Thank God it’s Saturday

Mountain Story

"A son and his father were walking on the mountains.
Suddenly, his son falls, hurts himself and screams: "AAAhhhhhhhhhhh!!!"
To his surprise, he hears the voice repeating, somewhere in the mountain: "AAAhhhhhhhhhhh!!!"

Curious, he yells: "Who are you?"
He receives the answer: "Who are you?"

And then he screams to the mountain: "I admire you!"
The voice answers: "I admire you!"

Angered at the response, he screams: "Coward!"
He receives the answer: "Coward!"

He looks to his father and asks: "What's going on?"
The father smiles and says: "My son, pay attention."

Again the man screams: "You are a champion!"
The voice answers: "You are a champion!"

The boy is surprised, but does not understand.
Then the father explains: "People call this ECHO, but really this is LIFE.
It gives you back everything you say or do.

Our life is simply a reflection of our actions.
If you want more love in the world, create more love in your heart.
If you want more competence in your team, improve your competence.
This relationship applies to everything, in all aspects of life;
Life will give you back everything you have given to it."

“YOUR LIFE IS NOT A COINCIDENCE. IT'S A REFLECTION OF YOU!"

A story why I must not complain about my backlogs, hehehe

Is This a Good Solution?

Availing Loan To Pay Off Credit Card Debt

I’m writing this as I wait for my monthly statement of credit card account to arrive this week. I keep a track on my expenses and knows when is my due date payment but I still need to check my SOA just to be sure. I have thought of several options to trim down my credit card debt. Although it is not much, I am not quite comfortable knowing that my expenses have exceeded to what I could really afford. Hmpf! But don’t get me wrong, it is not about impulsive buying or that I have used the credit card just for the sake of buying something unnecessary. I do pay a little higher on my minimum balance due but what I really want is to at least pay off my credit card debt in half.

Anyways, going back to the question, is taking loan to pay credit card a good decision? According to the tips I have read over the net, taking a loan to pay credit card is one good solution like me could opt. I consider following this advice but where to? It also stated that when looking for loan institution; choose the one that offers the lowest interest rate.

My best choice would have been SSS if I didn’t fall one month short of its required number of contribution. Blame it to their delay of posting. Tsk. HDMF is another good alternative but I how much do they grant? A multi-purpose loan only grants 60% of the total TVA which I don’t know how much I have contributed as a member as yet. This is payable in 1 to 2 year term at 10.75 interest rate per annum. Good deal right? Calamity loan could have a higher loan proceeds but as what it’s called, there should be a calamity first before you could avail this.

Here are the qualifications and instruction I browsed in their site.

Who May File

• The member has made at least 24 monthly contributions.
• Members with active Fund membership at the time of application with commitment from
• both the employee and employer to continuously remit contributions at least for the term of the loan.
• For members who have withdrawn their membership contributions due to membership maturity, the reckoning date of the updated 24 monthly contributions shall be the first monthly contribution following the month the member qualified to withdraw his Pag-IBIG contributions.
• A member with an outstanding Pag-IBIG housing loan that is not more than 9 months in arrears and is not yet cancelled or foreclosed.
• A member with an outstanding Pag-IBIG housing loan that is more than 9 months in arrears but is not yet cancelled or foreclosed may be allowed to avail of an MPL, provided that the purpose of the MPL is to update his/her housing loan arrearages.

How to File

• Secure the Pag-IBIG Multi-Purpose Loan Application Form (MPLAF) from any Pag-IBIG Fund NCR/Provincial branch.
• Accomplish 1 copy of the application form.
• Under PACSVAL/PDDTS releasing, attach photocopy of passbook or Automated
• Teller Machine (ATM) card reflecting the account name and bank account number.
• Submit complete application, together with the required documents to any Pag-IBIG Fund
• NCR/Provincial Branch. Processing of loans shall commence only upon submission of complete documents.

LOAN FEATURES

Loan Amount

The loanable amount shall depend on the number of contributions made, based on the following schedule:

No. of Contributionsnt--------- Loan Amounto

24 to 59 months ------- Up to 60% of the TAV

60 to 119 months -------- Up to 70% of the TAV

At least 120 months -------- Up to 80% of the TAV

Interest

10.75% per annum for the duration of the loan.

Release of Loan

Through a check payable to the borrower or shall be credited to the borrower's account through LANDBANK's Payroll Credit Systems Validation (PACSVAL)

Loan Term/Payment

The loan shall be paid over a maximum period of 24 months, plus the applicable grace period of 2 months for local accounts and 5 months for centralized accounts. Centralized accounts shall refer to employers that prepare the payroll in advance, usually at the head/central office. All other accounts not falling under the category of centralized accounts shall be classified as local accounts.

