Time check: 7:00 am. Whoa! What a nice way to start my day by being productive in this blog! During mornings, I just can't get everything put together if I don't get a sip of my daily dose of coffee. My coffee is my energy drink. Yes, I am such a coffee lover but I limit my coffee intake to 2 cups a day, one in the morning and one in the evening because taking more than that everyday may not go well with my goal of being healthy (and slim haha!). But then, if the situation calls for it, I just have to get my third cup :).

For all the coffee lovers, McDonalds is giving us a treat during Mondays and Saturdays from September 22 - October 19, 2013. All you have to do is buy any McDonalds meal and you can get a free upgrade to a McCafe cappucino or Iced Mocha! And that would be anytime of the day! One more thing, I'll just paste here what was on their Facebook page:

You also get a Buy 1 Take 1 espresso coupon that you can use any day until December 31. 


That's too much of a treat especially that McDonald's coffees are something to crave for. I just love their coffee!


You can grab this treat from their participating stores here: https://www.facebook.com/notes/mcdo/mccafe-stores-philippines/503793256340717

Please check out the McDonald's Facebook Page for more details and for more treats awaiting us.

So, if Monday is not your favorite day and Saturdays are your rest day, a cup of coffee with your favorite meal from McDo will make your days better.

Thank you, McDonald's!

Thanks for this fitspiration!

Keep inspiring others!

Oh my! Where have all the time gone? So fast time flies, didn't notice that my blog was almost empty for 2 months! But I made it a goal to blog more often this September and my target is to have at least 6 blogs for this month. So let's start with this very informative financial article I would like to share to you.

As a financial advisor, I often get the question, "what is a mutual fund?" Obviously, to a lot of Juan Dela Cruz, this supposedly a basic form of investment was never a general knowledge. At school, financial education was not a subject of importance. So for us to be able to know our options regarding financial planning, I suggest you educate yourself and be responsible in getting information about financial education through reading and consulting financial advisors. You do not need to follow all their advice, what you need is the knowledge you can get from them and the options they can give you and from there you can choose what financial plan suits best for you.

Now, back to our main topic, according to Wikipedia:

A mutual fund is a type of professionally managed collective investment vehicle that pools money from many investors to purchase securities. While there is no legal definition of the term "mutual fund", it is most commonly applied only to those collective investment vehicles that are regulated and sold to the general public. They are sometimes referred to as "investment companies" or "registered investment companies." Most mutual funds are "open-ended," meaning investors can buy or sell shares of the fund at any time.


For simpler terms, mutual funds is a pooled money from investors being managed by a professional fund manager who is then responsible to buy securities (bonds, stocks, etc). The fund manager will be the one to analyze what would be the best security to buy in order for the money to grow. Mutual funds entwines risk in investment. For people who wants to invest in this kind of investment vehicle, as with any other investment, you need to understand it first before throwing your money in. Your profile as an investor should be taken into consideration as well as your current financial status and goal so as to minimize the risk of losing money.

In my honest opinion, mutual funds is one of the best investment vehicle for the ordinary Juan Dela Cruz. Why? Because it does not need a very large amount of money to start investing and it helps our money grow faster than that of savings and time deposit. Remember, investing is different from plainly saving.

If you want to know more about mutual funds, you may watch this detailed video from Sunlife











Here is another informative video, this time from  Peso and Sense







If you are interested to know more about mutual funds and other forms of investment, I would be more than glad to share my knowledge to you! Just contact me and I would be happy to accommodate you.

Stay postitve! And pass it on!

Dear Mommies, I know how hard it is to resist the temptations of shopping for a high heel red shoes just so we could stick to the budget. But the fabulous life we live during our single days need not be compromised when we become a mother. Yes, I know that in a mother's world, a shower is already a luxury but just a reminder: Your beauty is one of the things your husband loves about you. Please do not let it fade just because the needs of the kids should always come first before yours. You can be fab without spending so much. The happiness of seeing yourself beautiful in the mirror can change a lot about yourself. We need not to buy expensive and branded things to look pretty. Make sure your budget would include a little to buy something for yourself once in a while. Looking good need not to cost an arm and a leg. Here are some of my tips for being frugal. I hope this could be of help to you too:

1. Buy yourself some cosmetics. Yes, I know its not a budget friendly advice but hey, we're talking about being fab here. You don't need an expensive lipstick to get everybody's attention. A lipstick of quality can may you look as good and brighten up your face without having to cut your family budget in half. A foundation, lipstick and eyebrow pencil if properly applied can make you a head-turner. Add up a smile and sexy eyes... perfection!

