Christmas Decor Shopping at Dapitan Arcade

I've watched several episodes of Kris TV when they shop around some places in Manila and scout for pocket-friendly items and goodies. They have featured the Dapitan Arcade whose famous for affordable Christmas decors.

I usually buy decors from the malls and bookstores during Christmas seasons (you know! some last minute shopping...) so I know how pricey they are. When I learned about Dapitan Arcade, I'm really got curious and excited, I wanted to checkout the place and experience it myself.

  

Along with my hubby and sister (and her two kids), we went to Dapitan around the second week of  November. There are already quite a number of shoppers but you can still walk around the area. Most stores have a fixed price range and you won't be able to haggle for discounts. I'm not sure if the prices are much cheaper when you buy during off peak season. But I can say that it's much cheaper that time compared to buying the same item in malls.

Here are the items that I bought:

Belen. I really love to have a Belen to remind us the true spirit of Christmas. Christmas is Jesus' birthday anyway. This is compose of 9 figurines and the tallest is 6 inches. So you have baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph, 3 kings, and 3 animals. This cost me only a thousand pesos.

Christmas Tree Skirt. So the gift are not scattered on the floor. It costs 400 pesos. 

Santa Candy Container. A 4-inch santa with a big gift sack for the candies.

Christmas Wreath. A plain wreath only costs 150 and a fully designed one costs around 500. I bought the plain one and will design it myself. 

Christmas Light. Different kind of lights cost only 200 and they all have ICC stickers so they are safe to use.

Christmas Tree Decors:

    Ponseitta Large. Costs 350 per dozen. Much cheaper than those in malls which cost around 40 each.

    Ponseitta Small. Costs 180 per dozen. 

    Snow Dangle. 20 each

    Doll Dangle. 3 for 100

    Pine Fruit. 10 each.

I also bought an 18-inch Christmas parol for only 1,200 which costs around 2,000 in malls.

There are lots of other items but I can't buy them all, although I am tempted. 

Maybe next year... after I replenish my budget. ^_^

My Journey to Financial Freedom

In 2007, I decided to be financially free!

We tried to live on our 70% and saved the 30%. I started to write down our budget plan to track where we spend most of our hard-earned money. Saving money was difficult since we have huge debts to pay. We want to be debt-free as soon as possible so I listed down all our credit card and loan balances, sorted them out, started paying off those with the smaller amount dues to free up some of the bank's interests. Those that are not zeroed out, we tried to pay higher than the minimum amount. I paid the bills on time so that we won't be charged of the late dues. As much as possible, we pay in cash instead of using our credit cards. We tried to live within our means. It was a long journey but we were able to get out of debt three years after.

Looking at the interest earned from our savings account minus the taxes, I realized that maybe I should try the time deposit which offers a much higher interest rate. So I put our savings in a time deposit for 3 months. But before the three-months-holding-period expires, we had an emergency. I have to pull my investment out and forced to pay for the penalty. Maybe it's not a good idea, anyway. So I sticked on putting our money to our savings account afterwards.

Around 2008, I have read the Cashflow Quadrant by Robert Kiyosaki and learnt that we can have a passive income and an active income. I have also learnt that there are four types of people, The Employee, The Self-Employed, The Businessman and the Investor. We can be two or three of these types. For me, I don't wanna give up my job so I'd still be "The Employee". I also wanna have a passive income but I cannot run a business so I'd like to be "The Investor".

Wow! I'm excited to be "The Investor" while being "The Employee".

I started researching about the whats and hows of investment. I've read about the treasury bonds, UITF, Mutual funds, stock market, and real estates. I am a conservative type of investor so only mutual funds fit into my current financial status. I've learned a lot from the pinoy money talk forums and blogs. I also have read Francisco Colayco's book Wealth within your Reach: Pera mo, Palaguin mo where he discussed how to grow your money in the Philippines. He talked about mutual funds. By the way, I have also read that you should only invest your "extra" money which you won't be needing to pull out for a long period of time.