• For employed members, payments shall be made thru salary deduction
• For voluntary members/individual payors, payments shall be made through any of the following modes:

- Salary deduction

- Over-the-Counter;

- Auto-debit arrangement with banks;

- Other modes that Pag-IBIG Fund may adopt in the future

Loan Renewal
Payment of at least six (6) amortizations.

-----------------

I have already filled up an MPL form and gave it to our company HR for signature and computation of my NET pay. Just wish she will do it ASAP before this month ends. My due date falls on the 1^st week of each month!

Obstacles

A nice read:

In ancient times, a king had a boulder placed on a roadway. Then he hid himself and watched to see if anyone would remove the huge rock. Some of the king's wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by and simply walked around it

Many loudly blamed the king for not keeping the roads clear, but none did anything about getting the big stone out of the way. Then a peasant came along carrying a load of vegetables. On approaching the boulder, the peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the stone to the side of the road. After much pushing and straining, he finally succeeded. As the peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed a purse lying in the road where the boulder had been. The purse contained many gold coins and a note from the king indicating that the gold was for the person who removed the boulder from the roadway. The peasant learned what many others never understand.

Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve one's condition.

Mi Amigas

MINSAN
eraserheads

minsan sa may kalayaan tayo'y nagkatagpuan
may mga sariling gimik at kaya-kanyang hangad sa buhay
sa ilalim ng iisang bubong
mga sekretong ibinubulong
kahit na anong mangyari
kahit na saan ka man patungo

chorus
ngunit ngayon kay bilis maglaho ng kahapon
sana'y huwag kalimutan ang ating mga pinagsamahan
at kung sakaling gipitin ay laging iisipin
na minsan tayo ay naging
tunay na magkaibigan
minsan ay parang wala nang bukas sa buhay natin
inuman sa magdamag na para bang tayo'y mauubusan
sa ilalim ng bilog na buwan
mga tiyan nati'y walang laman
ngunit kahit na walang pera
ang bawat gabi'y anong saya

(repeat chorus)
minsan ay hindi ko na alam ang nangyayari
kahit na anong gawin
lahat ng bagay ay merong hangganan
dahil ngayon tayo ay nilimot ng kahapon
di na mapipilitang buhayin ang ating pinagsamahan
ngunit kung sakaling mapadaan baka
ikaw ay aking tawagan
dahil minsan tayo ay naging
tunay na magkaibigan

so there.

On Budgeting

As a couple, we only have more or less 18-20K combined net income which depends on the incentive he will receive each month to get us by. Although it’s a good thing that he always receives incentive each month, the amount still varies so we need to wait for it before we can actually do the budgeting. With this amount, budgeting is really important for us although we don’t really spend much on house bills and food since we are still living with his mother. The only monthly bills we assumed responsibility of that makes it as our fixed expenses are the electricity bill and 75% of the maid’s salary plus the monthly payment for my credit card, motorcycle (which will end on November), appliance installment(10months to go) and my monthly check-ups including vitamins &medicines(up to September). But there is also the allowance to be included in our monthly budget and other miscellaneous expenses and needs.

For almost 4 months of being married, I keep a record of our monthly budget which usually total to almost 10K but still I can’t keep a track as to where the remaining money goes. We also do keep a little more extra budget for other leisure expenses and a 3 to 5K is automatically put into savings, which must not be touch no matter what. I think I’m not good at budgeting since we still find ourselves short from our budget. Hmmm, this makes me get into thinking of other effective ways to budget. I know in myself that I am not extravagant nor he is. But as they say, money really passes our hands quickly without us knowing where it had gone to.

Anyways, here’s how-to tips I got from WikiHow

How to Budget Your Money

• Calculate your regular income. Include that of your spouse also, as well as regular income from other sources.
• Make a list of all income sources and amounts. Do you receive regular overtime or a large bonus? Is it guaranteed? Can you calculate average amounts by using past bank statements or pay slips? Try to be accurate and get to an average 'net' (after taxes) income.
• Calculate your regular expenses. Save all receipts and expenses for one month. Ideally, you need to carry around a pen and small pad with you for one full month. Write down every amount you spend, what it is for and where you spend it. Much of the spending will be on large, regular items (rent, utility bills and grocery shopping, for example), but there will probably be many small regular items too (newspapers,magazines,coffee shops, snacks, haircuts and entertainment)
• Look at the figures. Money coming in (income) and money going out (expenses). If your expenses are more than income, you need to take action!

