Cash Dividends

I received my very first cash dividend last week from my hero stock Megaworld (MEG).

Grocery Update

When I last wrote about our grocery budget, I was whining about our staggering Php8,000/mo expenses and had plans of sourcing fruits and vegetables from the wet market, instead of the grocery store, in order to whittle down our food budget.

Well guess what, we never did stray from our suki supermarkets but our grocery expenses for the past two months have gone down to Php6500 for June and even all the way to Php4700 for July from our usual Php8,000.

Read on for our ultra-amazing, money saving technique.

Investing in Mutual Funds

I don't remember when and why I started to become curious about mutual funds, but what I do remember was that I saw it as a middle ground between the snooze worthy interests of a time deposit or a savings account, and the roller coaster ride that is trading in stocks.

I knew that the interest offered by my savings account was a joke, but I didn't know how to start investing in stocks and the idea of disturbing a broker to place my pitiful investment left me anxious (Broker: Whut?! You want me to invest this?! I don't get out of bed for less than Php100k sister!).

So enter mutual funds.

Sharing is Caring

Ever since I discovered the joys of investing, I've been encouraging friends and family members alike to do the same. I get the same feeling I usually get when I stumble upon a good deal and just can't wait to share the information with everybody. Because really, what's the point in keeping mum when everyone can benefit from such a fab deal?

Living Wise with Lianne

Finally, I found another local personal finance blog written by a fellow Filipina!

Everybody, meet Lianne of The Wise Living.

I've only begun going through her blog and so far, I'm liking what I'm reading. And she also came out with a very helpful primer on personal finance, geared towards young adults (or the not-so-young who are curious to learn more about personal finance) and written in a very chatty and easy to digest manner. You can download her book here.

PAG-IBIG is Love

Read some really good news about PAG-IBIG today. First, PAG-IBIG is now offering housing loans up to Php6M for its "well-off" clients. Interest rates are very competitive at 7.85% and because this is PAG-IBIG, repayment can take up to thirty years. Yay!

Going Over My Life Insurance Policy

I'm a firm believer in life insurance, I like the assurance that if I suddenly drop dead tomorrow, my loved-ones will not have to worry financially (at least for the next year or two) and can take their sweet time grieving my departure.

I took out a Sun Life Sun Maxilink Prime policy because the idea of a life insurance policy supplemented with mutual funds seemed like sheer genius to me back then. I have been insured for more than a year now, but I have to admit that I've only gone through my policy once. Of course, my agent explained the salient points of my policy before I signed up for it, but considering how much chattering goes on whenever we meet, I'm not surprised that I can't recall even a fourth of his explanation. After months of procrastinating, I finally sat down and scrutinized my life insurance policy and here is the summary of benefits payable:

Money in Blogging

The dream is to blog all day long, writing about whatever strikes my fancy and then get fame* and riches in return, without sacrificing my voice and my editorial prerogative. But fact is, unless you're a celebrity, a personality or run a porn site, blogging is not the way to the comfy life. At least that's what my experience has taught me.

Frugality 101

I have long wanted to be frugal, to live well within my means and have something saved for a rainy day, but it has only been in the last year that I've made considerable headway towards my financial goals. Admittedly, I'm earning a bit more than what I used to two years ago, but my expenses have also increased, so I can't attribute my better financial state to a fatter paycheck. What really changed though was my mindset.