Setting Up a WILL: If I Die Tomorrow, Where Will My Hard-Earned Assets Go?

As morbid as this may sound, I have been thinking of my own death. Hey, my father died when he was in his mid 30's, and in 1.5 year from now, I'll be 30 years old. There's a chance I'd die same age as my father did. Plus, since I'm somewhat addicted to Investigation Discovery, a channel about death and such, this really made me think that I could or I might die soon. We never really know, right?


I set up my will through LegalZoom. It's kind of pricey, at least for me. But it really gave me peace of mind knowing that if I die tomorrow or today, my "wants" are taken care of. It's my hard-earned assets, right? Where or who should get what should be my decision.


I didn't really open it up and talk about it here in my blog while I was in the process of setting it up because you might think, "Sus, pa 'will will' pa ang drama, pang snacks lang ni Henry Sy ang total assets mo, Miss!" But then again, what's the use of finance blog and being anonymous if I'm still holding it back. Plus, it's All Soul's Day so this post is appropriate.



In my death, I want:

• All my organs donated
• My body cremated
• The urn, which contains my ashes, should be sent to Pagadian to be put on top of my Papa's grave.

Who gets what?

• PHP 200k worth of Mutual Fund is for my 2 nephews' college education. They are under 6 years old now. By the time they'll be in college, the fund should have grown which will hopefully help pay part of their college tuition/expenses.
• PHP 200k cash is for my niece's college education. She is in her first year college now. Her tuition fee is more or less PHP 20-25k per semester. This should be enough to cover her 4 years college tuition. Books, allowances and other miscellaneous school expenses are shouldered by her mom. I only shoulder tuition fee for the whole school year.
• I got a total of 80 square meters lot somewhere in Cebu and my two older brothers should split it up (40 square meters each)
• The house and lot goes to my mother. And in the event of her death, my younger brother gets it.
• Stocks, cash and other investments goes to my mother, and in the event of her death, Php 500k should be donated to build one school in our province. The rest should be divided among my 3 siblings.

Explanations:


My only true dependent is my mom. My siblings are all adult so let them fend for themselves, that's why my money all goes to my mom if I die tomorrow.

If my mom is wise enough to handle the money that I left for her right after my death, she should be fine for a long time.

Her current expenses is Php 10,000 every month or Php 120,000 per year. Since I have 1 Million pesos saved in the bank (originally a fund that will save my ass in case my plan doesn't work when I come home for good), she should be okay for at least 6-7 years including inflation. When the money runs out, she will then access my stock portfolio (currently worth PHP 2 Million) taking only a year's worth of her living expenses (all these is written in the Will). Hopefully, by seventh year without touching my stocks, my portfolio should grow. The house that she is now currently living is owned by me outright, which will be hers, so she should be fine with regards to roof-over-her-head thing.


Just a little family background: My mom now is in her late 50's. Her mom died in her late 40's of heart attack, while her dad died when he was 75 years old of natural causes.

What if my mom gets sick? Well... I am already dead, let them figure it out. Haha!


I let my aunt be the executor of the will. I told her what to do. To give only what is needed monthly because my mom has this tendency to spend it all, aka one day millionaire attitude. I just want her to be okay for a looonggg time once I'm gone, that's why getting a third party in to check up on her expenses and such is, I think, wise.

Note: I am planning on changing my Will once I get home. I really would like to seek an attorney's help and change my executor because "what if my aunt dies, too" or something like that. Plus, I don't want my aunt and my mom to have this cold war thing. You know, money and relatives don't go together. This is just temporary and I plan to update it regularly depending on my life's stage. This is just "for now" type of thing.


It feels good knowing that If I die tomorrow, my mom is taken care of and my family wont fight over the assets which I acquired in life with my own sweat and tears. It's right that in my death, I should be the one to direct who gets what. It is/was mine, after all.


Hey, if you happen to be a finance nerd, is there something wrong with my Will, the calculations, distributions and such? Please point it out. As I said, this is just temporary, and I plan to update it once I get home for good.

