Multiple Housing Loans From PAG-IBIG

This is definitely good news for those thinking of getting another housing loan from PAG-IBIG. 

I must admit that I suddenly daydreamed of a second house when I found out about this new PAG-IBIG rule. Wouldn't it be nice and dandy to have another house, one with a garden, garage and within walking distance to my son's school? But you know what's even nicer? Decimating my current mortgage with PAG-IBIG before taking on another debt.

Besides, we haven't even begun the renovations on our current condo unit and here I am contemplating another mortgage? Wake up woman!

So yeah, the original plan of wiping off my 500k++ mortgage before I turn 40 is still in effect. The second house can wait until then.

Multiple Housing Loans From PAG-IBIG

Guest Post: Seven Top Risks of Salary Loans

I found it interesting how someone working for a loan provider pitched an article for the risks of taking out a salary loan. But the fact remains that salary loans, when taken out by someone unaware of its risks, can easily morph into a hydra, growing more heads and becoming more daunting with the passage of time. No one needs such a monster in their presence, much more the loan provider that only wants to be paid back its money (with interest of course) at the end of the day. So before taking out a salary loan, be sure to think twice or even thrice about your decision, and when you do take one out, be sure to pay on time to avoid the high fees and penalties. 

Also, I am not affiliated with this loan provider, or any loan or service provider for that matter, so deal with them at your own risk.

-Jill-

Applying for salary loans in the Philippines can be an extremely daunting task. Despite the large number of loan providers out there, you always need to look out for the ones that have the best offers. In the Philippines, loans have high APRs (annual percentage rates) and these are usually overlooked by people applying for salary loans. APRs is just one of the things to consider when taking out a loan, here are some of the risks that you have to be aware of when taking out a salary loan:

Renovation Phases

After countless delays and glacier like movement, my "money papers" were finally submitted to the accounting office so I should be getting my backpay in 2-3 weeks. Hooray! With money in the horizon, it's time to buckle down and start planning our condo renovation.

I initially thought that a budget of Php50,000 will be more than enough, but since just to have a doorway between the condo units will already eat up half of that (Php25,000 for a hole in the wall! Arayko.), I realized that our renovation plans will have to be done in phases, to make it easier on the budget and give us time to save up.

Phase 1 is intended to give us access to the second unit. I also want to be able to use and enjoy the second unit ASAP so the priority is to finish the kitchen and have a dining table installed. The dining table will also serve a secondary purpose of being our "duck cover and hold" site since I've been attending disaster preparedness seminars care of my office and have been preparing for the big one (aka West Valley fault line). I'll blog about that separately in another post.

Anyway, we already had some work done previously on the kitchen (read post here) and this is how it looks now:

We just need to install some doors for the cabinet, add a backsplash and maybe change the hardware. I will also have a work station/island built for extra storage and a prep area. I have my heart set on something like this:

Source

For the dining table, I want something solid and non-fussy that will be the site of our family meals and will just as easily provide shelter in the event of the big one. These beauties are my pegs:

Sources: 1, 2, 3

Last for Phase 1 is a shoe cabinet.

Source

Proposed budget:

• Doorway = Php25,000
• Kitchen unit = Php15,000
• Work area = Php15,000
• Table = Php15,000
• Shoe cabinet = Php5,000 

Total = Php75,000

Let's see if we can stay within budget. Renovations are so expensive!

Phase 2 will cover the living room and we'll have a sofa with trundle bed made (the trundle bed is for the yaya) and install a console with drawers which will be for extra storage and for the yaya's things. Phase 2 will also include repainting the second unit. Here are my furniture pegs:

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4

I haven't set a budget yet for Phase 2, but I bet it will be upwards of Php50,000 but will hopefully not reach Php60,000.

In Phase 3, we will finally tackle the bathrooms for both units, but majority of the budget will go to the second unit because it needs the most work. I only have a vague notion of how I want the second bathroom to look, so I'll make another post for that some other time, probably when we're done with the first two phases because it's hard for me to think of Phase 3 when we haven't even started with the first two phases yet. Apparently there's a limit to my planning powers.

So that's that. Expect more home renovation posts here in the future. And if my next net worth post again proves lackluster, at least I'll be eating dinner with my family on our new dining table.

Renovation Phases

After countless delays and glacier like movement, my "money papers" were finally submitted to the accounting office so I should be getting my backpay in 2-3 weeks. Hooray! With money in the horizon, it's time to buckle down and start planning our condo renovation.

I initially thought that a budget of Php50,000 will be more than enough, but since just to have a doorway between the condo units will already eat up half of that (Php25,000 for a hole in the wall! Arayko.), I realized that our renovation plans will have to be done in phases, to make it easier on the budget and give us time to save up.

Capsule Dressing

When we moved to our condo and I had to make do with a significantly lesser closet space, I weeded out my closet of about a third of my clothes. Then when my son was born, of course he needed his own closet/dresser space so out went some more clothes. Unlike most women my age, I don't have closets overflowing with clothes, but when I started implementing the capsule dressing project, I was surprised to realize that I still had way too many pieces of clothing that I don't regularly use or use at all. For a quick read on capsule dressing, please click here. 

