Cheche's Family Matters

My first job in California

2009-05-20T12:47:00.000+08:00

After a few days, I found a new job for now at home. Making our home a real home sweet home. Hopefully sorting into gardening will keep me tied up for awhile.

I found these petunias on sale along Carmel Mountain road garden store, one of my first hands on in gardening.

I had the weeds taken of the front yard, and added flowers around the unknown tree. What about a queen palm in the middle of it. Palm still on sale for $19.95 on seven gallon in Home Depot.

Moving on...

2009-05-10T07:59:00.002+08:00

After 5 months of waiting… thank you, God is really great. I finally received our visa. We are going to visit my hubby and see how things are looking out there. Hopefully if everything looks fine, we will be settling with him. It’s been awhile since we haven’t been together and I can’t wait to have our family back again. And better yet, who doesn’t want to taste the sunny weather of California. I would like to see how it is there, how he is doing financially as he mentioned how tough life in his area in this time of recession. I will be missing my mother who has been so brave in dealing with her health condition, please continue your fight and hang tight there, my father who will be looking after my apartment dealings and handling over my auto supply business, my sisters, relatives and friends who have been supportive to me in my day to day financial affairs. I will be away from them but not quite. We maybe far a distance but we will still be closed as always. And you know the miracles of communication – internet, emails, chatting, webcam.

Just A Thought

2009-04-12T10:13:00.004+08:00

Though I haven’t had any activity in my blog recently, I have been so busy tending to my parents health affair. My dear mother who has been sick for the last three weeks has been in and out of the hospital. I wish I could do something miracle, yet I am aware there is only One who could do so. With the help from friends, relatives, neighbors, love ones -prayers and faith will be our guiding light in coping our mother's ailing condition.

As I was busy googling the internet searching for some cures, something caught my attention. You are looking at the winning poster from a 4th grader. The purpose of the contest is to introduce young people to the concept of financial literacy, and allow them to express their understanding of it through art. This year, more than 4,000 posters were received illustrating the theme of ‘I’m going to be a millionaire because I….
Jenna beat out a bunch of other entries.
And you know why…

moneywisepostercontest.org

10 Financial Commandments

2009-04-03T10:39:00.002+08:00

I read this article last night on the MSN and I am enticed on what the author listed. I know most of us have done these, a good thing, I am in my mid thirty’s.

1. Pay off your nonmortgage debt.
I agree on this 100 percent. I should have no debt except for mortgage and if there is one like a car where we need to commute to work, then it must be a reasonable one.

2. Kick the debt cycle altogether.
The author said “What good is it to pay off your loans only to take out another one and rack up more debt? An easy way to save for big-ticket items -- and avoid going back into debt -- is to put money you would have used for monthly debt payments and interest charges into a savings account. For instance, after you make that final $300-a-month student-loan payment, keep making an equal payment to yourself. After one year, you'll have $3,600 saved."
My hubby and I are planning of doing this. We have a credit card loan with an annual rate 9.9 percent per year and we are planning to apply a loan to payoff that loan using his 401k for 3 percent. I hope this will happen soon.

3. Get serious about retirement.
Being in our thirtyish is when we saw surprising growth in our 401k. Unfortunately the market has taken it back much of its gains. In the long run, we should be better. We were just lucky and able to timed up building our passive income.

4. Diversify your investments.
We tried our best to diversified most of our hard earned money were it’s been distributed to 401k, savings deposits, cd’s, income properties, and with my small business.

5. Continue to learn.
I have been continually educating myself. I often read financial books. Even the emails coming from readers and friends, it’s an experience that I like to pass on.

6. Protect your assets.
It’s our hard earned money and our security when we are ready to retire.

7. Live simply.
Unless you make a lot of money, you really can’t have everything at once. I would rather wait and save until I can afford that something. I am glad that my hubby and I live simply. We live in an affordable area and make a decent living and this is something were not everyone has the advantage. And I say we’re lucky, and thankful, and blessed. We still made the decision to live in a small house. Though not our dream house, we haven’t done any improvement on it.

8. Make your will known.
We are not really used to it. We are going to plan this out this coming months.

9. Get a life…insurance policy.
Being an owner of a small business, I never thought about having one. But at least my hubby has one from his employer.

