Media & Info Buffet in SocMed ’22

by Joseph M. Gannaban

We were inundated by the tsunamis of media messages in the last campaign period of the 2022 National elections. And some minds have sadly drowned down their reasonable senses to Tiktok, YT, and FB vids that they forgot to verify from primary sources.

Perhaps because of the black propaganda amidst the pandemic of 2020 to its seeming tamer stages, hopefully, to its becoming an endemic (everyday normal), Philippine politics brought back the nightmares of the martial law era and dictatorship woes of which long-accepted facts and figures are now twisted and reverted to suit an abnormalized ‘forgive-and-not-forget’ avoidance of the blunders of history.

Why are the majority risking it to try again the DNA of a powerful rich family of quite a snobbish breed to rule the land again? Isn’t it, that we as a nation have already decided not to elect these types anymore because many issues were not addressed well because they were out of touch with the common TAO? Or perhaps they are because of their wide utilization of TikTok, FB posts, et.al. ? Is it valid? Are those forms reliable without checks and balances?

Unlike the primary sources which are published by independent thinkers and researchers who use scientific methods of verification, the random soc-med posts are unverifiable at the worst.

Respecting their choice is to give them a chance for six long years to prove if they have been right in their decision. Were those decisions for their own motives of expecting the government to dole out to them? or were they for the greater good of the nation and the world community?

Remember we are not living in the days of the Iron Curtain nor the Bamboo or Great Wall anymore when hermit kingdoms didn’t interact with their outside neighbors.

If we want humanity to move forward in its progress and development as a race and with synergy, then you can’t afford to be a recluse monk or a North Korea retardate.

Whatever their motive for believing in what used to be unreliable characters, may they be for the common good. And not just be their mirage that fooled them to pick out from other more practical groups of leaders whom they think are boring because they are ordinarily good people.

If not, this will just prove that many are still illusory and not pragmatic in their approach to living a life in the pursuit of happiness. That social media has only magnified the dominant almost superstitious-like attitude of the many.

And that, my friends, is the danger of soaking in too much social media and not much independent integrative thought.

Media is a smorgasbord of healthy and unhealthy information. You eat what you think is good for you.

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Spend on experience, Surf up your finances in 2017!

           Until today, my upper body muscles are still a little sore from trying something new last New Year’s Eve. In spite of that, I feel very great more than ever.
I went surfing for the first time!
In the surfing capital of north Luzon—San Juan, La Union. I hired a certified surfer-instructor, Php200/hour, plus surfboard valued Php200 at Final Option Beach Resort. So, you pay the whole Php400 at the reception.
They didn’t accept my credit card suggested payment for surfing lessons because they give the instructor’s fee in cash to the instructors later in the day. (So, I needed to go to an ATM machine approx. 2-kilometer tricycle ride to the town plaza to pay for my second-day lodging.)
Yesterday I was asked by my co-teacher friend, Meldrine, as others inquire who I went with. No one. Because nobody of the around 25 people I invited accompanied me. They were hesitant or too busy. Meldrine had a big Huh?! Facial reaction. As if he can’t believe. Because many people are usually obliged to do something they pre-planned if others would go along with them. This is sometimes problematic.
 NEW YEAR bids our New Year’s resolutions. And if you wanna do sumthin’ important to you, like managing your finances or investing your Christmas cash in a high percentage financial facility vs. just putting it in the piggy bank or savings bank, ya often have to have that steel resolve to do it alone. (E.g. paying my credit card obligations, attending seminars-workshops with credible mentors, or as simple as saving money regularly.)
It’s going out of your comfort zone. Braving the waves of change. Especially true in anything when you see a very clear vision of who you want to be in an aspect of your life.
Trust a mentor who is experienced in the different challenging winds that affect surfing on the financial waters. An instructor who knows the economic tides very well and willing to help you out. 
                 Because you know you can make it by doing some effort balancing on your portfolio (cost averaging in the stocks you buy). And due diligence to analyze your own progress. Where has my stance on the board brought me so far? Am I growing confidently secure in riding the ups and downs?
 Tell your instructor to test your financial legs on the small waves first to carry you ‘til you can stand more upright. Don’t always rush to stand straight on your wading board. You may do it slowly. One leg at a time.
Don’t scurry to ride the big waves. You will fall more often. As I did, tumbling being tossed underwater several times. Because also, my instructor was not patient enough with my progress. He was comparing me with the kid and another adult, allegedly first-timers also, whom I simultaneously was learning surfing with at 4 to 5 p.m. when the wind was getting a little rough.
My butt could tell that. I was holding the side reams, chest on board and legs stretched parallel to the lower end. Waiting for the waves facing against its motion. With my instructor tugging, pushing, guiding my board direction. Several strong waves gushed towards our faces. My hair washed on mah face. And pulling my shorts from my waistline. Revealing halfway my behind Hehe. I had to push away my bangs up from my face and pull up securely my shorts.
Do some belt-tightening on your expenses, especially when your personal economics turns rough on you.
Then the mentor will turn your board around facing and maybe at 30 feet from the beach now. He then cues you to “READY”. When one pulls both arms near the chest and palms flat against the board. Hoist for a push-up. Stronger leg at the back and the other spread in front at the board’s center. Then try to raise the upper body to comfortable.
When investing your hard-earned salary, set aside some. Learning the habit of just doing it regularly is more important than the amount at first. Find a comfortable out-of-your-comfort-zone move and grow from those.
Buy at a low price. Buy, when the blue-chip company is oversold. And get ready for the price to go up. Ride the wave early before too many buy at the higher prices already. Earn from the rise. Thus, getting your high. And profit financially and experientially.

