Planning my Son's bear-y adorable Christening Party

Planning a budget friendly christening was a challenge to me because the media is so full of extravagantly styled parties; but in a sense that we wanted our event to be intimate as possible, we opted to have it bear themed (because we call our son Teo- bear) and invited our closest family and friends to celebrate in welcoming our son Liam Mateo to the Christian World.

We named our son Liam Mateo (Liam- meaning resolute protector, Mateo- meaning gift from God)

I'd like to share to you how we did it for less than 30k. Here's our supplier ratings to help you with your own planning too. Hopefully this would also be constructive to the suppliers we mentioned below.

How to Plan a 150K Wedding

Nope it's not mine, I just helped my friend Marion of Bella Blue plan her wedding last December. And that's right, she just spent a mere 150,000 Pesos for a beautiful Modern- Vintage DIY Intimate wedding. Here's a short interview on how she did it. Complete with her wedding suppliers and some beautiful photos on how her wedding went.

Marion: My cousin Suzette, who is a designer and I had talked years ago. We were talking about weddings. I thought we had the same ideals back then, that spending big money for a "one day" celebration was not practical at all. She also reminded me that if ever I have to splurge, it's not with the dresses nor the venue, instead spend money in PHOTOGRAPHY (something for us newlyweds) and the FOOD (to satisfy our guests). Since then, that thought never left my mind. 

Mark and I had been on for 9 years. Our engagement happened last April, 2011. Plans about the wedding were arranged. I knew at that time that I wanted it to be intimate (with just us with our closest friends and our immediate family members). Lucky groom! Hours of talking and convincing were made to our families, especially to my parents, not letting them think "na tinitipid ang anak nila", but rather that it was my idea.

Though there were a lot of changes from our original plans, like the place and date,  we are certain on one thing - that we will pay for this wedding from our own pockets (from budget to preparation ) , and so we decided to have a very simple and intimate church wedding. 

hello there billionaire!

I got invited by my friend Tasha to join a seminar workshop entitled "Increasing your income potential" at AIM yesterday. Together with my other friend Marion, we went to Mc Do Greenbelt 1 to meet up with Tasha and go to the seminar. Here's what I wore:

outerwear- Plethora, dress- random, flats- Parisian, belt- Landmark

How to Start your online retail business

I've been contemplating for months now, if I'm going to share what I have learned from my years of becoming an  online seller. You might be like me; a member of the middle class; probably a professional, working in a 9 to 5 job, thinking of what my real calling is (for me its fashion) or just not contented of having the minimum wage that we have. As what I learned from the money management seminar that I attended, We have to build up our savings (by setting aside more in our bank accounts or having a sideline or business) to enable us to buys stocks/ shares and later help us get out of the "rat race" :) or the corporate world.  

 DIY take on my site- very amateur but I survived.

cashflow workshop

Spicy Fingers Greenbelt, fully packed

My sister and I attended the Cashflow Workshop yesterday by ICircle at Spicy Fingers, Greenbelt Makati. We were texted the night before to be registered for the workshop, by 9-10 am, we were told to bring our vouchers, a valid ID and a calculator. So there we were, 9:30 am sluggish and sleepy because it was a bit too early for us to wake up.

Simple Budgeting tips for the single girl: How to save and earn more money :)

I am a single girl, middle class and minimum wage earner. If you are like me and you want to save and earn more, try these tips and make them work for you :)

1. Make a budget.

Income- Expenses= Savings. On the first month list down ALL your expenses, transportation fare, food, dates, hehe...Try installing the Expense Manager app on your Android phone or making a pocket paper organizer (Pocketmod)  that you can place on your wallet so you can list down your expenses whenever you pull your money out of your wallet or even install this free expense tracking sheet on your computer and be organized. After that month, you can now see where you are spending most of your money and then make a plan on how much you are really allowed to spend a month. All that is left will be placed on your savings account, hopefully at least 25-50% if you can every salary cut- off.

2. Avoid debt, or slowly pay off your debt.

This is self- explanatory, start paying off your debt to add more to your savings. Make sure you are not spending more that what you are earning.

3. Open a separate savings account.

Even though how small, placing your money in a savings account can make it earn interest which a payroll account doesn't have. It also a good thing that you can withdraw a constant amount of money and deposit it to your savings account. Just make sure that you keep in mind that the money in your savings are for emergency purposes and long term goals only. If you are saving for new gadgets or a future wedding :) this free savings goal tracker can be very useful.

4. Cut off with your old habits.

If you're smoking and spending 34 pesos for a pack of cigarettes a day and cut it down to spending only 3 packs a week, you can save 136 pesos a week x 4(a month) that's 544 a month you are saving! not only that, you are also saving your lungs :)

Another example would be spending 80 pesos for a pedicure every week, that would be 320 pesos a month. If you cut back and have a pedicure every two weeks, you'll be saving have of your 320 peso budget. Better yet, buy a nail cleaning set and your favorite polish colors and place all your pedicure budget money to your savings! :)

5. Have an alternate source of income.

We might not have those hundreds of thousands of pesos yet to invest in stocks or properties but we can start with what we have right now. Take a look around your house or your room. If you have stacks of old magazines, collectibles or slightly used clothes; open an Ebay account and auction them all off! Not only you are making money out of it, you are also making room for new stuff!

If you know how to make crafts or make cute websites, make money out of it. You can also try opening an ODesk account start working from home and add dollars to your savings.

6. Learn something new.

We might be professionals but you must accept that what we are earning now is not enough. If you have other interests like dressmaking, hair and make up, web design or doing crafts, learn more of them and who knows, you might earn more from it than what you are earning now from your day job.

7. When shopping, Identify if it's a "want" or a "need"

To avoid impulse buying, leave the mall and go back to the item after a week; if you still want it, buy it. If in doubt, don't get it. Identifying if the item is a necessity or just a "want" would make you think of the more important stuff that you have to spend on.

8. If you have to shop, make sure you have a great deal.

Get great deals for as much as 35-70% by subscribing to verified groupon sites here in the Philippines. Recommended sites would be, Metrodeal, Ensogo, Beeconomic, Buyanihan, DealGrocer and CashCash Pinoy. For deals on restaurants, spas, pastries, workshops and summer getaways;  Shop online, at flea markets and in vintage stores for unique and cheap finds. Yes you can spoil yourself once in a while,. just make sure you're not ruining your budget.

9. Educate yourself.

Read more about financial planning, attend seminars and workshops to be updated with new investment opportunities. 

 

10. Research for what you can have for free.

May it be software, lessons, audio books and ebooks; you can get it online for free! Pay a minimum amount for shipping if you want free make up samples from Ellana mineral make-up. 

Stay tuned girls and I'll be blogging more money tips soon! :)