The basic idea behind creating a capsule wardrobe is curating your clothes, shoes and accessories to include only items that you will actually use and then to mix and match them. This eliminates decision fatigue to effectively lessen early morning stress (i.e. "What will I wear?! I'm already running late and I have nothing to wear!!!"), keeps your closet manageable and simplifies your entire life. The last may seem quite a stretch but really, once you realize that you can still be happy with a fraction of your things, it opens up the door to minimalism and eventually frees you from the chains of consumerism.

To be honest though, I don't experience decision fatigue when it comes to dressing up because I pretty much know what's in my closet and I have long figured out what works for me so I tend to stick with those pieces or variations of those. In short, I am a predictable dresser and I'm perfectly fine with that because although I have never been fashionable, I do know what flatters my body, and that I believe is more important than subscribing to the latest trend. But I am guilty of buying favorite items in multiples to the point that I'm surprised to find out after a shopping trip that I have a similar white top or dress lurking inside my closet.

 

Clearly a favorite, this blue top has been with me pre, during and post baby bump

 

For my own capsule collection, I veered from one of the basic rules and chose some pieces that I don't usually wear. When I went through my clothes, I saw some dresses that I forgot I had and the black sequinned skirt that I bought on a whim and have only worn once. Those went into my first capsule in order to force myself to get more wear out of them.

A month into my first capsule and I'm totally enjoying the experiment. My dresser drawers are no longer filled to the brim and are much easier to close, more importantly, I can already plan my week's outfits in my head in less than a minute.

In order to come up with my own capsule wardrobe, I went through these four easy steps:

1. I went over my clothes and categorized them into three piles: (1) always wear; (2) sometimes wear and (3) had hoped to wear but never did. There's no need to explain the first and second piles, but the third pile is where my "aspirational" clothes went. Dresses that are a size or several sizes too small because I was convinced that I would lose those last 5 pounds. Tops that looked great on my favorite fashion blogger but utterly ludicrous on me, etc. You know what I'm talking about.


2. I got rid of the third pile. You can sell them, give them away or trash them altogether. Whatever mode you decide, just get rid of those clothes. Believe me, you won't miss them.


3. Chose 35 pieces from the first and second piles. The number is not really important. Project 333 bats for 33 pieces for easy recall, since it's 33 pieces for 3 months (kaya siya Project 333. Brilliant!). I ended up with 35 because I had a batch of clothes of being laundered when I came up with my capsule, and when the laundry arrived, I wanted to include some of my newly laundered clothes so I added two more pieces to my original 33. No big deal. The idea is to have a good mix of clothes that you can mix and match, so that you won't get tired of wearing them for the next three months. 


4. Boxed the pieces from the first and second pile that I didn't choose. After three months, when it's time to come up with another capsule, I intend to bring out the box and use those pieces first to create my new capsule before buying new clothes.

I didn't include my pambahay, workout and weekend clothes into my 35 pieces, choosing to focus my capsule wardrobe on my work clothes. Formal and party wear were also not included. I did however, include my shoes into my 35 pieces and picked three pairs of flats and one nude heels for work, but I did cheat once and used my black pumps to go with a black sheath dress. Ooops..

Doing this capsule collection really opened my eyes to the fact that I have more than enough clothes. It also re-introduced me to my closet so I don't feel the urge to buy more clothes because I know I already have something similar waiting for me at home. Aside from freeing up closet space, it has likewise saved me from impulse shopping. Diba? Win all the way!

I highly suggest capsule dressing to everyone out there, or if you're not yet ready to take the plunge, to at least go through your closet and viciously edit it so that you'll only be left with pieces that you actually love wearing. By introducing this change into your life, mornings will be easier and closet clean-up sessions will be significantly lesser, not to mention the bundle of cash that you'll be saving in the long run.

Game?

Capsule Dressing

When we moved to our condo and I had to make do with a significantly lesser closet space, I weeded out my closet of about a third of my clothes. Then when my son was born, of course he needed his own closet/dresser space so out went some more clothes. Unlike most women my age, I don't have closets overflowing with clothes, but when I started implementing the capsule dressing project, I was surprised to realize that I still had way too many pieces of clothing that I don't regularly use or use at all. For a quick read on capsule dressing, please click here. 

The End of My BPI Save Up Odyssey

I first got wind of BPI Save Up sometime in September last year and opened an account online a few days after that. Since then, I've followed up several times through the BPI phonebanker for my information card, had my delivery address changed because I moved jobs, consented to have the information card delivered to the BPI branch nearest me for pick-up, went to that branch to pick it up only to find that it wasn't there yet and FINALLY had it delivered to my house 8 months after I first opened my account. That's right. Eight. Months.

The End of My BPI Save Up Odyssey

I first got wind of BPI Save Up sometime in September last year and opened an account online a few days after that. Since then, I've followed up several times through the BPI phonebanker for my information card, had my delivery address changed because I moved jobs, consented to have the information card delivered to the BPI branch nearest me for pick-up, went to that branch to pick it up only to find that it wasn't there yet and FINALLY had it delivered to my house 8 months after I first opened my account. That's right. Eight. Months.