It is really not a matter of how much you earn

It really makes me sad when I encounter somebody who earns a lot (more than what I earn means 'a lot' for me) but who just saves in a bank and who thinks banks are the greatest investment facilities. I have nothing against banks. It's just that I don't recommend it as an investment facility. Mind you, banks are not investment vehicles. They are just there to cater for our emergency funds.

Let me ask you, how much is the salary of a manager? 50 thousand? 80 thousand? 100 thousand? Or even higher. No doubt their salary is way way bigger than mine. But let me tell you, the sad part when you earn more is you intend to increase your lifestyle to suit your status. The mindset goes like this, "Oh, I didn't have a good time when I was an 'ordinary employee'. Now that I'm a manager I should enjoy a lot. Anyway the company is there to feed me." And there goes the spending.

On the other hand, if the manager is a saver but is afraid of other types of investments like mutual funds and stock market then there is still a problem. Let me show you a computation so that you will understand. For example, the manager can save 50 thousand pesos per month but puts his/her money in a bank earning one percent (1%) per annum. The employee, on the other hand, can save 10 thousand pesos but puts his/her money in an investment facility which earns twelve percent (12%) per annum. Let us assume that the manager's age is 40 while the employee is 25. The manager has 20 years more to save while the employee has 35 years more before retirement. (Note: I am assuming that they will both retire at age 60.)

From the table above, it is clear that the 'regular employee' who saves lesser than the manager has a whopping 58 million pesos worth of retirement fund while the manager who saves in a bank has a retirement fund of 13 million pesos.

It only shows that, it is not important whether you have big money or small money. The thing is, you regularly save and invest in the right vehicle. Thirteen million is not bad. But if the manager knows the right facility then he could have accumulated more.

~till then

Potatoes with Tuna Salsa

Ingredients:

Potatoes

Tuna (flakes in oil)

Tomatoes (cut into cubes)

Onion (minced)

Salt

Pepper

Instructions:

Slice potatoes thinly then deep fry.

Mix tuna, tomatoes and onion in a small bowl.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Arrange potatoes around the salsa and then serve.

~till then

OC Salad

Ingredients:

Lettuce

Pears

Carrots

Tomatoes

Cold Salad

Mayonaise

Calamansi

Instructions:

Arrange all ingredients as shown in picture.

Sprinkle Calamansi juice all over and then serve.

~till then

Boracay Astoria de Boracay Story!

While walking along the shores of boracay, a man in white tshirt approach us and offered us a free buffet dinner. Wow, I was amazed and curious about it so my girlfriend asked what's the catch. The guy told us that there's nothing, it's just a way of promoting the Astoria hotel.

So we decided to go with it, after all the free dinner is a win win for us. The dinner starts at 6:00 pm so just past 6 we walk our way to station 1 where it is located. As we approach the hotel, we were introduced to one of the managers. He told us the we can have the free dinner and after that there will be 90 minute presentation about the hotel. With a live band and good dishes we enjoyed our one hour free dinner. The food was great. However, we are still wondering what’s in exchange for this wonderful dinner.

After the sumptuous dinner we were introduced to one of the salespersons. She started her talk by getting to know more of us. She then introduced the new marketing strategy of Astoria, the timeshare. It is a form of ownership or right to use a property usually a hotel or condominum. For more info on timesharing, you can refer to this wikipedia link .

To avail of the benefits of their timeshare, you must have to pay the membership fee and on top of that is an annual maintenance fee which is almost 10,000 pesos. The membership fee is quite big but she warned us at the start that if the membership fee would largely affect our financial status then it’s better not to avail it. The membership fee ranges from 300k to 500k but because they are in promo they oferred us a 20% discount. She presented some payment terms to pay the membership fee and a 25K is needed at the start.

We told her we don't have that big amount of money. We asked if we can have more time to research about it but she insisted that the offer only stands for just one night. She was very firm with the “one night only” offer so we declined it.

We thought that this was a very big financial decision for us so we needed more time to research and think it over. We thought that the offer will be good for those above middle class family who are constantly having their vacation. We also think that the “one night only” is not a good marketing strategy. We believe that clients should be given time to research and consult among their circle of influence.

Upon getting home, I googled Astoria, and read some good and bad comments about it.

Our advice is, before jumping to any financial decision, you must do your research.

~till then

Boracay Hotel Hopping!

My initial IT was fun-filled with all the activities I could think of. But Paul wanted to relax while in Boracay so he insisted that our itinerary be simplified. I agreed but I refused to delete this activity - hotel hopping.

Enjoy!

Discovery Shores

(the best hotel in Boracay! *we think!)

Fridays Boracay

Ambassador in Paradise

Astoria de Boracay

(click here for Astoria Story)

Boracay Regency

Alta Vista de Boracay

~till then