expenses may send any money maker into the doldrums and create a monetary snowball effect.

First you've got to forgive yourself. Even if you can't see where your money went, be kind to yourself and think about the warm memories during Christmas. Remember the face of your favorite niece as she opened your multitude of gifts? Priceless.

Count again. Don't pretend nothing happened to your savings account during the Yuletide season. Track once more how much money you've left, it's okay to feel discouraged but hey, it's good you still have savings instead of debts.

It's not the end of the world. Come January you'll receive yet another roll of pay from work and you can use this to patch up the hole created by the oh so happy season. Think rich and even if it's not yet in your account, stop frowning and imagine how much more you can make in 2008.

Be thankful for the gifts you've received. And use them! don't stack your gifts up in the closet. Keep your gifts somewhere visible so you can actually use them. This will save you from buying the same item in case you forget.

Now is the perfect time to create your money making goals for the New Year. Would you like to start participating in Mutual Funds this coming year? or would you like to build up your time deposits? What is your money making goal?

Happy Money Making everyone!

5 Christmas Bazaar Money Tips

Pinay Money Maker was at the World Bazaar yesterday, lots of people shopping and if you observe, you can see lots of stressed out faces too!

To prevent turning this fun activity to a stressful and expensive one, here are some tips for you:

1. Go with a mission - take 5 minutes and ponder your mission, are you buying more for yourself or are you going to buy gifts for others? Most of the time it's both so just give a percentage like:

30% - gifts for myself
70% - gifts for others

Doing so will not only help you sort your money but also manage your time. Time flies during bazaars and you have to be in control.

2. Eat before you go - eat as if you are going to war, seriously. If you don't have carbs and protein in your system, you might not endure all the pushing and toe stepping : ) having a full stomach contributes to have full focus and that will prevent you from making unnecessary purchase.

3. Plan - if you have a Christmas list, bring it. If not, just keep in mind what are the items you are looking for and have a counter plan when you don't find them. This way, you don't contribute to the direction less crowd. This is not the time to think what you should get for who because there is no thinking floor space, it's either you buy or move forward.
4. Skip the abubots (accessories) unless for gifts - ever wondered where all the stuff you bought from last year's bazaar went? They went to unused and forgotten planet! Most of the time, the accessories you buy gets lost or you realize it's not going to work out for that fancy bracelet and your closet. Try to skip the abubots like trinkets, bracelets, key chains, necklaces, and fancy rings. Stick to buying stuff that can be used for all purposes like tshirts and pants.

5. Go against the crowd - from the entrance, look at the areas which are filled with people and those that still have breathing space. Go for the second if you don't want pushing and be able to enjoy looking around without hurrying up.

P.S.

Only bring your bazaar budget, mine was just P1,000 and I ended up with all useful stuff that can be used anytime and anywhere :)

What is your financial security blanket?

I still bring my pillow whenever I ride the car to work, it makes me feel more comfortable and it gives me that warm and fuzzy feeling! Now when it comes to money, what makes you feel secure? do you have a financial security blanket? If your answer is no, then you should start weaving one.

Nothing beats the feeling of being secure and safe, no matter what happens, especially when some situations can make all our money disappear at once. Your financial security blanket need not to be money IMHO, it's something that you can depend or fall back on. It can be a business idea, a skill, or an investment that you can easily sell when a rainy day comes.

Becoming debt free is a great achievement and once you've reached this goal, the next step is to set aside some money or other assets that can give you that warm and fuzzy feeling. Keep your eyes always open for opportunities and don't be like the horses looking only at one direction, in our case, looking only at one source of income. Be creative with your financial plans and discover as many security blankets as possible, it will give you more courage to explore high risk but high yielding investments, professions, and businesses in the future too, because win or lose, you'll always have that soft, comfortable blankie to fall back on.

Good night everybody!

How to Spend this Christmas

Dinner time, my little sister shared with us her plan to go Christmas gift shopping next Saturday. She says she doesn't want to go to tiangges or bazaars and refuses to give gifts from there, instead, she will get gifts from the mall. There is no right or wrong venues for Christmas shopping but, we can get wise on how we should spend this Christmas.

Here are some Christmas Shopping Tips:

1. Give to share and not to impress - keep this mantra in mind, it is better to give a suitable and well-thought of gift rather than an expensive one that doesn't feel "personalized". Take for instance, expensive looking and branded soaps and lotions that come in baskets. They look impressive when you have them in tow on Christmas Party and under the Christmas tree, but really, soaps and lotions are hard to use especially when the person already has a preferred brand or has sensitive skin. Just an example :)

2. Set a budget - as early as today, think of how much you CAN spend this Christmas for gifts, as a whole, and not per person. Of course there are persons you'd like to give a special gift to, so just sketch out his/her percentage of your Christmas fund, say 25% of the total budget.

3. Make a list out of the budget - now that you have a budget, you can now list possible gifts that will fit in it. Maybe you can allocate amounts too per person and imagine the many things that you can afford. Keep an open mind and open your eyes. Restricted budget should not restrict your creativity! Last year, my mom's favorite gift out of everything was a pair of slippers worth 99 pesos.

4. Schedule Christmas Shopping - don't start gift shopping out of boredom or stress. Prepare for it and do not forget your list. It is okay to look, Christmas shopping should be fun! but do not go over your list and your budget.

5. Opt for recycled materials and forget about gift wraps - when i say recycled materials it includes: newspapers, pages from your old magazines, gift wraps from last year, or old plastic bags and paper bags. Don't be afraid to recycle, be afraid of global warming and make this your special Christmas gift to Earth.

These are just 5 tips but i am sure you'll come up with more. Christmas should be happy time and not the time to wallow because you don't have so much to spend. Merry Christmas!

Saving and Sorting Money by ATM

We're back, sorry for the long vacation. I was busy looking for a new job and now it's been two months since i started working as a copywriter. It's a dream come true to write for a living! :)

With that shared, how can we save more of our salaries and get control over them? This is a no-brainer, but i would like to share it anyway. When i got my first salary, i decided to do "sorting" of money through ATM cards. My goal was to see how much i really make each pay day, how much do i spend, and what should be my weekly allowance.

Since then, i separated my salary from other income. Even if i have money on hand from other things, i will get my allowance from my salary account thru ATM since the allowance is for expenses related to work. By doing so, i get a very clear picture of how much is retained from my pay.

It's that simple and I may sound stupid for even sharing it. It's just that some people are confused whether they are earning or incurring more expenses than savings. Money and finances are really confusing because there are a lot of factors that affect our financial decisions. Sorting money and getting a clear picture on the amount we have on hand, is a great way to lessen the mental burden from finances. Also, you get to set aside part of your savings from other income and save them from being spent. That's exactly why rich people have separate bank accounts!

Are you buying an Asset or a Liability?

Often we find ourselves choosing between two items when shopping. But the important question to keep in mind is whether you are buying an ASSET or a LIABILITY. Definitely, it's better to buy something that you can earn from rather than an object that will cost you lots of expenses and would not earn you money.

A famous example is buying a car vs. buying insurance or investments. If you dont have a car yet, then go ahead and buy one. But for those who collects cars, they may be trapping themselves to expenses. Think: gas, repairs, etc. When you buy insurance or invest your money, you can let your money work for you! While you are doing nothing, your money is still earning interest and will give you more than you handed out. whereas, cars depreciate and lose value over time just like mobile phones! think of the nokia series, every year, prices go down as much as 50% and your mobile phone is less valuable than the day you first bought it.

The best to do is think hard first and think whether or not you are decreasing or increasing your wealth with every purchase.