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Is somebody feeding on your financial desperation?

06/06/08

Posted under scams

Almost everyone wants to be told what to do.

Put P10,000, P100,000, P1 million here, here and here. Choose this company, dump that one. Buy now, sell in three years. Sell Glutathione while it’s hot…

Attend a seminar to find your life-partner. Write your dreams, send your thoughts out to the cosmos at four in the morning everyday so that the universe can respond to your desires and one day you will wake up a multi-millionaire with a house in Ayala, Alabang.

It’s one thing to wake up early in the morning daily to work on those goals – whether it’s a sick-pack abs or a six-figure salary — by actually doing crunches or learning how to speak fluently in Mandarin. It’s another to think you can do it without working hard, sans discipline and determination.

Times are hard. People are desperate for solutions. They are looking for answers. What I don’t get is how some people can feed on this desperation by telling others all they have to do is visualize and attract wealth with their minds in a twisted version of Rhonda Byrne’s bestselling book “The Secret.” Believe me, the loyal flock is getting bigger and paying through the nose for these magic formulas.

Sounds familiar? Walk away quickly. Nothing beats paying yourself first, saving money consistently every month, living simply, getting out of debt even if it means no new clothes for a year, and burning the midnight oil learning about bonds, warrants and stocks, among others, just like this guy did.

Studying, making mistakes sometimes and crawling back up doesn’t sound as easy as merely visualizing your new vacation home in Tagaytay Highlands. But it sure is a lot more measurable. Boring, yes, but tested and true.





11 Feedbacks on "Is somebody feeding on your financial desperation?"



nina

“Nothing beats paying yourself first, saving money consistently every month, living simply, getting out of debt even if it means no new clothes for a year, and burning the midnight oil learning about bonds, warrants and stocks, among others”

I like this line.



Fitz

Great advise. You just said in one paragraph the real secret to becoming financially free. Our country needs to start living consciously and learn more about personal finance.

I hope to read more articles like this here. Thanks!



leela

that’s true. always use the time-tested way to protect your future…save.



Frugal Pinoy

I agree with nina, that paragraph summarizes everything we need to do during such financially challenging times.

I hate scammers and those multi-level marketers who force their business on you. To earn a lot of money you either have to invest your own money, time, or both. “Get rich quick” schemes only makes scammers rich, not you.



paetechie

the old proven way is king! too many people are looking for a shortcut



Concerned

Unfortunately, while saving is indeed the path to financial discipline and a precursor to financial security, formalized financial education is seriously lacking at all levels.
Furthermore, the country’s antiquated investment laws and subpar financial service industry infrastructure and product offerings compound the situation.

Unfortunately, the unabated and rapidly rising global recessionary and inflationary pressures will only exacerbate the localized issues.
God Bless us all.



labelle

i think it’s a mistaken belief that you can get rich just by saving (your money in a bank that is)… you have to be making a lot of money from your job to save enough when you retire… inflation always beats bank interest rates… save and while you’re at it study how to invest what you are saving and when you have enough money put it in your investment of choice…



jbyap96

Our school children should be taught the virtue of saving at an early age. But with most of our public, or even private, school teachers discussing with each other how and where they can borrow money next, what will the students learn.



Bone MD

Just like any “good” task at hand, there’s a big difference between knowing whats right, and doing what’s necessary. The former is a requisite of the latter, but is useless without the action. Many people knew these are tough times and the only way is to live frugally inorder to survive. But only one out of ten Filipinos actually do that!

I hate scammers but I can only blame myself if I fell on to their schemes. Ignorance is not an excuse!



omski

YES! The groceries are feeding on our financial desperation! shocked to see the prices go up just a week or so after our last visit…esp the cooking oil which is a basic commodity ..can DTI put a control on the basic items? dami dami coconut sa atin pati cooking oil ang mahal! eh, puro may gisa pa naman ang luto ng Pinoy…



Salve

@omski, i agree about the groceries :( i was thinking the same thing after a trip to Landmark the other night. If government were to compute inflation for Landmark and SM, I wonder what the figure would be like.



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