Some Lesson Learned

You have noticed on the changes on my site’s theme. I decided to give it a face-lift and do some major changes. This time for the better and I am going green (let us save the earth). I still couldn’t find of a better background so for the time being I will stay on this one. Hope you like it.

Years back when I was still working in HongKong I tried to go into business. After several pitfalls, piggery and mango spraying, the rest were successful, profits were earned and the money invested were recovered (sigh of relief).

Important lesson learned over these years are (for OFWs). There was survey from Inquirer that 76 percent of OFW fail to succeed in their business. Reasons to name a few were the money ended up borrowing by our relatives.

You must learn how to manage time, money, and people. I say have an ample amount of patience.

Any dealings regardless if it is your relatives, brother or sister, put it in black, i.e. put everything on paper/record. Have them notarized.

Never ever extend loan without collaterals. When giving out loan, don’t provide a thousand, give them tens of thousands - and secure for an appropriate collateral! Land, house and lot, farms, or an existing business are necessary. If they are your relatives, and you are an OFW, and you loaned them some money without any collaterals, sorry but think of it as a donation.

When you come home and you have tons of money - pretend that you don't have them. Let your money sleep for months in banks - until good and cheap opportunities present themselves.

When you go into business, always be creative, and watch your market, and your competitor constantly.

And once you learned, and have thought your money to do the working for you. I can guarantee that no matter how much you got - you will always be out of capital. Seek financing somewhere else.

Seek your people's knowledge - they, most of the time, know more about the business than you!

Be generous and give to charities.

Take care of your health, do a regular exercise. We are all getting old.

Last and most of all, don’t forget to look above and thank Him
for all our Blessings.

Holiday Shopping Safety Tips

The holiday season is a time when people are busy and can become careless, vulnerable to theft and other holiday related crimes. Shopping during the holiday season can present unique dangers. Taking a few preventive measures can help keep your holiday season joyous and safe.

• Dress casually and comfortably
• Shop during daylight hours whenever possible. If you must shop at night, go with a friend or family member and park in well lit areas, even though you are rushed and thinking about a thousand things, stay alert to your surroundings.
• Beware of strangers approaching you for any reason. At this time of year, con artists may try various methods of distracting you with the intention of taking your money or belongings.
• Do not buy items from strangers who might be trying to fence shoplifted items.
• Avoid overloading yourself with packages. It is important to have clear visibility and freedom of motion to avoid mishaps.
• Secure all packages in the trunk of your car. Do not leave packages in open sight.
• Shop at well on-line sites and ship gifts directly to out of town family and friends. Many stores offer shipping services also.
• Avoid wearing expensive jewelry
• Do not carry large purses or wallets.
• Be extra careful if you do carry a wallet or purse. They are the prime targets of criminals in crowded shopping areas, transportation terminals, bus stops, on buses and other rapid transit.
• Carry your identification card along with minimum necessary cash, checks and credit cards and expect to use.
• Pay for purchases with a check or credit card when possible
• Keep cash in your front pocket
• Keep a record of all of your credit card numbers in a safe place at home
• Notify the credit card issuer immediately if your credit card is lost, stolen or misused.
  

Send Money Free

As was advertised on this week’s Filipino Asian Journal newspaper, for your first transaction using the coupon, here’s what to do:
1) Go to xoom.com, or click the logo on the right side of this webpage, and type in the information; contact, recipient, and the amount you want to send
2) Select delivery method; cash pick up, home delivery or direct deposit at their participating banks; be sure to use the coupon code MABILIS965 (this offer expires 10/31/2006)
3) Select a payment method; bank account, credit card or Paypal information
4) Let your recipient know the money is on the way, xoom.com will email the receipt and tracking information.

I have used Xoom for awhile and I haven't encounter any problems so far, and as what promised delivery was always on time.
The other reasons are:
Low fees – up to 80% cheaper than Western Union and MoneyGram’s online services, you can send as low as US$3.50
Convenience – you can transfer money anywhere and anytime they are online
Reliability – offers the customer a 100% satisfaction guarantee, you don't want your hard earned money to go up in ht eair
Flexibility – unlike with traditional money transfer companies, you have different choices of delivery options, they offer direct deposit to a bank account, cash pick up, secure debit cards, or home delivery.
Pick up locations are everywhere, to name a few, Equitable PCI, Cebuana Lhuillier, One Network Bank .

Disadvantage? I noticed that their exchange rate is somewhat lower compare to other Filipino owned door to door services. So before you decide, you may want to used the calculator to compare the fees on delivery against the exchange rate.

Should we do Online Banking?

If you have a computer and write more than a handful of checks each month, I urge you to start managing your money online. Some 53 million people bank online, and many of them pay their bills with just a few clicks of the mouse. The recipients don’t need online accounts; the bank can mail them a check.
Online banking can helps build wealth. Every time you log on, you see how much money is in your account, which helps prevent you from bouncing checks. You can have your paycheck deposited automatically in a money market savings account, where it earns interest. When you’re ready to pay bills, you can transfer money from savings to your checking account in seconds. Plus, online banking makes it easy to set up automatic payments. Your bank is safe enough. If a hacker swipes your money, the bank is liable. And I figure I’m safer because I don’t carry a checkbook.