Things I Wish I Knew Before Investing

This post has been requested by Ching in the Ask Me Anything section.

I have been racking my brains to come up with list of things I wish I knew before investing that's why it took me a while to finally post this. 

You see, before investing, I was already studying/reading heavily about it. I took notes upon notes to prepare myself and to know what to expect, as well as to create an investor's mindset. I had zero background when it comes to investing, and I am the first in my immediate and extended family to dabble in the stock market. You wouldn't believe how I crammed for it. I studied like my life depends on it! So I thought I encountered everything about the stock market from all the books that I read, but when I really searched deep, I still end up with this list:

• It's okay to learn along the way

What's the use of all the knowledge you gained if you don't act on it. I mean, do you really have to be an expert on spotting winning stocks before you invest? What if you'll never become an expert, then you'll waste the opportunity to make your money grow. Why don't you do some Peso Cost Averaging on growth stocks while learning how to pick bargain and winning stocks on the side ?

The more you know, the scarier it seems, and sometimes, the more you know, the more you tend not to act on in because, "Ay, I'll wait for the market to dip before investing," or "I'll wait for this and that before investing." You tend to make excuses based on the information you gathered. Sometimes, too much information could paralyze you and you end up not doing anything about it. 

• Seriously, you don't have to be good in math to be an investor

That's why I studied investing super hard to compensate on my lack of math skills. I thought stock market is all about numbers and for non-math person like me, I get nauseated just looking at numbers! There are numbers involve in investing, of course! Like how to calculate P/E ratio, Market Value, etc., but you know what, there's this thing called  calculator , so if you know what that is and how to use it, you should be fine!

Buy low, sell high. For anything else, use calculator

  •Just because your money goes there doesn't mean you have to invest in it right away.


When you become an investor, you tend to read the back print found on the back of any consumable goods you use/consume to find out what company makes it/ who makes what. You might say, "hey, I am using this one for a long time and I love it. Isn't it right to invest on a company whose product I have been using?" STOP. Read about the company first, do some Fundamental Analysis, then invest. Don't invest blindly. I did that once. If you want to know about it, read it here.

• The more you know, the more you panic

Ignore the noise and stick with your plan. Unless you want to be a day trader, don't listen too much about what's happening on the stock market world. 

• Avoid heard mentality

When the media is all smiles because the stock market is up and all, people tend to buy and buy, but when the market is all red, people tend to panic and sell. It should be the other way around. 

(Last year, when the market was super high, I didn't do a thing! I was buying rather than selling, even though most of my stocks were really doing well. This year, when the market reached 7,400 mark, I sold some of it.)

It's really hard not to follow the crowd. It's hard to sell when you see everybody being optimistic and when you see your stock going up and up. Cut the greed, sell it and be happy with it. As they said, when the dogs are hungry, feed them.

On the other hand, it's hard to buy and remain optimistic when you see stocks are all red and everybody is noisily selling. 


Well, it took me a while to train myself to go against the herd. 

• Really, stock market is all about what other investors/traders think

Regardless of what the company is really worth, most of the time, people respond, whether to sell or to buy, base on what they hear (news, rumors, etc.)  

• Investor's Relation section in a company's website is worth checking out. 

Find out what's the company's plan 5-10 years down the road.

• People tend to INFLATE their winnings and DEFLATE their losses

Don't believe on people who claim to have a "Midas Touch" when it comes to picking winning stocks. Most of the time, people exaggerate their winnings and downplay or hide their losses. Study about the stock market. Nothing beats the feeling of knowing where your money goes. After all, it's your money. Plus, when you study and learn about the stock market in general, this will add and widen your financial knowledge. Double check!

• Be an optimist

If my memory serves me right, I heard from Edward Lee, the current owner and founder of Citiseconline, that there are only 700,000 Filipinos among 100 Million who are investing in the local market, 500,000 of which are actively trading. That's less than 1 percent of the population! Imagine if even half of the working population started to invest, it would be great for our country as a whole!

