…you’re upset.
Nuff said.
Personal Finance Round-up
Tasha really got money-smart last week by being so self-aware in her shopping and taking her goals to pay off all debts this year seriously. Personal finance voyeurs out there will love her blog as well as Geek and Money’s. It’s strangely interesting to watch his mid-year personal finance checkpoint (check, check, ooops gotta do better on that…) and what he expects for the coming year. If you want to know why it’s important to compute your net worth and you want to know how other people are doing it, check out his blog.
Frugal Pinoy reveals that he’s into gadgets and makes a great case against buying a newly released gadget. All of you who are itching for the iPhone should only read it if you want to be free of the itching…
ArtGamolo’s entry today explains how to leverage debt, meaning borrow money to invest. Tricky. I have seen some people do it and get burned, and I’ve seen others who got richer.
Ready To Be Rich’s spied on me and learned that my refrigerator is more than 10 years old and I’m planning on buying a new one :-). One of those things that escaped me is replacing that trusty old White Westinghouse. I’ll definitely try that tip on inserting a paper bill along the edge and seeing if I can easily pull it out once the door is closed. Oh and yeah, he says the ones that make ice and dispenses them through that little window consumes more power. More tips in his blog,
To Aspiring Entrepreneur who is still bleeding from this falling market… I feel for you, buddy. “When will it (stock market) reach the bottom?” he asks. I wrote about people who just want to stop the bleeding in my article today in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Stock market getting you down? An article from CNNMoney today “Bear market freak out” pretty much said the same thing as my article: that people often buy high and sell low, instead of buy low and sell high. Back to Aspiring Entrepreneur, he has a spreadsheet on all his mutual fund and UITFs. It was interesting to see which of his four equity funds wasn’t in negative territory. Won’t ruin the surprise for you.
Next time your mutual fund company calls for a stock holder’s meeting, please attend. Very few do! And that’s such a pity because that’s the one time you can bully your fund managers. (Kidding!) Don’t be obnoxious at the meeting of course, but at least ask them how much of the company’s own funds are invested with the pool of funds you’re invested in, too. This MarketWatch article says that should at least provide some comfort.
Till next PF roundup.
July 8th, 2008 at 7:56 am
Let me add to the statistics of those who are bleeding from the falling stock market. I don’t have much stocks, but my mutual funds are definitely reflective of the state the equities market is into. Surprisingly though, while even most of the balanced funds are in negative territories, my bond fund is well..uhmm..doing ok. The problem with attending Stockholders Meeting’s of these mutual funds is that I usually receive their notices/invitation days after the meeting itself. Do you think they do it on purpose? Hmmm….
July 8th, 2008 at 7:41 am
I think moderation is the key. There is no harm in shopping. But don’t shop ’til you drop. Or don’t deprive yourself either, or you’ll end up binge shopping?
Every month, I put aside budget for entertainment, which comprises of dining out, movies and shopping. So on a weekend (living away from home and alone and it’s winter, it could really get boring!) either I go to my fave sushi place or, go to the movies or buy myself something (but something I need of course). I also get my cappucino and cinnamon donut fix on a weekend (yeah, like I have to be content with drinking instant coffee in our office pantry on weekdays).
July 8th, 2008 at 5:39 am
Shop on cash!
True enough, one should not shop when one is mad or angry. But shopping, surfing, and sex are good alternative therapies. Sometimes, shopping would be cheaper than seeing a psychiatrist or going out with friends.
A good way to limit shopping is to leave the credit card and shop on cash! I am now living in Caracas thus psych therapy is out of the question, I could not even get myself a medical appointment for diabetes within the month (they want me to come back next month!).
Shopping drains my cash - but I think the financial damage is cheaper than releasing my anger and frustration physically.
Here, I work with a 64 year old who admits he is just waiting for his retirement and thus is lazy to update himself with the rules and regulations for the Embassy! He picks on me and his wife, and yet he does not do most of his duties since he is computer illiterate! He picks on my being tardy - and overlooks his being on time and yet he spends office hours sleeping. His wife refers to him as sleeping beauty …
I am so mad and frustrated I wanted to shout, hit, and smash things…. oops, that would be destructive and expensive.. shopping then is cheaper!
July 8th, 2008 at 5:25 am
Thanks for the link, Salve
I’m actually a “she”, though 
Saw the equity fund spreadsheet of Aspiring Entrepreneur. Depressing. I hope makabawi sya.
July 8th, 2008 at 3:01 am
Thanks for the mention Salve and good luck on your refrigerator hunt.