My Personal Finance Book List

Here's my list of Personal Finance Books:

1. Your Money or Your Life: Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Achieving Financial Independence by Joe Dominguez & Vicki Robin

2. The Richest Man in Babylon by George Clason

I got this comment/survey from Get Rich Slowly about the best personal finance books:

I really liked and recommend The Richest Man In Babylon. It has the biggest impact me on so far. It has really changed the way I manage my and my organization’s finance.

I found some of its principles really worth applying. They are:

1. Save 10% of Income
2. Seek Experts’ Advice
3. Let Money Work For You. Invest.
4. Invest, Insure. Less Risk, Less Return Is OK / Desirable Than Risk.

I am sharing the gist of the book for the benefit of all.

Richest Man In Babylon

A. 7 Rules

1. Start thy purse to fattening - Save 10% ( A part of all you earn is yours to keep!)
2. Control thy expenditures
3. Make thy gold multiply - Invest in profitable ventures
4. Guard thy treasures from loss - No Greed. No unprofitable / unwise ventures
5. Make of thy dwelling a profitable venture - house of own
6. Insure a future income - Insurance / old age
7. Increase thy ability to earn

B. Debt Management
Be a man of honor. Pay debts. Clear them.
Be a man for your wife. Respect and honor her
Formula for repaying debt:
- 10% Savings
- 70% Expenses (Whatever you earn, follow this principle)
- 20% Repayment

C.
Procastination is the biggest enemy!
Luck meets person who is prepared for the opportunity.
No Gambling, wager - Luck!
Men of action are favored by Goddess of Luck.

D. 5 Laws of Gold
1. Gold comes glad so long as one invests 1/10 to create estate.
2. Gold works diligently for wise owner who finds for it profitable employment.
3. Gold clings to the protection of owner who invests it under the advice of men wise in its handling.
4. Gold slips from unwise person / venture.
5. Gold flees from man who puts it to impossible earnings / tricksters.

E.
Lend only to a person who knows how to use that money, how to get returns, has a business plan, who has expertise in that area, better a little caution than a great regret.

F. We cannot afford to be without adequate protection.

G. Where the determination is, the way can be found.


3. The Wealthy Barber by David Chilton

4. The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey

5. The Millionaire Next Door by Stanley and Danko

6. The Automatic Millioinaire by David Bach

7. Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kayosaki

8. Tightwad Gazette books by Amy Daczycyn.

Saving Tip

Pay your bills on time. Avoid needless late fees and know how much money you actually have.

Saving Tip

Switch to store-brand food items.

Saving Tip

Drink water rather than alcohol when you’re dining out.

Pinoy Spaghetti

Ingredients:

1 kg. spaghetti noodles
1/2 kg. ground beef
1/2 kg. ground pork
1/4 kg. hotdogs, diagonally sliced
1 kg. tomato sauce
3 pieces laurel leaves (bay leaves)
1/4 cup brown or white sugar
2 green bell peppers, diced
2 onions, chopped
1 head garlic, minced
3 tablespoons of cooking oil
1 cup of water
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup grated cheese

Instructions:

Cook spaghetti noodles according to package instructions.
In a sauce pan or wok, sauté garlic and onions in cooking oil.
Add ground beef, ground pork, laurel leaves, bell pepper and a cup of water. Bring to a boil and let simmer for 10 minutes.
Add tomato sauce, salt and pepper to taste then let simmer for another 10 minutes
Add brown sugar and hotdogs. Continue to simmer for an additional 5 minutes.
Serve with the cooked spaghetti noodles and grated cheese on top.

Canon E18 Error

Oooooh yeah! My camera is back. After my camera was dropped by my son. The E18 error suddenly appears on the screen. After searching for forums/blogs how to fix this. Tried all the stunts, tricks and tips. Still it doesn't work. According to Wikipedia E18 is the most notorious in the Canon user community. See link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E18_error Most of Canon users of any digital model have the same problem. They say its either dropped, some dirt goes thru its lens or its a factory defect. I went to Canon service Center, they say I need to pay P8,000.00 so they can replace its lens. Duh! I only paid P4,000.00 for that camera after winning the bid thru a Chinese chick. It's like brand new when I got it. Complete accessories. As me and my brother looked for an instant fix in the internet we found this funny clip from Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ff_J9tn5tZU Hahaha.
After that we tried to disasmble the camera.

