Aly's First Book Purchase

Aly's school hosted a book fair last week and you know how excited our little girl can be when it comes to books.  She was more excited when we allowed her to bring her wallet to school so that she can buy a book on her own.  Too excited, that she woke up very early that day -- like, 3 or 5am early.  Heehee!  You see, Aly does not normally bring her wallet to school for two reasons: #1 she doesn't really need to spend on anything there, #2 she just might lose it.  This day was an exception.  Richard and I are also teaching Aly how to save and to spend her money wisely so we thought this would be the perfect time.

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Aly's "baht wallet" as she calls it, and the receipts from her purchase.  She has two wallets where she keeps her money: one for her baht and another one for her peso so she can easily tell them apart.

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The only test that I gave Aly to find out if she's ready to buy on her own was I asked her to give me the right amount of money.  The book that she wanted to buy was Thb275, so I asked her to give me that amount.  I was pleasantly surprised when she gave me the exact amount!  Wow!  My little girl is indeed ready to buy on her own!

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When I picked her up that afternoon, she was wearing a huge smile on her face!  She told me that she bought a lot of stuff with her money.  This is what she bought:

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Aly's first book purchase and she bought this all by herself with no help from mommy!  

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She also got Clifford wallets for her and for her ate Gabbi; and a tic-tac-toe keychain for me and her daddy (share daw kami).  Isn't she the sweetest?

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She was a little bit worried that her dad and I might get mad at her for "wasting her money" (her new term nowadays), but I told her that money is never wasted on books because you learn from them and you can read them over and over.  I also told her that buying stuff for other people is never a waste of money.  In fact, her dad and I are very proud because she remembered what we taught her about sharing her blessings and being generous.

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I love how our little exercise turned out.  Sometimes I wonder if I'm teaching Aly the right stuff or if any of my reminders ever get to her.  But now I know that I am somehow getting to her.  I am really proud.  

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Our next lesson is all about saving.  Let's see how it goes.

Budgeting 101

I already mentioned to you before about my lack of poor budgeting skills.  Ok, that's putting it nicely -- my saving skills suck!  Thankfully, my husband is a pro at money management (we really are made for each other heehee!). The hubby has to give me A+ for effort, though, because I really try.  My attempts may not always be a success, but it's the thought that counts.

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At the start of the year, I took a suicidal plunge big leap by proposing a new budgeting scheme to the hubby.  I proposed the old-school budgeting method of using envelopes.  At the start of each month, I withdraw X amount for our expenses and divide the money in envelopes labeled as such:

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From the top: Miscellaneous expenses, Laundry/dry clean, Aly's weekly allowance, Utilities (mainly for our Chatrium bill like water, electricity, room service), Groceries, Sunday lunches/dinner out, Richard's weekly allowance, My weekly allowance and...

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...the most important envelope of all: savings a.k.a shopping money for Kris + Aly.  This is not part of the monthly budget, though.  I only put money here when there are leftovers from our utilities, laundry or grocery budget :)

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I used old envelopes, by the way :)  This has been the most effective budgeting method that I've tried so far.  How do I know it's effective?  In the nine months that we've been on this, we only went over the budget two or three times, and those were during our birthday months when we went on a trip or had visitors at home.  So if I were to rate it, I'd give it 85%.  Pwede na dba?  Here's hoping that my luck will not run out.  Christmas is fast approaching and we all know how what that means...good luck to us all!

No-Fry Lechon Kawali

Krisan's No-Fry Lechon Kawali.

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How did I do it?

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1. Boil the pork belly in a pot of water with onion, garlic, salt + pepper until tender.  
2. Remove the pork from the broth and refrigerate for at least half a day (overnight would be much better).  
3. Cook the pork on broiler setting, until the outsides are golden brown and the skin is crispy.  Remember to drain the oil that will come out from the pork.  If you don't have an oven with a broiler, a turbo broiler will do just fine.
4. Chop into serving pieces and serve with your choice of dipping sauce.

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I'm not a big fan of deep frying because I hate getting hit by oil splatter and I also think it's a waste of cooking oil (no sense in deep frying if you're not using a lot of oil now, isn't it?).  Luckily, I have my super oven that can do just about anything. 

