Parrot on a PorchA Journey Toward the Little Mansion Dream

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.

Aside from the housing project we have taken on, the husband is looking for a chance to do some “upgrading” on our ever-reliable Green Machine. Our Nissan Sentra is already a decade old but it still looks as good as new and I have to credit hubby’s really good handling and maintenance skills for that. It occasionally goes through some breaking down spells but our ever reliable mechanic always find an antidote to put him back on his healthy smooth running condition.

As I was saying, the husband is thinking of remodeling or should I say redesigning the wood dash kits to make it look more modern and newer. It’s also about time to change since the old dash kit is starting to wear off. He stumbled upon Carid.com last night and he thinks that he found the design he has in mind. This is made of premium real woods and coated with polyurethane for a lifetime protection. What’s great about this is that it comes in a full kit with 14 pieces at a guaranteed inexpensive price and easy installation process guide so there’s no need to bring the car to a dealer for an installation fee.

Looks like Green Machine will have a spanking new interior look before the year ends.

Sharing these wonderful electricity tips I got from a Meralco Primer:

1. Use natural light whenever possible. Open those windows!
2. Switch off lights when not in use.
3. Use Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs) instead of incandescent bulbs. They are more energy efficient and can last up to 10 times longer.
4. Clean bulbs regularly. Dirt lessens illumination by 50 percent.
5. Use low wattage light bulbs in areas like hallways and doorways.
6. Use lamps that give direct lighting over desks, beds and work areas.

Let’s face it. With the world recession and a far from improving economic condition, life is indeed getting harder each day. Tune in to the nightly news and what we hear are the never ending and depressing news about inflation and laborers getting retrenched. As a homemaker and the finance manager of the house, I can directly feel the effects. Doing the math of our monthly expenses and budgeting are the tasks I truly abhor because the numbers just depress me.

It’s no wonder why people resort to availing loans and credit just to augment their salaries and make their ends meet. However, a debtor should always be in control and be wary of his availments because he may end up falling deep in the pit of high interest rates, charges and possibly negative impact on credit rating later on. In the US, their credit score is really important and it’s a thing that they do take very seriously. Future credit and loan availments are dependent on it. For multiple loans, they do debt consolidation which is a process of taking out one loan to pay off many others to secure a lower or a fixed interest rate. It is advisable to consolidate debt when paying multiple credit card debts to lower the interest rates which consequently means increased capability to zero out the debt. It may appear complicated but there are helpful service entities out there like the 3debtconsolidation.com that are well versed with such transactions. Their site even has a resource for sample debt settlement letter collection whatever the nature of the debt-related transaction is. In these difficult times like these, they certainly are lifesavers of those that need credit help.

The husband works for one of the top Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) companies in the country. Not only performance wise are they almost number one in the industry but in terms of employee benefits and compensation as well. When I was still in the work force, I even thought of transferring to their company because the pay and benefits were really that attractive. However, my plans didn’t pursue anymore because I got pregnant and transferring to another company wasn’t a good idea.

The world recession made them cut a few of their benefits as part of their saving measures but a lot are retained and one of their well appreciated benefits is their Car allowance program where work-related mobile activities are entitled for gasoline reimbursement. According to the husband, the reason why the employees rave about it because the reimbursement process is very systematic, easy and efficient. I heard the company is contracting a third party consulting firm that specializes in customizable vehicle reimbursement program.

That is when I first heard about management consulting firms such as the Corporate Reimbursement Services, Inc. (CRS). Their expertise spares a company’s accounts payable staff from going through the very detailed and comprehensive process of such reimbursement. What’s great about this firm is that they have numerous vehicle-related reimbursement programs tailored to suit the needs of the client like easy report generation of mileage reports and trends, detailed reimbursement, specific insurance information, program compliancy reports and other miscellaneous customizable reports. Cost savings, reduced risk and liability exposure and ease of administration are just a few of the employer benefits.

I have just browsed the site of Corporate Reimbursement Services, Inc. (CRS), a management consulting firm that specializes in providing support and highly flexible and tailored auto-related reimbursement programs for companies with mobile employees. Reading their site makes me hope and wish that the company wherein I worked for as an Accounts Disbursement staff in the past, knew about this firm then. That way, my task of pooling and computing all the transportation allowance of our big bosses and qualified managers wouldn’t have been hard and stressful. I remember I used to spend tremendous over time hours just to complete all these. I even neglected a few equally important tasks because of this. The Car allowance program of CRS is really commendable because it makes life easier by providing in a breeze important reports mileage reports and trends, detailed reimbursement, specific insurance information, program compliancy reports and other miscellaneous customizable reports. I recall that my immediate superior used to nag me about such reports and demanded that I give them right away. Having a “manual” experience about taking charge of car allowance reimbursement, I really find this CRS program very time saving and advantageous to a Disbursement staff of a company. Testimonials of satisfied clients also claim that this program is cost saving.