Discount for Books in Not-So-Good Condition

I didn't know that I can actually get a discounted price for books which are not in good condition until one time when I went to National Book Store (NBS) to look for Basic Algebra textbook as I was planning to pursue my studies and thinking I needed a refresher for the subject.

I went to the Math section of the bookshelves and after a considerable amount of time surveying the available books, I found an older-looking one which happened to be the last left in stock. The book is not torn or damaged in any way but I just can't categorized it as "good as new." This may be due to it had been there for a while and people come and go picking it up and putting it back on the shelf and was not really bought. As for me, I'm more after the content than the physical condition of the book and I decided the book will be of good use.

So after asking for a newer stock and being told that they didn't have any, the lady attendant told me that I can bargain with the cashier for a discount which I did. I was delighted to receive 10% off the regular price. It was not a big deal but I find it interesting as I didn't know that I can actually do that.

So I told myself that next time I buy and I find another book in the same condition, I will give it a shot bargaining with the cashier.

5 Tips on Doing Groceries

How to trim down on your grocery spending, you ask? Well I have always asked that myself. You see, I enjoy handling my finances and I will always try to find ways to save, and of course this includes learning how to do my groceries practically. So let me share with you what I have learned. 

Doing Groceries 101


1. Compare the prices among different stores. All you need is either your mobile phone or pen and paper to record the prices. And yes, you need to do a lot of recording here. For it not to feel like a strenuous job, you can do one store at a time. Just get all the prices together from different grocery stores and then compare them. It may not sound all that inviting to go from shelves to shelves to canvass the prices but if you really want to become responsible for your finances then do this. Save by knowing where to buy your items at their lower prices.


2. Compare the prices among different brands. After finally choosing the grocery store of your life, the one that offers lower prices, you're now ready for the next step. Let's talk about one thing first though. Are you one of those consumers that have a mentality that when the product costs more, it probably has better quality? Well good for you if you're not, because I am guilty. Some of us were somehow convinced that more expensive items must be better than the cheaper ones, which is not always the case. This may be true to some products but look around you because this does not apply to all. I didn't realize that or even care that I was just buying the brand, until I became financially independent. So why not try to experiment and give the other cheaper brands a chance? You're probably using that more expensive brand now because that's what you've been exposed to ever since. Have that little excitement of exploring those you have not tried out there. Be the judge of the quality and who knows, you may find that they aren't so different from the branded ones.

3. Do the math. Did you always think that just because the item is larger, it probably costs cheaper than its smaller sizes? Unlucky you if you thought so just like I did. Be warned because this is not always correct. And if you're like me, who find it hard to do the mental computation, we need a calculator here. We all know that the grocery items come in different sizes and of courses the prices vary. Let's take the powdered milk for example. So I saw that 320 g costs P106, while the 800 g costs P275. If you wonder how to know which is one is cheaper then get you calculator out. It's easy, just follow this formula: price / unit = price per unit.

P106 / 320 g = P0.33125 per gram
P275 / 800 g = P0.34375 per gram

You see, you can save from buying the smaller size because it only costs 0.33 cents per gram, compared to 0.34 cents of the bigger one.Compute first before ever hoping that just because it was bigger, you're probably saving.

4. Bring your own bags. Most especially when you are buying a lot of grocery items, it is better that you have your own bag ready because the cashier may offer you a plastic bag if you don't have any, and if you agreed, they will charge you for it. I think last time, I was charged P2.00. I learned my lesson. Not happening to me again.

5. Check the printed receipt for any error. I swear, you have to do this.  After the receipt was handed over to you, do your due diligence to "proofread" if it is accurate. Do not let your saving practices be put to waste just because of someone else's error. There are times when the cashier incorrectly double-registers an item and you don't want to pay for that!

There you go. Remember, the cents you are saving today, if put together multiplied by number of weeks, months or years can be astoundingly more than you think

How to budget using sentences?

Some people I know ask me how  I budget my money. Well, I use made up sentences to do it. They help me control my spending and make tracking of my expenses easy. Here's how I do it.

First of all, I've already made myself aware of my usual monthly expenses. Then, I take out the initial from each expense category and bring them all together so I can create an easy to memorize sentence which represents all my expenses. Example: M for mortgage and R for rent. I can make up MR out of these letters to remind myself of the two expense categories.

To get to the point, the sentence I brainstormed to make up and which I am currently using is MR FIGHT GO BLEW CUPS. For sure this sentence does not make sense. Well it doesn't really have to make a logical sense! Just as long as I find it easy to remember, then that should be settled.

Here's what they actually mean to me:

M-ortgage
R-ent

F-amily
I-nternet
G-rocery
H-ealth
T-ransportation

G-asul
O-thers

B-igas
L-aundry
E-lectricity
W-ater

C-hurch
U-tang
P-agkain
S-tuff

So whenever I get my pay, I will just get a pen and paper, write down this sentence and budget my money. With this, I never miss a single expense category. And when there's an uncommon expense, it always just goes under Others category.