Mutual Funds. This funds are managed by a professional fund manager who invests the money in stocks, bonds, money market instruments, and/or other securities.

Oh Ok. Since I don't know about stock market, which I thought was very complicated, and government bonds require big sum of money, I'll stick with mutual funds and have these fund managers manage my investments. Ok. Then I chose the balanced fund because I am a conservative type of investor. Fund managers will invest my money in bonds and stocks whichever have the most potential income.

For somebody, like me, who doesn't know how mutual funds really works, taking one step forward was really breathtaking. So I took a deep breath and opened my first mutual fund account with Sun Life Financial. As of the midst of 2008, Sun Life was one of the top performing mutual fund companies. The minimum initial subscription then was only 10,000 pesos. The NAVPS, Net Asset Value Per Share, was only 2.0230.

As per wikipedia, the worst financial crisis happened in 2008 also known as the Global Financial Crisis. It resulted in the threat of total collapse of large financial institutions, the bailout of banks by national governments, and downturns in stock markets around the world. In short, the financial market is down. As per many financial advisers, that's the best time to invest. The idea is to buy low and sell high. You invest when the market is low and and sell your investments when the market high. Good timing, right?

In early 2009, I opened another mutual fund account with ATR Kimeng's The Mutual Fund Company of the Philippines, Inc. The minimum initial subscription then was only 5,000 pesos (As of this writing, it is now 10,000 pesos). It is also one of the top performing mutual fund companies. I have also opened a balanced fund account with Optima fund because my Auntie is an agent and offered it to us. After those investments, I stopped putting in money and settled with their minimum subscriptions and watched how much our money can grow.

In 2011, I checked my accounts and I was surprised that the market value of my investments already doubled. I have increased my investment with ATR Kimeng as soon as I had an extra money.

In the second quarter of 2012, when we started attending The Feast in PICC being Bo Sanchez as the speaker and preacher, he shared how he grows his money so he'd be able to help the poor. He talked about how ordinary people can invest in the stock market. Wow! "Stock Market". Big word! He mentioned about his book My Maid Invests in the Stock Market... And Why You Should, Too! This book talks about how a small portion of your income can be invested in the stock market thru Citiseconline(COL).

Citiseconline(COL) have this Easy Investment Program (EIP) where in you can start with only 5,000 pesos. COL EIP gives investors a simple and more convenient way of investing in the stock market regardless of age, income, or experience.

As per this book, there are four rules to follow:
Rule #1: Invest small amounts
Rule #2: Invest even when there's a crisis
Rule #3: Invest only in giants
Rule #4: Invest in many giants

I opened an EIP account and regularly added an investment. At first, I strictly follow these rules. Through time, I've learn more about the technical terms and timing in the stock market with my husband, my sister and my friends who also got involved in the stock market because of me. At least I'm not alone on taking this path. As of this writing, I don't follow these rules anymore. I know the risks. I take responsibility of my actions. I tried to diversify my investments. I tried day trading. As of mid 2013, I have already realized my earnings when the market was high and started buying shares again when the market was low.

I'm still a work in progress. As I take this journey to financial freedom, I am learning new things along the way. Sometimes, it's worth taking some risk. If you stumble, then learn from the experience.

I hope to inspire you with my journey so that when I become rich someday, you'd also be rich too. Let us help the world prosper especially the Philippines, contribute in the world market, use our God-given talent and be a blessing to others.

Cheers!!!

Road to Financial Literacy

When I was a child, I always tell God that I don't want to be rich someday. I don't want a big house. I don't want to win a lottery even if my parents sometimes bet on a 6/49 draw hoping that we'd be a millionaire someday. Because when I was a kid I have this impression that when you have all these money and big houses there's always something at stake... maybe a broken family or one of my family's life. I love them so much that I'd rather be poor than lose one of them.

I grew up as a happy child. My parents are hard working. My Papa was an OFW and a Seaman. My Mama was (and still) a businesswoman. We were one of the marginalized families who worked hard so that we can eat and go to school. Even when I already enter the workforce and have my own family, I still have that belief in life. I don't want to be rich and I don't want big houses and I don't want lots of cars. Because you can only serve one master and that is not money, but God.

