Day 6: Week Of Giving Thanks

Ahhhh, Saturday! 

• Run for 6 miles for 50 minutes today! I can't believed I am running 6 miles again. I had runner's knee problem and I thought I will not be able to run 6 miles ever again! Yay, Thank you Lord for giving me motivation and opportunity to run!

• IPod is an important part of my running. It keeps me pump up and it records my miles. Thanks for the IPod!

• Sweat + Cool air = ahhhhh

• Had a 1.50 miles walk after jogging! How intoxicating the sound of nature is!

• I have been running close to 3 years now and I am thankful I figure out what type of clothes to layer during cold season. Before,  I would bundle up before a run and I would stripped every layer I had on after covering a mile. Now, I perfectly figure out the "just-right-without-having-to-stop-because-it's-too-hot" layering.

•I am thankful for that water fountain nearby when I run. It promises energy when you needed it most. Thanks for the water.

• Apparently, IPod turns off on extremely cold or extremely hot weather. It was 25 degrees this morning and I accomplished 6 miles without it turning off on me! I wrapped it up with gloves and occasionally put it in my armpit to warm it up! Haha! True story! 

•  Thanks for the rock music that keeps me pump up. It sure did help me reached my 6-mile goal under an hour. 

• Thanks for the friendly runners that smile at me and greeted me good morning. They keep me motivated to run. Most of the runner I see are somewhat 50 years old or so. If they can do it, why not us, youngsters? 

• Stayed inside and I am having a Big Bang Theory marathon. I got the 5 seasons of BBT as a gift a year or so ago. What a cool way to spend Saturday.

My kind of Saturday. For this,  I am thankful.

Day 5 : A Week of Giving Thanks

Black Friday here and if you read my pledge, you might be thinking if I did it. Hmmm.

Things I am thankful:

• I didn't spend a single cent today! Two Black Fridays in a row,baby!

• Nothing beats the feeling of being productive.

• Thanks for the electricity. Like the Internet, this is a great invention,too. Imagine life without it. 

• Thank you Lord for making life comfortable.

• Thank you God for having more than enough. 

• Thanks for the gift of silence.

• Thanks for the sumptuous dinner.

• Ending my day watching Big Bang Theory and Dead Files. Nice to end my day with a laugh and and a scare. 

• Thank you for today, Lord. Thanks for the bed and the covers. I am looking forward for tomorrow. 

Day 4 : A Week of Giving Thanks

Happy Thanksgiving!

• It so cold out that I could see my breath.  Sometimes, I pretend to be a steam train engine, Chugga Chugga cho cho, here I go! But for now, I am a fire-breathing dragon who is surveying the vastness of my kingdom. Haha!

• It's Thanksgiving and Hanukkah at the same time. This is a rare occurrence, once in a century or so.

 Hanukkah is a Jewish holiday. My employer is Jewish that's why I know these stuffs.

• This oatmeal sure is a nice food to have in this chilly morning.

• I thank the family I saw from my kitchen window while I was washing dishes. They seem to be enjoying their Thanksgiving dinner. The sight reminds me of my "for good" goal to be with my family. No amount of money can cure my homesickeness.

• Fish and rice for dinner. Nothing beats anything fried! Yum! 

• I thank God for knowing the difference between wants and needs. I don't need to wake up early tomorrow for Black Friday shopping. 

• Chapstick for my dry lips and travel size lotion to prevent cracked hands-- must haves for cold weather. I forget things a lot but, surprisingly, I never fail to stick these two gems in my backpack. These are  little comforts in life I am surely thankful for.

• I thank God for this happy feeling I am enjoying at the moment despite me being alone this Thanksgiving.

• I constantly write my thoughts and what I learn on a notebook. Thank God for giving me a "forever-a-learner" attitude. 

• Thank God for people around me, both good and bad. Good people worth emulating and bad people is sort of like a reminder not to be like them.  

Happy Thanksgiving, America.

Day 2: A Week of Giving Thanks

A week of giving thanks, day two.

I am blessed. God is playing favorites!

• It has been cold outside lately. I thank God for the roof above my head. 

• I thank God for the heater that keeps me warm. I grew up in the tropics and without this, I'd be a mess.

• I thank God for the comforter. It's so comfy cozy when I'm in it.

• I thank God coz fever, runny nose and the likes haven't visited me since forever.

• I thank God for the water that keeps me hydrated and keeps me clean. I can't imagine life without it.

• I thank God for the Internet that keeps me connected to the world.  Such a great invention! 

• I thank God for my coat and boots. They sure are comfy! Bless the people who gifted this to me.

• It'll snow today! Yippee! 

• I thank God for the chirping of the birds! I see them in flocks travelling south for the winter. How amazing and magnificent sight to see! 

• The rain as of the moment reminds me of home.

• Thank God for the New York bagel and a free coffee I am having while typing this. What a treat! 

Day 1: A Week of Giving Thanks

This Thursday is Thanksgiving day! A day of lotsa eating for most people. A day of turkey and family gathering .

I would like to celebrate Thanksgiving 2013 by posting series of random stuffs I am grateful for.

And here it is:

• I thank God for keeping my family safe during typhoon Haiyan. They survived unscathed with just a minor roof problem. Thank God!

• I'd like to thank the Big Guy for the ability and the opportunity to do wealth. I thank God for my job.

• I thank God for my job that lets me read when it's not too busy. Reading honed my finance skill.

•I thank God for the free books-- library.

• I thank God for letting me meet people who have become my mentors. 

•I thank God that I discovered the value of saving and investing at an early age.

•I thank God for my low-maintenance mother who don't go into debt just to show off.

• I thank God for my shoes that takes me to places and makes me comfy while I run.