May Tulo ka ba? Your Leaky pipe

              It catches your personal attention. Nako-conscious ka. More than normal. That really, becomes disturbing. Lalu na kung it persists for long. Especially if you notice that it’s always wet! Even if you wipe the spillage. Something has gone wrong.

That is what happened last month in my bathroom. First, I started noticing the floor around the toilet bowl becoming drenched each time I pee and poo. I had to mop more times.

Istorbo!

I was getting anxious. Worried that it might be dirty water leaking off the base of the bowl with every flushing. I had to survey the situation using the palm of my hand running all over the lower surface of my toilet bowl. Sinasalat. Trying to catch any wetness.

Argh! I was looking at the wrong place!

Only after 2 days, did I hear a hissing sound. Coming from my nearby sink’s left (“hot”) faucet valve. Apparently, the flow ripened.

I don’t use that faucet for 16 years na. As I am accustomed with the right-hand faucet spigot for my washing & brushing. Yet the former, not given any attention, caused me unwarranted trouble.

Tried to close tighten the valve to no avail. Iron rusty, hardened, and immobile due to years of no use.

Initially, the breakage was still itsy-bitsy. Gusto kong agapan kaya I got packaging tape to mask it, hoping to reduce the leakage. It did its job, able to temporarily lessen the spill. After 12 hours, it got worse.

I closed the main water service valve outside the house at night. I asked my sis for a plumber contact.

She knew of my problem and tried to help the next day as I was at work. Used pliers to force a turn. But, a bigger crack.

Kaya ko ‘to, I mustered inside me. So, I tried plumbing it myself. I WANTED TO SAVE MONEY. Prided telling that I’m intelligent and can learn to do this on my own. Flirted with the idea, then “Just do it!”

Removed the old valve, brought it to a mid-class hardware and asked advice from the manager. Bought a Php20 plug and Php10 plumber’s tape. At last, almost done. A success?

But the new valve won’t fit. It’s because the round metal slot was fragile and got pressed over when I wrenched out the valve.

The worst happened. Inalalayan ko naman gently. I had to remove the slot. An approximately, 2.5 inches (or so I thought) iron tube slot. It was also rusty, old and left a broken off end piece on the original plumbing structure which I realized of about later.

Back & forth I went to EK Hardware and got an Php80 3-inch (the real length) stainless slot. Again, I broke out some bouncers– of the cement inside and the tile around the problem area. Tried to chip off what’s left of the slot so I can put a new one I bought with the plug.

I also learned to use the delicate white plumber’s silicon tape to seal each screwing connection.

