My Take of the 52 Week Challenge

It's close to two months now that I have started the 52 week challenge. I read it first in Frugal Honey's blog post. Intrigued of what it is, I also looked deeper and found her first blogpost about the challenge.

I said to myself, I think we can do this. Since it's 52 weeks, the end of the challenge will be seen next year only. I don't mind because from what I gather this is how investments should be and besides, it has this sense of excitement thinking what to purchase with the saving.

Oh crap! Actually, that should not be the goal though if you find it hard to save up for couple trips then this can be used.

Since this is someting new to me, I have decided to start small (something that I know can be believable). By next year, we would be able to think of what to do with the money. It's not that big actually but I think it will be enough to cover for airfare and a few days of accommodation in one of the tourist place in the Philippines.

Jill mentioned about sometimes forgetting to deposit on her jar so what I did - I created an alert in my phone to remind me that I need to put in a certain amount onto the challenge. So far so good, the alert has not failed me yet.

In case I would be completing this for 52 weeks, I intend to increase the amount and see (fingers crossed).

However, if I do get the opportunity to spend the pot money, these are the things that I might want to do with it.

Beach getaway with R
From the time we have arrived here in Manila, R barely had time to go out on our own. To be honest, I don't mind. I know being out of the country with only limited time to get to spend with your loved ones is something we have to deal with everytime we go for our annual vacation.

Now with no timetable to follow, we get to chill and have a real conversation with our families. I mean, do you notice when you are with an OFW, you choose what you say? You always weigh what information you share with them, why? Because you don't want them to worry.

Taken from our 2012 Trip to Boracay

I was thinking if we should go back to Boracay or go to another beach place like Montemar in Bataan. I want to be in the beach where it's not that busy. 

Stuff for the car 
One of our first purchases when we got home was to get ourselves a car. When we were in Dubai, we would always search for what is the suitable car for us. It's an AUV which is suitable for our future business needs. We thought since the car is kind of a huge investment we can start it off now so that it does not get us off-balance when we do set up a business. Besides, it is convenient riding a car even if there's traffic like almost anywhere!

Additional budget for the renovation 
And for the nth time, we have again (and I stressed that word again) had the house renovated because of the termites that have been creeping out of the house. I guess living in an old house, it happens. This entry altogether deserves another blog post (believe me)

These are my Top 3 things to do with the 52 week challenge.

How about you? What are you saving for? :)

Pinterest - is it Pinteresting? Really?

I think I was still in Dubai when I have noticed that there is a new website that is making itself known - Pinterest. 

For the first time in my tech life, I was not excited with it... I guess for the reason that I do not know what exactly to do with it. I mean, they say it will be like your personal corkboard / visual board of the things that you see online.

photo grabbed from www.inboundio.com

I shrugged it off because I was still obsessed then with BBM and Twitter.

Now that I have time in my hands and when I did an online writing gig two months back, Pinterest is slowly creeping up again... luring me to give it a try.

Honestly, I want to but I think I have to clear out my online space first. Though it is not like the physical stuff that you can see and be irritated that you are not doing anything (yep, like the mess on your table, just as an example), my virtual space is really messed up.

I have 3 email address that caters to different stuff (yeah, Hotmail, Gmail and Yahoo). I also use Pocket for my articles to read later, Zinio and Buqo to read my magazines for later, Kindle and Bluefire to read my books for later.... yes, that is how messy it is.

I was actually thinking of signing up and if it does not suit me, just forget about it later --- but I decided against it. I might just hold it up for a bit (is this me slowly turning into a non-techie person *gasp*???). Though I did a bit of research and Sheknows.com has actually provided a few insights on how some people have fallen in love with it and others got addicted to it (click here for the link on the article

Hopefully, I will organise myself virtually and make space to welcome an addition to my ever growing online apps / friends.

At WAR (kind of) with my laptop :S

Yes, I am having a hard time with my laptop right now.

I don't know if a lot of Apple users have been experiencing this but I am racking my brains out on what to do with the pinwheel.

Can you see the pinwheel?

Yes, the annoying pinwheel that has been making my online life a wee bit miserable. It is difficult to work on something when you see this object. Also, when you are trying to go fast because you are already late... the darn pinwheel just keeps taking it sweet time.

A friend of mine, an Apple fan, said that I should install Firefox because Safari kind of get's lola (like a granny) when you open up a lot of tabs. I looked at my Safari tabs and said, yep! that is what's happening to me.

photo grabbed from mozilla.org

So right now, I am using Firefox rather than Safari (I actually did not want to at first because I have been using Safari for sometime now and I do like it except this time, when Ms. Pinwheel keeps appearing). I have to say, the cameo appearance has been less frequent.

Apart from that, I also installed Ghostery. It is an extension or plug-in for Firefox that blocks windows that keeps popping up. You have the ability to block it or not which is cool for me because I now know which of these ads are making me suffer (boo!)

I guess, right now, my laptop and I are on a cease-fire. I hope it stays that way because I end up with a lot of backlog that I need to work on the laptop.

**Sorry for the rant but it is really annoying when you have your thoughts flowing and you have to wait for the pinwheel to disappear to write.... after all that waiting, I sometimes end up forgetting what I need to do in the end which is really a bummer!

Cookbooks and the Pocket App

I remember blogging about my ever-reliable Pocket app (I feel the same dependency with my Evernote app) here before.

I love that I am able to save recipes and articles found in the web or through Facebook. You see, the reason I have been collecting recipes is because I want to be a cook or a baker and start my own business.

There I said it.