10. Be charitable.
My family tithe but we could do better in giving. We give away our used clothings, used materials, still we could do better.

Reading the ten financial commandments makes me comfortable. I am feeling better at my husband and I on our accomplishment in our thirty’s. Sooner we will be in our forty’s and new commandments on the way.

A Welcome Start to My New Venture

2009-03-17T10:19:00.003+08:00

I have my newly built apartment fully rented now. What a welcome start to my real estate venture in my hometown. I was quite surprised that such turnover happened at a quick phase. I recalled during the construction phase where I made my conservative speculation. That it would take me at least two months before I could fully rent it. This is due to the availability of apartments around the area. However, after a thorough observation doing my own survey, I found out that fifty percent of those apartments are old and needing upgrade. They lack the appeal to the wannabe tenants where most of them are in the mid thirty’s. I’d better lend my ear to what this group of people are looking for. Overcrowded tenants, such congested places creating negative comments from walks of life surely will scare them away, too. And yet after all, location still plays an important part of it. When I was still building my project, I noticed that people walking by kept asking of when the apartment will be ready for occupancy not minding the cost of the monthly rent.

And so after a week of completion and had my ribbon cutting done, I put up my sign. I ran three kinds of advertisement:

One - I printed out signs the size of regular printing paper and had it nailed on two electrical posts just between the vicinity of the location. Then, I posted another sign by my auto shop.
Two - I posted on the internet, forum section of sulit.com and entrepreneur.com, and
Third - is thru word of mouth.

Through out my posting, I received a lot of calls, text messages and emails. Every time I responded back I asked them of where they got the info. I found out that
seventy percent of the inquires got it from the posted signs, fifty percent were thru word of mouth (thanks to my friends and relatives, without their support, this won’t materialized), and fifteen percent were from the internet.
Of all those inquires, and after inspecting the place, various reasons came up again, on how they got turned down or why they turned it down:

1) Too many occupants. For a two bedroom renting by five, I believe its plain and simple too much. Rent includes free water supply, so my water pump and electricity consumption will suffer for too many users. Too many people living in a cramped place possess a safety issue. The area gets too warm to live, and sure enough most of their appliances will be running most of the time, like tv, stove, electric fan, etc. One more thing is unnecessary noise around the area creating an unpleasant neighborhood.
2) They couldn’t afford the down payment. I was asking a one month deposit plus a month of advance payment. I need this assurance incase my tenants suddenly vacate the place.
3) They found out that the place is too far from their work places.

For now, theses are just my thoughts, my observation… and as I go along, I am expecting more headaches will arise, more complains from left and right, more lessons to learn, more experiences to gain, more cash flow in hand, this makes my hubby a happy camper, and more ventures to follow. These will come up along this new found endeavor in my dealing. But first, let me not forget my important part in my family, for I am still a mother, a housewife, a homemaker, and a wife to an ofw.

I'm Taking A Week Off

2009-03-03T11:19:00.005+08:00

After completing my project, it's about time to reward myself off. I'm taking a week off somewhere in that island.

That means no:
early wake up
telephone calls
text messages
traffic noise
music
internet
electricity
shopping
malling

My Apartment Project is Finally Completed

2009-02-26T11:49:00.006+08:00

Done with my project….

Here we are, after fifty one days of construction, my two door apartment is finally completed.

This will be my last post of series regarding my project.

Looking on my excel sheets, and a box of shoes of receipts, total expenses for this two door, 27sqm each door, two room apartment is P324,430.

Total building materials – P254,785.

Food and Labor – P66,500.

This includes payment for the Meralco fixer, P12,000 (P6,000 each) electrical meters installation, municipal application and inspection.

Ribbon cutting by one of the sponsor, Lola Ruby

Father Fransisco presiding

A bucket of coins, anyone?

Prepping on blessings day

Progressive Village Lot Property

2009-02-24T12:34:00.003+08:00

After a month of hectic negotiations, I finally closed the deal on the 360 square meters lot property located in Progressive Village. This is approximately two kilometers away from my current apartment project. The owner was previously asking for P3,500 per square meters but I was able to lower down to 2778/sqm… of which will cost my wallet an even P1M. Good thing no there is no real estate agent involved.

