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Monday, January 04, 2016
Friday, January 01, 2016
HOW TO SAVE HK$5000 IN 52 WEEKS
As a blogger, I have been writing so many things to do for the New Year's. But last night, while we were waiting for the countdown, during a casual sharing with my family and friends of what's the best thing that happened to us in 2015 and what we would want to achieve in 2016, I realized one thing.
The importance of financial awareness is actually the best thing that happened to me.
Because of it, I had a paradigm shift and the light at the end of the tunnel was brighter than ever. I see now my purpose (my daughter) and I am blessed this year with ways on how to bring security to me and my family.
So many people say money is the source of all evil or money is not as important as happiness. Everybody is entitled to their opinion and it's interesting what makes them say so. But my opinion goes as far as: it is an essential tool to bring forth happiness. Your intentions will shape its efficiency. And your integrity can take you a long way. So this year, with my plan to carry out what I wanted to achieve, which is to add a fundamental amount in addition to my usual savings, I am planning to follow the 52 week challenge. Simple as it may seem, I'll borrow the image so that you'll have an understanding of how to earn an additional HK$5,000 in 52 weeks. For whatever reason you may have for this money, I'm sure it'll give you a sense of possibility. That if you will something, there's a way to make it happen!
 |
| This guy maybe targeting US$5,000. But let me tell you, HK$5,000 may not buy you a house, but it's still a big amount of money. |
It is challenging because the sustainability of the act will be tested in time. But the good part in here is that it gives you something to look forward to at the end of the year. This will develop a good habit in you. This goal is a S.M.A.R.T. one too.
How?
S. SMART
It is money after all. Picture Christmas happening each year. And picture how much money you are able to produce a month before just to buy presents for your loved ones. It does give your wallet a huge hole by New Year's! Of course, you would deny that. There's just a couple of things why. It's because you used your credit card. Anyway you went for an instalment plan for most of your Christmas gifts. Or, you are too proud to admit so.
So why not reverse the idea, this HK$5,000 may be used for your Christmas shopping without getting much from your November salary. Get the picture?
M. MEASURABLE
The image is a clear table that suggests measured amount for a specific week with the total amount to expect at each week plus the total amount at the 52nd week, highlighted.
A. ATTAINABLE
Unless death comes upon inevitably (knock on wood), all of these are made attainable because the amounts each week are not too much. For a medium class worker, this is very possible. Now of course, the *poor, technically are more of expected to even make it than the middle class because they don't have as much expenses as the medium class. So don't underestimate their capacity to save as well. These are all but a challenge to anyone but the truth of the matter is, it is attainable, if you will it.
R. REALISTIC
On top of it being attainable, it becomes realistic when you see your piggy bank getting filled up and the monetary price is tangible enough for your palms and fingers to get to touch.
T. TIME BOUNDED
The chart specifically designates each amount with the corresponding week. So, knowing that 5,000 can be attained before the year ends, it can actually be adjusted. You can add more to it by extending your time frame. Or shorten it by increasing the amount as you lessen the number of weeks. Knowing that there are 4 weeks in a month gives you a perfect sense of how much to expect at a certain specific time.
So, support the idea by achieving the goal with me or by sharing it to someone who needs a template sample just like the one above. Happy New Year's and may you be financially free as soon as you will.
*POOR - The terms was aimed to be used to specify classes of people depending on their financial resources. Nothing else.
Related posts:
1. HOW FINANCIALLY FIT ARE YOU? - You want to know if you are financially stable right now? Take this simple test to find out.
2. MY ADVOCACY FOR A FINANCIALLY FIT SOCIETY - How I was called to educate and serve.
3. RICH DAD, POOR DAD - A post about how this book inspired me to choose financial freedom over fast riches.
Thursday, December 31, 2015
11 THINGS YOU SHOULD LET GO OF TO START ANEW
One of the many skills
each of us ought to develop
is the art of letting go.
Even Queen Elsa had to.
Being too attached to something or someone explains that difficult bearings may arise once that something or someone becomes absent. But here is a list this new year's, on top of the other ones, that may help you in achieving the rest of your lists because this offers a clean slate. As a repost, here is a superb list of what you should physically let go.
Get rid of old magazines you have lying around because chances are, you aren't going to read them again. Nowadays, the smart phones are readily available with the information you will get from them. For the record, I am attached to them because they are my favourite. But I must be honest to myself, I would rather bring my phone to a coffee shop, check out Pinterest than carry nearly a kilo of that very thick mag.
2. RECEIPTS, BILLS AND DOCUMENTS
Throw away receipts for items that you aren't planning on returning and ones that you won't need to use come tax time. Most of the banks offer an option of consolidated bank statements that can be sent straight to your email. Besides the fact that you can save the trees every month, you are liberated from the space issues of where to stack it.
