Parrot on a PorchA Journey Toward the Little Mansion Dream

While it’s too early to plan about house blessing and house warming party for Little Mansion, I can’t help but scour, as early as now, for ideas and the “rituals” to do on such occasions.  I’ve read that, for good luck and prosperity, a coin shower to be held.  Now I’m thinking to buy gold coins that we can use for that.  It can be a dual purpose actually.  After using for the ritual, I can either keep it as a collection or sell it upon the trustworthy prompt of US Gold Bureau.  I’ve read on the web that they’re one of the leading investment company for precious metals and hard assets like gold, silver and platinum.

Earlier, I have focused my mind and anticipated how tough our LM (Little Mansion) Project could get.  Financial wise, that is.  But, honestly, I never thought that it’s much worse and every time I do the math of our expenses for the last couple of months, I really want to faint with all the cashout and the credit card charges we currently have.  Suffice to say that acquiring and moving into a new house can really be pocket draining.  We’re just thankful that we’ve been constantly provided with means to earn through my online work to cope up with the expenses.  My kind of work is seasonal but I’m glad that the timing of it’s outpouring is just perfect.  Truly, God provides and He knows when you need it the most.  The likes of deferred 0% transactions in credit cards and payday advance are also life saving facilities.  They’re indeed very helpful in these major life turning points.

I had one of the weirdest dreams last night. It included scenes of me hitting the Lottery jackpot, the husband winning in a poker game using a trick that he learned at WSOP and the little one playing his Uncle’s poker chips. I don’t know what could have led me to dream about these things. Perhaps, I was just so into thinking last night before dozing off about things that I’m going to buy first should I win the Lotto jackpot. The usual wishes that one daydreams about. It’s just funny because my pre-sleeping thoughts proceeded up to my dreams. Now if only it comes true, that would be the greatest.

So to continue my thoughts..if I win the Lotto jackpot, these are the things I’ll spend my winnings on:
1. Around the world trip with my boys. I’ll also invite and treat my folks and siblings so it would be a one big family adventure.
2. Settle Little Mansion’s amortization in full.
3. Purchase a few more properties. This time, a big true mansion in one of the exclusive villages in the city.
4. Buy new autos.
5. Invest in a Jollibee and Starbucks franchise.
6. Secure my child’s education by allotting a trust fund.
7. Put a portion in time deposit.
8. Buy an iphone, a Macbook and an iPad.
9. Upgrade laptop and DSLR (and its lenses).
10. Celebrate by dining in my favorite first class restaurants.

…and the list goes on.

Whew! If only I could really get all these come true. But then, it’s just too impossible. Not unless, I start placing my lottery bets. I do not have the charm and luck in winning draws and raffles, but who knows. We never can tell unless we try.

Last Holy Week, we took advantage of the work break and we did a general cleaning of our bedroom. We also took the chance to unearth the stashed home appliances and kitchen stuffs that were gifted to us on our wedding a few years ago. We dusted and checked each one of them, take note of the models/specs and see if they were able to withstand the long storage time. We also made a list of the stuffs that we already have as well as created a shopping list for things that we don’t have. The school break is a perfect timing because my MIL permitted us to use the Kinder 2 room to serve as our storage room for Little Mansion stuffs before the big move. Here’s a picture of the husband checking out a rice cooker.

We were also able to buy two major appliances last weekend and as a good online friend coins them, they are Little Mansion’s Easter gifts. We’re really grateful for bonuses and payday loans, they’re indeed a big help in this time that we’re sprucing up the 90% done Little Mansion. (We’re yet to drop by this afternoon at Batasan and check the progress of the house). This is a crucial time for our savings, our credit cards, my paypal, our wallets. Luckily, we’ve been steadily blessed in the past few months so the expenses are not yet wallet draining so far. We do not have monthly amortizations to pay at the moment so it’s still pretty bearable. Speaking of amortizations, that’s what I’ll be busy about this coming week. I’ll be occupied collating loan documents and praying fervently that it’ll get processed and approved the soonest.

This weekend, we’re bound to buy another major item in the Appliance Store. Hopefully, we can get a good deal again just like our aircon and TV purchases last week. It may be hurting our wallets big time but shopping for LM stuffs is actually one of the most exciting parts.

..in my life as a Work-at-Home Mom, that is.

6:30 AM – Wake up time. The husband prepares for work and the three of us eat breakfast all together.
7:30 AM – After sending the husband off, the little one takes a bath. It’s his “yayie” that bathes him most of the time now while I ready my laptop and set to work. There are times when his mood strikes and insists charmingly that I do the bathing to which I can not say no.
8:00 AM – Online routines begin. Check email, read feeds from Google Reader, review new online assignments received, check Odesk mail, catch up with Twitter and Facebook.
9:00 – 11:30 AM – Time for “Official” online work. Blog my heart out. Write fillers. Do Odesk tasks.

**In between, I would hear my little tot say “knock knock” on the door, shouts “MOMMYYYY! MOMMYYY” and demands entrance privileges, to which, again, I oblige. He waves “Hi, mommy!” then his kiss and hug signals that he wants to breastfeed…that’s what I call my breastfeeding break. Then he sets out again of the room to play with his Yayie shortly.

