Peso hits 42.73 to the dollar! WaaaahhhH!

By Doris Dumlao
Inquirer
Last updated 04:11pm (Mla time) 11/09/2007

MANILA, Philippines — The peso breached the crucial 43:$1 barrier on Friday on strong foreign exchange inflows and growing expectations of another interest rate cut by the United States Federal Reserve.

The local currency hit an intra-day high of 42.73 against the US dollar in morning trade, its strongest level since touching 42.63 on June 21, 2000.

“We’re looking at 42.50:$1 next week,” said Jonathan Ravelas, chief strategist at Banco de Oro–EPCI.

The fourth quarter is seasonally a strong season for overseas remittance inflows ahead of the Christmas season. On top of these remittances, the market is benefiting from a resurgence of foreign portfolio investments into the stock market.

A potential cut in interest rates by the US Fed in December is also expected to make high-yielding assets from emerging markets like the Philippines more attractive to offshore investors.

The peso, Asia’s best performing currency so far this year next to the Indian rupee, has so far gained by over 12 percent this year.

You have to spend to earn (Part II)

Sorry, I’ve been a delinquent blogger the past couple of weeks. I was working way too much. I hope I can also say that working 16 hours a day brought in an avalanche of moolah, but I’ve just again proven the title of one of my early posts:

“You have to spend to earn”

1. The past three weeks, I have been going to the office almost everyday, which meant transportation and food expenses. Since I was in the office for extended periods of time, it also meant having breakfast, lunch, and dinner outside. I was spending almost P500 a day! Ag!
2. Because of all the stress, at one point, I had to a quick massage over lunch at a nearby spa to remove a pain in my neck. Easy way to burn P750.
3. Two weekends were spent “working” for Mabuhay Magazine–yep, I got to travel for free, but I pretty much spent my salary from those two gigs for pasalubongs and for the people I brought along with me.
4. Since I was getting too stressed out, I had to hire someone to take care of administrative/coordinating tasks in one of the publications I handle. That meant cutting to almost half what I earn from that project.

So yes, I did earn more over the past three weeks, but I also spent more. Bottomline, my net earnings are practically the same.

I see how people often forget this, quickly jumping at a job that offers higher pay, but forgetting to factor in the costs related to working. I remember my sister (who’s a work-at-home-mom) pointing out to me a study that shows double income families are not necessarily financially better off that single income families, because the former incur twice the work-related expenses (food, transpo, office clothes), and have to hire household help.

I suppose it’s just about finding a balance. However, I’ve always maintained that salary should not be your main consideration in looking for a job; if you’re happy with the work, by all means go do it. You’ll find a way to make the money be enough. But if you’re not happy with the work, no amount of salary will ever be enough.

MoneySmarts talks about a survey that shows income and financial security are only fifth on the list of what makes Filipinos happy. That should tell those of us–who devote all our time for work, sacrificing time for family and friends and rest–something.

I guess what I’m trying to say is: if we work too hard to earn more, it’s not always worth it because (1) you end up spending more anyway, and (2) it won’t even make you that happy.

Financial Advice from Trekkie Monster

I watched Avenue Q last Saturday and had a blast It was worth the hefty P1,250 ticket, and we we’re rolling in laughter in things like Trekkie Monster insisting that the Internet is primarily for porn, and then a punchline like the one below:

TREKKIE MONSTER
What you say?

BRIAN
Kate wants to open a school for Monsters.

TREKKIE MONSTER
School for Monsters? Me never hear of that!

(sung)

School for Monsters!
School for lonely little Monsters!
When me little,
going to school,
other children
think me not cool,
poking and pulling
at me fur…
Now we have therapist,
and work on this with her.
But me no need me therapy
if Monster School a reality!

(spoken)

Here! Me give you ten million dollars!

PRINCETON
Trekkie! Where did you get all that money?!

TREKKIE MONSTER
In volatile market, only stable investment is porn!

Taking Advantage

On Tuesday, what with all the jitters over the announcement of Estrada’s verdict, the peso hit a low of P47.12=$1.

On Wednesday, as soon as I heard that Estrada was pronounced guilty and that the economy was starting to react positively, i went to the bank and withdrew all the dollars I can. Hehe. Used it to pay large chunks off my two remaining cards.

Turned out to be a good decision because the peso was downhill from then on.

An exercise in self-control

I love Boracay. My boyfriend loves Boracay. My mom and my sister have been wanting to go to Boracay for as long as I can remember.

And so when I saw a dirt cheap Boracay promo at the Philippine Travel Mart – P3,500 for an all-inclusive 3 day, 2 night trip (airfare, transfers, accommodations, breakfasts) – I was all set to whip out my credit card and book a trip for 4.

You can’t get any cheaper than that. A decent trip would normally cost P6,000-P8,000 per person.

But thank God my boyfriend managed to stop me. And thank God my mom agreed with him.

Considering I’m currently somewhat broke, with tens of thousands of credit card debt remaining, booking that trip would have been the height of impulsive buying. Granted that it was cheap, it’s still something I can’t afford right now.

Right now, I have to remain focused on my 2 main financial goals:
1. Paying off my debts
2. Saving up a decent “buffer” and emergency fund.

Boracay will always be there, and there will be more travel marts and cheap promos in the future.

Financial Hits and Misses

August was a difficult month in terms of financial management.

1. It was so incredibly busy and stressful that I wasn’t able to collect checks/claim payments on time, thus putting my September budget in peril.

