8 Ways to Keep Safe When Out Shopping

Shoppers this one is for you, here are tips to avoid losing money or important possessions when shopping in malls and other public places. 

1. Bring only the exact amount of money you need.
2. Bring only a limited number of credit cards.
3. Keep your bag close to you at all times. When dining, avoid placing your bag on the chair beside you. Place it on your lap instead.
4. Avoid keeping all your money in your bag. Put some of your money in your pockets.
5. Move away from dark places and avoid using isolated comfort rooms.
6. When inside an elevator, make sure that suspicious looking strangers don;t try to sandwich you.
7. Position yourself sideways on the escalator so you can see the person in front and behind you.
8. When you suspect that someone is stalking you, immediately report it to a security officer.

Simple Steps in Saving Money

Saving money doesn't have to be an unreachable dream. Check out some practical steps to help you stop living from paycheck to paycheck.

• Set saving goals. Figure out what you need to save for, how much and how long you need to save ( could be short term or long term). Set an attainable time frame or you might get discouraged.

• Figure out how much you'll have to save per paycheck or per month. Total your savings goals. Can you afford to save that much for each period? Make sure your saving is your priority and not a leftover consideration.

• Keep a record of your expenses. Write down all your expenses on a given period and assess them. Think about your priorities, and make cuts that you can live with.

• Reassess your savings goals. If you really can't fit in your savings goals into your budget, check the goals and cut out the less important goals or adjust the time frame.

• Make a budget and stick to it. Now that you've managed your income with your savings goals and your spending, write down a budget you can live with. try to leave room for unexpected expenses.

Money And Frugality Tips

Being frugal doesn't mean being a miser. It just means using restraints in your resources so you can achieve lasting and more fulfilling goals. Below are some tips on how you can live this way:

1. Buy a used car. The most expensive miles on a car are the first 10,000. So let someone else drive those for you. You save a lot of money considering how little value the car has actually lost.

2. Be patient. Don't buy that new gadget today even if everyone has it. Wait a month or two and the price will certainly go down.

3. Buy airline tickets as far in advance as possible. Buy at least two months in advance and you'll get the cheapest rates. For holiday travel especially, buy as soon as you can.

4. Never buy extended warranty. New products usually come with a 90 day or one year warranty anyway.

5. Make your own meals. Eating out is expensive if you do it often.

6. Get a better cell phone plan. If you've been using the same cell phone plan for two years, chances are there's something better out there. Call your mobile provider to find out.

7. Be bank wise. A lot of banks charge you checking fees or minimum account balance fees. Find a bank that does not.

Simple tips to Organize Your Kitchen

Be more efficient with meal preps with these tricks:

• Place dry goods including milk powder, flour and sugar in clear plastic containers so you'll know when supplies are dipping low.

• Clear the counter so you won't have to move stuff around while cooking.

• Stow away rarely used appliances in the gap between the cabinet top and ceiling.

• Pack and put away anything unused in the last six to 12 moths. Donate or give away anything untouched for more than a year.

• Invest in drawer dividers to organize items and locate them faster.

• Add a bookcase or dresser, wheeled cabinets or rolling metal racks for extra storage.

Home Office Do's and Don'ts

If you intend to give up a real office to work at home. Here are tips for doing it right.

• Pick a conductive work area. Setting up shop in the bedroom or kitchen won't work. The best choice is a room with a door to serve exclusively as your home office, even if it's just a small storage space at the back of the house.

• Establish house rules. Set down office hours and a don't disturb if it's not an emergency policy, and have everyone observe it (or at least try to).

• Avoid distractions. Lock the door and wear earplugs if needed to drown out the sound of the TV set, the phone ringing or the doorbell chiming (unless it's the kids clubbing each other). The optimal time to work: between 12 midnight and 4 a.m.

• Dress up for work. Adopt your corporate routine - take a bath and put on proper office attire. Not bothering to change your duster will send the message that you're not taking your work seriously.
  

Save Money by Using Passive Barriers in your Personal Finance

A passive barrier is something that makes the normal activity more difficult. You can use passive barriers in your personal finance to prevent yourself from spending money.

• Not having your credit cards in your wallet. If you are prone to impulse buying through your credit card, take those cards out of your wallet and leave them at home. When you find yourself at the mall, it becomes easier to walk away from the impulse. You could also delete your card from any online service you use.

• Not passing by the mall. If you don't see the latest in thing or the sale, then you won't know what you're missing. And you won't be tempted to spend.

• Not buying piecemeal. You save money by buying your groceries every salary period instead of at the corner grocery store every time you need to buy something. Bulk items are cheaper and you avoid the temptation of buying whatever takes your fancy when you visit the store.
  

Guidelines in Owning a House

Many of us look forward to owning our very own house and even consider them as an investment. Others, however, would say that a house is not much an investment as it is a liability, incurring for owners debts and expenses that can take decades to pay off. Below are some tips on buying or owning a house.

• don't spend more than 40% of your monthly income on the amortizations for your home. Don't reach out for the stars if it will kill you financially.