As a Filipino, we should believe that our country can get out of the "Third World Country" label. One should be optimistic and start to believe that our nation will rise from a helpless cub to a ferocious tiger! We should stop complaining and start believing that we will eventually get there!

• It's okay to sell

I get stuck with the dreaded analysis-paralysis mode, but I am trying to overcome it. I keep telling myself that when my stock has double its price, I should sell. There something sane about knowing that you are getting your original capital back, when you sell some of your position because the stock has already doubled.

Some has this strategy they set for themselves that when a certain stock gain certain percentage (let's say 30 percent), they sell it no matter if it's still going up.

• It pays to buy when the market is in it's lowest, but don't time the market 

Isn't it confusing? Well, my point is, when you were one of those people who started investing when the market was in its lowest, you would have reaped the rewards by now. Personally, I started investing last 2011, when the market was in the bear-ish state (though I wish I knew about investing way back 2008, when the global economy came crashing down), my gains now are super great! Let's just say when market dipped sometime this year, my all over gain still hovered around 10 percent! That's why it pays to buy when the market is in it's lowest, but don't try and time the market or you'll end up not investing because, " Ay, maybe it will go down further pa!"

There goes my list of things I wish I knew before investing/ things I now know because I'm investing.

 How about you? Are there things you wish you knew before investing?

Pinoy Style: Another Kind of Retirement Plan?

Last month or so, the sister of my uncle's wife died. She was in her 80's, a valuable member of my uncle's household because she helped took care of my cousins from birth, considering that one of my cousins has special needs. She never married and was a retired teacher.


Years following retirement, she became an active member of a different church organizations in our province. Fast forward last month or so, as I mentioned, she passed away. As sad as it is, there is a lesson to be learned in the whole situation. The lesson? Becoming an active member of a different church organization could 
help pay for your burial expenses when you die.


Yep, all her burial expenses were paid by the 8 church organizations she was a member of. I admired these organizations' way of giving back. A sign that they value their members, but as nice as these organizations' gesture were, my relatives now think that "it's a good idea to be a member of any church organization so that later on, somebody will pay for your burial."

When I learned about this "idea" from my aunt, I was shaking my head and answered, "So, being a church organization member is your retirement plan?" 

Yah, I sound so condescending, but it was so outrageous and a sick idea. I mean, to enter a religious organization just so they'll help you out later? Geeez, where's the "I want to be a member because I believe in their organization"?

I felt bad for them and what I said to my aunt. I might sound too prideful when I said that, but it's sound so wrong to me. We can't expect some organization to fund our personal crisis. It's just not right.

When I think about it, the reason they aren't heeding my call to study how to directly invest in stocks/bonds/mutual fund  for their retirement is that these are the same people who got burned by Aman Futures Group scam. Well, they didn't listen to me once when I told them that Aman was a scam in the making right from the very beginning, I won't be expecting them to listen to me with this. It's hard to teach old dogs new tricks, they said and sadly, it's true.

(To know why Aman Futures Group scam hit close to home, click here)

Kiyosaki VS. Ramsey: Which School of Thought Do You Follow?

I have been using the phrase "good debt vs. bad debt", as said by Robert Kiyosaki, way before hearing that "there is no such thing as "good" debt, debt is a debt no matter what," as said by Dave Ramsey.


I admire both guys. I read books written by them. I learned something from them, but which idea do I follow?


"I use debt to buy assets," you'll hear Robert Kiyosaki say.

"Be debt-free," says Dave Ramsey.


Both are into real state, by the way. Kiyosaki uses leverage or "other people's money" to buy real state, while Ramsey buys real state and properties outright.


You might say, "Dave Ramsey is freakin' rich, he can afford to buy million dollars worth of real state, but for us who are just starting out, we can't go into business without borrowing money."


Dave advocates working your butt off to be debt-free/save money for something. You might be asking yourself, "Do I want to really spend 3 years just to be able to save up cash so I can start my own business, or should I borrow money so I can start my business ASAP?"