I noticed that lot property prices around this city varies so much that if you are not careful in doing your homework well, could drive you nuts. As a matter of fact, there is just this neighbor of that said property who is unknowingly selling their 180 sqm lot for P900k. Added to this, just two months ago my sister purchased a 180 sqm lot for P830k in Celestino area. That’s P4,400/sqm! Way up from the current zonal values! You may find your areas zonal values thru this Bureau of Internal Revenue link.

For now, my plan is to hold on to this property and see if I can sell for a higher profit. Divide this lot into two and sell the other half to my sister. My third option is put up another apartment project. Oh well….

A Quick Guide to Buying Property

2009-02-21T13:54:00.003+08:00

I recently made my purchased on a property (this is how I conceived my blogsite), although a realtor agent took care mostly of the processing, as I went along with it, every now and then I learned something new. As everyone is aware of, buying property is not easy as we thought would be. You may think of a simple piece of property that look idle and abandoned for years with clean documents, but still we need to be careful and do our research since we don’t want to have that hard earned money blow up in the air.

Here are some tips that I would like to share with you:

1. Ensure that the title, also known as TCT “Transfer of Title Certificate” is real. One way to find out if it is authentic is by getting a “Certified True Copy” from the Register of Deeds. This office is usually located at the city or municipal hall where the property is located. In my town of Bacoor, I have to go to the provincial capital of Trece Martires City. Request from the seller of the property for a photocopy of the title. You will need the title number and the name of the owner to get a certified true copy of the title from the Register of Deeds.

2. Verify that the title is clean, that the property is not mortgaged, no liens and encumbrances of whatsoever on the said property. Read each pages of the Title and watch out for additional typewritten documents. Read the back page title with the heading “Encumbrances”. Sometimes the space is for the technical description of the property on the front page of the Title is not enough and the description of the property is continued on “Encumbrances” page, which is of course fine.

3. You want to make sure that the land described on the Title is really the land that you are buying. You can validate this at the Register of Deeds or by hiring a private surveyor or geodetic engineer. Land Titles don’t have any street name and number to pinpoint such property. You must confirm that the actual property you are buying matches the technical description on the Transfer Certificate of Title.

4. Make sure that the sellers are the real owners. If you are buying from an individual property owner, ask for identification papers like passport or driver’s license. It is also a good idea to talk to the neighbors to confirm the identity of the sellers as well as some history of the property. When I paid the seller, I made an unannounced visit to their residence, but then I changed my mind that I made the payment to their bank account instead.

5. Verify that the yearly real estate taxes are paid. Ask for a copy of the Tax Declaration to confirm that real state tax payments are up to date.

Good luck on your buying.

You may want to check these other sources:
http://real-estate-guide.philsite.net
www.islandsproperties.com
www.philippine-real.info

Family’s One less Worry

2009-02-17T00:54:00.004+08:00

Finally I sold my two wheels, my scooter, Sym Jet 100. I bought it new in 2000 at a cost of P45,000. Odometer registered 18,043 kilometers on it. There were lots of repairs and maintenance that were done. The main battery was replaced twice. I had the muffler overhauled twice, too. I replaced the brakes five times. And lately at the time I sold it, the auto start shut down, I had to manual start it. The used to be loud high pitch horn surrendered its volume. The shiny waxed paint had faded and lost its appeal. And the right tail light cracked due to getting bumped by passersby.

I sold it for P20,000 from an annoying buyer that after the sale transaction, kept bugging and begging me for another P1,000 discount harassing with text messages that lasted three days.

It has become so risky driving a two wheel transport in my area. The narrow streets, congested traffic, lots of passerby, too many standbys, and the commuters’ attitude towards each other. The thought of being too prone to accidents has been a worrisome that I decided to sell it.

I am going to miss the scooter, my main companion for the last five years commuting between home and business. I have to get rid of it for heaven’s sake and rather be safe, that I stopped driving it for awhile....

A one less worry from the family.