• I thank God for the place that I have been staying which is walking distance to  an acres of jogging trail.

• I thank God for my little brother for being patient when his ate goes on a death-rants about small stuffs. Note to self: Don't sweat the small stuffs.

• I thank God for my mom who keeps me grounded.

• I thank God for making me realized that no amount of money in the world that can fill the emptiness within me. 

Black Friday Pledge

So, What's my Investing Style?

A reader emailed me asking for my investment strategy and I realized it is a good topic to blog about.

Note: This is purely my own. This might not work for you. 

So, what's my investing strategy?

I am using Peso Cost Averaging or PCA

Peso Cost Averaging  is an investing strategy where in an investor invest a fix amount of money in a certain period of time on a giant company/companies. This kind of investor doesn't care if the market is bloody or if the market is green, they just keep on buying. They believed that these companies would still be thriving 20 years from now.

Yup, I am a proud PCA investor but I did bend the rule a little bit coz I didn't invest it all on the " giants" coz  I do have 3 "basura" stocks.

 I invest fix amount of money monthly. I invest one stock at a time then go on a cycle. I have a list of stocks I am eyeing and I consult my list everytime I buy.

So, how do I determine a good company to invest in? I do have an easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy strategy to share to you  and thinking about it makes me laugh. Is this even a strategy or what?

Okay, I regularly browse the list of stocks at PSE's website and when I read a stock that is somewhat familiar to me, and if I recall hearing it since I was younger, that's the major major reason I do Fundamental Analysis on that certain stock and invest all the way. Hearing from when I was younger and it's still around 'til now? Now, that is somewhat a stable company. Tested through time. Ang dami kasi ng publicly listed stocks and nakaka-intimidate masyado. Doing this strategy makes it easier for me to pick the best of the best.

Note: I don't solely rely on my easy-peasy strategy . I do use Fundamental analysis- a very important part. 

After I purchased a stock,I have a special notebook wherein I record my recent buy. Below is an example of my list:

First column : Date Purchased

Second column: Price of the stock per share

Third column: Shares own 

I do the exact same thing with my mutual funds.

On top of my fix amount invested every month, I do "reward" myself with stocks when there is a special occasion, like on my birthday or such. The biggest  I have "given" myself was the Php 60,000 worth of stocks on my 27th birthday last April. I was so proud of myself for buying stocks and not stuffs! 

I will be doing PCA until I get home and would take it from there. I am also saving and studying for business ventures for when I'll be in pinas for good.  I will be earning my first million peso profit from business (commitment 'yan ah! hihi). Wish me luck.

Watch out for my next post: So, What's My Trading Style?

Giving In

I bought a pair of sneakers! I don't need to post this but for somewhat uncurable "kuripot" like me, this is a milestone!

I mentioned that I have enough Chucks to last me a lifetime but, I  found myself wanting to buy sneakers just because. I want to buy "something" that I know I would be guilty to see if setting aside money as a "Me Fund" works, and that "something" is anything Converse. Hey, I work to live and not live to work. I should enjoy these small pleasures, eiy? 

This purchase isn't helping with my minimalist journey but I heard a hardcore minimalist saying that find "something" you want to collect and just collect that "something" as much as you can. He even said that if you are into rainbow and unicorns then ,by all means, collect anything rainbow and unicorns but don't collect anything beyond that. That statement gave me a time to breath and it made me think of my love for sneakers so yay for me and minimalism! I would collect sneakers and nothing else.

The pair that I  just purchased reminded me so much of my first sneakers when I was in high school. I do have similar color of sneakers too when I was in college. Though I can't afford Chucks at that time but I was a sneaker-wearer even then.

I got this one 50 percent off, from 50 dollars to 25 dollars. It's a spring/summer color and it's fall/winter now so they need to let go of last season's sneakers so I guess it was a good deal. Surprisingly, I didn't have "buyer's remorse" afterwards! Does this mean that my addiction to saving money is now cured?!  If so, I'd like to thank my "Me Fund" for that! 

Yay, for my 10th pair. No buying remorse 'til now! Double yay!

PHONES: Switching to Prepaid Has Save Me Tons

Aaah, I remember my first phone. Nokia 3310. You know, that phone that dances when you stand it up.  I was proud of that phone. It was the product of summer job, handling fliers and being a watcher on an election day. It wasn't brand new but I was stoked beyond reasoning. Writing this up makes me remember the giddy feeling I felt at that very day... the day I sent my first text message.. ahhhhh, sweet!!!


When I first came here, I used roaming and I eventually ditched it. Not only that I am spending extra on keeping it active, it was also a way where my relative can "borrow" money from me. hehe.

Meet my recent phone:

My First Phone's Relative

I had an IPhone but I traded it with IPod Touch and I have never been happier! I was paying $50 monthly for minutes I am not using. You see, I am not really a cellphone addict. If not for my work then I would have gone phone-less.

How much I am paying for now? $10 every 2 months! That's right, $10 every 2 months! Far from my $50 monthly, huh? And I can't even finish that 10 dollars. As of now, I still have 100 plus extra minutes.

• Why would I need an on-the-go cellphone plan? It's as if I have a multi-million peso business that needs constant monitoring.
• Need to search something on the internet, I wait until I get home. Convenience comes with a price, you know?
• Skype is my best friend when making long distance call to my family back home.

It's pretty basic, but switching to prepaid has really saved me a lot. I don't have internet on the go and I rely on wi-fi but I am pretty much happy with it. Nothing beats a 10 dollar every 2 months vs the 50 dollars monthly I have been paying before.

Switching to prepaid + taming the urge to surf the net most of the time has really save me a lot.