While they have different philosophies and ideas, I respect both of them, but which idea do I follow?


For me, as of now, I am more of a Dave Ramsey girl. I have zero debt and heavily saving/investing for something. But what if I'll dabble into real state as part of my plans when I finally come home for good, would I become a Kiyosaki girl? (To know my plans,click here.)


Well, I'll cross the bridge when I get there, I guess. But for now, I am saving as much as I can, training myself to control my wants, as advocated by Dave Ramsey. For now, I don't feel the need to borrow money or go into debt. Maybe someday I'll use the power of leveraging so I can start to build my own empire, as what Kiyosaki teach.(HA!)


People has different ideas, and it's up to the readers which idea they should follow. No one should make fun of you just because you favor one ideology from the other. Different folks, different strokes.



How about you, which school of thought do you follow, Kiyosaki or Ramsey?

Reader's Question Answered: Hating My Blog?

 

I have been having some back and forth email with an OFW who is currently working in the UK. I will just summarized what we talked about as well as my answers to her emails coz it's a pretty long one.

Her very first email is copy pasted below:

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Hi Pinasforgood,

I came across your blog because a  friend shared your blog in her FB post. As I read your past blog posts, it made me "hate" you! I hate you because you made me realized how I've been dumb financially. I've been working abroad for 13 years with nothing to show for it, except my passport na puno ng stamps because I love traveling, gadgets and clothes. I don't have savings or a house, to think that I am single with no family to support back home. 

I envy you because you have accomplished so much compared to me. If only I can go back few more years. If only I found your blog earlier.

She

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Dear She,
 

"Look and admire the journey not just the result"

Would you still envy me if I write my sacrifices in detail in order to save a penny? What if I'll tell you that I walk to and from work everyday no matter what the weather is? It's a 2-mile walk, by the way, and when it's cold out or if it's snowing out, I still walk to work to save on $1.25 bus fare. And girl, 2-mile walk on a snowy and cold day feels like darn Ice Age on this tropicana body of mine!

Or what if tell you that when the urge to buy a house sets in, I used to work super hard I didn't get much sleep. My schedule was jampacked, I used to leave home super early, get home around 9 PM only to do some pet sitting for the night. Girl, even if it's just a dog, I still can't sleep that well knowing that I am in charge of a living creature which they paid and trusted me for. When I am not

pet sitting for the night, I go to work. It was cray cray! (I feel like this post will be too long if I give you all the details of all the sacrifices I did. I won't bore you further.)

I don't have much of life, I have to tell you that. My form of entertainment is reading and hanging out in the library, taking long walks, running or basically any entertainment that doesn't require me to spend. I don't hang out with my friends that much. I am basically a loner. My life is actually what Dave Ramsey always says: "Living on rice and beans, beans and rice. Not going inside a restaurant unless you work there." As weird it sounds, I am happy being alone. Most days when I am just alone with my thoughts, I get to know myself more. As what Aristotle said, "Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom."

She, would you be willing to give up some of life's conveniences in order to save money? It takes some hardcore behavioral change and hardcore change of mindset in order to achieve discipline and focus for the betterment of your financial powerhouse. How to do that? Simple: Have a goal bigger than yourself. 

When you have a goal bigger than yourself, and you find creative ways to be reminded about it constantly, (journal, screensaver,etc.) you'll suddenly work towards it. Your mind will find ways to get to that goal no matter what.

Do small things, make it as a habit. A penny save today, a dollar save by next month, until you'll get to your saving percentage goal. 

With a goal in hand, focus follows and the discipline to reach it will eventually follow,too.

Surround yourself of things,books and TV shows that will remind you of your goal. (I am pretty sure I post all my strategies on my past posts, so read it up if you like.) 

Also, find out what tempts you to spend. Is it You Tube? Facebook? Find ways to limit your exposure to sites that makes you open your wallet and spend. Find out what makes you tick. This requires knowing yourself.