The only challenging part for me though is coming up with a sentence that incorporates all of them. Other than that, the rest is history.

Over time though, new initials will be added as I acquire new expenses and I probably have to modify the sentence a bit. It constantly evolves, so to say, in order to fit the new ones in.

What to do with those extra cents?

Well this post is actually a self-realization. Whenever I go to the groceries, I usually get a cent or two for change. What I normally do when the cashier gives them to me is I either refuse to get them or I'll throw them away. Not that I don't save or care about my finances, but I honestly just don't value cents so much thinking they can't even buy me a single candy. Well, I know that's wrong but I just can't care less until recently. This happened when I started to run the errand of paying the utilities, which is frequently done by either my father or my sister-in-law. I would probably be wasting those pennies if not for the cashier from Bayad Center.
I was paying Meralco and Manila Water bills that day. I paid the electricity bill first and the cashier gave me 50 cents of change. I told the cashier to keep them thinking that my Manila Water bill is P1200 flat and no cents anyway.  But the cashier suggested to add those cents to the total payment for my water bill. By that, I avoided wasting them and I will even have a credit for my next bill. And yes, she made me realize how wrong I was wasting them. If I can just keep the extra cents and when it's time to pay the bills, I can add them to my total payment and have a credit in my billing account. Not really a big deal but I found a reason how to value those extra cents from that day on!

BPI, BPI Family Savings Bank and BPI Direct. How are they different?

Had I not looked at it closely and not let my curiosity bother me, I would not have noticed or probably cared what the differences are among BPI, BPI Family Savings Bank and BPI Direct. I know in my mind that I have always wondered why there are these different labels but I did not really take an effort to find out. Like for example there is a BPI Express Teller and there is BPI Family Savings Bank Express Teller. It confuses me why would there be a separate Express Teller for BPI and BPI Family Savings Bank when they are both BPI for me!

Since I am planning to open an account,
I did my due diligence of research and had a quick look at the rates and interest details. Well boy I found some answers to my questions. They may be both Express Teller but the rates and interests differ among BPI, BPI Family Savings Bank and BPI Direct! Like for example, Express Teller of BPI has a maintaining balance of P3,000 while only P1,000 for Express Teller savings of BPI Family Savings Bank! Same with interest rate, one has interest of 0.250% and 0.500% on the other.

But why? How is one better than the other? Why would they offer lower maintaining balance or higher interest rate on one and not the other?

So I called the Customer Service and the pleasant lady I spoke with explained to me why this is so.

I found out that BPI basically is the main company and BPI Family Savings Bank and BPI Direct are subsidiaries. And if you have a BPI account for example, you can only transact with a BPI branch and not with BPI Family Savings Bank branch and vice versa.

I was told that the main difference between BPI and BPI Family Savings Bank is the number of branches they have available. She said that BPI is more suitable for corporate accounts as this has more branches available and can accomodate more business transactions since there are many branches.

While BPI Family Savings Bank is more appropriate for consumer account. It looks like this is the better option for the masses as this gives depositors higher interest and lower maintaining balance. Though this has fewer branches, I was told.

As for BPI Direct, this is apt for those who are abroad (OFWs) because there is no requirement to transact with a physical branch and this can be done over the phone or probably online.

Each type tries to meet the different needs of the customers depending on what type of depositor they are.

I have also read somewhere that the type of account you have may affect the basis the bank will use in processing your loan requests. For example, if you don't really have a business but you got a BPI account which is for corporate, then they may check your business history as a basis for your loan approval.
You can read more about that here: http://www.philstar.com

So technically, these 3 differ when it comes to rates (maintaining balance and interest rate), branch availability, and type of depositor suitability.

My 7 Golden Rules for Personal Finance

Here are the simplified 7 golden rules I always try to incorporate in my everyday life. I keep them in my mind whenever I make a decision to do something related to my finances. They help me control my urges to buy unnecesarry stuff, give me a direction to follow, help me stick with my budget, motivate me to achieve my goals and create financial plan, back me up when I am burnt out from work, and keep my thoughts together in times of anxiety when sometimes the future looks dim. This is like a simple formula that I tell myself to follow each and everyday, and certainly all throughout the course of my financial journey. So here they are:

1. Increase income
2. Decrease expenses
3. Multiply assets
4. Minimize liability
5. Increase cashflow
6. Increase savings
7. Multiply investments

This is probably not all of them because I'm sure I'd still keep adding more as I move along. What I am sure though is that these rules are the core of all the decisions I make. It works with me. Try it. Or probably you have your own.

Use BPI ATM card and earn 1% rebate

Do you spend your hard-earned money wisely? Do you know that you can spend and save at the same time? That's what I call smart spending.

