Femme Power

Archive for the ‘Money Talks’ Category

You’ve probably heard it a gazillion times over that a bathroom says a lot about your personality, hygiene, and financial status, among others.   Be it squeaky clean or otherwise, well-adorned with bathroom furniture and ornaments or is simply stripped down to the bare necessities in it, you show a piece of yourself through your bathroom.  Whatever you handpick for your bathroom says a lot about you.  Mine is simple and small yet the pale pink tiles are sparkling clean and the only luxuries you’ll see are body baths of different shapes and sizes. Others would have plants, or candles, or colorful tiles in their bathrooms while others go for modern bathroom accessories without so much decors.

Whatever your personal preferences are, you can find awesome choices of bathroom suites at BetterBathrooms.com by clicking on the link above.  They have a Bathroom and Tiles Sale going on until Sept. 21st and a Bathroom Suites Stock Clearance wherein you get up to 55% discount. So hurry before promos and stocks run out!

You can easily find the items you’re looking for by checking the product categories on the left sidebar of their website as well as the sale items on the right.  I also noticed the positive comments from various customers, telling of excellent quality and service.  BetterBathrooms.com boasts of speedy delivery because majority of products are in stock and their website is always updated.  You can even get your orders the next day for all their stocked items.  Their website is so user-friendly, it’ll guide you how to order, calculate the delivery cost for you and let you track your order too.

If only finances were not a factor, I would have chosen a house with a sprawling bathroom that has a floor-to-ceiling mirror and linen cabinet, and a complete set of bathroom suites including a nice jacuzzi bath.  I guess it means that I can be awfully luxurious. Lol! Well, what does your bathroom say about you?

You raid a woman’s closet and chances are you’ll see a good number of clothes that just lie in there forever, especially dresses that have outlived their season or fad.  Since it’s not everyday that a regular woman receives an invitation to a formal dinner or a cocktail party, it would be wise to choose classic designs and neutral colors in buying dresses so that they’re safe to be worn again in other appropriate occasions.  But if you have the moolah to actually accumulate dresses of all shapes and sizes, i so envy you lucky you! Lol!

But for those who are in a budget like me, don’t fret because there are actually elegant dresses that won’t cost us a fortune.  Elegant Mart features a wide array of evening dresses that suit any body type and style preferences at affordable prices.  (Read: Prices start at $45.88 now that they are on sale so take advantage now.) Plus the website is easy to navigate since the items are well-categorized.

I feasted my eyes on their catalog where I spotted a lot of favorites.  One of them is this little black dress (Tony Tonal Cocktail Dress) that’s simple yet classy, it’s a must-have for any woman’s wardrobe.  It’s made of an elegant shiny material so even though it’s black, it’s not gonna drown in the crowd.  It has a fitted waistline and a skirt that glides on fully to give you that hourglass look.  Perfect for those with not-so defined waistline and with narrow hips.

You may have heard it many times over from fashion experts that you can never go wrong with a little black dress.  It’s so versatile, you can wear it to a formal dinner, a prom night, a concert, a play, or what-have-yous. You can even pair it with a blazer and wear it to the office then for an after-office ensemble, just spruce it up with accessories like a pair of dangling earrings and you’re good to go.  And the best thing about it is that it’s on sale too!

Click on the link above to avail of the huge discounts at Elegant Mart.  Shipping is free for purchases worth $100 and above.

Backpacks are still one of the most preferred bags in school today due to their affordability, versatility (can be used for school supplies or for extra clothes during games, field trips, etc), durability and style.   I myself had a penchant for backpacks during my school days (Forget the number of years that passed, lol!).

So with my daughter possibly getting infected with my being bag-crazy, she asked me to look for a cute kids backpack that she could use for her dance rehearsals.  One that’s dainty and soft, she’ll want to carry and hug it.  With not much time to scour the mall for such a description for a backpack, I chose to check online if something fits the bill.  Indeed I found a stephen joseph backpack that’s cute and colorful, quilted and soft.  It’s 100% made of cotton, no worries about scratching my daughter’s skin on the bag’s edges unlike her previous bags.

This backpack can be personalized by having your child’s name embroidered on it.

I also found a nap mat that’s perfect for sleepovers and picnics as well as for daycare, preschool and kindergarten.   The good stuff? It’s foldable into a bag for easy storage, and it’s machine-washable.

Five days to go and it’s Valentine’s Day.  Have you thought of anything special to surprise your partner?  Flowers are among the the best sellers during this time of the year, as most women love to receive flowers.  If you have loved ones here in the Philippines and you wanna send flowers to them or a cute teddy bear or anything else special, there’s a website that can help you with that.