On Valentine's Day

2009-02-14T13:30:00.003+08:00

You're the best thing that could ever happen to any man. I consider myself to be the luckiest man alive to be part of your life. No words can describe what I feel when I'm with you and I know that no words will describe what I'll feel if I'm ever without you. May we spend the first and last of our Valentine's Day together...your Botche

More photos of my two door apartment project

2009-02-12T10:02:00.013+08:00

Window installation on 25th day

Started concrete wall finishing on 31st day

This is the fourth of a series of my posts on building my two door apartment project. I’m on the 36th day of construction now and with staggering expenses of P275,000 and counting…and ouchhh, when will this end…
Construction is on its final stages, concrete wall finishing, electrical and plumbing layout, bathroom and kitchen and sink tiling.

Looking on details of ceiling

More on bill of materials:

Quarter “C” round x8ft = P47
Quarter “C” round 10ft = P58
Quarter “C” round 12ft = P70
Paint 1 Pail Roof Sheen, Spanish Red = P1750
Bathroom and Kitchen Sink, Tile 8” x 8” = P9.50
Paint, 1 Pail, Latex Flat (Nation brand) = P1150
Paint, 1 Pail, Latex Gloss (Nation) = 1600
Paint, 1 Pail Latex with color = P2100
Faucet Plastic = P80
Shower shut off valve, Plastic = P250
Electrical, one half Pvc Pipe, Orange, Neltex brand = P85
Ordinary, non brand, Electrical PVC Pipe = P55
Electrical Switch box 30 Amp Rating = P220
Electrical Wire Stranded #8 = P46/meter
Electrical Wire Stranded #10 = P39/meter
Electrical Conduit pipe three fourth size = P495
Electrical G bushing rod 1” x3/4” = P33

and on 34th day.......

A Simple Way of Improving One's Health

2009-02-10T12:16:00.002+08:00

I’m in my mid thirties, pretending to be in shape, with a curvy shape, for a quick look, but a little extra padding in front of me. As I get older, I have notice that I am not only gaining weight, with my shoulder arms keeps growing and more eye bugs in the morning. The more I stare at the mirror the more I feel uncomfortable. Every now and then I feel my physical well being is slowly deteriorating. Why did I say that? When the clock rings in the morning I tend not to get up. And when I do, it feels like I am falling apart, a crack in my back, a pain in my lower joints, a fainting headache as I stand up for a walk. I’m stress out for no apparent reason, and unable to sleep. With my previous routine, where waking up late after watching late night shows, and surfing the net, rushing up in the morning, smelling the aroma of that fresh coffee to dip that pandesal, and speeding up my motorbike to auto supply to beat that 9 o’clock tick. There, I would get stuck in my chair with the internet and phone buried in front of me for hours. Or sometimes laying out in my couch listening to those sleepy tunes. The only time I get out of my chair was when a customer knocks in.

Lately, I decided to change my course. I have to do something before it gets worst. I was reading some health magazines and found out that with an extra time and a little effort, we can make a difference, physically and mentally.

Like staying outside for at least an hour a day helps us boost out health. Health experts state that just being outside brings a welcome calm and perspective to our busy lives.

By becoming active. Thirty to sixty minutes of activity per day is good enough. Good health depends on daily exercise. So jump on that stationary bike or do the exercise of your choice, and watch our mood goes up, our stress decrease, and maintain our weight.

What about getting enough sleep. Sleep is as important to feeling great as diet and exercise. So if you feel tired, take a nap. Also, try and set up your bedtime as a relaxing time. Sleep helps rejuvenate our body and plays a crucial role in our health.

Relax our mind. Many experts suggest we should meditate for at least ten minutes a day to help beat stress. If you don’t like to meditate, find a quiet place to relax.

Eating a healthy diet by incorporating the “5 a day rule” of fruits and vegetables to ensure we receive essential nutrients, think of our body like a high performance vehicle having a quality fuel will prevent as from breaking down.

