PISOBILITIES: Managing Your Personal Finance

Lately the HR department started announcing seminars regarding financial matters. It's a good thing they have decided to have this type of seminars be conducted within the company. It only shows that they are concern for the financial well being of their employees.

The email says the seminar is regarding on how to manage your finances. When I read that it was to be conducted by Colayco Foundation, I immediately told Jeff that we should attend this seminar. I have been a follower of Francisco Colayco's advocacy about financial literacy. In fact I already had the books entitled "Pera Mo, Palaguin Mo". I have been reading it for a while and Jeff borrowed book 1 and it almost took 2 months but he was not able to fully read it.

The seminar was scheduled for Thursday but due to some unknown reason, I decided to go home early that I forgot that there was a seminar scheduled by 6pm. Even the others forgot it. Good thing there was a second schedule of the seminar the following day. So we made sure that we will be attending this one sicne there are no plans of any Friday Night activity.

Since the schedule was around 6pm and our shift ended at 4pm, we decided to have coffee at Starbucks at Eastwood mall. It's been more than a week since Jeff begging us to have coffee. He's collecting sticker for the 2010 planner.

We decided to end our coffee break 10 minutes before 6pm. MJ and Andrew decided to come with on the session. It was Armand Bengco who gave the talk about how to manage your finance. Here are the few things he discussed with us:

UTANG IS A PRIVILEGE NOT A RIGHT
People tend to have a big misconception about borrowing money. They always think that its their right to borrow money. One example is banks tend to offer higher credit limit for clients who can pay their fees on time.

Pugad Baboy XI, p53

PERSONAL FINANCE
Personal Finance consists of Earning, Planning, Saving, Spending and Investing.

NEEDS VS. WANTS
This has been a principle they have been implicating in the books. If you are planning on buying something, always ask yourself if you need it or want it. It is just a simple identification between necessity and luxury.

Pugad Baboy XV, p64

ACTIVE INCOME AND PASSIVE INCOME
Active income is income coming that requires our time, skill or services. While Passive income comes from sources wherein there is no effort from us.

SOME INITIAL STEPS IN HOW TO START EARNING PASSIVE INCOME
1. Have an Emergency Fund equivalent to you 1 month salary.
2. Protect and/or secure your self.
3. Get out of Debt.
4. Build up 6 months of cash reserve in case of unexpected unemployment.
5. Find additional/new sources of income.

At the end of the seminar, Jeff acquired the 1st book of the series and I got a DVD. I am still looking forward to attend some of the other seminars in the future and hopefully it help us to attain financial independence

Wide Tube 2.0: 2012

We were warned! That's the catch-phrase that you will see on all the promotional posters of the movie 2012. A week after its opening, a friend invited me to watch it. Just the perfect time to watch a new movie because the first week is when the cinemas are filled with all people.

What really happened is my friend initiated if I want to watch the movie because she was not yet able to watch it. Turns out she wanted to watch it for free that's why she invited me to watch it. Lucky her! I been wanting to see the movie that she was on the right time.

We decided to watch it at the Gateway Cinemas. At the cinema lobby the line to the ticket booth seems to be unendless. I forgot that this was the first weekend of the other movie about the vampire and his werewolf boyfriend and a girl who wants to take a piece of them. It's just like "Tayong Dalawa". 8 out of 10 cinemas were alloted for that other movie and only 2 for 2012. The tickets I have purchased is for the last full show.

Roland Emmerich, who really likes to destroy cities in most of his movies has made another good impression on how to destroy not only Los Angeles but also Las Vegas, Washington DC, Hawaii and the rest of the world.

You can say a large portion of the production budget was allocated for the special effects. With runways collapsing before the plane can even take off, then the plane crossing 2 collapsing building with people falling from it. And do not forget the near death brush with a subway train coming from one of the landmass.

One of the scene that captured my attention was the Yellow Stone caldera explosion. It's like mother nature releasing its own brand of nuclear explosion. The tsunami's scenes were not so great and not recommended to be seen by people recently flooded by Ondoy.

