Frugal Living

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Bill Shrink Guy just gave out this apt reminder on how vulnerable anyone can be when it comes to identity theft. My identity was never stolen, thank goodness, but I have heard of so much stories that I have come to take faithful steps in protecting myself and avoiding the possibility of my identity to be stolen by taking these measures:

1. Ditch any unnecessary personal information or passwords in wallet or purse

I used to walk around in a wallet with my original bank slip with my password on it. I even have in one time wrote my internet banking password in the slip lest I forget. Dumb…

Rid your wallet of all papers with any passwords or any personal information that are precious to thieves lurking around. The same advise goes to those who leaves their bank online passwords into their cellphone…

2. Be safe with your mail

How often have we heard of missing important mail? I do not want to bark at the wrong tree here, but there are certainly instances and reports of those nosy Postal Office employees. Just to be on the safe side, manage your mail and divert important mail such as bank statements or credit card statements which contains your personal details which may be used against you or used to cause harm on others.

3. Use online facility to access your accounts

Like me, I opt out on paper statement of accounts from my bank. I use the online facility to check my transactions, and to download my current statements into my Quicken for quick consolidation. Not only it is convenient, if in the event you spot an erroneous and suspicious transaction from using the online facility, you can quickly notify your bank for the immediate cancellation of your card and the bank can immediately check the said transaction. Not only are you protecting yourself, and your identity, you are saving your bank paper and saving the environment.

Do you know of friends or anyone who had experienced identity theft?

Having decided to live the frugal way, I have changed alot some of our product choices especially my dependency on so much kitchen products which mostly are disposables, and instead opted for more environment-friendly products.

For example:

Kitchen Towels- I used to horde alot of those Bounty Paper Towels. Although Bounty is proven to be biodegradable as it is made of 97% cellulose, these paper towels are expensive here in the Philippines. Our local paper towels cannot even compete absorbency-wise, but heck the imported ones are just too expensive and yes, you get to throw them out too. I have opted for those hand towels I bought years ago from SM Department Store. Not the “Mabuhay” towels you see on the street, but those nice knitted ones that cost P60 each years ago. I have bought several on one go two years ago, and they are still around. To make them last longer, I do not use bleach on them during laundry and I do not overuse them around in the kitchen.  I colored coded them per use and area.  Ie. the checked ones for hands; blue ones for the kitchen counters; yellow ones for the bathrooms; tattered blue ones for the floor, etc…

Ziploc Bags- I keep several boxes in my kitchen of this wonder plastics. I use them to store fish, meat and other food inside the refrigerator. I just wash them after each use.  I  air dry them and reuse. I preferred these bags than those conventional plastic bags usually sold in the market. I am careful to use only food grade materials for my food in the kitchen. I liked it in Thailand wherein plastics are classified and labeled properly– food grade and non-food-grade. You wouldn’t want your food to be covered or contained within a non-food grade plastic where harmful materials could contaminate your food.

Plastic containers- I store left over food in the refrigerator inside those plastic containers. Sometimes, I use ceramic containers and cover them with those disposable cling wraps– perhaps the only disposable I cannot live without here. Why? I found it convenient to cover leftover food with cling wrap. I know some people use those plastic dome-like food covers to ward off insects, but I found the cling wrap protects the food better especially from ants and smaller indoor pests.

What disposables are you still using in your household? Are you having a hard time finding reusable options to replace?

I can be tough customer. My sister I am a very demanding costumer and I am not denying that. I do not like it when sales ladies follows and breathes down on my neck as I am looking around any stores. Sometimes before entering the store, I like telling the sales lady to quit following me around of I am off their store.

