2009 Goals - 2nd Quarter Review

Whew. Looking at my 1st quarter review, I didn't make any progress. I need to get back on track. Hopefully, I 'll have a positive review next quarter.

2nd Wave of Waiver

I have 2 BPI Credit Cards. One is a BPI Express Credit Card which can only be used locally and a BPI Petron Mastercard. I was able to waive the annual fee of my Petron Card few weeks ago (see details here) and I was, again, able to waive the annual fee of my BECC this month. Thanks to BPI as well as to PinayandMoney for the info.

Have taken a Money Personality Quiz

Have learned about a money personality quiz thru Millionaire's Act website and found out that I am a balanced spender/investor.
Below is a brief description of a Balanced Spender/Investor and I believe in most of them.

Your money personality is: Balanced

People who exhibit a balanced money personality style enjoy making and managing money. They may view budgeting and investing as a game of sorts.

Money is viewed as a tool that is used to achieve ones goals.

While they often have a budget, Balanced persons do not become overly uncomfortable with the occasional unforeseen expense or in purchasing the occasional luxury item.

Balanced persons often feel that diligence, research and effort will reward them in the end.

If they invest, Balanced persons tend to have balanced portfolios and are often comfortable seeking advice from financial managers.

It's nice to know that I'm not doing bad but hope I could improve more. I wonder what is your money personality. You can take the quiz and love to hear what you got.

BLOG FIND: RECESSION OVER?

According to this blog, it is likely to be over but we don't need to become very excited. There is a sign of optimism here but it's not bad at all. We just need to plan and prepare for the upturn.

Waived Credit Card Annual Fee

I just want to thank PinayandMoney for the tip on waiving annual fee for BPI credit cards. I didn't know about this before. Initially, I am charging all purchases to my credit card to earn reward points that I can use to pay for my annual fee. Sayang. If I have known  about it earlier,  I could have use my points to get other reward items.

Nevertheless, I am still thankful that I was able to avail it this year. I just called their hotline and asked them if I can avail of the waived annual fee. After reviewing my account for some minutes, they confirmed that my request was approved and gave me the confirmation number. The reversal of the fee should reflect in 2 to 3 working days. And it did. Thanks to BPI and thanks again to PinayandMoney for this information.

BPI Trade Lowered the ADB of their Savings Account

I got this mail last week and I was happy about it. Now, we can use some of the amount use to maintain our account to buy more stocks. I t will not be wasted waiting for the 1.75% interest which is being compounded quarterly. My dumdum have more power.

Dear BPI Trade clients:

Greetings!

Please be informed that the monthly maintaining Average Daily Balance (ADB) of your BPITrade settlement account with BPI Direct Savings Bank has been lowered from P5,000 to P500.00. As a non-ATM deposit account, the BPITrade settlement account will earn interest as follows:

Interest Rates (per annum)
If daily balance is:
PhP 0 - 499 0.000% p.a.
PhP 500 and above 1.750% p.a.

Please visit the FAQs on the BPITrade website for more information.

Thank you.


BPI Trade Team

2009 Goals - 1st Quarter Review

We're not able to review our goals for the previous month because of our busy life. Anyway, I allocated this evening for this review.

1.After giving birth, transfer part of USD savings from BDO regular savings to PS Bank or China Bank TD. - GOOD: DONE. Not in PS Bank or China Bank but in Asia Trust because they have the higher interest rate.

2. Current EF is at 25%. By the end of the year, it should be more than 50%. BAD : It is currently at 21%, we used some of them when I gave birth instead of using all of our USD. It is still a good move because USD/PHP rate now is higher.

3. Transfer part of our EF to either BPI Direct TD or China Bank TD (whichever have the higher interest). BAD: Pending. still scouting for the best instrument.

4. Invest in Mutual Fund (PAMI and/or Phil EQ). BAD: Backlogged because I haven't studied the details of it yet

5. Increase investments in Philippine Stock Market. BAD: Backlogged. No budget. No extra.

6. Renew our insurances. Moderate: I renew one of our insurances. Supposed to increase one of our VULs but we didn't pushed thru because of the market condition.
7. Get a HS and/or College Plan for our soon to arrive Baby or just increase our investments. Moderate: Backlogged. We haven't made up our mind if we'll get one because of the bad news that we're hearing on pre-need plan companies.
8. Keep our Company Stocks (Grants and ESPP) intact and wait for the up turn. GOOD: We're keeping them.

Our Score: not bad at all. We have 2 good, 4 bad and 2 moderate. We're still on the 1st half of the year. I am targeting to have a higher score by the end of the year. Wish me luck. Hehe.