GC's

Not my GC. But apparently no one's ever taken a picture of Landmark GC.

A while ago I got a Landmark GC and was going to spend it in - well, the only place I could spend it in.
Read more »

Balai Pabango

A few days ago I was on my home but got really hungry. Fortunately enough, I passed by a Balai Pan de Sal branch and so I went in and immediately tried to choose which one of their breads to buy.

Then a guy in white polo (and a tie?) comes in and declares "green belt giveaways". He starts spraying a sample on the store personnel's wrists (both of whom were women), who get excited.

My initial thoughts was - I can't choose between the spanish bread (my usual go-to) or ensaymada, which looked very tempting at that time. And then it occurred to me: greenbelt was a bit far from here.
Read more »

Powerful Productivity Technique

Just a quick video post for today.

The essence of personal finance is not to spend more than you earn. But although saving is probably the more popular topic, the surest way to accomplish that is to ear more.

And although we can't guarantee that we'll earn more, being productive is still the best way to get on the path to earning more.

And in this 6 minute video, author Ben Angel shares with us a technique to makes us very productive.

You may have noticed that this is basically about building a good habit. Like what I've touched on previously - On Building Good Habits, and The Comprehensive Guide To Breaking Bad Habits And Making Good Habits Last For Good.

I guess that partly explains why successful people keep trying to strive for more, while a less accomplished ones may keep "phoning it in" so to speak. They may be locked into habits, one just happens to be better for their wealth.


Subscribe to my feed, like me on Facebook, circle me on Google+, or follow me Twitter @thePFApprentice. It's free, you won't miss new posts, and you'll also get my free ebook: the Super Savings Guide.

Enter your email address for your free subscription

On Helicopter Money

If you're reading a personal finance blog, there's a decent chance you may have heard or read terms like "quantitative easing" or "economic stimulus".

That is an indirect, though you could say effective, way of getting money into the hands of people and getting them to spend. So that the economy (or the flow of money through spending, business, income, and more spending) moves or grows faster.

But that's mostly imperceptible to us common folks.

So it was a little surprising to read about "helicopter money" - or government/central banks thinking about directly handing out money to people, bypassing banks altogether.
Read more »

On Heuristics and Specifics

One of the things I like about having a personal finance blog is that I get a lot of different perspectives from people that leave comments or send me email.

Let's take the generic advice to save 10% of your income each month and build up this big emergency fund, and then invest.

This is of course widely applicable, but there are always tweaks based on our specific circumstances.
Read more »

Kuwentong Barbero

A while back I recounted some modest yet inspiring (at least to me) tales of entrepreneurship.

And while they were basically snapshots of an ongoing story, sometimes I'm lucky enough to see how it progresses. Like with my barber.
Read more »

My PSE Visit

I prefer an online solution most of the time. There aren't any lines, you don't have to deal with people that seem like they'd really rather not do their job right, and there's no "overhead" cost like fares, merienda, (or worse pang-merienda... you know...).

And for us ordinary joes investing in the stock market, online is the way to go. There's just too many advantages. Plus, it's not like we could easily get a traditional broker without a lot of capital to start with.

But there are some things you just have to experience in person. It's like going to a concert; it's the same song but the experience is much different.

Which brings me to my PSE visit.
Read more »

Random Entrep Tales

Rags to riches stories are always very popular. But personally, I like the freelancer/own-business stories just as well.

In fact one of the reasons why I thought about possibly pursuing a taxi business is because of stories from drivers who owned their own taxi.
Read more »

That's weird

I've previously blogged about rebate credit cards. And you may know that I've got a Landmark Anson's card from RCBC.

And if you've ever used a credit card, you would know that the bank name on the credit card slip isn't always the same as the issuer of your credit card. It depends on which terminal they swiped your card.

So I was buying groceries a few weeks ago and the cashier asked me if it was ok to swipe it at a different terminal since the RCBC one was offline. I said sure. I mean, it made no difference and I though it was weird that they even asked. I thought maybe it was some sort of customer care SOP.
Read more »

On Taxis and Apps

I blog about saving money, but to be honest, I've ridden my fair share of taxi cabs over the years.