I have read enough stories from Consumerist that made me raving envious about how posting their rants at their site help dissatisfied customers. Consider this story about Sam who got a new MacBook Pro after the Apple Customer Care erased his hard drive without his permission when this guy brought his Mac in and Apple found some ladybugs inside his laptop. Sam seeked the help of Consumerist and got a replacement in order for him to “restore faith in the company.” Or about J. Money who blogs at Budgets are Sexy thought he did everything to get the photographer who skipped town without handing out his wedding photos. He threatened to sue, without avail and when he finally thought to create a blog about the wedding fiasco. He named names and even included dates, and viola! Two days and 300 hits after, the photos were all emailed to him and two weeks after that, the photos were in his hands. According to J., “so for a measly $9.99 (for the domain name) and a few hours of hard work, Operation Wedding Pictures was a success!“

At any rate, it does pay to blog about bad customer services– in the US, I am afraid. I have read enough bitching in the local blogs here but there really isn’t any clue if Customer Service in our country is topnotch or at least has improved.

Read the rest of this entry »

Just took this nice and funny frugality quiz from Blunt Money, and here is my result:

How Frugal Are You? Post your comments below.

1

Bought LPG and compared to 3 months ago, the price has decreased 50 % from P860 to P480. At least this time the price did not cause me to go whacko.

2

My cellphone is hanging on to its seam. I went to the cellphone store and won against the urge to buy a cellphone– out of the budget. It seems that I needed to start saving one.

And I hope I get to save enough before it totally breaks.

Time to check the local ebay and Auction.ph.

Did you have any cellphone related story? How about times when you bought something which turned out useless and you ended up kicking yourself? Share them by making a comment here, or send me your thoughts to frugal.pinoy@gmail.com

I simply agree with Frugal Trader that buying the cheapest thing on the rack will not necessarily save you more. This is so true. Even before things went rough with me financially, I have always been into quality goods. With frugal means, I still opt for quality clothes and toys for my children. Not only that quality goods last longer, they do look better.

One classic example are toys. I can get a cheap toy car for my boy at a Taiwanese store here which cost around P30. A branded toy from the department store or Toy World will cost around P250-350. The main difference will be on the durability. A good, quality toy will generally last a year or so, while a cheapo toy will shatter the moment you throw it on the wall. Not only that, cheaper toys that breaks easily is hazardous to your children especially if you have other children under the age 3, and that most number of emergency room incidents were caused by toy-related accidents.

Clothes is another thing. Cheaper jeans here will cost P150, while branded ones will cost around P450-650 in the department store. The cheaper jeans after a few washes fade quicker than the branded ones. Not only that they fray quicker than the quality and expensive materials. One major example are the Guess Jeans I have bought my daughter 5 years ago. It actually cost me P1,000+ then, but the jeans are still being used by my youngest child since the pants did not look old at all. The material indeed is softer, but the over-all look is still great. Did I get my money’s worth? You bet!

Ofcourse cheaper things are made from cheaper materials. Buying them cheaply might save us NOW, but they will have to be replaced quicker than you expect. You might be surprised how much you have actually spent on things that you may not be using now because they have worn off. Now, since you were unable to utilize the clothing longer because it broke on the seams, wouldn’t that be considered as waste now?

Do you have shopping tips to share? Pass it on to me and I will give due credit! Email all comments and suggestions to frugal.pinoy@gmail.com

One of the things that disgust me when I was still living in the city was the fact that telemarketers somehow got hold of our house number and we often get unsolicited calls for insurance and someone trying to get me to claim some discounted insurance and some prize…

B e w a r e.

The phone has been a known instrument for swindlers. Although phone solicitations are legitimate, there are no easy ways in verifying the people soliciting or even getting pertinent information from you over the phone.

Here are some of the tricksters using the mighty landline.

Fraudulent Telemarketers

These are people who usually promises you prizes and offers you discount over the phone. Using a friendly voice, they will ask for your credit card number with the intent to extort information from you. They might even use high pressure tactics to get you to purchase some merchandise over the phone. Later, you might find that you were billed for something and never receive the product you paid for.

Fake Orders for Magazine Subscriptions

People pretending to sell subscriptions and may “offer” extremely low prices which is only available if you order using your credit card. Again, terms like “verification,” “identification,” or “process” will be used to try to get you to reveal your credit card number. Once you give it, the con artist will use your number to place fake orders.