Saving Tip

Have a garage sale.

Saving Tip

Add to your jar every time you swear.

Saving Tip

Bring your coin jar to the bank every month.

Gat Andres Bonifacio

Today is the Bonifacio Day. Ang bayani ng Maynila.

Pinoy Christmas Playlist

This is my Imeem Christmas Compilation. Hoping all Filipinos around the world will be happy about my playlist. Enjoy!

Fish Ball Sauce

Red Sweet and Sour Fish Ball Sauce

Ingredients:
1/2 Cup Vinegar
1/2 Cup White sugar
1 tablespoon Catsup, to color
1 tablespoon Cornstarch

Preparation:

1. Pour Vinegar into pan, dissolve sugar, low-medium heat.
2. Dissolve catsup in 1/4-cup water, then mix with vinegar and sugar in pan. Slowly simmer.
3. Dissolve cornstarch in 1/4-cup water, then add to mixture, stir.
4. Turn to high heat for 10secs or until consistency is just right, add grounded pepper (optional).

Brown Fish Ball Sauce

1. Same procedure just add Sprite or 7 Up to vinegar and sugar mixture (according to taste) some fish ball vendors use Royal or Orange Soda.
2. For the color and consistency, substitute catsup with soy sauce and cornstarch with flour.
3. Note: Corn Starch makes a clear sauce, Flour makes a merky looking sauce, no difference in developing consistency)

Crispy Pata

Mga Sangkap:

1 1/2 pata
1 kutsarita asin
1/2 kutsarita durog na paminta
1/4 kutsarita betsin
mantika

Paraan ng pagluluto:

Ilagay sa isang malaking kaserola ang pata.
Hayaang nakalubog sa tubig. Pakuluin.
Timplahan ng asin, paminta at betsin. Takpang mabuti ang kaserola. Hinaan ang apoy at hayaan kumulo-kulo hanggang lumambot ang karne. Patuluin ang karne.
Magpainit ng mantika saisang malaking kawali hanggang halos umusok ito sa init. Ilubog sa mantika ang pata hanggang mamula ang balat at lumutong.

Ginisang Sitsaro

Mga Sangkap:

3 grams sitsaro
2 grams karneng baka, hiniwang makitid.
1 gram atay ng baka, hiniwang makitid.
1 sibuyas
3 butil bawang
3 kutsarang toyo
2 kutsarang arina
1/2 kutsaritang asukal

Paraan ng pagluluto:

Prituhin ang atay, Itabi. Isunod ang karneng baka, Itabi.
Igisa ang bawang at sibuyas. Isunod ang sitsaro pero iluto lang ng malasado.
Kapag nag-iba na ang kulay ng sitsaro ay ihalo ang piniritong atay at karneng baka.
Timplahan ng toyo at asukal.

Choose generic drugs

Switch to generic medication. Same effects at less price.

Saving Tip

Cut back or eliminate your addiction to smoking.

Saving Tip

Call the cable company and cancel your service (or agree to a better deal)

Personal Finance

Work a few extra hours at your day job.

Saving Tip

Shop around for a new insurance provider.

Saving Tip

Cancel your gym membership.

Saving Tip

Don’t be an early adopter of new technology.

Beef Tapa

Ingredients:
1 kg lean beef (beefsteak cut, round, or rump), sliced 1/4 inch thick
Salt
Ground black pepper
Sugar
2 tbsp finely chopped garlic
1/2 tsp distilled white vinegar
Soy sauce (optional)
Vegetable oil
MSG (vetsin)

Procedure:
1. Use the meat pounder to tenderize and thin out the meat. (bugbugin)
2. Place the meat into the stainless steel bowl, together with salt, pepper, sugar, chopped garlic, MSG, white vinegar, and 3 to 4 tbsp of soy sauce. Mix well.
3. Transfer everything to a plastic container, and let meat marinate for about 12 hours in the refrigerator. Remove and mix again.
4. You can opt to repack and freeze the meat for a later date. When the meat is ready to be served, fry in a hot pan, using vegetable oil. Tapa is usually eaten together with fried rice and egg.

Saving Tip

Use public transportation rather than driving when possible.