2. Invest on classic-looking clothes. Classic never gets out of fashion. A simple and elegant little black dress and little white dress is a good investment on clothing. You can wear these two dresses a lot of times and just add some accessories to make it look different everytime. You can add bangles, watch, scarf and even you bag can be an accessory to your outfit. And because black and white are neutral colors, mixing and matching with bold colors will always result to fabulous!

3. Tyangge is the place to be. You don't need to have all your clothes branded to feel fashionable. What we all need is not a name patched on our clothes but a good looking jeans that would fit us properly. I surely realized that when I was a mom. I never visited tyangge when I was still single. But now, its one of my favorite place! How many times have I bought an ill fitting pants when I was still young? Oh God, I can no longer count! I bought them just because its the fashion trend and because of the label. Now, its a different perspective. I recently bought a pair of jeans for 500pesos (yup, 2 for 500) in tyangge and I would always get a compliment how good it looks on my legs. One more thing, because it fits me well, its also a comfort to wear.

4. Work-out from home. Gym membership fees are ridiculously expensive. If you really, really want to be fit, you do not need these fitness center to get in shape. You can easily search and download work out videos from the internet that would be effective for you. I, for one, can attest to that. I downloaded a video of Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred and I was able to really shred some lbs! Yes, I am proud to say I lost some lbs but there's more to lose to reach my ideal weight. Jillian Michaels ways work for me and I am keeping her as my virtual trainer. No need to go to the gym (I hate it, I get bored in the gym), no expensive fees, no transportation expenses, definitely home-based, best of all, in no time you'll see the difference in your body. Try it!

These are just few of the things I would like to recommend as a mother to be able to stay fab and still apply frugality in every way we can. 


Be frugal and still be fab. Please make this as a pledge from now on.

Stay positive and pass it on!

Ooooohhhh! Here's another chance to save some bucks when dining out right on your very pay day!



Mark the date, 08-15-2013. Its payday so give yourself some treat for the hardwork, you definitely deserve it! But make sure you first put in some of your pay into your savings!

Stay positive and pass it on!

I am in the process of trying to forgive myself for not blogging to often, and also trying to recover from this blogging hiatus, but time really does not allow me to do so. Its 11:30 pm right now and I'm kinda sleepy but I really feel the need to share this to the world.

The first time I saw this on TV, I was teary-eyed with the widest smile. I was so touched at the kind of love siblings can share and it made me feel so blessed the whole day. Please spend a minute to watch this McDonalds commercial and I swear whatever you're going through today, this will make you feel lighter.

For all the mothers, whenever you feel weary, just say this prayer to ease your somehow tired soul...

It is always the number one rule to "walk the talk". So for today's blog I'm gonna reveal how am I really doing my own financial planning. My way is actually one of the old, traditional, mostly advised ways of organizing your money and that is, the envelope method. I don't use the traditional envelope though, literally speaking. Let me start with a brief discussion about it.

I'm kinda feeling nostalgic about our relationship today and so I just want to display some of our pictures over the past years. Its been 4 years and 4 months since we became a couple, officially sayin'. The journey was never smooth sailing but I know, the decision to love each other for the rest of our lives will never change and we'll get through it all.






I just love you so much! Before we know it, its already our 40th! 40th anniversary!