Investment Frauds

Be wary of accepting calls from scrupulous scammers masquerading as telemarketers. These are scams that may involve selling of coins, precious metals and including insurance.

Credit Card Offers Scam

This type of fraud begins when someone calls your home, and they often identifies themselves as someone from your bank. They would offer you lower interest rates with the intent to getting personal information from you.

W o r d s o f C a u t i o n

• Never get involved in a deal where you are asked to turn money over to a stranger. You might as well ignore emails from Mr. So and So from a Certain Bank anywhere in the world telling you that you have won something. To protect yourself ask for written information on products or services before ordering them.
• Never give out your credit card number on the phone unless you made the call to place an order or to make a donation.
• If you get any suspicious call from your bank, tell the person obtaining information from you to drop the call and you can verify the call from your own bank yourself.

Have you received any unscrupulous offer over the phone? Share them with me by making a comment or email me at frugal.pinoy@gmail.com

1

I did not get to save any dime this week. For one, my electric bill has increased P400. And I am wondering if the malfunctioning fridge might be the culprit. Any take on that?

2

I intend to cut our expense on snacks and junk food.

3

I am also taking Ramit Sethi’s suggestion on calling one day of the week off from spending. Since we live in rural Mindanao, a two day break from spending is possible.

I am calling Friday and Saturday a no spending day.

4

I have opened an emergency fund account in BPI. The intent and the need to save is higher now. Happens more to people who have no passive income.

5

I have opened another 2 savings account for my children. This is monumental, because my oldest daughter is starting to learn how to save and control her spending.

6

My daughter asked for corned beef the other day and I found out that I have no more potatoes to cook to go with it. I checked my cupboard and found 4 pieces of yam. I peeled the yam, and tossed it with the corned beef and viola! The dish tasted way better than corned beef and potatoes…

Savings? Certainly.

A kilo of yam in rural Mindanao is P15.00, while a kilo of potato cost over P50.00.

Ka-ching!

Kamote tasted way better than potatoes.

Do you have other frugal tips? Share it with me, by posting a comment below…

Like you, I am feeling the pinch of recession and noticed how quickly prices has gone up in my favorite store, Makro. I have quickly tried my best to psyche myself into my saving mode, than the spending mode.

So, here are 3 Quick Ways to Avoid Unnecessary Spending

Do not take your children to the grocery unless they are my mine.

There is no doubt that bringing children in the mall or anywhere else where candies, toys and even school supplies are for sale can be stressful to a parent trying to stick on a budget. If your children are like mine, you can definitely take the kids inside the store. Since they are used to seeing me use the “list” all the time every time it’s grocery time. Anything NOT on the list is NON-NEGOTIABLE. Here are other helpful tips in succeeding in budget shopping.

When walking around the neighborhood, do not take your purse.

When you live in a rural area like me where everybody knows everybody, it can be a pain to walk around the neighborhood without being tempted to buy something. In my neighborhood, I have neighbors selling me kakanins, longganisa, everything from Avon, shoes from Natasha, you get the drill, eh? So, one of the tricks I have learned is either you walk like you are going somewhere important, that is if the neighborhood Avon Lady stops you… or you can always say you are broke, which I know doesn’t work since they can still coerce you into getting something for “installments.” Or, just walk around your house if you feel the urge to stretch your legs. That’s better then buying something you really do not need.

Only pay in Cash– Always.

I am big with Debit Cards. Unlike credit cards, they are great since you only get to spend what you have.

Stick with your Budget.

Whenevermy children and I are in town for our monthly check up and grocery shopping, everything we do is mapped out. This is great so as we already know where we are going; what things needed to be bought; and if we had to take lunch or snack, which place to have snacks; When you have a strict itinerary, this will help you avoid unnecessary spendings. Not to mention that since you are time bound, there should absolutely no time to wander around the mall. Since the children are not tempted by those Barbie and Bratz toys, there is no need to fend them off, since you ar busily carting them off to the next destination.

Do you have other cool shopping ideas? Please share them with me by posting a comment below or send me an email at: frugal.pinoy@gmail.com