My Frugal Way of Communicating With My Love One

2009-02-03T10:41:00.006+08:00

Other than regular email and post office letters, these medium of communicating with my hubby has been a part of my daily life:

Text messages – we use Smart for sending text messages. My hubby carries with him two cellphones. One with the local number here and has been set up for international roaming. This is the cell number where I send text messages and cost to me is only P1.00. Every two or three months I have to load his cell for the minimum amount. In this case, the Smart will not disconnect his roaming number. The other cellphone is his regular cell he carries with him at his job. This is where he sends his response to me. His text messages cost him approx. $.25 per text.

Yahoo messenger – this is our regular way of chatting.

Skype – a lot better for voice chatting, clearer webcam and way faster in sending large files.

Chikka Text – we seldom use this kind, only when he is online and wants to send text messages to me. For us to continually use it, I have to reply thru Chikka text after three free messages and it cost me P2.50 per text.

We are quite satisfy with this system, and of course as you had experienced, too, during holiday season were receiving text messages are delayed sometimes for an hour, often disconnections on chats, and intermittent voice chats.
I am still looking for other free alternatives if not cheaper ones... I do not even recall if we ever resorted to phone cards.
So, goodbye phonecards and expensive land line charges, hello internet!

My 2 Door Apartment Project 3

2009-01-25T11:16:00.005+08:00

How the Galvamast looks like

I'm on the 22nd day of construction, and so far I have spent P194,000. This amount include the daily breakfast, lunch, and am/pm snacks for the laborers. On the 14th day, I hired a third laborer to work on the septic tank. My father managed the welding and painting of the metal trusts, again, thus saving for the labor expenses. I planned to install the manual water or buhos system for the toilet, since installing the flush system could create future maintenance problem as we experienced in the past. Most of my friends and relatives comments on the project said that the amount I spent so far was way lower than they thought. They were also impressed on how fast the phase of construction is going on.

Layout of the metal trust from the inside

Partial bill of materials:
Door marine flash without jamb for main door 80 x 210 - P1,400
Door ordinary flash door for bedroom 210 x 70 - P1,150
PVC door for bath/toilet 60 x 210 - P1,300
Rough wood 1 ½ x 2 x 10 for ceiling – P70
Plywood ordinary ¼ thick for ceiling - P275
1 box electrical wire tw#14/7 - P1,552.50
2 gang electrical outlet Royu brand - P100
3 gang electrical switch Royu brand - P130
1 gang electrical switch Royu brand - P70

Excavation of the 2 part septic tank

My hubby was brave enough to sketch the plan, ang galing ahhh! Approximately 27sqm floor area for each door.

The 44th U.S President

2009-01-21T13:31:00.003+08:00

Today, I had the privilege to watch the inauguration of the 44th president of the United States of America, President Barack Obama. This is one of the historic events not even in that country, but the world will remember. The most powerful nation in the world redefines once again and showing to the rest of the world, that regardless of who you are, your status, your color with good faith and perseverance, anything could be done, a new hope of change, a change for the better.

Maybe someday we will be seeing a Filipino American president, a real change for the better that here in the Philippine politics could emulate.

An Offer from Realtor

2009-01-19T01:04:00.006+08:00

I got an email yesterday from one of my realtor agents. It’s a 5 door concrete apartment property which he is about to post. This one fits one of my requirements, located between the boundary of Las Pinas and Molino. Selling price is just 2M and still negotiable.

Looking at the photos…it needs major roofing/ceiling repair, may be additional outlay of P300k. It is still a good deal di ba, really hard to pass on. I still have yet to see…

Still waiting for his text message…...

My 2 Door Apartment Project 2

2009-01-15T10:26:00.003+08:00

It’s been two weeks since I posted on my construction project and since then there has been a lot of changes as the apartment slowly rose up from the ground. And for me, a lot of undertakings. This is another reason why I am getting more and more tied up with my routines.
Although slowly draining up our savings, or should we say diverting it, I am excited and looking forward at the end result of it, as the old adage “there is always light at the end of the tunnel”. Coming to that point at lakas loob as my hubby always say “diversify it”, “don’t worry mababawi mo rin yan”.