I admit that I am not really a good cook and the only people who genuinely thinks that my cooking is comparable to a chef's, are my husband and son. Isn't a family the greatest gift in the world?! :)

But being a wife and a mother, its a must to know how to cook. So little by little I'm starting to learn a few dishes I find online. Browsing through this forum for girls, I found this easy to cook dish that I think is everyone would appreciate especially for people like me who wants to lessen meat intake. Here's the recipe:

2 large piece tofu (I found a tofu like this in the supermarket)

2 onions, chopped
5 siling pang-sigang
2 sachets of oyster sauce
5 tbsp mayonnaise
5 tbsp water
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp soy sauce
salt and pepper

1. Fry the tofu until light brown. After frying, slice the tofu thinly making small cubes.
2. Mix the mayo, oyster sauce, water, sugar, soy sauce in a bowl.
3. In a pan, saute onion and siling pang sigang. Add the tofu.
4. Pour in the mixed sauce and let it simmer. Add salt and pepper to adjust taste.
 * If you want more spice, just add more chili.

Easy, breezy! Not a lot of preparations and not a lot of time to do it. Best of all, everybody loves it. Even my baby! No wonder its very popular and recommended by many in the forum where it was posted. Thank you to whoever have posted this recipe, I really appreciate it! Here's the finish product by the way:


Stay positive my friends... and past it on!

Oh no, I am not talking about drugs here! Endogenous Morphine is what we actually know as "endorphins" or the "happy cells". According to Wikipedia, " Endorphins ("endogenous morphine") are endogenous opioid peptides that function as neurotransmitters.They are produced by the pituitary gland and the hypothalamus in vertebrates during exercise, excitement,pain, consumption of spicy food, laughter, love and orgasm, and they resemble the opiates in their abilities to produce analgesia and a feeling of well-being."

Endorphins are always linked to working out or exercising because they are instantly produced after exercising. I am not really a "work-out person". In fact, I hate exercising. But with the pictures of beaches flowing in my news feed in Facebook, I am starting to think otherwise regarding getting a fit body. I've really grown big after the baby came out and looking at the mirror is no longer appealing to me. Also, this is one common suggestion among the list of things to do to make one feel good.

And so I decided to give it a try. I am only working for four days in a row, I jog and do zumba alternately and I am hoping for a great result! Summer has officially begun the end of February for me because I can feel the toil already of commuting amidst the hotness of the weather. To keep me motivated, I decided to blog about it and to read some quotes about working out. To those who wants to get fit and are close to ending what you've started, please don't! Read some quotes here and get your bodies moving! We can do this! Aja!

Be patient, my dears!

And I've just discovered a whole new way of releasing that positive energy when I am down!

I'll keep posting inspirational quotes in my blog to keep us going. Hope these phrases motivates you to keep on moving get that bod you badly want!

Let's do this! Stay positive and pass it on!

Photos from shapes.com

When Friday and Payday collides, always anticipate looooong lines in ATMs, heaaavvvyy traffic, bars and gimik spots a chaos, and coffee shops and restaurants are as full as a Jollibee. To be honest, I never withdraw my salary on a payday, instead I wait 2-3 days after payday before I withdraw my earnings... just because I hate wasting my time in long lines of ATM. :)

For an ordinary employee, payday not only means getting paid for all the hard work, it may also mean "payday" for bills. Credit card bills, cellphone bills, house bills, loans due, etc. Almost 60% (sometimes even higher) goes to their bills that are already demanding for payment. The other 40% would now be the budget for the days to come before the next payday. And because the remaining budget seems too little, most of the time we no longer allot budget for our savings. Instead, we just spend it all and tell ourselves that we will just save when there's an extra pay or bonus. But most of the time, we still don't get to save our bonuses because we also splurge on spending whenever we get a hold of additional money. Are you one of these ordinary Juan Dela Cruz employees? If yes, you may have to rethink your perception regarding saving.

Its not bad to spend money on some luxuries in life, after all, isn't it the main reason we are working hard - to have money to spend? Just be careful not to forget the more important things where your money should be going. Always save even just a little amount every payday for your rainy days. Remember, its not Christmas everyday. Think about your long term goals and little by little do something to achieve. If you just save a little every payday, at the end of the year, you might be surprised how big your money has grown.




The picture above says it all!

Stay positive and pass it on!!