Although, I was feeling excited that I am about to finish the job, the black whole   posed extra challenge upon using an old flashlight to peer thru it.

Alas! I admitted that it was already taking too much time, from fingering it from Friday night ‘til Sunday a.m.

My right index finger got blistered from being tainted with heavy rust and the constant poking through feeling out the rough slot remains inside the dark hole on the wall. Besides, my housemates were impatient that they can’t take their baths.

Humbled my intellectual erection and got professional help. I canvassed the cheaper service. I screened out both the TUBERO AD glued on lamp posts that charges a minimum of Php700 and the popular go-to fix-it guy with a Php500 service charge in the subdivision. As he and his family has a drug reputation and were kicked out as caretakers of the 2-lot China Bank-foreclosed property of Mr. Richard “Dick” Yap, across my house.

I went to the unassuming busy road, low-mid class community beside our village and asked from the local hardware there of any good plumber who lives nearby.

Along the esquinita by the third Meralco post on the first street from the guardhouse I found Mang Ariel who just came home eating lunch naked showing his big belly as it was a warm midday. I can tell that I had a premature coming. Allowed him to finish his lunch and I was getting hungry likewise. I ate at the karinderia by the electric post on a steamy chopseuy (mixed vegetable sautéed in chicken liver) rice meal at only Php 35.  

After a quickie lunch, went our way home. I recounted to him my grueling experience and did most of the job already and the senior plumber finished my job. With dexterity from years of experience, he hammered out the stubborn broken metal tightly lodged on the teeth of the wall-embedded plumbing with a cement nail. Simultaneously, holding my flashlight to penetrate illumination on the deep narrow strip for the slot.

In less than 30 minutes, it was over. I didn’t ask him to clean up as he was panting from bending over too low. I did the cleaning later. He just picked up his tools after close-fitting the plug. Opened the main water service meter and Voila! What a sigh.

I paid him Php 150 and he didn’t ask for more nor did he complain.

Now, I’m assured of rust free water aside from the disabled water outlet. (Right valve was replaced within the past 5 years).

This is similar with our finances. We take for granted that we earn and spend. Money flows via us like water.

 We don’t give much attention to managing it until we observe money spills. Wasteful expenses that are big. Things we buy that we don’t really use.

Or if you use credit cards, you get a monthly Statement of Account (CC-SOA). It records all your charges which you should ideally pay on or before the payment due date. At times when I see entries that are blatantly big, it alarms me to screw on the plug.

What do we do when we realize that our age-old money thinking is turning leaky against us? When it doesn’t help us save anymore? When our money mind is getting grumpy, hardened up by wasting precious long time working for money rather than money working for us?

Here are some tips to plumb up your Moneymind:

1. Admit you have a leaky money problem.
2. Assess the damage to your finance pipe.
3. Prioritize your values. Look inside your true self and see what the important aspects of life you want to grow and spend on.
4. Plug over your unnecessary flashy expenses.
5. Remove clutter from your life. Learn to share your extras and have at least one advocacy you support. Maintain regular cleaning of your money plumbing. Or else you’ll drink rust-colored finances or clog your money pipes.
6. Tithe to your faith organization. Assuring you are updated from the ultimate delivery flowing source.
7. Budget your resources. Look for inexpensive ways of doing things. Be creative, self-sufficient and resourceful by asking ‘what if?’.
8. Always seek out for integrity, credibility, honesty, and quality work so as not to waste time and investments.
9. Even though others know your problem and offer suggestions, sometimes their good intention is mixed with foolhardy proposals. E.g. buy Lotto, jueteng, pera-miding schemes
10. Ask for sound advice on what to do from experienced ‘professionals’. Learn from their wisdom—listening, reading, sucking all the financial knowledge as you can muster to date. Schedule seminar-workshop time and be deliberate to learn much so you can earn more.
11. Lastly, if you get stunned on your way to success because you lack the expertise or experience, get the assistance of an authority in the field who is willing to lead you by the hand but not spoil you.

You must not give full control of your resources to anybody else even if they are good. Do not have another person manage your personal finance. You still should have full responsibility for your actions on your money. Personal finance is for your own personal use.