In this movie, I did not see any toughness from Danny Glover as the president. When he decided not to leave for the ark, I saw it as a death wish to be with his deceased wife. And also how I wish I had the luck of Jackson Curtis (John Cusack) and his family. He was so damn lucky that nature's wrath is almost behind his butt when he was just in time to save his family from the earthquake, and then chased by exploding pyroclastic materials while retrieving a map, and was able to meet a Tibetan monk that will assist them to sneak into the ark.

Just one goof that I have noticed is when Satnam (Jimi Mistry) called Adrian Helmsley (Chiwetel Ejiofor) regarding the tsunami coming from the east. Earlier when they were in Air Force One, a crew told Anheuser (Oliver Platt) that they lost all communication on the ground. With this scenario, it is expected that phone lines are down and only satellite phone will work. Both character are using ordinary cellphone and Satnam was able to call Adrian easily. That's what I call movie luck.

If something like this is to happen, it only shows that the government will not be able save you. Money will also not save you, like for Yuri's (Zlatko Burić) situation. He was able to buy a ticket to salvation but he still end up dying the tragic way in order to save the twins.

The film only proves the old adage "If it is already your time, no matter how much you avoid it, it will come to you"

Beyond the Ringside: Did La Diva sing Lupang Hinirang correctly?

This is the first time Lupang Hinirang was sung by a Trio in the history of Pacman's fight. Jonalyn Viray, Maricris Garcia and Aicelle Santos, more known as La Diva sang the Philippine National Anthem in front of thousands of people in MGM Grand Garden Arena.

The blending of their voices was perfect. The reaction of the crowd was tremendous. There's only one thing I am certain, the National Historical Institute (NHI) will surely not forgive the trio for singing it "wrongly". They have changed again the tune of the last line and I will assure you that the NHI will be making an issue regarding their performance.

I believe that this issue will be included in the headlines by this week. So girls, be ready for it, you will be on the list of "Favorite Artists" of this two institution. You have chosen the path already taken by Martin Nievera last March on Pacqiao-Hatton fight.

My only question is "Why can't you sing the National Anthem the way it is?" Lea Salonga has been singing it abroad for numerous times and she never missed a tune.

Beyond the Ringside: Free TV Delayed Delight

There are so many items already written on the web regarding how Manny Pacquiao won over Miguel Cotto. I'll be going beyond that for now.

It is another history made in the field of sports and also for the Philippine history. Zero crime rate, no traffic jams in all roads, no rallies, even Fr. Sinnot's kidnappers released him so that they can watch Pacman's fight this Sunday. Manny Pacquiao makes the Filipino world stop for a moment when he steps in the ring.

This section for the blog "Beyond the Ringside" will show the things you'll notice before, during and after the fight.

The Free TV Delayed Delight

I can't help but compare with live streaming over the net versus free TV broadcasts. The fight was finished in less than hour since Pacman was not able to knock Cotto down on an early round. If he was able to bring him down in the 6th round, it would have been less than 30 minutes.

What's with the free TV (GMA 7) that it takes them hours to show what majority of the Filipinos already know what happened. It is already past 3 hours and still their broadcast is just half of the fight. There's too much commercial ads every after round and still during the fight , 20% of the screen is occupied with scrolling ads.

It's just really funny how the other rival network (ABS-CBN 2) spoils the fun by announcing the outcome in real time basis while showing a movie by scrolling news flash bulletin.

As we all know Free TV is always at the mercy of commercial advertisement. They will not be able to show the fight without them. That is why its called Free TV, you don't have to pay to watch. Otherwise you have other choices to watch the fight live by doing either of the following:

1. Go to a sports stadium near your area together with the "masa" endure the heat and smell of the people around you.
2. Go to a nearby mall and pay a hefty Php 300-500 to watch in the cinemas live.
3. Reserve a table in a restaurant offering a live Pay-per-view broadcast which will also cost you a sum of money.
4. If you have a cable connection, order the pay-per-view service offered.
5. Scour all corners of the net to look for a live stream link so that you can watch it without doing the other 4 options.

