Sink or Swim

So why should one buy gold bullion? The reasons are plenty but the number one factor is that it can protect your money from inflation. For centuries, gold has been a quite indestructible piece of investment, therefore making it the best candidate for storing your money. But just like any other investments, diversifying is very important. You might want to try buying a mixture of gold, silver and platinum to reduce your risk. Still, precious metals can gain you higher returns than the normal bonds and stocks. If you’re interested, go and check out the US Gold Bureau website. They don’t only sell gold and silver but also offers plenty of useful articles that can help you decide which type of precious metal is right for you.

One of the things I’d like to have when I retire is a Florida vacation home. And I don’t want to rent it, I want to have my own property by the beach. It could have two rooms for all I care as long as it’s near enough the ocean that I can hear the sound of the waves crashing before I sleep and when I wake up each morning. And now that I’ve thought about it, it doesn’t have to be in Florida. To make this dream realistic, I’d probably settle anywhere safe (low crime rate), with white sandy beaches and affordable properties.

If there’s one thing I love to do aside from designing, it’s budgeting our expenses. You’ll always see me holding my calculator, listing all incoming and outgoing earnings. You could say it’s my stress reliever too because I can sleep better knowing where our money is going. This is the reason why my friends ask my help all the time when it comes to budgeting. One of the tips that I always tell them is to get a home budgeting software. This kind of software can help you learn where all your money is going, how to budget in three or six months, compute savings and interest rates from your bank, schedule recurring transactions and many more. I don’t use a software because I love doing all these manually but for those who have no time yet simply want to get out of debt or expand their finances, a home budget software will be perfect for you.

If only we could diet from shopping. We spent too much on Christmas gifts lately that I had to get some from our Disneyland budget. This is definitely going overboard and I really need to stop. It’s not like there’s a Fastin version for shopaholic people like myself. But looking at the bright side, most of the stuff we bought we’re not only on sale but exactly what our friends and relatives would love. So in the end, we still managed to save money. Christmas comes only once a year after all.

Some tips when shopping:
1. Check out the October and November sales. Most toy stores hold a 50-70% off / warehouse sales on these months.

2. No matter what it is you’re buying online whether you’re just registering for a domain, make sure to check out websites offering free coupon codes. I got a $4 off just now when I renewed me domain name with GoDaddy.

3. Use cash if you can so you’ll know when you’re spending too much. Credit cards can give us a sense of having too much money when in reality, our debts are just piling up.

4. Just because it’s on sale doesn’t mean it’s a good buy. All the items I purchased as gifts are things that I wouldn’t be able to afford unless they are on sale. I don’t buy things that I don’t need and don’t even remotely like just because it’s cheap.

5. This one never fails. Make a list and stick to it. My husband tends to shop for people who’s not on the list so I always write the list with him to make sure that we haven’t forgotten anyone.

I always say that December is our most expensive month of the year. Aside from buying gifts and holiday trips, there’s the annual credit card renewals and yearly payment of all our insurances. We are already paying up to 5 insurance packages as of this year and might add another one now that baby #2 is on its way. I’m checking out the free insurance quotes online just to have an idea of how expensive it is to get a new policy now compared to five years ago. Luckily, we’re just about done paying my first child’s educational plan so we can now afford to get a new one for our next baby.

Finding cheap health insurance is easy with the help of Internet. Just type it in Google and you’ll get plenty of options to choose from. This is why I don’t understand why some people still prefer not to have one when they can obviously afford the annual premiums. I’ve seen how much savings you can get in the long run if you have health insurance. Medical emergencies are unexpected and can totally leave a huge dent on your wallet. And even if you think you can afford to pay for your professional fees and room and board, chances are you’d still have to touch some of the money you’ve saved. Hospitals bills are brutal and you’d be glad to have insurance when the time comes that you’ll need all the financial help you can get.

Precious metals like gold have been around thousands of years ago. However, plenty of people are still unaware how powerful this kind of investment can be. For one, it can protect you against the declining U.S. dollars. Gold is being traded all throughout the world and not dependent on the rise and fall of dollars.

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Things a web designer should invest on when working from home.

1. A powerful enough machine that can handle multiple graphic software and web development tools.

2. You can never have enough file back ups. Aside from your extra hard disks, go get an online backup service as well.

3. Although you can get cheaper or even free photo editing tools, nothing beats Adobe Master Suite collection – Photoshop, Flash, Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Illustrator.

4. An antispyware software to protect not just your files but your clients as well when uploading to their servers.

5. Hosting and domain name for your portfolio. You can also use the hosting space for uploading your artwork and assets.

6. Generator or UPS for unexpected power shortages.

7. Fast and reliable internet connection.

Saw an episode on mobile and manufactured home on TV last night. Can’t help but be amazed and then wondered if it’s something that we can do for our future home. The cost wasn’t mentioned but even my husband was intrigued.

I’m more than relieved that the storm decided to change direction. God knows the victims of Ondoy have enough to worry about. The power of prayers never ceases to amaze me.

Our house has been turned upside down. My brother-in-law and his family had to stay with us while they have their house cleaned. Again, because of typhoon Ondoy. I’m not complaining. We are very lucky that our house was spared and my daughter was in heaven because she now has a playmate 20/7. Too bad they had to leave today which left my little girl bored and restless.

According to several money and finance blogs that I’ve been reading, the most popular way to preserve wealth is through gold. When economy is unstable, so are your stocks, bonds and real estate investments. It has also been proven that gold has outperformed virtually all other investment instruments out there as it not only gives above average returns but also the security that comes with it. Gold can either be conservative or aggresive as it tends to move in the opposite direction of paper investments. read more »