TIPS

• Don't rush budgeting.You need a month to figure out exactly where your money is being spent the most.
• If you find your expenses are extremely high, compared to your income, you have to cut back on some unnecessary spending.
• Very few people ever bother to budget, which is why so many people are in debt. Few really realize just how much they spend on worthless expenses.
• Try to categorize your fixed expenses (e.g., those expenses that don't change from month to month, like a mortgage or car payment) and your variable expenses (e.g., those expenses that can go up or down, like your utilities or mobile phone bill that depend on your usage). Since hidden or unmanaged variable expenses can eat away at your income, those might be good candidates for categories to monitor.

Lessons on Life

There was a man who had four sons. He wanted his sons to learn not to judge
things too quickly. So he sent them each on a quest, in turn, to go and look
at a pear tree that was a great distance away.

The first son went in the winter, the second in the spring, the third in
summer and the youngest son in the fall.

same place/tree taken in different seasons

The first son said that the tree was ugly, bent, and twisted.

The second son said no, it was covered with green buds and full of promise.

The third son disagreed; he said it was laden with blossoms that smelled so
sweet and looked so beautiful, it was the most graceful thing he had ever seen.

The last son disagreed with all of them; he said it was ripe and drooping
with fruit, full of life and fulfillment.

The man then explained to his sons that they were all right, because they
had each seen but only one season in the tree's life.

He told them that you cannot judge a tree, or a person, by only one season,
and that the essence of who they are and the pleasure, joy, and love that come
from that life can only be measured at the end, when all the seasons are up.

If you give up when it's winter, you will miss the promise of your spring,
the beauty of your summer, fulfillment of your fall.

Moral lessons:

Don't let the pain of one season destroy the joy of all the rest.

Don't judge life by one difficult season. Persevere through the difficult patches and better times are sure to come some time later.

To Wish This Will Not Happen To Me -

Let me share this fact and technicality of domestic violence. I have come to know this when my sister-in-law asked me to do some little research on this for one of her law subject. I got interested somehow since, one, I am a wife now. Hehehe Not that I doubt my partner that he can actually do this. Or maybe, it would be the other way around. Heh :D

The cycle of violence

The “cycle of violence” theory also provides an understanding to why the person affected by domestic and family violence continues to face a violent situation.

However, it is acknowledged that it is not the same for everyone and some people may experience only some stages of the cycle (or not relate to it at all.

number of stages in the cycle

The build-up phase

This phase may begin with normal relations between the people in the relationship, but involves escalating tension marked by increased verbal, emotional or financial abuse.

In non-violent relationships these issues can normally be resolved between the people in the relationship.

The stand over phase

This phase can be extremely frightening for people affected by domestic and family violence.

The behaviour of the person who uses violence in relationships escalates to the point that a release of tension is inevitable.

The person affected may feel that they are ‘walking on egg shells’ and fear that anything they do will cause the situation to deteriorate further.

Explosion

The explosion stage marks the peak of violence in the relationship. It is the height of abuse by the person who uses violence to control and power over others.

The person who commits domestic and family violence experiences a release of tension during an explosion phase, which may become addictive. They may be unable to deal with their anger any other way.

The remorse phase

At the remorse stage, the person who uses domestic and family violence in their relationship feels ashamed of their behaviour.

They retreat and become withdrawn from the relationship.

They try and justify their actions to themselves and to others, unaware they are actually addicted to the release they have just experienced.

The pursuit phase

At this stage, the person who uses domestic and family violence in relationships promises to the other person affected, never to be violent again.

They may try to make up for their past behaviour during this period and say that other factors have caused them to be violent, for example, work stress, drugs, or alcohol.

The violent offender may purchase gifts, and give the person affected attention.

Also, the violent offender may go through a dramatic personality change.

The person affected by the violence will feel hurt, but possibly relieved that the violence is over.

The honeymoon phase

During the honeymoon phase of the cycle of violence, both people in the relationship may be in denial as to how bad the abuse and violence was.

Both people do not want the relationship to end, so are happy to ignore the possibility that the violence could occur again.

After some time, this stage will fade and the cycle may begin again.

Got this from here.

Trying to Start Now

With my desire to actually have our own space even as early as now, I have made inquiries about housing/lot loans offered by PAG-IBIG.