I welcome this new challenge and I enjoy learning every bit of it. From the construction materials, the paint, concrete, the type of windows, to sizes of electrical wirings, etc. Of course not to mention the daily chores that a dedicated mother does - talking daily with her hubby, giving daily care to her lovely daughter, dropping/picking her up with the rest of my mga pamangkin to and from school, tsuper at alalay for Nanay, and the rest running errands. Did I mention cooking, my husband claims he is the king of the kitchen, so let him have the crown, (lol). I am so thankful for I could carry out these multi-tasking.

For those who are planning their construction, below are additional materials with current prices:

Galvamast roof red x20ft P2,330

GI gutter #26x18x8 P300

Flashing board (senepa) 1x8x10 P445

Flashing board (senepa)1x8x12 P512

PVC door 60x210 P1,300

Toilet bowl (Maya brand) P500

Sink stainless 16x24 P600

1 Isuzu Elf whitesand (depends on Elf size) P1,100

1 roll stranded wire #12 P2,300

1 roll flexible hose 1\2x50 P300

1 GE circuit breaker 30 amps P280

On 10th day

11th day

15th day

Just Another Day

2009-01-14T12:21:00.003+08:00

The other day I drove mother to the PGH on her routine checkup. As I was waiting at the garden area of the hospital reading my favorite Women’s magazine, an older woman in her late sixties sat beside me, interrupted and started talking to me. Our conversation went by the usual gesture kumusta na. She talked about herself, life, her family, and her older sister who is suffering from diabetes. Her sister being seen at the hospital that day is in the mid seventies, had been a diabetic patient since her early age, and lately had lost her remaining leg due to diabetes. Then she took some kind of bottle from her bag and humbly told me how that bottle of medicine has been helping her sister out in healing the wounds from the amputated leg. She said ever since her sister started drinking the bottle of medicine, the healing of the wounds was faster and some cuts dried very quickly. She even decided to give me one bottle and I was thankful for it. At first I didn’t bother to take. I know how costly the medicine is nowadays considering how effective it is. May be I could refer this to my mother, too. By the way, the bottle labeled KaReyHerrera, a herbal medicine. I mentioned around neighbors and sure enough, they are familiar with the brand name.
Come to think of some unexpected events in our life. Meeting people from different walks of life not only signals a purpose. There are reasons for them coming into our life. I felt blessed for getting that chance.

Suze Orman's Free Book Download

2009-01-12T11:51:00.003+08:00

I found this free ebook “Suze Orman’s 2009 Action Plan” from Oprah Winfrey's website. This may not be applicable to us yet there are hundreds of ideas that we can apply in our day to day life.
Suze Orman is the famous money talk show in the U.S. Downloading of this free ebook expires on January 14.

Why I like to play Scrabble

2009-01-10T12:07:00.002+08:00

That’s the question which I'm having finding an answer…

And I find myself playing for long hours not minding the time. I encountered different kinds of opponents, some are polite and some are rude…they even swear or tell you you’re a cheater when they lose the game … but I must admit some of the words I used I invented it, I just guess…. thanks to dictionary.com it helps a lot …sometimes I put words that I don’t even understand …but then I still like to play, play and play even when my head keeps spinning and draining out thinking words …
I asked myself if is this helping me out, because when I’m losing, it drives me mad or if my opponent goes slow, I wanted to swear at him/her, too, lol.
Yet, I always remember what my hubby always says to me, “PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE”... so for now, I am slowly refraining from doing it ….

Yahoo SCRABBLE makes me learn more, twist my brain, and makes me think .

Why don’t you try it too?

My 2 Door Aprtment Project 1

2009-01-05T06:57:00.011+08:00

The year 2008 were such busy days, big decisions, for our family in terms of realizing our financial goals in adding a passive income. We acquired a 300 sqm property with existing 3 units, one bedroom apartment. With thorough researched and advice from closed relatives, it was time to go forth and bigger. Our decision to purchase the property was so quick, although transaction process was slowed a bit. We thought we had a good deal since during that time, dollar to peso exchange was high. I recalled back on fourth week of November, my husband was able to sent money at our local bank account at an exchange rate of $49.35. Location is perfect, very closed to my parents and approximately 120 meters from the main city road with private access via car leading to the property. I believed the apartment is around 15 years old. It was built lower than the main road, which according to my father, should be fine for the next ten years. It was recently painted and termite treated, although the roof needs new paint coating and drainage system has to be upgrade. The current rent each units are P3,000/month and at the time of the sale, one unit was.
Summarizing how we came up to buy are:
- that time and ability to purchase with, having that hard earned money diverted from just a mere 4% interest from the bank, as long as our allocated emergency fund is intack
- reasonable price
- location, easy access to main point of interest, 15 minutes drive to MOA, 10 mins to the market and malls, 30 minutes to NAIA2, 2 hours to Tagaytay
- safe, quiet neighborhood since they are mostly relatives, it’s a closed area, mini compound were kids could go around and play with only one exit to the main road
- it’s a basic needs, such properties don’t depreciate in value
- income earning investment
- location, location