How to make salted eggs - (Itlog na maalat)

Procedure

1. Select 250 pieces fresh, clean and crack-free duck eggs.
2. Candle the eggs to make sure that eggs are fresh, free from cracks and not stale.
3. Wash the selected eggs with soap and water.
4. Pulverize 1 1/2 kg clay and heat for 1 hour. After heating, mix the heated clay to 1 1/2 kg salt.

5. Add enough cooled boiled water to the heated clay and salt mixture. Mix well until the mixture becomes muddy in consistency.
6. Coat eggs with the clay mixture.
7. Arrange coated eggs in containers like wooden boxes, plastic crates, big clay pot or pail no more than 50 pieces. Cover with cellophane. Cure for 20 days.
8. After 20 days curing period, wash eggs thoroughly, separate cracked eggs.
9. Boil eggs in medium fire for 4 hours.
10. Cool eggs then arrange in egg trays. Separate those with cracks.
11. Store at room temperature. Expiration date is for 6 weeks.

Saving Tip

Sign up for online bill payment if your bank offers the service for free.

Chicken Feet with Sauce

Ingredients:

* 1 kg medium-sized chicken feet
* 1 clove garlic
* 2 medium pcs onions
* 1 tsp chopped ginger
* 1 tbsp or 12 g iodized salt
* 200 ml tomato sauce
* 70 ml tomato paste
* 1/2 cup or 125 g refined white sugar
* 1 tbsp or 12 g white pepper
* 2 tsp or 12 g chili powder
* 2 small pcs red bell pepper
* 1 tbsp or 20 ml sesame oil
* 1 can or about 235 ml black beans
* 1/2 bar butter

Procedure

1. Put the chicken feet in a pressure cooker and add 3 cups of water seasoned with 2 tsp of salt. Boil for 15 minutes or until tender. You can use a casserole if a pressure cooker isn’t available, but cooking will take a longer time (about an hour).
2. When the chicken feet are tender enough, drain them and set aside, but keep the drained stock.
3. White waiting for the chicken feet to cook, mince the garlic and onions, and chop the ginger to make a teaspoonful. Also prepare all the other ingredients.
4. Once all the ingredients are set, put the butter on the wok or skillet and use medium heat to melt it. Saute garlic, onion and ginger, then add the chicken feet. Since they are already tender, you just need to stir-fry them for 5 to 10 minutes.
5. After a few minutes, stir in the tomato sauce and tomato paste using the wooden ladle. Continue mixing, turning the chicken feet over every time in such a way that they won’t be broken or damaged.
6. Then add 1 cup of stock. Simmer for few minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and season to taste. The sauce should have a sweet and salty blend.
7. Simmer until the sauce thickens slightly. There’s no need to add salt to the sauce because the chicken feet are already salted, and the tausi or black beans also contribute salt.
8. When the sauce is thick enough turn off the stove and put the dish in a serving tray or bowl.

Saving Tip

Delay vacations until your emergency fund is complete.

Saving Tip

Cancel magazine subscriptions.

Jar of Change

Empty your pocket change into a jar every night.

THE LION AND THE FOX (2)

A Lion that had grown old, and had no more strength to forage for food, saw that he must [96] get it by cunning. He went into his den and crept into a corner, and made believe that he was very sick.

Al the animals about came in to take a look at him, and as they came, he snapped them up. When a good many beasts had been caught in this way, the Fox, who guessed his trick, came along. He took his stand a little way from the den, and asked the Lion how he did.

The Lion said he was very sick, and begged him to come into the den to see him.

"So I would," said the Fox, "but I notice that all the footprints point into the den, and none point out."

Crispy Kangkong

Ingredients:
4 bundle kangkong leaves
1-1/2 cup cold water
3 cups corn starch
½ cup all-purpose flour
5 cups cooking oil
1 cup flour
# 1 egg (beaten)
1/4 teaspoon pepper (paminta)
salt and monosodium glutamate to taste
1 pc boiled egg, grated medium


For Mayonnaise Dip:
1 cup mayonnaise
4 drops Maggi Savor liquid seasoning
Dash of pepper

Remove and wash kangkong leaves, drain thoroughly and dry.
Mix the egg, water, cornstarch, flour, salt, MSG and pepper in a bowl.
Mix until smooth in consistency.
Heat cooking oil and reduce fire to medium.
Dip kangkong leaves one by one in batter and deep fry until crispy and golden brown.
Put fried leaves in a plate lined with table tissue to drain oil from kangkong leaves.
Serve with sauce on the side. (Mayonaise Dip)