Well if you have a personal deposit or (in my case) payroll savings account ATM card with BPI / BPI Family / BPI Direct, then you can be a happy spender. No need to enroll as this is already part of the debit card feature. Just read on and I'll tell you more.

BPI uses Express Payment System (EPS) which allows debit cardholders to pay for purchases by swiping the ATM in the point-of-sales (POS) card terminal without having to withdraw cash.

What's in it for you?

• You can avoid the hassle of waiting on the line to withdraw cash from the ATM
• You will avoid risks associated with carrying a sum of money when you go shopping or buy your groceries
• It gives you an itemized breakdown on your bank statement to see where that penny goes
• And more importantly, (as this is what the post is about) BPI currently has an ongoing promo which allows you to get 1% rebate when you swipe that ATM to pay instead of cash.

Don't get me wrong here. I don't promote the idea of buying more than what you normally buy as necessary, just to earn rebate. My point here is to save and not to spend more.

Here's how the promo works (copied from BPI website):

1. The promo is open to all BPI, BPI Family Bank and BPI Direct ATM (E.P.S.) cardholders (Express Teller Blue, Express Teller Gold, Jumpstart, BPI Direct, BPInoy, BPI One Ayala and Ka-Negosyo).
2. Promo period is from January 1 to December 31, 2014.
3. To qualify, cardholder should use his/her BPI, BPI Family Bank or BPI Direct ATM card via Express Payment System (E.P.S.) within the promo period for a minimum single transaction of:
Transaction should be approved through a point-of-sale (POS) card terminal. Cash withdrawals through ATMs are NOT qualified to join the promo.



Scheme	Required Minimum Single Receipt Transaction	Period Coverage
All Day Rebate	Php2,000	Every day except every 1st, 2nd, 15th, 16th, 17th, 30th and 31st of the month
Pay Day Rebate	No minimum spend requirement	Every 1st, 2nd, 15th, 16th, 17th, 30th and 31st of the month

4. To redeem the 1% rebate, cardholder must confirm the E.P.S. transaction via SMS by sending IM ON EPSREBATE (space) Card Number*/ Transaction Date (MMDDYYYY)/ Transaction Amount to 2256 for all telecommunication networks. Cardholder will receive a SMS to confirm receipt of his/her redemption entry. Telecommunication charges will apply.
Example: IM ON EPSREBATE 5895591234567890 / 01012014 / 2,000.00 *Note: Card number as it appears on the face of the card. Transaction date and amount as it appears on the E.P.S. transaction receipt.


5. Rebate amount (transaction amount x 1%) will be credited to the cardholder’s account within 5 banking days from the SMS redemption entry date. Maximum rebate amount per transaction is Php 1,000. Cardholders who did not qualify for the rebate shall be notified via SMS.
   
Note: Rebate amount shall appear as “4360 Co. Credit” in cardholder’s statement of account.

6. Redemption period is from January 1, 2014 to March 1, 2015.
7. The rebate amount cannot be exchanged for other products or discounts.
8. Cardholders may contest his/her rebate redemption (i.e. incorrect rebate amount credited, uncredited rebate amount, disqualified E.P.S. transaction) up to March 31, 2015.
9. In case of dispute, the decision of BPI with the concurrence of DTI shall be considered final.
10. For BPI / BPI Family Bank Easy Saver accounts, transaction fees on all debit transactions, including E.P.S., still apply. Please refer to www.bpiexpressonline.com for complete list of service fees.
11. BPI is authorized to give necessary information to its third party contractor or agent to perform or complete the redemption process.

For more details, you can go to BPI website here: https://www.mybpimag.com

Are there any charges?

Except for Easy Savers account, there is no additional charge when you swipe your ATM (Express Teller Blue, Express Teller Gold, Jumpstart, BPI Direct, BPInoy, BPI One Ayala and Ka-Negosyo). For Easy Savers ATM, a minimal fee of P5 applies per transaction. You might want to consider switching if you don't want that P5 charge per transaction to pile up.

Now, let's say here's my spending in a month:

• P3,000 Groceries
x 0.01 Rebate
___________________
 P30 Total Rebate amount

Not bad. Can you imagine that? You're earning back after you spend! Why don't you use that ATM card to pay for what you usually pay for cash instead? Save while you spend.

If you want to learn more about their promos, you can visit their website https://www.mybpimag.com or call their 24 hour customer service number 89-100.

How to avail of free Internet installation promo of Globe and save P1,000?

Are you planning to subscribe to Globe's Tattoo Home products? Did you know that you can save up to P1,000 just by doing two simple steps? Well, if you didn't know yet, then hear me out.

Globe Tattoo Home is currently offering a free Internet installation promo which runs until December 31, 2014 for the benefit of the prospective customers.