Monday, Interrupted and Some Random Thoughts

My Mondays are usually dedicated to chores like laundry, a little bit of tidying up here and there...but my usual routine has been interrupted by what I thought would be a routine cleaning of the living room A/C.  Boy, was I wrong!  It's now 10am and I still haven't done any chores.  I can't go to the kitchen because of this:

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I wish I'd known that they were going to do some major work on the aircon.  I could have made plans to spend my morning elsewhere.  So now I'm stuck in front of the computer.  Oh well, might as well get me some Facebook chismis. Hihi!

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Speaking of Facebook, I've been getting a lot of chismis entertainment from here lately -- photos, comments and my favorite: the status updates...oh, the drama that unfolds from these status updates!  The good, the bad, the cringe-fests, the boring, the super papansin and the bitch-worthy...entertainment indeed!  It's not all that bad, though.  Most of the posts naman are pleasant and I like reading good news about my friends too.

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I noticed too that there are a lot of online sellers tagging their friends to their albums.  One friend of mine posted a shoutout to all her retailer friends to stop tagging her in photos of the stuff that they're selling because she hates it.  Hihi!  That can be irritating especially if they're tagging you to the fake goods.  It sucks more if you own authentic bags and they tag you to those fakes.  Don't get me wrong; I have nothing against those online sellers and I know that they are just trying to make a living.  But really, if you can afford the real thing, why bother with fakes?  Mapagkamalan pang fake yung original mo.   My sister was once tagged to a fake bag and I told her to untag herself.  I don't mean to be a snob, but she doesn't own any fakes.  My reason is this:  I have another friend on FB whom I admired for her small collection of designer bags. But when I saw that she was tagged to "top quality replica/7A" bags on numerous occasions, I started to doubt the authenticity of her collection.  You know what I'm saying?  Mind you, those top quality replica bags come with dust bags and paper bags pa ha.  Magagalit ang mga donya sa The Purse Forum.  Luckily, I've never been tagged to any of those albums and yes, I don't own any fakes (got rid of them when I got my first LV).  Not because I'm a snob (ok, maybe just a little bit), but out of respect for my husband who spent his hard-earned money to buy me the real deal, why would I want a faker?

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Moving on...I also got a message this morning (via FB) from one of the Grade 2 mommies that her daughter has H1N1.  Oh my...Letters were sent out last week informing the parents that a sixth grader got H1N1 but I never thought that it would hit so close to home.  I'm hoping that my Aly will not catch this, not when she just had flu a couple of weeks back.  I'm keeping my fingers (and toes) crossed!

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I saw my masseuse at the lobby the other day and I just realized that I haven't had a massage in what, two months?  No wonder I'm so restless lately.  Must go to the spa asap!

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Sigh...aircon's not yet finished.  I wish manong would hurry up.  It's almost lunch time.

Grocery List

Don't you just hate it when you're all set to bake cupcakes but realize that you don't have eggs in your ref?  Or when you're craving for a sandwich but you're out of bread?  Me no likey.  That's why I have this in the kitchen:

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A grocery list and a pencil (upper right hand side of the photo) so we can easily jot down stuff that we need before they run out.  Notice how I placed my grocery coupons right next to it?

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I put my grocery list on my ref.

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It's made from recycled paper too!  I use Aly's old worksheets and her old notebooks for my grocery list.  

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I never go to the supermarket without a list because I end up buying stuff that I don't really need and miss the stuff that I really need.  It keeps my budget on track and my life much easier.  Now I can happily cook or bake whatever I want, whenever I want :)

Mini Speakers

When I'm cooking, I like to listen to music because it gets me in the mood.  But when the range hood is on, I can barely hear the music from the living room.  I would have wanted to get an iPod dock for the kitchen, but the one that I had my eye on was kinda expensive.  It would require a major purchase so I had second thoughts.  Buti na lang my sister got me this:

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Mini speakers in purple.

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Terno!  Because underneath that red sleeve, my iPod is really purple.

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It ain't Bose or Harman Kardon, but it gets the job done!  I use it not only when I'm cooking in the kitchen, but  also when I'm ironing clothes.  Heehee!

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Thanks, Ange for the speakers!  Love them! :)

Something To Look Forward To

In about three years, we will be the proud owners of a condo unit at Global City :)

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Richard signing the papers.

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Our very first home -- a  nest that is truly ours.

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We visited the model unit during our last vacay.  Oh, how I wish our unit will look like this!

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Aly likes it here!

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I love the bathroom!

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The place is not that big (one bedroom only), but it's going to be OUR place -- not rented or leased!  And this space will be filled with happiness and love.  I can't wait!