Send Gifts to the Philippines through Island Rose, the company that pioneered the cut flower industry in the Philippines back in 1983.   Their flowers are of great quality, they’re always fresh no matter where they are delivered in the Philippines.   And anybody will be awed by the impressive presentation of their flowers and other products — at amazingly affordable prices.   Plus, you can take advantage of a 10% discount by using this valentine code: VDAY022010 valid until February 20.

Flower Delivery to the Philippines has never been this cost-effective and hassle-free.   Check out Island Rose’s website on the links provided so you’ll know why I’m impressed.   You could find gift items for as low as P250 and up.  The website is very easy to navigate, with elaborate details of their various gift packages.

So if you wanna send Flowers to the Philippines, let Island Rose do the walking for you.

The new year has just started but some people are already cringing on a very tight budget. Sad but not everyone managed to start the year financially sound, specially those who used up their savings during the holidays.

Interesting but sometimes the scarcity of money draws back long-lost friends.  One of my friends, whom I’ve lost contact with for almost a year now, started texting me again for the last two weeks to confide with me her financial ordeal.   Much as I wanted to help her, I didn’t have that huge a disposable amount so I helped her look for a lending institution instead.  She didn’t want to approach a bank due to the number of requirements being asked.  When we need an urgent financial rescue, it’s normal that we wish for a speedy process.  We only have to make sure that the interest won’t kill us.   Normally here in our place, interest rates go as high as 10-20%, depending on who’s lending (not the banks).

If it’s any consolation, there are bad credit loans available in some areas so those who have a not-so-good credit history won’t be discriminated against.

Best to scrutinize the terms and conditions very well if they suit you before jumping into an agreement.   Yes, it sucks to start the year with an empty wallet but it will suck some more if we half-bury ourselves with those high interest rates, don’t you think?

It’s Christmas time but instead of Yuletide cheers, my childhood friend is grieving over the loss of his four-year old son. The poor child died from dengue, a potentially lethal complication transmitted by an Aedes mosquito. It’s very common in tropical countries like ours here in the Philippines.

If only the child was brought to the hospital much earlier, he could have had a better chance to survive.  However, rushing to the doctor means money and if you don’t have emergency savings, chances are that hospitals will deny you of immediate medication.  Sad but true.  It’s appalling but it’s happening here in the country. You can’t afford to get sick here if you don’t have savings accounts or a piggy bank to break open in times of emergency.  I cannot, in my wildest imagination, think of such a horrible thing to happen to my family - getting sick and having nothing to spend for proper medication.

Keeping a sound savings account for emergency expenses is sure to give a family peace of mind.   In our case, I most often prefer to put money in the bank rather than spend on things that are not very necessary (in fact, would only add up to the piles of clutters) at home.  I’d rather not have lots of home accessories if they’d only cost me a fortune.   I’d rather not have a wide flatscreen TV as long as we have emergency savings.   I don’t mind keeping my old Nokia cellphone either.  I’m happy having our basic necessities provided like decent food, comfortable dwelling, clothes, education, and some recreation.

I just realized, savings can save lives.   Nobody knows when you’re gonna need it.

Photo courtesy of Nicodemus Valderrama

Many of us in the neighborhood lost a fortune during the Typhoon Ondoy disaster last September 26. Many of my neighbors lost their businesses, all of us were left with damaged home furnishings, and some had to reconstruct their homes.  Those whose cars were damaged thought they could rely on their comprehensive auto insurance policy…but not all of them were right.   Many of them were appalled to learn too late that their car insurance didn’t cover “acts of God” or “acts of nature” and so they couldn’t claim anything from their insurance company.

Sadly, even those car owners who were knowledgeable about the “acts of God” clause didn’t choose to pay extra for their insurance thinking that a horrible catastrophe like Ondoy (international code name Ketsana) could never happen in their lifetime. Who would have thought that a natural disaster of this biblical proportion would actually happen to them (or in my case, to us!)?

For a car to be covered by the “acts of God” policy, one has to shell out an average of about 0.7 percent of the vehicle’s insured value per year.   “For a P1-million car, this would translate to an additional P7,000 in insurance costs, on top of the P28,000 comprehensive annual premium for brand new units.” - Philippine Daily Inquirer, article written by Daxim Lucas.  For an ordinary individual, it doesn’t come cheap.

So if you are yet to get your car insured, would you choose to get an additional policy that would cover damages from floods, typhoons, earthquakes, tsunami, falling trees, landslides, etc? It would be wise to compare car insurance first before shelling out your hard-earned money.

Rare as it may seem but when natural disasters strike, will your insurance policy insulate you from further financial damage?  Or would you have to shoulder everything on your own?