Until now, Paypal has not explained the reason for the computer glitch…  $86 BILLION !  Unbelievable!

1. Beware of scams. This is so obvious. With the wake of recent financial scandals in the US causing major collapse in finance related companies, not ot mention the collapse of CAP and Legacy Group. Be aware of scams and stay away from to-good-to-be-true deals. There are 3 ways you can do to ensure you never fall and become a victim of fraudsters. First, if you have a financial advisor, never issue a check directly to him nor give custody to your assets to them. Second, never give your advisor a Special Power of Attorney over your bank accounts. Third, insist on getting monthly statements from the custodian (place where your trading accounts are held) rather from your advisor.

2. Do not dare predict the future. I do not think there is a sure fire way of predicting the future. No one can predict the future, do don’t try or you’ll just drive yourself nuts.

3. Invest 5-10 minutes a month and know exactly how much you have spent. Just track your total withdrawals from your accounts, chargings made into your credit cards with your income. Get everyone in the family involved. It would be easier this way. Not only that, you would be teaching and showing your children how to manage household finances.Getting their involvement will also make explanation easier in case you needed to do some cost cutting in order to make ends meet.

4. Do not withdraw too much from your investments. According to CFP Neal Frankle from Wealth Pilgrim, if you have a balanced portfolio, it’s generally safe to withdraw 4% to 5% annually. If your accounts have taken a hit over the last 12 months you have to re-evaluate your withdrawal rate. Just because you could safely take let’s say P15,000 a month out of your account 12 months ago doesn’t mean you can safely do this now. If your withdrawal rate is too high, you run the risk of running out of money faster. If your accounts have dropped 40%, your withdrawals may have to be reduced.

5. Take time to understand your investment time horizon. It’s easy to be very anxious about finances these days – but it may not be necessary. Let’s say if you are 60 years old, and you intead to retire next year, you may take away or withdraw 5% of your investment account just to make ends meet. If you are female, you can expect to live another 20 years! You have to consider and ask yourself if your money will last as long as you will. If you think about it, a person in this situation really have plenty of time to invest and work on your own portfolio. Just because you are retiring next year, doesn’t mean your investments should. Your money still has plenty of years to work for you. Make sure you don’t squander those years by allowing your money to lounge around in low-paying investments.

These are all easy and common sense steps. If you take the time to protect yourself, refuse to try to predict the future, track spending, make sure your withdrawals are appropriate and understand your investment time horizon, you’ll be far ahead of the game. More important, you can eliminate financial anxiety.

How to wash and iron delicate garments

1. Handwash delicate garments like rayon and silk with little powdered soap and water.

2. Rinse liberally with water and never wring the material. Instead,

3. Hang it using a plastic hanger and air dry it. Do not leave your garments under direct sunlight. Instead, hang it somewhere shady and cool.

4. In case your garment is seriously wrinkled, instead of taking the risk ruining the garment, use a an aluminum foil to help straighten the garment out. According to this tip from Real Simple, “to get wrinkles out of silk, wool, and rayon clothes that can’t take direct heat, place a piece of foil on your ironing board, then lay the garment flat over it. With the steam button down, pass the iron three to four inches over the fabric several times. Wet heat radiating from the foil helps smooth out wrinkles.”

The Web-based tools can help users keep track of variety of expenses, ranging from household and personal budgets to shared costs between co-workers and roommates to weddings. Other worksheets can help users figure out how long it will take to pay off their mortgage or credit-card bills. The templates are Excel-like spreadsheets that users can customize and access from any computer. Now, users can also edit those spreadsheets, sort by column, and filter by terms on from a variety of mobile devices. Users can also share their spreadsheets with anyone, so multiple people can work on a budget together. For example, parents with college-age kids can work on a shared budget at the same time from different locations; others may want to share their spreadsheets with their financial planners or accountants. Users can decide to keep their budgets private or invite others to view them.

Ofcourse, you will have to manually enter your data, which is saved automatically. According to Andrew Chang of Google Docs, the spreadsheets are lightweight and appropriate for do-it-yourselfers who don’t want to connect with other services and prefer to run quick calculations of their finances.

Here are direct links to those templates:

• Family Budget Planner
• Personal Budget Tracker
• Monthly Budget Planner
• Annual Personal Budget Spreadsheet
• Savings Calculator
• Bank Account Ledger
• Credit Card Payment Calculator
• Statement of Net Worth
• Auto Expense Report
• Road Trip
• Mortgage Payment Calculator
• Wedding Budget Manager
• Wedding Vendor Payment List

• Walk more. If you are one of those people who drives to work or commutes to work, you might want to ditch the car for awhile and walk or sprint from the parking lot to your office. While sprinting might race your heart rate like brosk walking, you might want to change or wear appropriate shoes and be wary of potholes lest you injure yourself.
• Instead of riding the elevators or escalators, use the stairs instead.
• Eat healthy. Increase your vegetable intake and lower your carbohydrates from your diet.
• Keep tabs with your health by having an annual check-up.
• Instead of snacking during break times, eat a fruit or two instead.
• Ditch the softdrinks, coffee and alcohol. Opt for more healthier beverages like some fresh fruit drink or better yet, increase your water intake!
• Stop smoking. Not only are you helping yourself, you are also helping to protect your immediate family who could suffer from passive smoking.