Or, you may be frustrated like me when I gave the reigns of my Php70,000 forex investment to someone that sweet-talked me and several others whom we trusted but didn’t deliver. Our money was eaten up by the volatility of this riskiest investment in the world in just two months.

From this school of hard-awakenings (leaky bathroom sink pipe and leaky money pipe), my takeaway is that I become a willing learner by doing it on my own while reaching out to be shepherded and then to shepherd others beside the still waters of true personal financial green pastures.#

Joseph Gannaban

Whatcha think mo?

Get Rich Fast with Slowly-Developed Values

Mahilig ako sa Network Marketing. Noon.

Kase naman, maganda quality ng mga products ng MLM. Pero, mahal!

Anyare? Niloko-swindle team ko ng mismong upline namin.

Example, nung nagkasakit ako ng PTB o pulmonary tuberculosis when I was the Jesuit Fr. Hontiveros’ Scholar para makatipid sa aking pagpapari sa Loyola School of Theology, Ateneo de Manila University (expensive na pamantasan) nilaklak ko ang magastos na aloe vera barbadensis gel ng Forever Living Products. I was also living in a basement dormitory sa Katipunan that could also have been a factor.

I was also honoring my parent’s desire for me to finally put this childhood “religious” dream to fruition or to rest. So, obedient ako sa magulang ko. Even if what I really wanted was to pursue business and take up MBA sa ADMU. Actually, nag-attend pa nga ako ng GMAT review course.

Kasabay ng costly imported from USA halaman ng FLP na ito ay nine months na gamutan ng Rifampricin + 3 drugs together that made my weewee dark orange.

After faithfully drinking all that natural and chemical medicine, my pulmonologist had me x-rayed para sa before & after view ng lungs ko. Kung noong unang x-ray ay may sugat ang baga ko. Sa ikalawa, you will see that my lungs became very clear.

Nagulat ang doctor ko. Kase pati peklat ng TB nawala! Di tulad daw ng ibang TB patients na ginamot ng 6 to 9 mos. Ay may naiwang scars sa mga baga nila. It was with her permission that I took the standard medical protocol simultaneously sa alternative therapy.

Ayun, na-hook nako sa nature’s healthy benefits. Na-addict ba. Huy, diko pa na try cannabis. Parang nakakasuka, noong naamoy ko sa ibang kaklase ko nung high school. Haha

Kesa naman, magkasakit ka nang malala. Mas magastos yun. I use natural.  Although, God gave us via Mother Nature the inexpensive fruits in season and local vegetables as our not-so-common “common sense” healers.

This is because of my frustration with direct selling companies’ high priced products. Dahil sa inilalagak nila ang money for the commission of the seller & uplines’ bonuses.

Tapos lolokohin ka pa ng gahaman na trusted upline mo. He promised to put our Php 5,000 each in a newly formed MLM. For a chance to be among the first to earn and be placed na mauuna sa isang networking company. Christopher pa naman pangalan nya. Nakakahiya sya.

Sabay bilhin daw nya luma kong cellphone gift nya for his nephew. Will pay raw pag kumita na sa alleged new corporation. Kunwari pang gumawa kami ng receipt form with his ATM and ID. Run away naman siya. I spotted him still lurking around MLM-infested Ortigas area. After I learned to let go of rancor. Hindi pa natuloy demanda ko sa kanya.

O ako at kami ata, on the other hand, ang mga mukhang pera. It was I who is lustful for easy money. And I was gullible to pipol who borrow my trust w/o fulfilling their end of the deal.

I realized that I didn’t learn from this bad experience. I repeated being a victim. I again allowed my money to be managed by peeps who have no track record of lustrous achievement.

Don’t hand over to others your money  to manage  and grow it. Learn and nurture your finance. Be a good steward.

Integrity now is what I learned to look for. In a fund manager—whether if it is a bank, mutual fund company, stock market broker, or an endorser of a system for entrepreneurship. Even in life in general. I choose to spend more time with like-mindedness.

Books teaching Personal Finance Management. click on link below

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It is still values that hold preponderance over any pursuit for riches. Mas importante pa rin ang mga birtud habang naghahabol tayo sa pera mga tol. Values make the man not wealth. Riches will just have to follow you if you have the right set of values.