Then, several weeks after the sale, we came up with an idea with another big investment decision. I kept saying big since we have not been involved through this enormous amount of money. This was not an easy task for me and my husband because we will have to withdraw from our hard earned savings, borrow from my parents plus the on going stress I am having now, hehehe, in a positive way. Due to the available lot, we came up with the idea of adding another two units, considering the prices of construction materials are still low, and the appealing cost of labor. We have a good family relationship with a carpenter, a good friend of my father, and a drinking partner, too. You know what I mean.

Below are some photos of the project….

Day one started with foundation measurement and digging for main walls and posts. Only hired one laborer to do the job, my father acted as a foreman.

Fourth day, added one more laborer, all the diggings are done and laying out for hollow blocks.

I do a little bit of inquiry around Bacoor for competitive prices, plus with an established business relationship with sellers (connection), thus paid off. A win win situation. As an example, cost of 12mm steel bar was P154 from Hardware A while Hardware B which happened to be located opposite of A cost only P138. Hardware A may offer a one week credit which B can't, so it is really depends on you, when you need it and supplies availability.

Here is a run down cost of building materials:
Portland cement – Rizal brand gray (low grade, not recommended) P202 Rizal brand red, P205
Gravel one half Isuzu Elf P1800
Sand one Isuzu Elf size P1,100
Hollow block each size 4 P8.50, size 5 P9.50
Steel bar 12mm P138 each
Steel Trust C purlins 2x3 P410
Steel Trust C purlins 2x4 P460
Steel trust Square tube P900
One gallon epoxy primer with cat gray cheap brand P650
Labor per day – foreman P300, assistant P200

What a difference time and money can make on seventh day. I will update more on this..........

Resolutions Dissolutions

2009-01-03T14:31:00.003+08:00

New year...new resolutions...new plans...new wishes... Ah yes I do have one...new diet, lol!
From 140 down to 120 lbs. I don't see any reason why I can't be where I was before. Continually be blessed with good health, both mentally and spiritually.

What' not new...bills. Yes bills, a never ending quest for payment reduction, if not completely wiping out of it. Bill payments are now becoming way of life of the struggling housewives and due to the reality, I must have to face it, better admit and find a solution to this problem or it will just stay there bugging me like an unwanted bite in my neck. What are my bills anyway? Okay my dear, here to name a few - electricity, water, telephone, internet, cable tv, trash, school services, credit cars, and the list goes on. I plan to discuss this with my hubby in the near future as part of streamlining our finances in realizing our investment endeavour and other prospects.

Welcoming A New Year

2009-01-02T04:13:00.002+08:00

Marami pong salamat sa pagdalaw, for dropping by my website. I am not a writer nor a blogger:
I am just a plain housewife.
One who looks after our kid while the hubby is thousand miles away trying to bring the bread and butter home.
One of those Pinays trying to help the family meet their daily needs, raising up lifestyle and saving for a future.
Living a simple life in Metro Manila.
Just a regular internet user who happens to be fascinated with so many things that the internet can do and how it has influenced me. Next to sms texting, this serves as the medium of communicating with hubby.
Lately, I found myself trying to create a website hoping that somehow will aid me sharpen my writing ability, gain more experience from internet, meet people from different walks of life and share our thoughts to anyone. It's a new year for us, and I celebrate the coming of 2009 with my website.

Happy New Year to everyone!

New Year - Glitter Graphics

Glitter Graphics for Hi5, Orkut, Myspace, Friendster