If my online writing stint will fail me, my next career or business move is to be a baker. I know I am not artsy when it comes to cake decorations and all but I am hoping that I get to bring more of the quality to the product that I will be making.

image grabbed from http://www.acclaimclipart.com

With this, I collect recipes however it is not only the baking recipes that I have but also the "ulam" kind (main course). You know being married does that to you, I think. Everytime I whoop up a dish and R says he likes it, I am in Cloud 9. Of course I go one level up from the Cloud 9 feeling if he, out of the blue, asks me to do the dish again (I think he has only asked me to do that twice so it is beginning to be a challenge for me).

You see, R is also a cook and mind you, he does cook well (I am not being biased). Friends and family would rave of his Bulalo, his Sinigang na Salmon and his Binagoongan. Yes, I remember those dishes so well because I love them too. I am not sure if I sound like his marketer or campaign manager but they do love it.

I am waiting for my oven to arrive (courtesy of my good friends in Dubai - thanks guys!) and when it finally comes, I hope that all the recipes I have saved will be put to good use and that I will also be able to use the cookbooks that was given to me by my flatmates in Dubai.

I am getting excited!

What others are telling or asking us...

Are you trying out for another country? 

We are actually not. I may have blurted out a few times if we should go back to Dubai (especially when R gets his asthma attacks or when he is suffering from his allergies) however the decision to stay is really mutual.

So, what's the plan?

Actually, we don't know yet because we play it by ear. At the moment, we have contacted a few spaces that are for rent but it's either too step or it's already taken. I feel our progress is slow but I guess that is how it is especially since you are investing your hard-earned money. It is not something you can just say,"Nah I am pretty sure I can get that back".

So, what are you both doing?

I am trying to source some online stints while we search for our business. R on the other hand, busies himself by being my Mr. Handyman when I want things done in the house. That is another thing, I just realised that even if you stay in the house, you will definitely be busy... how? by arranging and re-arranging our stuff... or having to repair stuff in the house like plumbing, electrical, minor carpentry, etc. It is not the same in Dubai wherein you call the maintenance company of your building to make the necessary repairs.

I think I have covered the three basic questions we hear from time to time. I know our friends are not reading my blog but I am not sure if the questions came about because they are worried about us. At times, I am worried about us too. However, I choose to believe in my husband's fearless forecast of what business fits us... of course with prayers.

Why did I blogged about it? Because I also need a release from these questions. It, at times, causes me to panic but hopefully, the business opportunity will come very soon.

Goals and Planners

Apologies for my doodle, this is the best that I can do

Have you set your goals for the year? You still have time because technically, January is still not over. We have only reach the middle of the month so you still have plenty of time to lay them out.

For the past 2 to 3 years now, I have been writing up my goals for the coming year and at the same time, look over the goals that I have set for the past year. I have stopped writing resolutions since I started my goal-writing because I prefer to have a more positive outlook on what the year will be rather than sulking that I was not able to be true to my resolutions because I immediately failed (yes, at times, I fail on the second day! Yeah that bad!).

Looking back at my faith goals (yes, I have associated it with how our congregation calls it) for 2014, I have to say that most of my goals were achieved. Of course, there were still some that are not so I have carefully placed them in my faith goals for this 2015.

I feel like this year is centered to nurturing relationships between families and friends. In fact, I have made a goal to rekindle my relationship with friends and family members that I have lost touched over the years (being away from home does that to you though I have to say, it has also made me connect with some people who I never thought I will be connecting at all). I hope to be succesful in this goal.

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Apart from that, I thought of getting myself a planner. Yes, an actual planner to make me write stuff - ideas and other things. I was already in National Bookstore the other day and was in a lookout for an affordable planner armed with the plan that I have in my head. However, R stopped me and challenged me when he asked if I am going to use it.

I had to stop and answer that question - am I really going to use it? My sister has been gifting me with the sought after planners only for it to gather dust in our pile of stuff. Now that we need to be more mindful about our money, I know R has a point.

To be honest, I am glued to my phone most of the time. I list out our groceries there, set reminders for stuff that I have been monitoring, chat with my family, check my emails and more. At times, I also write my thoughts in my Evernote app.

I guess R is right so I've put down the planner that I have been eyeing. I am thinking if I can create my own or like what R suggested, maybe I can use last year's planner and just update it with the right year and day (hahahah! Talk about being stingy!!)

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What about you? Have you set any goals for this year?

Was I Busy?

Yes, I was and still is.

I feel bad that I have neglected my blog because I have been a bit busy online and offline. Well, to start off the festivities really was like a bug. People have been trooping to the mall to buy groceries for the upcoming noche buena and media noche. Apart from that, we had to brave the crazy, crazy traffic to do some errands.

In the end, I had to park my blogging skills a bit and enjoy the season.

Now, that it's over and almost everything is back to normal, I am hoping that I can also go back to blogging about stuff.

I still have a long list of things to do and errands to attend to but with R sleeping at this time, I am having a bit of "me" time and decided to just say HI to my readers, if there is any. This is also to let you know that the author of this blog is now back from her hiatus and will be giving you post after post of things that have been happening around her and in their life (well, not all hahahah!).

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2015. A fresh year to start anew. I have listed out the things that I have been thankful for 2014 and what I expect to accomplish and take place for 2015. According to our pastor in church, Pastor Joshua Galaraga, this 2015, we should go forward and expect more because greater things are about to happen.

I claim that declaration because I know that new beginnings will happen this year.

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Are you also ready to declare 2015 as your year?

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Sorry for the bursts of thoughts, it is just that I am so excited writing my first blog post for the year that everything is beginning to be like a blabber. Don't worry, I know I will be able to explain more about this in the coming days.

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Till my next blog post!