NETWORKING

Are you a member of a networking company? This kind of business is one way for financial security if only you know how to handle it. With this kind of business, the law of leverage applies here. It means you have to use other people's time to make money. You have to create a dedicated and hardworking downlines before you can see yourself successful in this business. Selling ability is also important here because you have products to sell. This is not about recruiting as many downlines as you can. It is also about having members that believe in the products and inform other people about it. It is about having people who are determined to be successful themselves.

Here are the list of some networking companies I joined:

Forever Living Products
Vision Unlimited
Herbalife
Fern-C
First Quadrant
Avon
DXN

But I was not successful or let's just say I don't have the talent to convince people to join. So I only purchase their respective products and use it personally.

A HOUSE IS "NOT" AN INVESTMENT

How many times did you hear people say, "You should buy your own house because it is an investment". Well, they are partly correct. It is an investment or an asset if you get money out of it. If you purchase a house to have it rented, then it is an asset / investment because it is making money for you. But if you purchase a house for your own shelter, it is not considered an asset. It is in fact a liability. Why a liability? Because you spend cash for its monthly upkeep, maintenance and utilities. You even spend more on furniture, machines, and equipments to make your stay more comfortable.

Assets/Investments are the things or instruments that make money for you. Liabilities, on the other hand, are the ones taking your money away from you.

AVOID FEES

Are you using your own bank's ATM services? If not, then you are wasting money. Bank charges about P9.50 to P11.00 for non-bank transactions on their ATM machines. It may be small but it will still add up. So if you're planning to open an ATM account, try to check first if the bank has a lot of ATM machines strategically situated wherein you can access it easier, in a secure place, and can be used anytime of the day. The most annoying thing that can happen is being prompted by a "MACHINE UNAVAILABLE" message on the ATM screen.

FINANCIAL SITUATION UPDATE # 1

Card 1: P 34,000.00
Card 2: P 8,000.00 (this used to be P18,000.00)
Card 3: P30,000.00 (purchase of new laptop 0% interest for 12 months)

Emergency Fund 1: still at P10,000.00

Emergency Fund 2: P -0-

Educational Fund: target would be P 2.5 million

Retirement Fund: target would be P 5 million

Passive Income: P -0-

MONITOR YOUR EXPENSES

To determine where do you spend most of your money, it is better if you write down all your everday expenses for a month. By doing this, you will be able to see what purchases were really not necessary and what other things you can cut down. This will also take discipline because we usually get tired of listing down everything everyday. But if you are really serious on managing your finances, you will do this everyday for a month. It is even better if you will make this a habit.

If you are married, inform your partner about this monitoring activity so that he/she will also be aware of monitoring his/her own expenses. If you have kids that have money allowances, teach them to list their everyday expenses, too.

You can also make this a fun activity by comparing notes at the end of the day and see who got the lowest money spent.

eBay FINED

Have you sold or bought items from eBay.com? I read that eBay is fined millions of dollar for selling fake luxury goods. Click here for more information.

Is this going to happen to other online auction/trading sites?