12:00 NN – Lunch time.
12:30 PM – Breastfeeding time again and lull time for the little one to nap. I resume my writing work on the puter.
3:00 – 4:30 PM – The little one wakes up. I shut down my laptop, take our merienda break then play time in the garden with the little one.
4:30 – 7:00 PM – Work..work..work.
7:00 – 9:00 PM – Dinner and quality time with my boys. We often watch the movie UP (as per the little one’s request) which has been played for like a thousand times already.
9:00 – 11 PM or until I get sleepy depending on my work load – Work..work..work and then lights out.

Working at home may appear comfortable but the truth is, there are also disadvantages like lots of distractions and tons of temptations (TV, eating and napping). That is why, I’m really trying my best to manage my time more efficiently and allots allowance for such disruptions. As my workload has immensely increased over the last couple of weeks, I’ve started limiting my Facebook time and little by little avoiding playing applications like Cafe World which got me addicted of playing over the last months. Glad I didn’t get to learn the app Texas Hold ‘Em which I think is very widely played and popular in Online Casinos. Besides Gambling Online has never been my thing so the word Casino Online will never be part of my vocabulary and routine.

But despite of the disadvantages, I feel lucky to have this type of work. I get to earn as much as I did in my last work in the corporate world but right at the comfort of our home. No overtime, no clothing and transpo expenses, no taxes and the best thing is that I am with my son 24 x 7 and I can kiss and cuddle him anytime I want.

An investment is a way of securing one’s future. It comes in different forms, ways and value.  The bottom line is, we can never be complacent at any time as nothing in life is certain including one’s riches. An investment can be a gamble but more often than not, it always ends up highly valued and indeed, gives peace of mind.

Venturing in any type of a business, an insurance, buying a real estate, buying stocks are just few samples of long term investments. Another type is purchasing precious metals such as gold and silver. It may be tricky and confusing at first like when is the right time to buy gold bullion, but the precious metal industry is actually challenging and not to mention, high profit yielding especially that the value of gold does not change at all over time.

You can go and ask The Husband but I’m really one “low maintenance” wife. The most expensive I wished from him was a laptop, but it’s something worthwhile..a necessity in my line of work. I don’t wish for branded and expensive bags (because I seldom go out anyway) nor luxurious travels..especially when I know that we don’t have the means. Or even if we have the funds, we’d think a gazillion times first if it’s the right time or should we allot the money instead to our topmost prioritized project which is Little Mansion. On special occasions like birthdays, anniversaries and Christmas, the husband need not go through catalogs and find “unique gifts for her” stuffs because he already knows the simple things that would make me feel like I’m in Cloud 9: a book from my fave author, new shoes and apparels and a special dine out meal.

If I didn’t decline my elder sister’s invitation earlier, I would have been in the new Resorts World by now eating a buffet dinner, window shopping at the iconic mall, marveling over the luxurious Maxims Hotel and probably playing one of the slot machines rvm in the world class and the country’s largest casino. Well, honestly I know nothing about casino gambling and all (except for the very easy to play slot machines) that’s why if I tagged along, I surely would have researched first over at CasinoScandinavia.com, a very informative site about gaming tips, online bonuses and reviews. Today would also have been my very first time to get inside a casino, play and who knows win the jackpot. That would be what they call the beginner’s luck…and of course, that would be nice.

But more than this curiosity, I’m actually more interested in seeing even just one of the luxurious rooms of the Maxims. I heard that it has a total of 172 all-suite rooms, each assigned with personal butler services and furnished with state-of-the-art facilities. But then, just the mere mention of terms “all-suite rooms” would only mean just one thing. It’s no brainer to realize that luxurious rooms mean steep and lavish prices, too. Just the perfect room for the lucky jackpot winner in the nearby casino.

I really am thankful that I am able to work and earn at the comfort of our home and without having to leave my son behind. Looking back, my online writing job has indeed been instrumental in enabling us to put up some savings while the husband’s income is our main fuel for our everyday expenses. It’s doing good at the start of this year but not as great as the last quarter of 2009 which is actually not a good sign. This spells trouble and that means I have to double my effort in finding alternative ways to flourish my online gig or look for other means offline to earn on the side. I don’t think I’m ready to come back to the corporate world so that’s definitely out of the options. If only we can control everything but then again, in any kind of work or business, we have to deal with every uncontrollable factors that come our way. That is why it’s important to keep oneself abreast with the right business skills, attitude and know how to survive each and every undertaking in business. So aside from researching online means, I’m getting myself acquainted with lots of business opportunities like franchises Dallas, TX which I can hopefully make use or venture on in the near future. Who knows, I can finally apply the things I’ve learned in college and utilize my degree in business administration.

One of these days, the husband and I will sit down for a brainstorming session as we will draft our 2010 financial goals and plans. With our “little mansion” project as our top most priority goal, it is already given that saving up measures and frugal spending will be strictly observed in the months to come. In fact, I am already preparing myself as my budgeting skills will be tremendously put to test. No luxuries, no whims, no unnecessary expenses. Simply put..no travel plans and most especially, no extravagant shopping. Looking back at my budgeting and shopping attitude last year, I could say that I fared well and I’m already pretty geared up for this year. The “little mansion” project has been indeed a big motivation. I just hope and pray that we’ll be continually blessed with lots of work opportunities so it will translate to bountiful earnings and more savings as well. If everything goes well as planned and hoped for, we could probably take on our other goals like venture on a business franchise. I got motivated while browsing FranNet.com where I chanced upon great franchising opportunities that are surely a big hit in the business industry today. If this might be a little shadowy, then we can pave way for a more exciting and fulfilling “project” instead. How does baby number 2 sounds? Hmmm, let’s see.