If you agree, please comment and enter your name & best email below. I can send you my newsletter. All for the pursuit of joy in “handling worldly wealth with true riches (Lk.16:11)”.

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Pag-aralan natin ang Real estate

Ang 29-yr old na si Richard Carvajal, na nag-rireal estate mula nang 19-taong gulang siya ay ituturo sa atin kung paano siya kumikita sa mga pre-selling condominum properties. FOR RENT o kaya ay CAPITAL APPRECIATION.

My Personal Money Managing App Experience

I have been using AndroMoney app for months now. It’s a pleasant surprise for me as a non-tekie that I found it very easy to use to monitor the movement of my money.

I found a way to carry around and input updates of my expenses and also my earnings of course.

It is very handy as well. Kasi gamit ko lang ang simpleng android cellular phone ko.

I started to use it right after attending and learning about it from the financial seminar at CCF North EDSA church last March 2019.

One of the shortest and most practical money seminar among the many seminars one could attend. For me, at least, that’s a fact!

Shown here is this screen-shot from my cheap android phone.

I am able to input by categories my expenses– food (under breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks), car expenses (gasoline, maintenance), living expense (laundry, water, electricity), etc.

The habit formed will be a daily exercise. If I miss out for the day, at the least I can still re-track and late input my data from the receipts I keep every time I buy something. Or if there is no sales invoice issued especially from underground economy stores, I take down written notes on the unrecorded receipts. So as to consolidate them later when I allot a free time to accomplish my personal report.

It’s discipline, really! Patience test talaga sya. Tyaga lang, may ilalaga rin every end of the month.

Excitement came when I clicked the REPORT button for both of my income and expense pie chart at the end of April. Whoaw! I spent the same amount I earned. Haha. Unlike in March, I spent more than I earned.

You would say, “Ang gastos mo naman!” Eh kasi ba naman, kasama na dyan sa April chart yung annual Real Estate Tax namin sa house and lot na tinitirahan namin now.

Included also in that month’s expenses is the payment for my loan arrears and annual Homeowners Association dues.

Elation also came to me that from my stopping to waste money watching movies every week (that’s approximately P1,000 a month), I was able to allocate the money saved to paying my debts.

Insight into this revealed that I can proceed the next following months to put more into my savings account, long-term investments or insurance plan. Thank you Lord.

With the smaller public school teachers’ salary plus allowances now compared small against the industry levels or business projections, it seems difficult to put up a big retirement savings.

Trusting in Yahweh for providing everything I need. Praying for the promised PDU30’s augmentation of public mentors’ take home pay. As we continue to allocate tithe for His abundance-kingdom on earth.

Rich Everyday is in Facebook

Last month I was busy launching Rich Everyday Academy in Facebook. Please check it out.

https://web.facebook.com/Rich-Everyday-Academy-413277665732133/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel

https://web.facebook.com/Rich-Everyday-Academy

Kids are aware of Stocks, luckier than us

Source: Kids are aware of Stocks, luckier than us

Kids are aware of Stocks, masuwerte na sila now

I needed to be brought to the ER. The family doctor in SM mall Medical City won’t discharge me. I was very dizzy, heavy eyelids. As the nurse got my blood pressure, I slumped on the counter. I was put in a wheelchair to lessen any movement that may worsen my condition. And was rolled in the doctor’s clinic. She diagnosed me with vertigo. Gave me Betahistine as first aid which I paid in cash for them to buy at Watson. Lay myself on the clinic facility bed for 2 1/2 hrs. Relieved from too much heat with cold air conditioning. Urinating every hour as I drank around 3 liters of liquids that day.

The lady doctor insisted that they call my relative to fetch me. After giving me a medical certificate and recommendation to see Neurologist, blood chemistry, MRI, an ophthalmologist, I paid the consultation fee via my BPI credit card Php 440.

My sis and niece came to get me. It was not so hot anymore. We went to the public hospital East Avenue Medical Center Emergency Room. There I was advised to rest and keep calm that it probably is heat-related and causing the headache. And that I should come back to the Out-patient Department the next day to see their Neurologist.