2. I had a couple of unplanned expenses – my mom’s medical insurance premium (I thought it was due October), fees involved with getting a receipt from BIR (need one for a job) – both justified, but outside my budget.

3. I still forced myself to zero out one of my credit cards (Second one! Yay!), putting the balance in both my bank accounts to minimum.

Yes, I met one goal – zeroing out a credit card – but I’m near broke and I don’t know when my next check is coming in. I’ve begun charging stuff (gas and groceries) on my two remaining cards again, and payment for one of them is due today. Sigh.

If I were to give just one advice…

I’ve been tagged by MoneySmarts! I’m supposed to answer this question: “If I were asked to give just one — just one personal finance advice — what would it be?”

Apparently, this meme was started by a blog called Moolanomy, and it has a round up of all the one-finance-advice’s so far.

Now, I’m not sure I’m the best person to give financial advice – this blog being, so far, an account of my struggling to get out of credit card debt and putting my finances in order – but as the saying goes, experience is the best teacher.

And so, based on my experience, here is my little nugget of wisdom: Good financial management is not concerned with the amount written on your paycheck.

Allow me to explain. People often think that if they earned a little bit more, they would be better off financially. Not true. In my first job right out of college, I was paid just a little over minimum wage, and I stayed with that job for about two and a half years. I lived from paycheck to paycheck, constantly borrowed money from my mom, and often had my cellphone or credit card suspended because of late payments.

In my next job, my salary almost tripled. You’d think, being single and all, that I would have been able to save tons. Unfortunately not. I moved out of my mom’s place and rented a condo near my new office. I applied for new credit cards, left and right. I took up my master’s degree in an expensive school. I went out more often and ate in more expensive restaurants, I shopped more, and I went on expensive vacations. And so despite my drastically increased income, I was still living from paycheck to paycheck, and racking up even more debt.

The point is, financial management is about how you spend, not how much you earn.  This is something I wish I knew way back when I was still earning close to minimum wage. If I did, I would probably be a millionaire now.

Now, for the three people I have to tag:

Ismangil -  an ardent advice-giver in this blog
Twoyearstops – a now debt-free friend who used to be in the same boat I am now
Jinoe – who thinks he’ll be working on his finances for life

Guidelines on Credit Cards Paranoia

Here’s a very useful website for people with severe credit card problems. It’s by Rene Uy from Davao, and acccording to his profile, he:

Graduated from a Chinese High School, became green in college and turned to a blue masteral studies. After finishing college in three years, worked with a bank for P10/day no-work- no-pay basis and has been w/ loans and credit until the end. FRUSTRATION IN LIFE: Just when I had the answers, they changed the question. MY ADVOCACY: Just because you are a past due account does not mean we cannot remain as friends; and that it already gives me a license to humiliate you! MY TEACHINGS: Repayment should be based on cash flow and not on threats. It is like availing a loan based on collateral and not on the purpose.

Basically, the site provides advice to people who have defaulted in credit card payments, and are now being harassed by card companies and collecting agencies. (Harassment includes those phone calls at ungodly hours from rude agents threatening to haul all your possessions.) We’ve all heard stories like that, and I know people who have been subject to that harassment.

His site doesn’t apply to me (at least not yet), but I’m sure it’s helpful for many others. Dear God, I hope I do get to pay off all of my debts before (God, forbid) I run out of work or something.

Thanks to Dave Q for the tip!

I know I shouldn’t be happy, but…

…can you really blame me if I can’t help it?

Peso weakens further to 46.43 to $1 

MANILA, Philippines — The peso weakened further against the dollar Thursday as snowballing jitters relating to the problematic US housing market prompted global investors to scramble out of emerging markets.

Intervention by the central bank, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), tempered the peso’s freefall, currency traders said, but the peso still fell to 46.43 to the dollar from Wednesday’s finish of 46.23.

The peso hit an intra-day low of 46.70 to the dollar amid continued weakness in regional markets but closed nearer the day’s high of 46.41 as the BSP sold dollars to curb the currency’s sharp fall, traders said.

Quick Cash Trick: Garage Sale

Money Smarts has an interesting post today on how to find cash in a flash, with a crazy story of a guy selling a smudge of driveway sealant on ebay. I read that somebody made $1 million in ebay by selling a complete Transformers collection.

My family and relatives’ favorite quick cash go-to trick is a garage sale — de-clutter your house and make money off trash!

Here’s a quick rundown of things we usually sell:

1. Furniture and appliances we no longer use – these are either old furniture we’ve replaced, or appliances you get two or more of during weddings (which reminds me, we still have an unused panini grill and a two-year old ref to sell)
2. Old clothes, shoes and bags – we’d sell them for P10 to P80, depending on the condition and the brand.
3. Books and CDs – CDs are particularly easy to sell, especially computer games. Books aren’t fast movers. We still have a couple of boxes of books left by relatives who went abroad to dispose of. Sigh. Nobody reads anymore.

In one garage sale we held in my boyfriend’s garage, we earned about P6,000. When my sister and her family moved out of the city, they earned about P15,000 from things they’re not bringing with them. Garage sales are common too among retiring ADB expats who are leaving the country, and I save a lot of money by going to these (once got a P2,000 21″ TV set from a Japanese expat).

We’re also trying to dispose of some antique collections my late grandfather left – vintage cameras, video recorders, and knives. We’re cleaning them up one by one and will sell them in antique stores or ebay.