My family is no stranger to financial challenges. If there is one thing I often brainwash my children is this “No matter the state of our financial situation, we need to implement some sort of money management or else all that money will be gone in an instant”. During our early years in marriage, my husband and I often fought a lot in our spending habits. He tended to buy more than needed. I tend to be a tight-wad which often resulted to arguments. It became so bad that my husband took control of our finances from 1985 till 2004. Bad move indeed. We ended up having severe financial challenges in 2004 until I took control in 2005. Call it martial law but hard times called for drastic measures. He turned over all his declared income to me while I kept mine a secret. hehe.

Under my strong-woman rule, I imposed some rules to my family which my loving husband adapted nicely too. He had no choice, right? Let me share a few of my rules which might be useful to you because I know each family sets their own rules:

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A “Think Rich Pinoy” with a tagline Creating One Million Pinoy Millionaires by 2020 event flashed on my facebook. Clicking the link, I discover it is a Think Rich Pinoy Seminar to be hosted by Larry Gamboa (best selling author of “Think Rich, Pinoy”) at Philamlife, Manila on February 16 and 17. I reserve my judgement on the seminar since I’ve never attended it. The thing is the fee is only Php1,450 pesos which is more affordable than the Make Money Online Seminar that has an entrance fee of Php6000 pesos.

One never can never go wrong in real estate investment. It is a hedge against inflation and a source of passive income. My father, a self-made man, was orphaned during his teens. He survived because his parents left a few coconut lands which gave his five siblings some passive income. More important than acquiring wealth, I learned from my dad the importance of risk-taking, investment and managing personal finances at a young age.

Whether or not one becomes a millionaire has very little to do with the amount of money you make, whether one attends this real estate or the Make Money Online Seminar.

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Ever since I could remember, dad often brought me and my siblings to any real estate investment he acquired. Trudging by the tall weeds and mud, I wrinkled my nose and retort “But there is nothing here. No houses. ” Dad would often chuckle and remind me “Think of the future. what will it be like in 30 years?”. Twirling around the grasses and looking up at the sky, I could not think far ahead to the future. After all, I was just 8 years old. God bless my dad. His investment paved the way for my own real estate investments together with the rest of my siblings. I felt my girls should know how to prioritize their paycheck. Lauren even as a fresh graduate seems to be earning quite well. I thought I’d show her to invest her money wisely. So off we went for a brief stop in our country home somewhere in Sta. Rosa before heading off to Ayala Land’s latest development, the Nuvali.
On the way to Nuvali, we got so engrossed with the landscape that we missed the turn to the entrance. The sign “Poke Your Eyes” alerted us that Hey you are lost. We had a good laugh as we made a u-turn back to Nuvali.

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Technorati Tags: real estate investment, investment, real estate

The green landscape just took my breath away as we drove on to the countryside. The gust of wind sent a shiver down my spine. I love this place, I thought as we inspected the Sta. Rosa property in Laguna. The fresh countryside air is the best gift that I can ever give my family. Three family members are asthma prone and this is the ideal family home for us, as I hugged my husband. The year was January 2000. While my husband and I poured over the layout of the house, Luijoe was a bit distressed to see that he had his own room which I labeled “Luijoe”. He took my pencil and wrote Luijoe in OUR bedroom. “That’s where I am going to sleep”, he showed an impish grin.

Oh well, he is not ready to move to his own room. I looked at my husband.

Luijoe ran to the cul-de sac and romped on the greenery beside the house as it was slowly being constructed. The move to our country home was scheduled for April 2001.

The plan was simple enough. Lauren and Marielle will finish high school somewhere in the south of Manila while Luijoe would study in Don Bosco at Sta. Rosa. When the girls are in college, they will live in dormitories and drive home for a weekend stay in our country home.

Destiny had other plans for us.

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I make pretty decent income online through Google Adsense, Text Link Ads, Direct Ads and my webhosting. That’s all I know about making money online. I never looked for other ways to earn money online because I don’t want to depend on it as my sole source of income. Because of my last entry on ethical blogging, I discovered that there are other ways of making money online after I googled on a person’s name. Search Engine Results point to sites that promise you home based opportunity.

Here is a sample:

Do you want to get your own internet home business up and running the fastest way even without products of your own? Even without knowledge in writing Sales Letters? Then listen up!

I’ve been online for many years now and I’ve seen hot offers come and go. There are so many chances to make money online, there’s not just one way. There are literally hundreds…

Looks really inviting but why am I wary of such schemes?

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Do you believe in luck and chance especially in financial success? When our only son was born in 1993, our life changed dramatically. My husband and I believed that our son was our lucky charm which brought us good fortune and lots of happiness. In fact, among all the kids, Luijoe had the grandest Baptismal celebration and even birthday parties. Our family was indeed blessed. We could not ask for more. When we dabbled in stock trading, I had no knowledge on how the financial markets worked. My husband got a hold of Initial Public Offering (IPO) of large companies in the early 90’s. The booming stock market and rising price indexes drove me to sell when it was high. It was bullish period in the stock market trading.

And how did I determine the time to sell?

I rubbed Luijoe’s hair like one would rub Aladdin’s magical lamp and I’d whisper to Luijoe ” do you think mama should sell?”

If Luijoe smiled to his right that meant “yes” and the opposite is “No”. What a silly way to sell?

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