surprise myself

Merry...




Christmas




!!!!!!!

Pointe ronde Mocassins
Logo Prada sur le dessus
Pointes en caoutchouc sur la semelle
Fabriqué en Italie

two things

It must be Christmas….

Because how else can you explain my unsubstantiated happiness?

My stock portfolio is down, and my company has an unsettled legal matter to attend to. When I go back to the office tomorrow, I’ll have to face that + piles of work. I am inexplicably happy, though. No, it’s not the wine. I just had fancy grape juice.

Maybe I have a lot of reasons to be happy, and I just don’t realize them.

The new list

Here are my resolutions for year 2008.

1. Shop in Prada.

In 2007, I learned to shop better. I intend to be an even better shopper in 2008. Why buy middle brands (Nine West, Calvin Klein, etc.) when I could just save my money for one big purchase? One expensive thing = less time in the mall = less clutter in my closet.

Instead of spending my shopping dough on badly-sewn five-dollar-shirts that I can only use once (because they shrink after washing), I will now buy only top-quality stuff. Of course, nothing of quality ever costs less than $100. But in 2007, I learned the hard way that anything cheap is a total waste of money.

I now understand why sensible people pay hundreds of dollars for a silk-cotton blend Marc Jacobs blouse when they could easily get the same style for $20. I now get why you only really need one Escada skirt that fits well. And forget about tacky plastic flats in different colors – buy crocodile/snakeskin flats, because they last longer than one season. You’re really saving more money by shopping in Prada.

NOTE: For as long as you’re not putting your luxury purchases on credit, go ahead and buy. That polyester nightmare you have on will look like shit after a few washes, but a Pucci is forever.

2. Work less.

“Go home at a reasonable time, hire an all-around office assistant, don’t fax stuff yourself.” I will say this to myself everyday in January. If I am as determined as I think I am, I should be able to cut my workweek from 80 hours to…79.

3. Run more.

Two times a week isn’t going to cut it any longer. I can NEVER diet, therefore I need to run. This is the only way I can continue to eat like a construction worker and still be relatively fit. Besides, I can never cut junk food. Is that you, Almond Joy?

4. Improve my investment portfolio.

This is just a fancy way of saying "save more money."

1. Sell non-performing/depreciating assets (like my Benz) and invest in higher-yielding instruments.
2. Pay myself first.
3. Postpone travel plans. Wait for my investments to multiply before I dream of Paris.
4. Stop obsessing over real estate. Be liquid, liquid, liquid.

I wonder if I am the only 27-year-old interested in growing money. Whenever I visit Filipino investment blogs/websites, I only see “older” people. I can never find realistic tips for the twenty-somethings.

RANDOM IDEA: I should really start a money blog. And I am not talking about giving private-banking, five-million-pesos-and-up tips that are useless to a young Filipino earning 15,000 to 30,000. I’m talking real-world tips – you know, what to do with your spare P2,000.

That’s it – this is my chance to “give back.” This can be my charity!! Heck, this whole gig can even be tax-deductible!!

BUT, will anyone want my ideas? What do you think?

****

Last Christmas, I woke up to this cowhide overload from MSP.



Now I have a portfolio to put paperwork in.

Great. Work again.