Do you have other smart tips in staying fit on a budget? Make your comments below or email them to me at frugal.pinoy@gmail.com. Interesting tips will get free cellphone loads from me.

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?

Here are Ways to Save on Travel

Tweak your itinerary and save. Departing very early or very late in the day can mean a much lower airfare, as can flying on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Sundays are the costliest for domestic flights; Saturdays for international travel. Using the nearest airport can also save you a lot. Being flexible applies to hotels as well, particularly at those that host business travelers during the week.

Check airlines’ websites. Have you tried booking yourself using the online facilities of Cebu Pacific or even Philippine Airlines? Even the biggest shipping companies in the country have their online facilities now. Using these facilities will help you determine the cost of your air or ship fare right away. Not only that, for example at Aboitiz’s Super Ferry, travel goers using the online facilities shall get the lowest available fare. Not only that, you can also check the airlines and shipping companies most recent promos and partnerships with hotels and resorts. For example, sailing with Super Ferry on your birthday will get you discounts equal to your age!

Fly early to arrive on time. Just as I mentioned above, leaving earlier will save you money, but also time. Not only that, you will beat the heat at the check in counters in the airport.

Don’t overpack. For example in Cebu Pacific, you actually get a discount of P200 if you are traveling without any luggage. Ofcourse, going on a holiday would mean lagging a bag along your necessaries, but be careful not to exceed the airlines’ baggage limit especially if you are traveling internationally. We do not want you throwing away some stuff at the airport like our friend Yuga in order to go within the luggage weight limit! Or like me who ended up paying up to 21,000 baht or U$700 for excess baggage in Survarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok. So heed my advice, if your hotel room has a weighing scale, use it to weigh your baggages prior to leaving for the airport. Or you can check with your hotel concierge services and ask if they have a scale somewhere. Its better to be prepared than sorry.

Negotiate with hotels. Sometimes when the hotel is not too full, the front desk can actually give free upgrade. Not only that, you can also ask for more discounts and even additional perks through the front desk. Just don’t be afraid to ask and inquire while checking in.

Use a travel agent for your cruise. Some travel agents especially those accredited by your cruise line can offer you discounts. This is why is pays to research first or even ask those who has traveled or use those agencies before making your booking. Sometimes, it pays to know your travel agent.

Skip the ship to shore call. This is for those who travel by sea. It would definitely save you some if you skip going to shore. Souvenir shops near the ports or even in airports can be expensive. You will definitely get cheaper souvenirs if you buy them in your destination’s local market.

Pay by credit card. Paying with a credit card will earn you extra miles or even cash back if you use the right cards. Not only that, some hotels and resorts give discounts to certain credit cards they have tie up with.

For more Ways to Save on Travel, visit the Consumer Report Website.

Yes, if you cannot afford to pay for anything in cash and in full, and you have to make monthly payments for some items, it simply mean you cannot afford it right now.

While it’s not always possible to avoid credit card disputes, here are some more tips for dealing with them:

•Get promises in writing. Save receipts for big charges. Also ask for written confirmation of when the item will be delivered and what services are provided as part of the purchase.

•Know the rules. The Fair Credit Billing Act gives consumers the right to dispute a credit card purchase or withhold payment for a card purchase – but only under certain conditions.

Disputes must generally be filed in writing within 30 days after the bill is sent. While disputing a charge, the card holder will not have to pay the contested amount and won’t incur interest on it. If the dispute is lost, the card company is allowed to charge interest back to the date you filed the dispute, after a standard grace period.

•File the dispute carefully. Banks classify card holders’ disputes into nearly two dozen categories, such as “merchandise not received” or “canceled recurring transaction” (just like what happened to my Oprah Magazine subscription), but generally, if filed as an “unauthorized transaction” – as long as it is unauthorized – you’ll have more protection.

•Be prepared to arbitrate. Most disputes are settled between the merchant and the consumer. But your credit card issuer could also try to resolve it with the merchant’s bank. If that doesn’t work, the final step often is arbitration, where the issue is decided by Visa or MasterCard.

It’s rare for cases to go to arbitration: At Visa, only one-tenth of 1% of disputes are decided in arbitration, spokeswoman Randa Ghnaim says.

Credit card disputes can last up to 270 days, including the arbitration process, although 99% of card disputes are settled much sooner, says Monteiro of MasterCard.

•File a complaint elsewhere. If you feel that your dispute hasn’t been fairly decided, file a complaint with the Department of Trade and Industry. You can check the SOP in filing a complaint, here. Filing a lawsuit is also an option.

Ofcourse, nobody wants to be bothered with credit card irregularities and there are alot of ways in avoiding this kind of problems. But here are things you should be aware of:

• Be careful of divulging your credit card information. Do not give out your information over the phone or the internet.
• Be aware of phising scams in the internet.
• If possible, be present while the cashier is swiping your card into their machines. Ensure that your card is only swiped once. You do not want double or triple charges into your account.
• Keep all receipts of every transactions until your statement arrives and you have double checked each transaction.

If this article bothered you so much, heck, you can always get rid of those cards and switch to debit cards! Here is my take on the advantages of credit cards.