The only consolation you will have when you watch the delayed telecast is the blow-by-blow comments by Chino Trinidad that will really uplift every Filipino's morale.

Manny Pacquiao Wins Again

Once again Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao has proven that he is "The World's Pound for Pound King" in the field of boxing.

It was on the 12th round when referee Kenny Bayless stopped the fight to save Miguel Cotto from further injury.

Although Cotto was able to sustain the attacks of Pacquiao, he had some 2 to 3 slippage due to hard punches thrown by the latter. It was really a heart pounding moment as we watch the fight specially when the fight passed the 6th and 9th round where Pacman usually delivers the finishing knockout moment.

On the 11th round Cotto's camp is already planning to "throw the towel" but decided to continue for the last round. 55 seconds before the 12th round ends, Pacman delivered a series of rapid punches that the referee decided to stop the fight to prevent further injury to Cotto.

Congratulations to Mapanuri

I want to congratulate Jeffrey from winning the TrendLabs BlogCon's "Blog This Event!" contest. Mapanuri is one of the three entries from our department and it's a pride the winner came from us. After other department won prizes such as Skull Candy head phones, PHP 500 SM G.C.'s, and a 1TB hard drive, it's a good thing we had the grandest prize of them all.

Hopefully after this, we will see more posts when we visit Mapanuri in the future. This will be a pressure to you. He! He! He!

ToyTown: Now Open at Eastwood

The biggest toy outlet store of the season "TOYTOWN" has opened another store branch in Eastwood City. The toy store opened last November 12, 2009.

This is a recommended as an alternative place to go from the toy stores located in malls or Divisoria. There is a convenience in shopping for toys especially if you are within the vicinity of Libis, Ortigas and Pasig.

Prices range for as low as PHP 50 to PHP 3000 for large toys. Wide variety of toys can be selected from toy robots, action figures, dolls, toy cars, board games, puzzle games and many more. Brands such as Transformers, GI Joe, Batman, Star Trek, Sesame Street, and Dora the Explorer are among the toys you can select.


Gelo (Kwatro Khanto) was able to purchase 11 items for only PHP 600. Not bad for a toy collection and gifts to friends. I did purchase a boomerang for PHP 80 and Jeff (Mapanuri) plans to go back next week due to some reason :-).

Store will be open until January 15, 2010. I recommend you to visit now while the good stocks are still available.

SEx 101: The Formal Attire Syndrome

Just to inform you, SEx 101 stands for Social EXperiments 101. It's just another crazy section name for my blog. I just had an idea of doing some experiments with people and checking how they will react at a particular event or scenario.

2 weeks ago, there was an internal hiring for a higher position in our office. It's like another job interview, but only within the department. You will know who applied for the vacant position since most of them wear a formal dress code during their interview.

My team mate, Jeff dared me to wear something formal the next day to see how people will react if they saw me in that attire. I told myself, why not? I just recently bought a knitted vest last weekend just in case the need arise to wear something formal.

So I did wear a formal attire the following day and due to my excitement I lost my card holder, which holds all of my ATM card and other ID's (see the story on the other blog entry) in a cab on my way to office.

This is what the people from office did upon seeing me:
- 2 people asked me what time will I be interviewed;
- 1 team mate wish me luck;
- 5 people noticed my dress code and asked what's the occassion;
- 2 of those people concluded that I am for interview;
- Most of other people just noticed the attire and did not ask why;
- Only 3 out of 10 managed to asked if I applied for the position;

With this experimental activity I have concluded that many people tend to jump into conclusion without asking question. Only few asked me if I have applied for the position. Most of them assumed I am scheduled for interview that day.

It only reminded me what our director have mentioned a week ago during a meeting, "We do not have a crystal ball to know all what you are thinking. If you have questions do not hesitate to ask. If you don't ask, we will be just full of assumptions."