For someone who graduated Cum Laude, was able to grab a great position in the IT field, received numerous recognition for her works, young and beautiful, who would have thought that climbing the corporate ladder is out of her priorities. Marie is a client of mine who is also my friend for years. She's only 24 years old but she is very responsible when it comes to her finances. She's also a blossoming entrepreneur. This pic shows just some of the things she offers:

A new portion of this blog would, from now on, be dedicated to people I've had discussions with regarding financial planning, insurance and investments. This is so readers may somehow relate their own profile with these people who are definitely on their way to reaching their financial freedom.

Well, it seems like the Chinese New Year brought another luck to the Philippine Stock Market with PSEi reaching another all-time high index last Monday: 6500. Whoa! Financial experts have predicted that we might just end the year at 6800 index. Way to go for the Philippine Stock Market!

As a Mutual Fund Representative of Sunlife, I would like to show you how much effect the market has on your mutual fund investments if you have started investing exactly 1 year ago or at the start of this year 2013.

Let's look at the performance of the Sunlife Prosperity Funds for this year 2013 and its performance exactly 1 year ago (February 12, 2012):

As of 02/12/2013	NAVPS*	YTD*	YOY**
Bond Fund	PHP 2.6322	3.42%	6.67%
Balanced Fund	PHP 3.7076	8.63%	27.44%
Equity Fund	PHP 3.9555	10.72%	37.24%

* NAVPS - Net Asset Value per share
* YTD - Year-To-Date yield (yield from start of year)
** YOY - Year-On-Year yield (yield from one year ago this date


Now, suppose you have invested your hard earned money in these investment vehicles, how much would they be today?

Your 5,000 pesos today should be:

Sunlife Prosperity Fund	January 2-February 12, 2013	February 12, 2012 - February 12 - 2013
Bond Fund	5,174.06	5,333.31
Balanced Fund	5,431.75	6,367.48
Equity Fund	5,431.75	6,861.95

A 10, 000 pesos would be:

Sunlife Prosperity Fund	January 2-February 12, 2013	February 12, 2012 - February 12 - 2013
Bond Fund	10,348.12	10,666.61
Balanced Fund	10,863.49	12,734.96
Equity Fund	11,072.39	13,723.89

And if you have 100,000 pesos to invest:

Sunlife Prosperity Fund	January 2-February 12, 2013	February 12, 2012 - February 12 - 2013
Bond Fund	103,481.20	106,666.10
Balanced Fund	108,634.90	127,349.60
Equity Fund	110,723.90	137,238.90

And for the millionaires out there, surely this would be a prosperous Chinese New Year, because your 1,000,000 peso investment should be gaining like this:

Sunlife Prosperity Fund	January 2-February 12, 2013	February 12, 2012 - February 12 - 2013
Bond Fund	1,034,812.00	1,066,661.00
Balanced Fund	1,086,349.00	1,273,496.00
Equity Fund	1,107,239.00	1,372,389.00

How about you, how much have your money gained so far? Are your funds beginning to prosper too? :)

One of my new year's resolutions is to be able to read at least 10 books this year. But more than novels and fiction books, I want something more substantial and could contribute to my newly ventured career. So after a long thought, I finally bought a finance book. Why a finance book? Firstly, to be effective in teaching or promoting financial literacy among Filipinos (which is my current career being a Sunlife Financial Advisor), I must be knowledgeable on the subject. Secondly, because this book that I bought had convinced me with all the awards and good reviews it received that it is worth reading.

Pera Mo, Palaguin Mo

Francisco Colayco is a well-known name in the financial industry. This book shows just how much respect he really deserves in the field of financing. The book shows that hard work really pays off in the end. He also wrote about the different obstacles and failures he had to go through in order to reach his present state of "financial freedom. He also made me realize that it is okay to take risks and fail, for this will teach you something. Truly an inspiring story from someone who I actually thought had everything from the start. But no, he really started from a humble beginning.

I highly recommend this book to all the Juan Dela Cruz out there who wants to get out from the world of financial obstacles and experience financial freedom. To be informed is the beginning. Application of the things written in this book will not only teach you the value of your hard earned money, but also the value of disciplining and motivating yourself which will always come in handy in every aspect of our lives.