GRILLED CATFISH IN COCONUT CREAM

Ingredients:

500g Catfish
1pc white onion
3 stalks lemongrass
2 tbsp ginger
1 tbsp turmeric (luyang dilaw)
100g wing beans (cigarillas)
5 cloves garlic
2 cups coconut milk
1 tbsp black pepper
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp Thai patis

Procedure:

Grill Catfish. Set Aside. Saute garlic, onions, lemongrass, ginger and turmeric. Add coconut milk and let simmmer. Add grilled catfish, wing beans, patis, salt, & black pepper.

The Fable of Fox & the Lion

When first the Fox saw the Lion he was terribly frightened, and
ran away and hid himself in the wood. Next time he came near
the King of Beasts, however, he stopped at a safe distance, and
watched him pass by. The third time they came near one
another, the Fox went straight up to the Lion, and passed the
time of day with him, asking him how his family were, and
when he should have the pleasure of seeing him again. Then
turning his tail, he parted from the Lion without much ceremony.

Moral:

Familiarity breeds contempt.
Acquaintance softens prejudices.

Parable Of The Pipeline

Just seen a presentation today on how to motivate your dowlines. If you are a member of an MLM company or Leader upline. Pipeline as your Lifeline. Check this out, this might power them:



http://www.simplyworkathome.org/pipeline/index1.html

How to make Kesong Puti

Mga Sangkap:

3 litrong gatas
1/2 tasang suka
1/2 tasang asin (tinunaw sa tubig)

Paraan ng pagluluto

Iluto ang gatas sa 85'(hanggang bumula sa gilid ng kaserola)
Ilagay ang Suka
Alisin ang kalahati ng dilaw na likido (whey) Ilagay ang tinunaw na asin
Patagalin ng 5 minuto at ilagay sa hulmahan.

Shelf life - 3 weeks
200 gram- 60-50
1 litro = cups

How to make Atchara

Sour:
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup vinegar

Sweet & sour:
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup sugar

Sweet:
2 cups sugar
2 cus vinegar

I need to revise this recipe. May recipe mother ko nito. Kasama procedure ng pagluluto. Remind myself later.

Remembering Ninoy

Inabot ko pa to si Ninoy. Pero at that time bata pa ako di ko pa lubusang kilala. Nung nag karoon ng maraming rally at EDSA revolution. andun ako. Hehehe. Napanood ko sya sa TV. Galing magsalita. Di sya pulitiko.javascript:void(0) he's a statesman like Ople.

Saving Tip # 8

Buy in bulk.

Bagyo

Ala lang. May bagyo daw.

Maja Mais

This recipe comes from my mommy. Di ko pa sya na try. Pero mukhang masarap.


Mga Sangkap:

2 Litrong Gatas
400 Corn Starch
1 latang Cream of corn
1/2 kg. sugar
2 tbsp. lemon flavor
1/2 Litrong tubig

Paraan ng Pagluluto:

Iluto ang gatas
Paghaluin corn starch at asukal
Ihalo sa nilutong gatas
Patuloy na lutuin hanggang lumapot
Ilagay sa hulmahan at palamigin.

Pritong Lumpia

Sangkap:
oil
soy sauce
ground pork
togue or bean sprouts
cabbage
sayote
green beans
carrots
celery
and kamote
lots of garlic
onion
salt & pepper
lumpia wrapper

Pour in 1 tablespoon vegetable oil. Cook pork, stirring frequently, until no pink is showing. Remove pork from pan and set aside. Drain grease from pan, leaving a thin coating. Cook garlic and onion in the same pan for 2 minutes. Stir in the cooked pork, carrots, green onions, and cabbage. Season with pepper, salt, garlic powder, and soy sauce. Remove from heat, and set aside until cool enough to handle.
Place three heaping tablespoons of the filling diagonally near one corner of each wrapper, leaving a 1 1/2 inch space at both ends. Fold the side along the length of the filling over the filling, tuck in both ends, and roll neatly. Keep the roll tight as you assemble. Moisten the other side of the wrapper with water to seal the edge. Cover the rolls with plastic wrap to retain moisture.
Heat a heavy skillet over medium heat, add oil to 1/2 inch depth, and heat for 5 minutes. Slide 3 or 4 lumpia into the oil. Fry the rolls for 1 to 2 minutes, until all sides are golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Serve immediately.