• Investigate different types of mortgages. There are many types of mortgage options. Check what's best before deciding.

• Buy a house that needs repairs. Buy it cheap and you can add value with the repairs. This will save you money.

• Deal directly with the seller. This will save you agent's fees. If you want to use an agent, make sure you're calling the shots and the agent is on the same page as you.

• Negotiate the selling price. Home prices are almost always negotiable. So haggle. Offer a price that's a few percentage below its asking price.

• Refinance your mortgage. If you can cut at least 1% on your mortgage, then refinance it.
  

Tips to make your husband feel loved

I have found this great article on our library clippings, and I hope wives out there can read this. Wanna score with your husband? Here are some tips on how you can make him feel loved.

1. Appreciate his work. Let him know that you understand the stress he endures at the office.

2. Don't criticize him in public. If you have to disagree with him, do it privately.

3. Do away with habits that annoy him.

4. Stop nagging him about things you want him to change in himself. If someone has to change, let it be you.

5. Be vocal with your gratitude for the things he does for you. Try to keep you "to-do" list for him at a minimum.

6. Give him special attention instead of always focusing on your children's needs.

7. Instead of waiting for him to remember your anniversary, plan a celebration and kidnap him yourself.

Camiguin 2010: Soda Swimming Pool

The 4th stop in our tour of Camiguin is the Soda Swimming Pool. The name itself was intriguing to me since, some locals would say that the pool taste like soda, WHOAAAA, really, my mind was already filled with questions like what would it taste like?? coke perhaps or maybe pepsi hehehehehe. As we arrive at the site. When I look at the pool, hmmm its just your typical swimming pool, so i ask a local who's taking a dip at the pool, why was it called Soda Swimming Pool? he said to jump to the pool and taste it yourself to know it. WHATTTTT. I told to myself, is this guy serious he wanted me to taste the pool to see if it's really taste like soda( the pool where a number of unknown stranger have dive in to carrying with them whatever dirt or disease in their body, not to mention maybe someone has secretly piss on the pool "EXAGGERATING IN THIS ONE BUT IT CAN HAPPEN") and he want me to drink it!!! of course i wont drink it. Lucky me there was this one person who said that this was called the Soda Swimming Pool because of its resemblance to the bubbly characteristic of a soda. Ohhh so that's it. hmmm. If you decide to come to Camiguin with your friends and you happen to visit this place, don't tell them the secret ok hahahahaha, it would be a good prank to put on your friends (LET THEM TASTE IT HEHEHEHE).

Eat All You can at Tita D'z Buffet

I really like to go to an eat all you can buffet. Paying just 99 pesos for an eat all you can is a nice price for a heavy eater like me, well most men are. What I like about this place is that it can be found in the heart of downtown area at Iñigo Street, Davao City. And the most important of all, of course is the food, and they have plenty of it. Although my favorite kinilaw wasn't served yet. There were other tasty foods already served such as.

Chicken Curry



Fishy fishy - Tilapia



Cholesterol friendly Crab hehehehehe and many more...

And some tasty desserts



Tita D'z one of the delicious and affordable eat all you can here in Davao City

Pizza Hut at the Gaisano Mall Davao

Today is Lady's birthday( my brother Seigfred's wife). My father wanted to treat her to eat at Pizza Hut. I never did like Pizza Hut but I also don't hate it. But with just what happened today, Pizza Hut will be not be on the top of my list anymore. While ordering for our food, my wife told me to take pictures of the place and then the menu, but while I'm taking picture of the menu, the waitress suddenly stop me from taking pictures of the menu, saying it was against the management order. Well, I did stop and even deleted the picture on my cam, but I was disappointed at what happened. I told my wife will it hurt them if a took a picture of what's inside their menu? Competitors wont copy whats inside the menu because there's no ingredient of the food there. And the price? Common, their price is no secret to all (for me they are too expensive, way too expensive). And to add more to my disappointment, after we finished eating, we ask for a glass of water and SURPRISE, they cant serve us water because they haven't washed the glasses yet(haven't wash the WHAT? They have plenty of employees who were just standing around doing nothing,) and a simple request of water is not hard to do ( a poor service on their part, very poor). I hope their management can do something about this.

Apples Anyone???

I like apples, whenever I go home from work, i always buy apple from a nearby fruit stand. But did you know that.

• There are 7,500 varieties of apples grown throughout the world.

• The largest apple ever picked weighed 3 pounds.

• China is the largest producers of apples. The US, Turkey, Poland and Italy round out the top 5.

• Apples ripen six to ten times faster at room temperature than if they were refrigerated.

• It takes energy from 50 leaves to produce 1 apple.

• One apple provides as much as one-fifth of the recommended daily intake fiber.

• Apple juice was one of the earliest prescribe antidepressant.

• Apples may help you loose weight. A Brazilian study showed that 300 overweight women who ate 3 apples per day lost more weight than a similar group who didn't add fruit to their diet. Researchers believe that adding fruit to the diet of the overweight women changed their metabolic profiles.

• Apple bruise easier than eggs break.