... on financial management

Among the many New Years resolution, aside from losing weight and finding partners, is increasing the savings & proper management of finances. This is true because after an enormous spending during the holidays, our bank accounts are left with just few penny. Generally, whenever we receives our pay checks the next thing in mind is where and when to spend it.

 Everyday different articles, blogs, advices and tips are posted on the net on how to save. Allow me to re-post one of the recent tips I read from Yahoo Finance (http://sg.finance.yahoo.com/news/50-Easy-Steps-to-a-Complete-usnews-2070122524.html)

Here is our complete list of 50 steps to a complete financial makeover:
1. Decide on your big goals; if you need help identifying them, talk with family and friends.
2. Share those goals with other people; it will help hold you accountable.
3. Automate your savings so you put away money each month.
4. Take time to reflect on the past year's good and bad money decisions.
5. Get rid of junk mail so you are not tempted to make unnecessary purchases.
6. Stop receiving E-mail sales alerts from your favorite retailers.
7. Negotiate one big-ticket item each month. Many prices, even at big stores, are flexible.
8. Get familiar with comparison and coupon websites such as PriceGrabber.com, BradsDeals.com, and Dealnews.com.
9. Budget by the year, not the month--research shows it's more accurate.
10. Keep a spending diary.
11. Take advantage of your bank's free tools.
12. Check up on your insurance to make sure you have enough.
[In Pictures: 10 Ways to Save on Big-Ticket Items]
13. Write a will.
14. Protect your privacy; only give out your Social Security number and other personal information when absolutely necessary.
15. Write down how much money you want to save by the end of the year.
16. Become a better cook.
17. Reduce your utility bills.
18. Use less energy through small changes such as adjusting your thermostat and turning off lights.
19. Use fewer products for household cleaning and personal hygiene.
20. Start making cleaning supplies from scratch; websites such as thesmartmama.com can get you started.
21. Find inspiration online through websites such as Wise Bread, The Simple Dollar, and Centsible Life.
22. Give yourself a stress test and make sure you have a robust emergency fund.
23. Work with family members to share expenses where possible.
24. Decide what type of investor you want to be; if you're like most people, you probably want to stick with low-cost index funds.
[For more money-saving tips, visit the U.S. News Alpha Consumer blog.]
25. Begin investing today.
26. Ignore the daily fluctuations of the stock market and check in quarterly instead.
27. Pay off your expensive debt, even student loans.
28. Choose the best credit card for you.
29. Improve your credit score.
30. Make a plan for paying off high-interest rate debt.
31. Run some numbers on retirement calculators provided by your bank or bankrate.com to see if your savings are on track.
32. Ramp up your retirement savings by a few percentage points.
33. Consider opening up new tax-advantaged accounts.
34. Rebalance your retirement investments.
35. Check in with the Social Security Administration to learn about your expected benefits.
36. Invest in your career--even when you're being frugal everywhere else.
37. Start earning extra money on the side.
38. Launch your own business.
39. Use social media tools to boost your career.
[See the 50 Best Careers of 2011.]
40. Develop a back-up plan.
41. Schedule creative time for yourself.
42. Consider asking for a raise.
43. Free up your time and energy by outsourcing chores.
44. Talk with parents and siblings about any support you expect to give to them in the future.
45. Choose a cause that you believe in.
46. Learn everything you can about it.
47. Look for free ways to give, too, such as blood donation or volunteer work.
48. Give better gifts; many people spend too much money instead of giving experiences such as a coffee date.
49. Clean out your closet; donate gently-used clothes, books, or CDs to charity.
50. Join forces with friends by forming a giving circle to leverage the impact of your money.

Quite a long list! By the time we're done reading the last item we already forgot the first. So what is the best way to achieve financial freedom?...my simple tip, stop reading this article and instead ACT! A penny a day will come a long way...

... in finding true friends

And it’s New Year, the best time to meet old friends especially those who only come home during the holidays. Yesterday, I had to meet friends. Friends I met almost 10 years ago in Bukidnon, Mindanao. We are those few individuals who are brave enough to work in Mindanao and leave the comforts of city life. After more than 5 years of working in Mindanao, we decided to find our new destiny. Our couple friend went to the states and pursue masters program and decided to work in Bangkok after graduation. I had to resign due to health reasons and went back to my hometown and eventually was offered a job in Makati. Another friend resigned and decided to complete her long overdue master’s thesis in Ateneo and now doing consultancy jobs. Since then, we regularly meet and keep ourselves updated.

We met at Venice Piazza inside Mckinley Hills, a new hang out place at Fort Bonifacio. Venice Piazza is a mall featured by a Grand Canal with gondola ride, inspired and patterned after Venetian Hotel’s Grand Canal. Nice place, though few good choices for dining. Since I am Pizza lover, I volunteered that pizza is the meal for the night! Over dinner, each one has to report to everyone what are the latest buzz...be it career, lovelife, activities, family matters, etc. But what is always fun, is to go back from the past and reminisce funny moments. Did we have a good laugh when we talk about all the “Katarayans”and other escapades we did. We did share good times and established relationship.

In life, we can easily find friends. Or we can easily say we are friends with someone we just met once or twice. But finding true friend is quite a challenge. These friends I met last night is somewhat I considered true friends. We don’t lose the connection. With a blink of an eye, we understand or agree on something. We laugh a lot, and cry if necessary. We discuss and share opinion in almost every topic. And most important, we always set the date and the place for next meeting :-) What a great friendship!