Here are the Steps on how to apply for a Pag-IBIG housing loan:

1. Attend a loan counseling session at the Pag-IBIG office (here in Legazpi, the schedule for counseling session is I think every Friday)
2. Accomplish a Preliminary Loan Counseling Questionnaire, Housing Loan Application (HLA) and Membership Status Verification Slip (MSVS). If eligible secure checklist of requirements (requirements would depend on the loan purpose)
3. Submit HLA with complete requirements. Pay the processing fee of P1,000 (non-refundable)
4. Receive Notice of Loan Approval/Letter of Guaranty and sigh loan documents.
5. Proceed to the BIR and present Deed of Absolute Sale (DOAS) between the owner of the property and applicant for payment of documentary stamps and capital gains tax.
6. Proceed to Registry of Deeds for payment of transfer tax and registration fees for the transfer of the title.
7. Proceed to Notary Public for notarization of Loan Mortgage Agreement (LMA) and annotation of mortgage with the Registry of Deeds and to Assessor’s Office to secure new tax declaration in the name of the applicant.
8. Secure Occupancy Permit from the Local Government Unit Engineering Office when the loan is for any of the following purposes: Purchase of new Residential Unit (PRU), Purchase of Lot and Construction of a Residential Unit thereon or for House Construction only.
9. Submit the following documents to Pag-IBIG:

• Original Transfer Certificate of Title (OTC) in the name of the

applicant with annotated mortgage

• DPAS with original RD stamp

• New Tax Declaration in the name of the applicant

• Updated Real Estate Tax Receipt (for house and lot, if applicable)

• Occupancy Permit

• Assignment of Loan Proceeds

10. Release of loan proceeds
11. Start of monthly amortization is the following month immediately following the loan take-out/final loan release.

As far as I know, you still need to shell out at least 20K for all BIR taxes and transfer of title fees even if you are going to loan it through PAG-IBIG - unless the owner/developer will shoulder these expenses. The capital gains tax would be the most costly.

I have already contacted an agent and offered me one of the lots near my parent’s house in OLV Buraguis. Its just 70 sq. m, quite small but just enough for a starting family. The owner is selling it at 2800 per sq. m. so that would be 196,000 in total price. But I heard there will be a new subdivision being developed in Ridgeview, I think it would be easier to deal with a developer than a personal owner since most of the time; developers process the papers for you and shoulder the BIR taxes and permits. Hmm. I just have to wait for that.

For more information on the qualifications and other requirements in applying for housing loan through Pag-Ibig/HDMF. visit their site. click here.

On Contentment

There are two ways to be contented: one is liking what you do, and the other is doing what you like

author: Unknown

hays. Just Right! Keeping myself busy. Forcing myself to. heh.

SUMMARYZING LIFE

In one simple story, here's how you should manage your time and your life:

When things in your life seem almost too much too
handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough,
remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 cups of coffee.

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had
some items in front of him.

When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very
large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill
it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the
jar was full. They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and
poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly.
The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the
golf balls. He then asked the students again if the
jar was full they agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured
it into the jar . Of course, the sand filled up
everything else. He asked once more if the jar was
full. The students responded with a unanimous "yes."

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from
under the table and poured the entire contents into
the jar, effectively filling the empty space between
the sand. The students laughed.

"Now," said the professor, as the laughter subsided,
"I want you to recognize that this jar represents
your life. The golf balls are the important things-
your God, family, your children, your health, your
friends, and your favorite passions--things that if
everything else was lost and only they remained your
life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter like your
job, your house, and your car.

Learn From This Story

This is probably the oldest forwarded e-mail I still keep on my Inbox. Let me share you this very interesting story you will definitely learn from.

Well, just read on:

A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to
visit their old university professor. Conversation soon turned into
complaints about stress in work and in life. Offering his guests coffee, the
professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an
assortment of cups - porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking,
some expensive, some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to the
coffee.

When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said: "If
you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving
behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the
best for yourselves that is the source of your problems and stress." What
all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went
for the best cups and were eyeing each other's cups. Now consider this: Life
is the coffee, and the jobs, money and position in society are the cups.
They are just tools to hold and contain Life, and do not change the quality
of Life. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the
coffee God has provided."

So, don't let the cups drive you ... enjoy the coffee instead.

A Piece of Information

**Don’t know where I got this presentation. I just have a copy of it in my document folder**hehehe

What Now?

Two more days and its 3 months already! And 3 months felt just like yesterday when I have exchange laxly the perpetual “I do” in front of honorable judge wearing my classic ponytail and slippers. My partner wore the same yet no one really cares as long as it’s not something I or we will regret or feel ashamed of in the end. I was married 3 days before I turned 24 so officially, I was married at the “early” age of 23. Why? I just like it this way. Age doesn’t really matter for me as long as I feel I am ready enough to face all the consequences. I would be hypocrite to say that it doesn’t worry me a bit, worries about certain issues of the future such as financial and emotional stability. But as long as I keep my life simple and contented the way I live it as yet and the way I spend my life on daily basis and not being too anxious for the future, I know I have done the right decision. So,there.