A simple life is all I want.

As my life went through some challenges, my daughter had undergone series of operations, we were really financially down. We were forced to loan from different banks and establishments to pay for the hospital bills, medicines and credit cards and to cope with our everyday expenses. For 8 years of working hard, all we did was to pay for those debts. But I know God was always there to provide for us. He never went on vacation even for a single moment. He guided us how to get by.

At one point, I had this urge that I wanted to help my parents, financially. I have a good job and a good pay. They're getting old. So I wanted them to stop working, relax and enjoy life. I was saddened by the fact that I really can't do that because I have my own financial struggle. I have my kid who needed a medical maintenance. That's the time I realized that I needed to do something about it. But I don't know where to start.

God shed light on me one day and while searching the Internet on how to get out of debt, I stumbled upon a topic that I have to be financially literate so I can be financially free. I realized that I wanted a life free of debts. I wanted a good cash flow so I can help others, my parents, my siblings and other people who needed help, financially.

I came across this good book of Robert Kiyosaki, Rich Dad Poor Dad (2000). After reading the book, that's the time I realized that I don't want to get old being poor like his poor dad and that I can be financially free and wealthy like his rich dad.

I also came across this book of Bo Sanchez, 8 Secrets Of The Truly Rich: What the Rich Know That the Poor Don’t Know (2007), and realized that it is ok to be rich so that I can help others and that God wanted me to be wealthy so He can use me to help His church spread the Good News and be a blessing to others.

Wow! This changes my life and beliefs. Yeah, maybe I can be rich and still live a life according to God's will. From then on, I started reading about the things that teachers don't teach us in school, financial literacy. So I educated myself by reading forums, articles, blogs and books. There are lots of resources available, we just have to be aware of it.

Let us all be financially literate so we can be financially free. :)

Sleepwalker

I'm a sleepwalker when I was a kid but it never occurred again until February last year (2012).

Here's how it happened.

It was one weekend after a stressful weekdays at work. Our helper woke me up so I could join them at breakfast. She went inside our room and saw me got up and sat beside the bed. My eyes were open but I was just staring at her. She thought I was joking around or not in the mood to talk so she left. After, like, two minutes they heard a big blag sound in the room. Then they saw me about five steps from our bed and lying on the floor. They asked me of what happened and I was gaining a little consciousness at that time. I'm still clueless of what's happening but my head hurts. I was holding my head and they helped me get up then I checked my hand and I saw blood! Gosh! I hit my head on our computer table. Good thing there's no have sharp edges. So after breakfast, we decided to go to the hospital to have it checked. I had a 1cm cut and they just applied a skin glue. The doctors asked me to have a ct scan to check if there are blood clots but I refused to have one coz I feel fine. So they send me home with a signed waiver that I refused to do further check ups. I was under observation for weeks. They said that I have to go back to the hospital when I experienced symptoms like a sudden mood change, blurred eyesight, headaches and things like that.

It's been more than a year now and I still feel fine so I guess I'm okie eh? :-)

Going back when I was a kid, I remembered what my sisters said about my sleepwalking incidents. There are times that I was getting off our double-decker bed without using the ladder. There are also times that I was talking to them but they couldn't grasp what I'm saying. My husband also told me there are times when they tried to wake me up, I just open my eyes, looking blank, answer back and go back to sleep. I've read that there are lots of incidents related to sleepwalking. I don't wanna wake up in the middle of a highway driving. Scary, right?

Sleepwalking symptoms: having blank look on face, disoriented, sitting up and appearing awake, walking during sleep, talking nonsense. Read more about sleepwalking.

Revamping My Journal

Wew! It's been a while since the last time I posted on my Journal. I've been quite busy with other area's of my life. I missed blogging. I missed writing about my life's journal. I missed writing about how blessed I am. There have been more ups and downs for the past year but I'll try to make it up and share those that most impacted my life. ^_^