3. CLOTHES
Use the two-year rule for clothes - get rid of apparel that you haven't worn in two years. Pregnancy clothes (most especially trousers) are rare finds. Those you can keep if you are planning to have a second baby but the rest, please do free yourself from a cluttered closet.
4. BOOKS
Go through your bookshelf and gather together books you haven't touched in months and ones that you aren't planning on rereading. Giving it away is a good way of getting rid of them.
5. MEDICINE AND VITAMINS
Take a look at your medicine closet and clear out drugs that have expired, medicine that has sat on your shelf for too long, or anything you no longer use. This is a very crucial chore not to miss. Expiration dates are quite important.
6. MAKEUP AND PERFUME
"Unopened, well-formulated cosmetics can remain stable for a couple of years at room temperature," says Ni'Kita Wilson, a cosmetic chemist at Cosmetech Laboratories in Fairfield, NJ. "But the clock starts once you bring a product home and open it. When air hits the formula, certain ingredients start to oxidize and degrade."
7. JEWELRY
Go through your jewellery and dispose of the broken costume jewellery and make plans to sell anything you don't wear. Pre-loved items are a hit nowadays online. Repackage it after tidying it up, take a photo of it then find a platform or a social network that may aid you in selling it.
8. FOOD
Go through your pantry and fridge and clear out items that need to be thrown out - the old, unused and rotting. Ex. cheese, mayonnaise, mustard
9. SOME MEMORABILIA
Many organising experts advise to ruthless and throw away memorabilia like cards and gifts you don't use. If this is truly hard for you, at least compile it, or search on any DIY project that you could use these for your next art project.
10. NOTEBOOKS
If you have a ton of notebooks lying around, take a look at them and throw out the ones you no longer need. For those who aren't nearly finished off its pages, tear them out and compile them to create a new notebook. At least, instead of having 3 notebooks lying around, you'd be down to one.
11. OLD OR UNUSED ELECTRONICS
Sell your electronics on Gazelle.com or Nextworth.com. Or again, your inventive friend may just have a use for it.
There you go folks. Doing this could help you start off the new year with a clearer view of your surroundings, helping you stay focused on what should be prioritised with your "personal" life. Doing this may seem hard but it's the same with some issues that you may have lingering in your thoughts. As for your training, let these go first and maybe you'd have the guts to do it with the harder ones. Remember, another's man's trash could be another man's gold.
Related posts:
1. BUCKET LIST - Having to check each is a great feeling. Read this then have one!
2. HAPPINESS PROJECT - The first way to happiness is DECLUTTERING according to Gretchen Rubin.
3. HOW FINANCIALLY FIT ARE YOU? - You want to know if you're financially stable? Take this quiz to find out.
Monday, December 28, 2015
Saturday, December 26, 2015
BOX OFFICE CHRISTMAS LIST
Believe it or not, your couch has a potential of giving you the most awesome time during the holidays. Besides the usual hot chocolate shared with unending guests coming over, your body somehow shouts for a "me" time that could relax on a movie or two. But of course, we don't want to take away the feeling of Christmas so let's get into a winter journey with this list of my personal favourites:
1. THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS
Tim Burton truly is weird with all of his directions but that's what made this movie tick. Probably because he did create the story and produced the idea but it was actually passed to a trusted colleague, Henry Salick, for the entire direction. Tim Burton was busy back then with Batman Returns, hence, he had to let it go.
It truly is one-of-a-kind of animation that one minute of the movie had to be shot for a week. The set are made up of miniature mock ups and Disney had to fight for Jack Skellington to have eyes. The contrast between the joy CHRISTMAS brings versus the fear that Halloween surfaces were an interesting combination. If you haven't watched this movie, it is worth your time so do see it.
2. HOME ALONE
1. THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS
Tim Burton truly is weird with all of his directions but that's what made this movie tick. Probably because he did create the story and produced the idea but it was actually passed to a trusted colleague, Henry Salick, for the entire direction. Tim Burton was busy back then with Batman Returns, hence, he had to let it go.
It truly is one-of-a-kind of animation that one minute of the movie had to be shot for a week. The set are made up of miniature mock ups and Disney had to fight for Jack Skellington to have eyes. The contrast between the joy CHRISTMAS brings versus the fear that Halloween surfaces were an interesting combination. If you haven't watched this movie, it is worth your time so do see it.
2. HOME ALONE
One of them classics that is truly enjoyable for the whole family. Though I'm still bothered of how Macaulay had turned out now, he was still so cute back then.
