SubscribeDear Aggie,
The more you know, the more you know that you don’t know. The more you succeed, the more humble you should be.
Best,
God
P.S. The day a successful person stops being humble is the day he prepares for his downfall. Remain humble, Aggie.
Children are an extraordinary blessing, yet as every parent knows, raising a child takes patience, imagination, a good dose of courage, and a lot of financial planning. Yes, beyond the sweetness of raising a child is the stark reality of the financial commitment child rearing entails.
Beyond the basic needs of food, clothing and shelter, children have many years of education before them, from preschool to high school, college and beyond. The reality is that somebody has to pay for that schooling, so wise parents start planning as early as possible to make paying for their child’s educational future a reality.
What steps can parents take to plan effectively for their child’s future, and keep it bright? There are many easy steps that can be taken to ensure a happy and sound future for a child. Let’s take a look at just a few.
Image via Wikipedia
Start a Savings Account
Sure, a young child likely won’t have a lot of money to spend, but it’s smart to get into the habit of saving, and a savings account is a great place to start. With a savings account, a child can put away part of their Christmas money, allowance, and cash gifts from their birthdays, and watch it add up. Having an account can give a child a feeling of control and ownership of their own money, and with it, a sense of confidence.
Write a Will
A will? That’s right, a will. As soon as children are born, parents should get serious about planning for what happens to their assets in case they die. No one really likes to think about these issues, but writing a will is a smart way to ensure that children are protected in case of accidental death or an unexpected health concern.
Have an Educational Fund
A good education costs money, and sometimes, it’s important to know there is cash on hand to pay for unexpected school costs. A personal loan from Plain Green Loans is one way to pay for the many costs that come with student life, including new clothes, books, tuition costs and housing. A quick personal loan from Plain Green Loans can quickly cover unexpected costs, and by using an installment plan, parents can pay the loan back in a reasonable amount of time, with payments that are reasonable.
Yes, children are a joy forever, but raising them require planning. By looking ahead and making a plan, parents can make sure their child’s future will be shiny and bright.
Becoming a teenager is a very memorable and special time. It’s a golden period when responsibilities are relatively minor, and free time is plentiful. Unfortunately, this combination also leads to some common teen money hurdles. These will pass in time, particularly after you land a full-time job. But in the meantime, here are some ways to avoid common issues.
Being short on funds doesn’t stop a teen from wanting to spend money. There are members of the opposite sex to impress, clothes to buy, movies and songs of interest, and a plethora of interesting ways to burn through cash. The number one teen money hurdle is being short on cash!
Avoid I.O.U’s
That cash-short lifestyle can quickly lead to mounting I.O.U’s, whether accrued with friends or parents. It’s all too common for teens to borrow from a pal who’s flush at the moment, only to forget about payback when their allowance or payday advance online comes through. Don’t create ill-will amongst your friends by piling up your borrowings. If you need to borrow money to watch a film or take your new crush on a date, be sure to pay it back. Otherwise, not only will that friend’s purse strings close for you, your actions might put your friendship into jeopardy.
Pay Cash
One of the most common teen issues involving money is attempting to keep up with classmates and friends when it comes to showing off the latest look. Fashion is constantly changing – by the week, even – and falling behind isn’t the route to the cool crowd. But overspending to stay hip isn’t cool either, especially when the bills become unmanageable. Nip such fearsome scenarios in the bud by only buying new clothes that you’ve saved money to buy. Whether it comes from a job or elsewhere, by disciplining buying habits at a young age, you’ll be in a great position to thrive later in life.
Open Your Own Account
It’s unfortunate, but one of the more common mistakes teens make is not focusing on opening their own bank accounts. Whether that’s because they don’t think it important, or simply feel they have few funds to keep in a bank, this route is less than sophisticated. Learning from an early age to balance a checkbook – or at least learn to keep track of the dollar total in one’s checking account, is financially savvy.
Getting teens interested in controlling their financial picture from a young age is one of the best ways to ensure monetary success in life. It’s important to strive to find a balance between buying frivolous items and learning to go without things that are unnecessary. Aim to exist somewhere between miser and spendthrift statuses, and you’ll avoid the most common money issues.
Source: zsazsabellagio.blogspot.com via Teresa on Pinterest
It has been quite hard for me to really blog these days. I rarely write just for the sake of writing anymore (which is a bad thing). However, it seems that doing Project Life is doing me good, since it has motivated me to start using my handwriting again, and has cut down my scrapping time to almost 80% which freed my time. Plus, the instant gratification that my family gets to read and see what I make is way better. Of course, I would not be able to include sports trophies but I can include ribbons, drawings, certificates and even receipts! I’m going to still be doing digital pages and albums, but the “pressure” to get caught up is no longer there. Because almost a month in 2012, I am caught up with everything that has been going on – document-wise.
