Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

While still heady from the achievement of reaching half of my emergency funds goal, I suddenly found myself in a wanton spending spree that still leaves me a little guilt-ridden up to now.

Baby = Expense!

But we wouldn't have it any other way :)

I read this post on the New York Times where the author tried to justify not having a child based on expenses that having one will incur (read the post here). This paragraph near the end of the article resonated with me the most: 

I tried to glean some insight from my discussions with women who are personal finance and parenting experts. I hoped they would help me reconcile the knowable and unknowable advantages and disadvantages of having children. Instead I was assured that a cost-benefit analysis was neither necessary nor helpful, and that one day I would feel the urge to procreate, and so I would.

Halfway Mark

I reached a personal milestone early this week when our emergency funds account officially reached 50% of its set goal. I took a split second to celebrate that tiny victory and quickly ended my transaction because there were other people in line at the ATM.

Thoughts on the Aman Futures Group Debacle

I've been following the Aman Futures fiasco for the simple reason that it hit close to home, both literally and figuratively.

Pagadian City, a sleepy city in Zamboanga Del Sur, has suddenly become a lead player in this year's biggest scam. My grandfather served as a fiscal in Pagadian for many years and I also spent time there when I was a toddler, as I'm a "laking lolo and lola."

I've been mentally composing my post on the Aman Futures scam for the past few days, and my thesis was that the investors simply didn't know any better. Most of the early investors were fishermen and market vendors who probably had no idea what the usual bank rates are, or the historical gains in money market placements. So when faced with a charismatic figure like Amalilio, the tacit approval of the LGUs (does anybody really believe Mayor Co's excuses?) and the unmistakable proof of wealth from their neighbors, the double your money offer seemed perfectly logical.

Government Work

The good thing about working in the court is that we get all sorts of bonuses disguised in different names (same with our leaves), such as the Emergency Employment Assistance bonus (equal to 1 month pay) which we received just before the Halloween long weekend. The EEA is supposed to help out with tuition fee related expenses, with the other subsidy happening just before June. No wonder resignations are tendered between July to September, aka the lean months.

Of Dubious Radio Commercials

There's this radio ad I hear on the AM channel and it never fails to annoy me. It goes something like this:

Matatapos na ang 2012, hard work pa rin ba ang solusyon mo para yumaman? Sumali na sa xxxx raffle bonanza at manalo ng limpak-limpak na salapi!!

(The year is about to end and are you still relying on hard work to get rich? Join xxx raffle to win millions of pesos!)

I think it's sad that that radio ad seems to be poking fun at working hard to earn your keep and plays on the typical Pinoy mentality of betting on odds to win an easy fortune. But really, that ad just mirrors how Pinoys think about finances.