Loans And Credit Cards

I really marvel at the fact that, these days, getting a credit card is already a no-fuss affair. Almost anyone can get them, The same is true for loans. And getting them are faster and easier nowadays compared to how it was in the previous years.

Take for example in our office. I have repeatedly received calls from a number of telemarketers who offer pre-approved credit cards. And despite my repeated refusal, they have become more persistent in the next call while offering all sort of enticement - ready-to-use cash, insurance, free grocery and others.

So with all this, I am not surprised that there are companies that will give everyone, even those with less-than-perfect credit rating, a chance to have a loan or a credit card. One of these companies is BadCreditOffers.com which offers Bad Credit credit cards, Bad Credit loans such as home, personal and auto loans, among others.

Junk mail and PayPal, Go EON

CustomerService: Mam, it seems that your EON card registration to Paypal failed thus this P1 deduction to your account...

(I had expected a 78-peso deduction or 1.95USD.)

Me: But Sir, I received a notification that it was successfully added... yaddi, yadda...

CustomerService: Mam, it's best that you have to check with PayPal...

The same time I had this conversation, I was the recipient of this email. While I would have ignored it at some other time, that time when I read it, I flipped. But then, what do you expect. I went like whaaaat my PayPal account is suspended? as I felt a chill crept under my skin.

I, of course, flagged Paypal to save my soul but we know how long it takes before they get back to you. But agitated, panic-stricken, worried, etc.. I also asked around and searched the net.

I had yet to hear a word from PayPal when I found this. You just cannot imagine how relieved I was and how pissed I was with all these spam mails. Anyway, I have installed ICONIX now so it's easier to know whether a PayPal email is legit or not.

As with the card enrolment (to PayPal), it seems that there was a minor error somewhere in the process. But that taken cared of, my EON was successfully registered and my initial transfer went smoothly (even faster than I expected). Thanks Unionbank for everything! BTW, to date, Unionbank is the only bank in PI that makes withdrawal possible with PayPal.

Also thanks to PayPal despite the fact that I only heard from them when it no longer mattered to me.

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This week's MIFS is up and running at To Motherhood And Beyond. Also if you want to read entries for this week's Carnival of Family life, it's right here.

What Happened?

I logged in to my PPP account this morning and look what greeted me at this early hour.

Zeroes! Or is it is spelled as zeros? Whatever happened to PPP system this morning? I'm not so concerned with the Have Been Paid but I couldn't say that about the Will Be Paid. E-te-thank you nlang ba 'to? Knowing me, you can just imagine the chill that crept into my veins. I panicked and automatically clicked My Posts.

Boy, I'm just relieved everything's still there. I can deal with the incorrect stats later but I cannot imagine if everything and all of my unpaid posts disappeared through thin air, too.

Wanna Setup An Online Store?

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With its low monthly cost, it sure is affordable for all of you who are interested to put up an online store. Upon subscription, a free SSL certificate is already yours. Not only that, you don’t need to worry about support because Ashop offers free round-the-clock tech support by phone, email or online messaging (chat). With their 10-day trial, how about trying Ashop now and see it for yourself.

Bookmark It!

I'm cooking up a kiddie party and rather than letting a party coordinator do the dirty job, I've decided to handle most of that myself. This way I can trim down the cost. So that's what's keeping me busy these days.

And with my sister's help, I tackled my son's birthday invitations few days ago.


There are lots of free designs we found in the Net but we chose this one. To save on printing cost, we agreed that it's going to be just a bookmark size.

Printed on photo paper, the actual size of each invitation is only 11cm X 6cm.

For 20 invitations, we were able to use only 4 pieces of A4 photopaper.

With some ribbons, which are leftovers from my wedding 44 months ago, I decided to make it look like a bookmark all the way. Thus, eliminating the additional cost of need for envelopes.

Here's a sample of the finished bookmark-cum-invitation.

And here are the rest of the invitations.

(Note: Pictures are edited and blurred on purpose)

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Few days back, an officemate and friend paid me a compliment. No big thing really. He only said I’m frugal.

"Oh, yeah?" My other officemate, who was with us, playfully joined.

"Go ask my husband," I was quick to reply.

No big deal. But okay, granting there’s no undertone of sorts there, I consider it as a compliment; a feather to my bonnet. Actually, I’d much rather think of it as that, because if I analyze too much, I would begin to wonder if my friend thinks I'm Scrooge-ing! Heavens forbid! :D (Chuckle)

About Credit Cards

I’m not against the use of credit cards. Nor think of them as necessary evil. But you can choose to subscribe for it, at your own risk.

But really, credit cards should be used conscientiously. Otherwise, if one is not too careful, there’s the fair chance that he incurs a huge debt even before he can completely say “the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.” But that’s just a matter of discipline. And a matter of choice, too.

But choice, we have lots of that. If you are looking for what-works, there are a number of companies that offer good deals. If you want to test waters, there are 0% credit cards available nowadays, which can offer 0% interest for a certain period of time. Or if you need to switch accounts, there are companies that offer balance transfers, too.

But whatever you choose, this I have to say, nothing beats paying your balance on or before the due date. It is the best way you can take advantage of a credit card and it is very similar to having a 0% credit card for as long as you want.