Stay positive! And pass it on!

At long last! I was able to purchase a planner for myself for 2013. It took me 4 National Bookstore branch to find this because all seems to be out of stock. Well why not? To incorporate positivism in your organizer may just be the little help you need to push yourself to achieve what you want. And that is what this planner is all about. I posted on my previous entry Christmas Wishlist that I would like to have a Belle de Jour planner. Well, if you really want it, you're gonna get it:



The Belle de Jour planner comes in different types to suit every female's preference. This one I chose because its simple and it conveys my perspective for 2013 and that is ... everything is possible! There are little notes and quotes inside the planner to somehow give you boost when you're starting to feel down. There's also a page for you to create a mood or visual board of what you want to achieve this year. A page for listing down your short term and long term goals is also provided. Then from that list you can pick what are your top priorities and how can you achieve them. Each month also comes with a page dedicated to encourage you if you want to develop a new habit.

Just a trivia, this is the first time I am going to use a planner all my life hahaha! I know I should have used a planner a long time ago but did not. I was really unorganized person and never do planning at all. I have lots of dreams and goals but never list them down. But for 2013, let's see how this planner could change my lifestyle. After all, my 2013 planner says it all, everything is possible.

The Belle de Jour planners are available at selected National Book Store, selected Powerbooks Store, selected Fullybooked branches of course, and Belle de Jour Power Planner website where you could order online.

Seeing the country's economy rise up and getting better everyday would be the one of the best news to start the year. For everybody's information, Philippine Stock Exchange, Inc. or PSEI made another milestone by hitting 6000+ index level!

I know, I know, most Filipinos would never appreciate this improvement in our stock market because really, what's in it for us? Let me share to you a few things I know.

1. Economy rising. Though it would never be felt instantly for an ordinary Juan dela Cruz like me, I believe that the raise in the stock market would also mean an improvement in the financial system of our nation. If the  stock market continuously augments (and I really wish it would!), little by little the lives of the many would also improve.

2. More investors for the country. Because of the growing economy and the promising future the PSEI indicates, more and more investors would put in their investments in our country and trust our local market. It could also mean more business investors would dare to start or expand their business in our country. Of course, that would mean more and more jobs which is probably one of country's needs right now.

3. Financial literacy for all people. The progress of the stock market could also be an indication that more and more Filipinos below the elite class, are beginning to learn and be aware of the different investment vehicles they could use in order to achieve financial freedom. As an advocate of financial literacy among Filipinos, I hope that the boost in stock market would encourage more of our countrymen to give themselves a chance to grow synchronous with our economy by seeking education about financial management. This is a necessity if you want to achieve a life of comfort.

Of course, for someone who relies on the newspaper regarding the economy, let me tell you that all these are just my plain observations.

For the mean time, let us all be positive about 2013 and let's all work together for the greater good of everyone. I wish the Philippines would grow and develop more to become not just a third world country but a country full of hope.

Stay positive... and pass it on!

from the Philippine Stock Exchange Inc website

A lot of things happened to me in 2012. It was a very challenging year for me I must say. With all the changes that occurred in my life, some made me happy, some made me cry, some made me mad, all of it, I am grateful. I've learned a lot from 2012. So even if there are many not so good times, I am still thankful for the memories and the learning it brought me.

Now 2013 is a new year with a whole new perspective for life. I was able to cope with 2012 and so I know whatever will happen in 2013, I will face it with more enthusiasm knowing that everything is under my control if only I let myself take over and not the circumstances.

This 2013 I will give out the best that I can. I will not let fear interfere! Its time to take risks, challenge myself, do more than what requires of me, discover more things and discover the best I can be of myself. Its new year and I believe this calls for a new me. 2013 is the year for making things happen!

Let's all start the year right, stay positive and pass it on! Discover the new you, a better you in 2013! Let's do this!

Believe in yourself!

Get back in shape!

Save more!

Enjoy life!

Learn something new!

Travel

Take risks!

More family time!

And for the last piece of advice... make sure you do this every single moment of opportunity you can...

Always be a blessing to others. That way, you could always say your year has been done right.