Talked to my good friend Rodney last weekend and asked him for tips on choosing a stockbroker. Since the bulls went wild last year, more people are thinking of putting in some dough in the stock market. The oldest piece of advice and still the most important one is: don’t play to make a quick buck. If you want to invest, do it for the long term. Pay close attention because this is an insider’s tip. Our conversation went like this:

Rod: Choosing a broker is like looking for a boyfriend or a husband.

Salve: Hmm.. I look for someone who will spoil me and buy me stuff?

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MONEY Myth Buster of the week: Buying in bulk saves time and money.

Walter Mart, Price Smart, and the now-defunct Super Sale Club attracted a lot of buyers using this marketing strategy. I remember watching frazzled mommies cart away boxes of noodles and bags of different-flavored cereals with my own overflowing cart in tow. Time to do some Money Myth Busting to find out if this tip really holds water.

Money Smarts went shopping (how I love being a journalist! ) and asked a lot of mommies for this blog entry. The result of the Myth Busting session? Goods in sachets are extremely expensive, especially shampoo — but all other sizes have almost the same prices.

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AT INQUIRER.net, finding out just how crazy our readers are about Kris Aquino with her Paris Hilton-ic appeal to Pinoys has somewhat become a game. We have long ago realized that even if you bury stories about her in the website, Pinoys will zero in on them like a homing beacon!

Even businessmen (shh they won’t often admit it) read “less serious” pages first too, before they thumb through the business section.

I asked a lot of people why. Their answers ranged from the need to get a break from “serious” stuff, to needing a decoder to understand the business section.

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YOUR e-mail messages and comments totally had me floored. Thank you for your interest, thank you for welcoming me to the blogosphere, and thank you for inspiring me. What began as just another interesting project has become a worthy cause.

It’s particularly cool to receive e-mail messages from the 20-something group. Y’all know what it felt like to be a college grad — the whole world seemed to exist to amuse you. You feel like you’ll be 20-ish forever. But read this e-mail from Patrick Mineses:

I was reading your blog, Money Smarts, and became interested in discussing financial goals because I really don’t have any direction on that matter. I guess you could describe me as a typical fresh graduate of the IT industry, lives with his parents, but also tries to contribute to household expenses. I have a little savings that I’ve built up through the years.

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IF all this talk about the way we are eating the dust of our more progressive Asian neighbors puts your teeth on edge, as they do mine, why don’t you join me in a little exercise?

Look around when you’re malling or just eating out. There are millionaires around us, never doubt that. I’m talking about rich people — none of that millionaire-at-heart blah. I’m talking about individuals who have worked hard in their professions, and made it their business to understand money. People who want to have a full life and who don’t live payday to payday.

OK, so the word “millionaire” might be stretching it a little bit, but just for the sake of literary appeal, let’s call them your neighborhood millionaires. For sure they aren’t the Henry Sy-types — they drive modest cars, some even live in rented homes (that’ll be the subject of another blog!) but their kids go to the best schools and they don’t drink Starbucks coffee everyday.

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