And lastly, don't beat yourself up for a few slip ups. Remember, "Rome wasn't build in a day."

Things I suggested:

• Listing and categorizing all that goes out from her wallet, as well as what comes in.
• Budget. Budget. Budget
• Since she is trying to maintain her weight, I suggested she skip the gym membership and take up running. In my years of running, I haven't seen a fat runner. For reals.

Library Book Sale is MY Black Friday

Library's Garage. The line went all the way to that blue car

Fall book sale in my local library has been going on for 3 days now. It's actually the last day of the book sale, and last day means price is half off. I actually went yesterday to check what books they have so I could plot and plan my "attack" the next day. Hey, gotta take advantage of the half off!  

20th in line

I purposely went to the library 30 minutes early coz I knew that the line would be crazy long. I was the 20th in line which was better than last year!














What I got:

• Blade II DVD ( $1): My friend and I was just talking about this few days ago because we are fans of Guillermo del Toro's work. This isn't available in the library. Hey, anything Guillermo del Toro, me likey likey, plus it's a buck so why not? Though I'm pretty sure I'm just having some Guillermo del Toro withdrawal because The Strain season one just wrapped up last Sunday, and season 2 will be 2015. A long wait! I am missing the show so much that I am starting to read The Strain trilogy! At least it's The Walking Dead tonight.
• The Difference by Jean Chatzky ($1): I read one of her books once entitled Money Rules: Simple Path to Lifelong Security. I was impressed. I bet this book will be a good one,too.
• The Philippine Economy: DO OUR LEADERS HAVE A CLUE? By Rey Angeles ($1): OMG! OMG! OMG! I was literally freaking out when I saw this book! This book was the reason I went back today. I saw this yesterday but it was priced at $2. I wasn't keen on paying 2 bucks because the tag said it was
  
  originally Php 320 or about $6 or so. It was from National Book Store all the way from the Philippines, and every time I see Philippines, I get excited coz I am patriotic like that! Happy that it was still available today. It looks brand new, by the way.
• SUPERFREAKONOMICS and FREAKONOMICS by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner (Total $2.50): I already read these books and I became an instant fan of Steven Levitt, so I gotta own 'em.
• Why Marry a Millionaire? Just be one!  by Wendy Robbins ($ 1.50): A finance book with a feminism side to it. It looks promising.
• A middle-earth album Paintings by Joan Wyatt($2): I've said it enough and will say this again: I love Lord of the Rings! This book has pictures upon pictures of "middle-earth" as told by J.R.R Tolkien's Lord of the Rings books. Love!!!
• Some old comics (Total $2.50): 

On Owning a House: A Common Filipino Homeowner's Mistake

I am having problems with my mom's neighbor. It has been going on for months now, and I'm ready to reveal what it is, as I feel like this will surely help those who are  in the process of acquiring their very first house and lot.

Owning a house and lot is, I think, the ultimate dream of a typical pinoy. Nothing beats the feeling of living in a house that is ours and ours alone. Filipinos think real state is the best investment out there and acquiring one for ourselves is the epitome of success. 

This post is not about different kinds of investment aside from real state but a post about mistake that a common pinoy make prior to acquiring a house and lot.

 

"I'll cross the bridge when I get there. BAHALA NA!"
 

"Since I already save 10 percent downpayment for the house, I'll do my best to come up with the monthly mortgage, bahala na!"

Homeownership doesn't end with just paying your monthly mortgage. You have to accept that "things break", plumbing and piping go busted, the leaks, appliances get broken, and all that. Things don't get fix magically. You have to sometimes dig into your pocket for the maintenance of your house. What if you'll lose your job tomorrow, you think you can afford the monthly mortgage while looking for a job? On top of mortgage payment and maintenance of the house, you have to factor in the utilities and bills you pay every month. Owning a home is no joke, but sometimes, Filipinos get blinded by the glamour it brings or sounds on owning a house. They fail to look ahead.

Things don't go your way all the time. That's why you got to see and prepare for what's ahead rather than just looking at what's in front.