My speech was slurred. So, a neurologist may help perhaps.

So we left and treated dinner with Chinese chop suey vegetables. Over dinner chats brought up business and stock investments. I was delighted to learn that my niece learned from her classmate about Mutual Funds UITF investing.

I told her that it’s a packaged basket of blue-chip companies that earn bigger than savings account (0.25% p.a.). That she can choose equity. As I have invested just last December. Now earning 16%!

I shared with her that the PHilippine economy is projected to have the next boom cycle 8 years from now! This was what a mentor, Fitz Gerald Villafuerte with his COL Financial affiliation told me.

She is very lucky to have her growing Php 5,000 savings already at a Security Bank passbook account. And can have the option of opening her mutual funds UITF account which accepts the minimum of exactly the same amount of Php 5,000. as starting fund.

If she put that amount in Equity fund last December 2016, now at 16% as of 1st week of May 2017, her money would already have added Php 800 as against Php 12.50 only in the savings bank account.

When I was in grade school and high school I only had the option of saving in the bank which our mother opened for us her children. I did know anything about stocks.

So, telling the 15-year-old Kyle that she can grow her money more if she buys the bank where people deposit their money. She becomes a part-owner of the bank. Or Jollibee or Shoemart or Ayala for that matter. Or Smart/PLDT or Globe.

So it’s wiser, as affirmed by mentor Capt. Christopher Cervantes in his book The Seed Money, to put your money in the companies that make money work to earn much more money. Than it is to keep your money in the bank that lends your money to borrowers or those who get loans.

Feed on Money seminar-workshops to GroW!

Teach to Invest, Plan, and Save (T.I.P.S.), convened last November, attends IMG (Int’l Mktg Grp) intro seminar on the 1st of April. This is part of our group’s learning advocacy  from different money authorities.

Photo L-R : Meldrine Malihan, Eli Abuel, IMG’s Kris Ogalino, Melvin Duero,  and me

I and co-teacher Melvin Duero met IMG reps at the RFP or Registered Financial Planners of the Philippines’ annual Financial Fitness Forum (FFF) at the SMX Aura on March 25 whole-day paid event.

Incidentally, my friend Eli Abuel of Focolare Movement from way back 1994 messaged me in FB inviting me to IMG! So we met with him and his upline to take care of us when we attend.

              We were exposed to a tailored finance system. They are admirable in that.

IMG advocates having a secure finance base. That you should have your savings, invest, and secure your health by having Kaiser Health Insurance (Philam-backed). This plan includes life insurance as well and an investment portion with the stocks.

              It’s a good thing. But we are weighing our options for our goal of teaching the masses without confining our content to particular products.

But if your goal is to start your finances, go ahead and try their system. Why not?

Next stop, is another speaker from the FFF….Cardinal Buoy

Read while waited– Naghintay, naiinip, nagbasa.

In a December general activity of the 200 plus teachers in our school where I teach, I happen to borrow on-the-spot an interesting book from a Technology and Livelihood Education (TLE) teacher.

It is written by Mr. Larry Gamboa. The retail real estate guru in the Philippines. He is a professor. He associates himself with Bo Sanchez. And I find Mr. Gamboa rather theoretical and quite technical in approach.

I say that because I have had attended two seminars he conducted years back.

First, the THINK RICH PINOY seminar where I bought his book with the same title. (Melvin Duero, Social Studies teacher and fellow Mentor T.I.P.S. organizer borrowed this book of mine last week.)

Then, the last paid Gamboa-conducted seminar I went to was at the Enderun College in McKinley Hill, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City 1634 Philippines. It was on retail real estate.

Anyway, going back to the book I browsed in the teachers’ Christmas party…here is the cover and conceptual framework of the whole content:

wise Money counsel

Saw this in a mall store

Pro 24:27  Prepare thy work without, and make it fit for thyself in the field; and afterwards build thine house.

Piggy bank redefined –when I finally deposited adding to my investment

Ang pagsusubi ng kaunting barya every day ay maging habit na sana. If not daily, every pay day. I hope to have this mindset already ingrained in my financial system with this two months exercise.