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.