Here are the mechanics:

1. Submit an online application on their website http://tattoo.globe.com.ph and the P1,000 installation fee will be waived!

This installation fee applies when you apply over the phone or go to Globe store to speak with the sales agent with the flyers. Now you choose how to apply.

2. As part of the online application, you must ensure that you are able to submit the complete and valid documents required within 24 hours of application!

So before ever sending an application, make sure that the scanned copies of the requirements are readily available.There are two ways you can send the documents:

1. Attach them on your online application or;
2. Send them to the email address that the sales agent will email you with, once your application has been acknowledged

What are the required documents? (copied from Globe website)

A. PROOF OF IDENTITY* (Front and Back)
Any one of the following:

• Company ID
• Major credit card (even without picture)
• Driver`s License
• Passport
• SSS/TIN/GSIS ID

B. PROOF OF BILLING ADDRESS* (If installation address is different from billing address)
Any one of the following:

• Any acceptable ID with address (refer to the list of valid PROOF OF IDENTITY)
• Latest credit card statement
• Latest public utility bills (i.e., electric, water, cable)
• Latest bank statement
• Notarized Contract of Lease
• Latest airway bill

C. PROOF OF FINANCIAL CAPACITY* (For Plan 2499 only, for lower plans, an upfront payment amounting to a 1 month service fee will be charged if this is not submitted.)
Any one of the following:

• Latest two (2) months credit card statement (with at least Php20,000 Credit Limit)
• Latest ITR with BIR or Bank-received stamp (Form 1700)
• Latest W-2 (Form 2316)
• Latest Certificate of Employment and Compensation
• Latest computerized payslip (1 month)
• Latest two (2) months bank statement of account or passbook
• Latest three (3) months Certificate of Allotment plus Employment Contract (for overseas workers)

D. ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR FOREIGNERS*

• I-Card
• DOLE Employment Permit
• Immigration Certificate of Registration
• Special Retiree`s Residence VISA (SRRV)
• Company Guarantee (if staying is less than the lock-up period)
• Employment Contract or Certificate of Employment.

E. Sketch of preferred installation address

There you have it. Saving P1,000 has never been this easy!
For more details, you can go to Globe website http://tattoo.globe.com.ph and go to Promo details or FAQs!

How to get rebate from Internet outage of Globe?

If you subscribed to Globe or other Telecommunication company's Internet connection products, you may be well aware of those painful days when your screen said the page cannot be displayed.
Have you ever been so pissed off while watching your favorite movie series and all of a sudden you lost connection to the Internet? Or maybe you can't wait to upload those cool selfies of yours on Facebook but you just can't do it? Or you're playing that online game of your life but you just had to stop? Oh no!!! It feels like it's the end of the world for you and you're too mad, your high blood pressure is skyrocketting. Well, you're not alone buddy. You're one of us who may have our own reasons why we act out when we can't connect to the world wide web.

Nowadays, many people treat internet with the same level of importance as electricity and water. It's now a way of life for most that they probably won't survive not being able to log on to Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Google and many others.

That's life! Outages happen (and irritatingly often in my case.) Telecommunication companies in the Philippines still have a long way to go to catch up with the best providers of the world.
Enough of the nagging though, did you know that you can get a rebate from this internet outage? Well at least I do get from Globe. Not that this will relieve your irritation or make up for the inconvenience, but at the least, you are getting that hard-earned money that is righfully yours. Why should you pay when you did not use the service to begin with? Who pays for going through a misery?

Here are the simple steps you can take to get that precious rebate. We will focus on Globe on this post.

1. Call the technical support of Globe at 730-1000 and report the issue. This has to be documented at their end because the rebate will be based on when you called to tell them of the ongoing issue.
There are two types of outages that I know of according to the agents I talked to --- Globe declared and isolated case.

For Globe declared outage, I was told that their system automatically generates rebate from the time it starts to when it gets restored.

Well my best advice is that regardless if it is Globe declared or isolated case, whenever you experience loss of connection, go ahead and make that phone call to let them know. The least thing you want to find out is that they won't acknowledge the rebate request just because you did not report it and it was not documented. Imagine having to go through the hassle and still pay for it? Well not for me.

2. The technical support will try to troubleshoot the problem over the phone but if you run out of luck and nothing seems to work, they will schedule an onsite visit by a technician (who won't really come over to my place at least in my case because within 1-3 days the issue gets resolved and the technician will just call me up to confirm if it's up and running.)

Keep the job order number the agent will give you at the end of the call and this will serve as an open ticket for the ongoing issue.

3. Once the issue is resolved, Globe will close the job order or the ticket. You then have to call Globe again and speak to customer service department this time. Advise the agent that you are requesting for a rebate from the outage and provide your job order number. The rebate they will process will be based from the date and time you reported the issue or when the ticket was opened, to the time it was closed. You may also want to ask how much adjustment you can expect to reflect on your next billing statement.