3. SERENDIPITY
In 2001, this word didn't have that much impact even though it denotes highly of how chances and fate could stir it up for you. Now, it had given fame to restaurants located in New York and Las Vegas (I had to eat in there). So the movie is about John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale met at Bloomingdale's to start off picking up a Christmas gift. Of course I won't spoil the whole story for you but what I'm trying to get at is, a gift, no matter how small or big has a purpose. Give it wholeheartedly, give it fully. You don't have an idea what comes back to you just for the universe to reciprocate that gesture.
3. SERENDIPITY
In 2001, this word didn't have that much impact even though it denotes highly of how chances and fate could stir it up for you. Now, it had given fame to restaurants located in New York and Las Vegas (I had to eat in there). So the movie is about John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale met at Bloomingdale's to start off picking up a Christmas gift. Of course I won't spoil the whole story for you but what I'm trying to get at is, a gift, no matter how small or big has a purpose. Give it wholeheartedly, give it fully. You don't have an idea what comes back to you just for the universe to reciprocate that gesture.
Here's one of the many songs the movie had made popular.
It's not entirely about Christmas but the breaking point was during the holidays. A FEDEX Executive had been assigned to deliver in Malaysia during a storm. His plane crashes over the Pacific Ocean and was washed ashore a deserted island. A desperate attempt to get united with his loved ones made this movie a memorable one.
A message to all, time is important.
Tell that person you love her, grab that opportunity, help when you can. Never hold back because you don't know that it could be the last chance you may have.
Watch how Tom Hanks had shrunk from being huge at the beginning. He didn't have much to say in the entire film but he had lost 55lbs with a strict diet and a regular exercise regime in 4 months to resume shooting as he impersonates the real castaway. This film was based on a true story.
5. THE HOLIDAY
This is such a cool story in terms of the character's jobs, their houses and it is a star-studded film. Each and everyone of us longs for a good holiday and believe me, you deserve it. So check out how these two, a workaholic and a hopeless romantic, had switched lives to plan theirs.
6. THE FAMILY MAN
I never get tired of watching this movie. Besides the fact that Nicolas Cage is a natural, this movie sends out a very meaningful question, "What If?" See how the very rich Jack Campbell had a glimpse of the real gems in life.
7. LOVE ACTUALLY
This story is about 6 ordinary couples that mirror ordinary lives where we are most likely in. Amazingly, when I watched this, it made me aware of how we unexpectedly affect somebody. And what's more intimidating to know is that how "greatly" we affect them. We touch lives of people unexpectedly but sometimes, we create such huge ripple, we actually makes a change happen. And may I remind you that one of the strongest forces is love. You're lucky to be able to give it and to receive it.
Related posts:
1. FOR OUR OWN GOOD - If you don't like anything FICTION, this is about a 2-hour documentary busting some controversies in the Western countries.
2. 15 CELEBRITIES WHO ARE SMART WITH THEIR MONEY - You'll be surprised how the most dorky looking ones are actually the smartest.
3. 10 CHRISTMAS GIFT IDEAS - This may be written last 2014 but the list may still serve you well to avoid desperate times of not knowing what to give that special someone.
Friday, December 25, 2015
Monday, December 21, 2015
TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR LIFE
Though there maybe some things that we cannot control, we have the capacity to make things happen and I have learned that God qualifies us to do so. What we don't know is how to actually make the first step.
As the holidays are coming upon us,
chew on this video's message as well as
you chew that melts-in-your-mouth-not-in-your-hands turkey roast.
Related posts:
1. PARADIGM SHIFT - How a huge change had given me a different way of looking at 3 concepts: TIME, SAVINGS & COMPOUNDING.
2. TEST YOUR FINANCIAL FITNESS - Do you know what you are worth today if you would die?
3. 15 THINGS TO GIVE UP - Letting go sometimes is the answer in reducing weight on our shoulders. The question is: what are the things you should let go of?
Saturday, December 19, 2015
On-the-Go in Winter
I have blogged about my drive in solving puzzles. With that being said, putting together pieces is also rewarding in itself. From cutting pieces from the magazines and pasting it in a notebook for my style book when I was young, to watching Clueless over and over because of the virtual closet intro, to playing Mall World in Facebook up to POLYVORE.COM, I find art in simply creating a look. Inspired by my everyday life, I aim to always be on the go maintaining an up to date style intact with the need to be warm. Though I have a black Asian hair, colours could be reversed to match it. The coolest temperature today would be reaching until 16 degrees Celsius so, stay warm people! Here's a look that I named, On-the-Go in Winter.
Related posts:
1. AMELIA ON A PICNIC - a summery outfit that keeps you comfortable and dainty
2. AMOR - a staple that was inspired by a series in the Philippines entitled, "Pangako Sa 'Yo"
3. HOLIDAY TRAVEL - click on to see how to travel in style in this ensembles.
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