 

What's the deal? 

Few months ago, my mom's neighbor recently lost her job. Without my knowledge, my mom let her tap into our elecricity. I confronted my mom why on earth was her electricity bill so high! It shoot up to Php 7,000! "Are they freakin' operating a Disney Land up there!" I said. She told me the real reason, on how she felt bad for the neighbor coz she have an infant, on how it's going to temporary,blah blah blah. I personally talked to the neighbor. She said she'll pay half and she said that she won't connect by the end of the month. Months passed and she still wasn't able to pay plus she was still connecting into our electricity. I came to the point of threatening my mom that if she won't cut it off, I'll freakin' report them to the electric company.

Of course, I felt bad! For five freakin' month or so, I have been paying a maximum of Php 7,000! It's like I am supporting two families here! I'll be damned! 

For reference, I usually pay Php 1,300 monthly for electricity bill. And according to my brother, our neighbor has been partying almost everyday after she lost her job. I was thinking, maybe because of the separation fee she received or whatever you call that? I don't know. Now that her pocket is empty, to the point of not being able to pay for her own electricity, the partying has stopped and she now bothers us? People can be so shortsighted! 

Guess what? After months of threatening them that I will file charges coz they are "illegally tapping", they already cut it off! It was just this month that our bill was back to Php 1,300! I still couldn't get them to pay me, though, despite me calling them regularly to pay me up. Oh,well! Let's just put it this way, I am glad I am not in her feet. Where's the dignity in that?

With the real state boom in the Philippines, a lot of people want to own a house, but can you really, really, really afford to own one?

There is no shame on renting while everybody is owning a house left and right. With renting, you don't have to deal with house maintenance. If your faucet go kaboom, don't worry, Mr. or Mrs. Landlord will take care of that.

Sometimes, people forget that the economic financial crisis of '08 and '09 happened because people borrowed too much which ultimately led to the bursting of housing bubble. According to Ben Bernanke,"the 2008 financial crisis was worse that the Great Depression". So we better be careful.

Now, is the real state condition in the Philippines a bubble that will eventfully burst? That's up for debate.

 

How to be Frugal, Aside from the Obvious

Set aside all the frugal tips, weird or otherwise, found in this blog, all the penny watching that I am doing,too. There is one thing that really made me a certified frugal/cheap person:

The Law of Focus: whatever you focus on... grows.


You want to be good at applying make up? With the determination to learn, you will get there.

You want to be good at cooking? Again, with determination to learn, you will be good at it.

You want to be good at whatever you want to be good at? Determination is the key, and determination comes hand in hand with focus.


When you are determined to learn, you would "google" or "wiki" it. You would pick up books and read about it. You would watch countless videos on You Tube about it. It's as if time has stop to give way to your urge to learn. You'll pick up anything that has something to do with the subject. You become somewhat obsess about it. You then would want to practice what you learn. In short, you have been FOCUS about it, and with focus comes learning and growth.

Want to be frugal? Want to know personal finance? Investing? Stock Market? Economics? Then FOCUS about frugality, personal finance, etc.

You know how? It's simple, but it does need a lot of effort.

•  Follow personal finance bloggers and/or make a personal finance blog yourself.

 Unfollow beauty blogs and any blog that deals with consumerism. Unsubsribe to all beauty channel on You Tube. Don't read about the latest gadget out there. Instead, focus your attention on personal finance and follow blogs that writes about frugality or make frugal/personal blog yourself! Look for frugal blogger that fits your style, make them your role model.

Don't worry, this is just temporary. You won't be unsubscribing to all the beauty related blogger/vlogger for the rest of your life, unless you chose to. I am just suggesting to make your frugality/personal finance foundation as strong as possible before reading and watching beauty related stuffs,that way, you won't get tempted to buy and buy. Once your frugality muscle is well-developed, you would just plainly enjoy those beauty blogs, vlogs and hauls out there and not drool over the products mentioned or used.

