The one millon peso challenge

One of my immediate long term goals is the start of a 5-year financial building plan or in other words, "pagpapayaman". The goal is to hit one million pesos after 5 years (I would be 30 yo then). To do this, i should be able to save at least P547.95 per day for 5 years. A truly challenging and difficult task especially for an impulsive buyer like yours truly. The solution? Let somebody else handle your finances. I am not talking here of the usual office practice called "paluwagan". What I am thinking is something like securing good interest rates while not having the temptation of spending the capital like typical saving accounts. Two options: time deposit and UITF / Mutual Funds.

When the term "time deposit" takes place, the next set of questions will be: 1. which bank provides better interest rates? , 2. how long is the holding period? , 3. are there any withholding taxes? From my research, present interest rates ranges from 2-3% PA for many commercial bank and little higher for some thrifty and rural banks. The best rate so far is of the PSBanks Prime Time Deposit, with an annual interest rate of 6% and 5-year holding period.

On the otherhand, the next option UITF/Mutual Funds provides interest rates that can go higher than 10% depending on the movement of the market. But the trade-off is that UITF/Mutual funds relies on how good the company you've chosen in managing the funds in investing it in the financial market. The interest rates varies from time to time and other external forces affects the status of the fund. Unlike time deposits, it is not protected by the PDIC.

But before I speak of these intricate investment schemes, I should stick to a basic principle in saving. That is, "increase the income, cut the expenditures". And it all boils on having the will and discipline to achieve these things. "1M for 2012", here i come!

The end of the 165 era

After 6 years of using the 165.220.xx.xx addressing scheme, UP Manila now uses the 172.16.xx.xx for the local area network connection. It seems that there is an inevitable expansion in the number of workstations around the campus. A three-day network outage is worth the boost in network as shown from the results of speedtest.net:

Download: 1080 kb/s
Upload: 1895 kb/s

The speed is of course relative to the time. I made tested the broadband around 4:40 PM when most of the end users are about to leave for home. The real mettle of the network shall be tested during peak hours. Let's see for tomorrow.

Lost in Singapore (day 1)

After three hours and 55 minutes of flight from Manila to Singapore, flight PR 503 has finally landed in Changi International Airport. My apprehension has ceased knowing that there are many Filipinos onboard on which I can go with or of ask some questions. The well-developed, mall-like (it is actually a mall) interior of the Changi Airport makes one think if such environment represents the malls in Singapore as a whole. My initial goal are as follows:
a. Find the fairest and most decent currency exchange sites.
b. Find a three-prong British type power adaptor
c. Locate Changi CG2 MRT Terminal

66.67% failure rate. But the good thing is I was able to secure a modest rate at P100=S$3.325 rate. Crap, after desperately looking for the entrance of the Skytrain, I decided take a cab to Oxford Hotel and was charged with $15.00. Damn it!

The first few "not so nice" hours of being Singapore was overshadowed by the explorations I made. The first few places I visited includes the Bugis Mall, a certain Art Museum (forgot the name) and the National Library (without the free wifi,no blog entry for today). I am waiting for the library close before proceeding to Bencoolen street to venture to the hawker stalls this time.

Some shots for the day:


Ang linis ng kalye. This is Middle Road, SG

Lost in Singapore (day 0)

In less than 16 hours, the soles of my blue sandals will be touching the cemented soil of Changi International Airport, Singapore. First time in Singapore, no idea on how things shall be in the following days. Armed with the recommendations and tips from friends who have been to Singapore, I am confident that I can roam around the city without looking like lost. Attending the AOSS conference is something I look forward but I am also on the verge of reaffirming the notion on how Singapore really look like. It is inevitable that an immediate comparison will be made between Singapore and Manila. Yes, the highly urbanized, "close to utopia" Singapore may have an unsurmountable edge over Manila. But still, Manila is where my heart is.

Some things that I would like to immediately explore:
a. The Singaporeans perception to the Philippine
b. How friendly the Singaporeans are
c. How does a state-of-the-art urban setup looks like
d. Where is best place to exchange Singaporean dollar currency
d. How to go our venue ...

The same topic title will appear on the succeding posts as this will serve as my travel log in my 1-week stay in Singapore.