1. Listening – Beyonce’s 4 Album. The song, I Was Here, is amazeballs. Listen to it.
2. Eating – Oatmeal with Lo-Fat Milk.
3. Drinking – Water
4. Wearing – Pink & Grey Shorts + Grey Shirt
5. Feeling – Sore & Stiff
6. Weather – Cloudy. Not too Cold nor too Hot.
7. Wanting – Instant Gratification. (as always Agatona.)
8. Needing – More Motivation – to actually work. I need to shake the moneymakers!
9. Thinking – About My Day today – work, work out, go to Mart’s tutorial, maybe scrap OR start watching Modern Family.
10. Enjoying – Dance Central 2.
The husband and I are due for our annual check-up anytime this week or early next week. I need to set up an appointment with my OB-gyne for the annual things you do as a woman (papsmear, breast exams, etc) and I have been encouraging the husband to have blood chemistry tests, even if he looks perfectly fine and healthy. Between the two of us, it is much obvious I am the one who is unhealthy and out of shape but with the way he is with his diet – fried foods, sisig, crispy pata and liempo every week – I am pretty sure that there might be an elevated blood chemistry result there somewhere. (I’m taking a wild guess that cholesterol and uric acid are the ones that might get elevated).
I have high cholesterol too, so I have been spending more time in the l-arginine website reading about the effect of L-arginine and the feedback from consumers who have taken it. According to the site, people who suffer from high cholesterol lack Nitrix Oxide in their bodies, and with L-arginine, it can supply the molecule to the body and revert back naturally high blood pressure and cholesterol levels. I hope it is as effective as they claim in the site!
As for us, I am clearing a date in our calendar for our check-ups, especially for me!
As I am writing this, my legs are so stiff that it takes more effort for me to walk around the house, let alone when I sit down and get up. My shoulder blades and arms are so heavy that I feel so tired all the time. I have been “dancing” with our new XBox Kinect Game, Dance Central 2, for 40mins everyday since Monday and oh wow, it surely is fun but very exhausting! It has evolved into a family activity with my eldest dancing once he arrives from school until before dinner. No wonder I never really gained weight when I was a teenager, given I was dancing in my room everyday for a solid two hours (It’s a private running joke between me and my siblings how they know I’m dancing in the house). Now, two minutes into a dance and my breath comes out like a lapping dog. I wonder if deer antler spray can help?
I read that deer antler spray tones muscles and repairs sports-related injuries faster. Have you noticed how a deer’s antlers grow so fast? That’s the concept of the spray. Today I am thinking if I should just skip the session, but the husband said I must work it out until it hurts no more (kinda like that song…).
I hate to admit it, but buying the XBox Kinect was a wise decision 
.
Ever since the little princess celebrated her birthday last year with a party, she has been asking when would be her next party. When 2012 rolled in, she asked me which birthdays get celebrated in order and got a bit upset when she found out that there were more than 10 people in our extended family who were celebrating before her and it is more than 100 sleeps till her birthday.
Nevertheless, everytime she sees something on TV, she somehow relates to her birthday. Like when she sees Strawberry Shortcake, she says “I want Strawberry Shortcake for my birthday Mom!” or when she sees a Barbie car, “That’s my birthday gift or my Christmas gift, right Mom?” Right now, her idea of a fun party is exactly the way she threw her party last year (simple), except now instead of McDonald’s she wants to get Jollibee (yes, really!).
It got me thinking how she would be celebrating her 7th birthday next year. Tradition dictates that you make an effort to celebrate a child’s life in her 1st, 7th and 18th birthdays. Now, we initially raised the green flag in giving her a big party, even hiring a party caterer Dallas and giving away Republic of Texas food crates to guests. Republic of Texas Foods has the best gourmet food crates! But now, something better but cheaper is brewing in my head.
I can’t share what’s in my head for now as it is all jumbled up and crazy but I think Marts will really be happy! It involves:
1. Pink
2. Make-up, manicure and everything
3. Ballet
4. Ice cream and all her favorite indulgences
5. Her friends.
The only problem I foresee is that her birthday falls on a summer, so we won’t get to see her classmates everyday. That means whatever I am planning should be finalized by February, the latest, so that we can give invitations to her select classmate friends by March, when they graduate from Prep.
But hey, we’re talking 12 months in the making here. And I have always been more effective when I cram 
So let’s see.
on 