Personally, I stopped watching beauty related You Tube videos for about a year. Within that year, I've become obsessed with personal finance and pour my efforts on learning about it. A year or so later, I could watch You Tube videos and haul without a hint of temptation. That's when I knew that my personal finance foundation is strong. Up until now, I don't get tempted at all. I watch haul and beauty related stuffs just for entertainment and to know what's new out there. It gave me the dose of as-if-I-shopped-but-glad-I-didn't, and for that, I thank all the personal finance authors of all the books I read for this unusual superpower!

• Read books,magazine or any write-ups about personal finance.

Don't just follow personal finance blogger, read the contents they posted, internalize it,comment to their posts, email them, get involve. The more you get involve, the more you feel like you are owning it, and the more you feel like you are a part of the whole community. It also a way of telling them how you value their online presence.

• Write your personal finance goal and post it on your wall or/and maintain a "Goal/Blessings Journal"

Want to own a house and lot, a car perhaps? Cut,print out or draw an image of a house and lot or a car you want to own and post it on wall,board, refrigerator or anywhere where you can easily see them. You can also make the image as your phone's screen saver or insert it on your wallet. 

I am big on "writing your goals" and the whole "visualization" thing. I post my goals on my wall. I get to read it everyday. It serves as a reminder on things I want to accomplish (see post here). And you wouldn't believe how it help me focus on my goals!

I also keep a separate journal that details how to get to my goal and what I would be after reaching that goal. When I am out and about, the journal comes to the rescue, helping me focus more on my goals. It is also where I write in detail the blessings I am enjoying. Whenever I feel down and want some extra boost, I read the "all about blessings" section of my journal and I'm instantly reminded on how blessed I am and how I've changed, from that girl who doesn't even know what ticker symbol means to that girl who already have Php 2 Million in stocks! (I know, I am bragging. I am just proud of myself! Sorry!)

My Beat Up Journal

And oh, if you happen to already have a personal finance blog, please let me know and I will gladly follow you. I don't discriminate, starters are gladly welcome! :)

Booze and Hangover Talks

I don't know how "hangover" feels like.

I tried liquor when I was in that I-don't-know-who-I-am phase or that identity crisis teenage phase, though.

I was in 3rd year high school when I had my first taste of booze. Everybody was doing it so I figured why not try it. As embarrassing as it is, peer pressure did get into me once.

My classmates and I, including my best(girl)friend would hang out under the bridge during recess, after school or whenever there was a school program. I remember going to that store across the street from our school and we would drink beer in a dark room provided by the store owner ( bad store owner!). We were all girls, just laughing and sharing embarrassing stories.

My impressions on beer: the urged to pee was overwhelming, it made our faces warm to the touch, and turned our faces beet red. We would then go back to school and people would question us on why our faces were so red. In which we would reply that it was because of the Maxi Peel we applied the night before and that because it was so hot!

So the drinking sessions continued until we were in our senior year. Almost all of the 4th year students were doing it! We would go to another town and hang out by the waterfall and we would just drink.

It might sound so wild but it wasn't really that bad. First, most of us were broke high school students and second, we won't overdrink coz we don't want to go home all wasted and stuffs!

To tell you honestly, I really don't like the taste of beer, Tanduay or any liquour. Now that I am older and I look back, it's all because of peer pressure. The need to be in, to belong. The need to not be called an outcast. I guess we go through that phase one way or another.

After high school, I did drink here and there but again, I never reached to that point of walking up with a hangover

And oh, I've never tasted liquor for about 4 years now! Not a drop, not a sip!

I now realized that I don't need to drink just to so people would accept me. To hell if they don't. I have my own life. I guess it's all about age, right? The older you get, the more you accept and kind of sort things out- what should your life be vs. what people think your life should be.

Up until now, I still wonder what it feels like to get wasted and wake up with a hangover. Hmmmm. But I ain't going there. I'll just sit here and wonder, but I won't go out of my way to experience it myself. I am over that stage already. Ever.