So I know that places like Muntinlupa (near town center and near south station/festival mall) have a horrid taxi line where they just contract the price upfront - at least twice as much as you would normally pay compared to a meter.

Taxi lines in places like Makati are relatively more agreeable. Unless you're headed outside of Makati, in which case they often ask you for a fixed amount in addition to a meter.

One particular day, I agreed to a driver asking an additional Php50.
Read more »

Digital Christmas?

So, like a lot of people on earth, I was wasting time on facebook and happened to come across a post from tahonews.com about 10 shocking predictions for 2015.

It didn't really seem that shocking, to be honest. Most if not all were current trends, just taken to an extreme conclusion.

Specially the one about online shopping.
Read more »

On Advertising

You may have probably guessed that I'm not a fan of ads. I could probably give my views on them, but that would probably be a long and boring read (if not rambling and confusing).

But luckily I don't have to, you can "learn" all about ads from Jerry Seinfeld in this 4:37-short video clip.

Read more »

Is It Ok To Buy Generic Medicines Or Is That Being Too Cheap?

A while back, I was reading an article about savings tips, and one of the tips was to buy generic instead of branded medicines.

To my surprise though, one of the commenters was wailing against skimping on your health by buying "unknown" (di-kilalang) brands.

The person was of course right. But "unknown" brands are different from generic medicines. More importantly, they aren't really any less effective.
Read more »

8 Modus Operandi To Rob You Of Your Money

Lately there's been another rash of ATM hackings. It just goes to show how persistent and resourceful some people are when it comes to chasing "easy money".

The rest of us just have to be vigilant and be aware of these things in order to protect ourselves.

But that got me thinking, there's been a lot of scams over the years (decades, probably) and it might be helpful to go through them, since criminals are likely to cycle through them until it doesn't work anymore.

So here's a list of 8 modus operandi, that hopefully will never work on anyone again.
Read more »

8 Traits of Successful People

We all want to be successful, right? But what does it really take?
Read more »

Cash In A Flash - Money Trap or Good Deal?

You've probably come across the multitude of fliers being handed out.

Is it a money trap or a good deal?
Read more »

Critical Thinking and Meralco

You've probably seen this Meralco advisory before.




But let's examine what it's trying to say:

1. Electricity rate is going down.
2. Meralco contracted more power producers to make this happen.
3. Basically, they are good guys.

But did you know you should be either angry, annoyed or, at the very least, confused by this advisory?

Read more »

On Losing Weight And Saving Money

There used to be a time when losing weight was "in vogue" as summer approaches. That's not true now, of course. Losing weight is "in vogue" throughout the year.
Read more »

The Comprehensive Guide To Breaking Bad Habits And Making Good Habits Last For Good

Unfortunately, it's going to be another one of those rambling, self-absorbed posts. But if you stick with it, I promise it's actually helpful.

So I've had a spending problem for a few months.

Nothing big. I was still saving for retirement, the emergency fund, college education, yada yada yada. The problem was my personal savings.

After all those other savings, I've got a little left for myself. It's usually for direct stock investment, mini-mergencies, and the like. Ultimately, it's going to be my seed money for a potential business.

The problem started at Christmas. I normally, and on purpose, spend a lot on gifts plus occassional treats - both for myself and others.

I was able to still save half my 13th-month pay, but noticed I was spending what was supposed to be my personal savings. It didn't bother me during the holidays, but then it spilled over into January... then February... and even up to mid-March.

For some reason, my saving habit was backsliding. Anything I didn't pay myself first was getting spent. After years of not having that problem, I was very curious - and more than a little anxious - as to why that was the case.

So I did some research and found some interesting things.
Read more »

1 Good Technique To Stop Worrying And Start Doing

At various points in our lives, there are always things that make us question if we're going to get through them. From projects, finals and removal exams to deadlines, debt, tuition and mortgage.

Invariably though, we get through them one way or another. But regardless of that fact, worrying is unavoidable.

Even though it shouldn't be.
Read more »