Saving Tip # 7

Use Compact Fluorescent bulbs or better yet EFL

Saving Tip # 6

Pay bills online.

The Envelope System

Having hard time budgeting your finances?
Try the envelope system. This works for me. Not for everyone. Its simple. Just get old/used envelopes. Label them with expense classification. (Savings, Food, Transpo, Elec., Water, DSL, etc...). Every payday put your budget for each classification. Keep your envelopes in a safe & secure place. You only use the budget of each envelopes. At the end of the month, whatever is left in the envelope is carried over and added to the next month’s budget. So, don't use all the money in those envelopes. That's the pupose of it. So you can have extra money for the next month. And remember to pay yourself first.

Saving Tip # 5

Buy fruits and vegetables in season.

Saving Tip # 4

Sell your clutter on eBay

Inspection

King penguin Nils Olav walks past soldiers from the Norwegian King's Guard after he was given a Knighthood at Edinburgh zoo , Scotland August 15, 2008. Edinburgh Zoo penguin Olav has been an honorary member and mascot of the Norwegian King's Guard since the 1980s and was made Honorary Colonel-in-Chief in 2005.

Knighthood

King penguin Nils Olav receives a Knighthood from the Norwegian King's Guard during a ceremony at Edinburgh zoo , Scotland August 15, 2008. Edinburgh Zoo penguin Olav has been an honorary member and mascot of the Norwegian King's Guard since the 1980s and was made Honorary Colonel-in-Chief in 2005.

Saving Tip # 3

Bike or walk as often as possible.

Saving Tip # 2

Buy generic drugs.

Saving Tip # 1

Bring lunches and snacks to work.

The Million Pesos Calculator

I don't remember where I got this
How long will it take for you to become a millionaire? Let’s have a bit of fun today by trying this financial calculator.

You will start by entering your Current Savings. Then look into your monthly budget and determine how much you can save in a month, enter this amount as your Monthly Deposits.

In the Rate of Return field, enter a number corresponding to the interest rate that your savings bank is giving you. Alternatively, you can enter the growth rate of a specific financial instrument that you plan to invest in. Lastly, enter your Current Age and press Calculate to compute how long it will take for you to become a millionaire.

Try it now and we’ll talk about some results later.

How long will it take you to have P1,000,000?

Current SavingsPMonthly DepositsPRate of Return%Current AgeCalculate

So, how long will it take for you to become a millionaire? More importantly, what can we learn from this tool?

Assume that you are a 21-year old college graduate with no savings but is about to start on a job that pays P15,000 a month. If you diligently pay yourself 10%, meaning you save P1,500 each month, and continually invest that money on an instrument that gives 5% monthly rate of return; then you’ll be a millionaire by age 47. Now that seems to be a long time to wait. But simply increase your monthly deposits by P500 and you’ll become a millionaire four years earlier at the age of 43.

This financial calculator uses the principle of compound interest to calculate how your money will grow. Although the presented results are not realistic because it doesn’t take into account other factors such as inflation; it nevertheless gives us a strong vision of what’s possible for us. By estimating our financial status and using this simple tool, we can have an idea how far (or how near) we are to becoming a millionaire.

I hope that you enjoyed my post. If you’d like to share The Million Pesos Calculator to others by putting in on your site, then simply copy the code below and paste it exactly as it appears. I’d like to remind you that this calculator will have a link to this website. Thanks.

Click here to put this Calculator on your site.
As suggested by Technogra.ph, you can likewise use the code below to align your calculator to the right of your page. (Thanks for the suggestion!)

Click here to put this Calculator on your site.

Alternatively, you can replace “float:right” with “float:left” in the code above if you want to align the calculator towards the left side.

Now I remember where I got this. This is from Ready To Be Rich Blog. Good Job Fitz!

Ginisang Ampalaya

Ingredients:

5 pcs ampalaya, sliced thin crosswise or otherwise
Cooking oil
Pound garlic then mince
5 ripe tomatoes, sliced
2 eggs, slightly beaten
onion, sliced
1/4 cup water
Salt to taste

Sauté garlic and onion in oil. Once the garlic is brown and the onion transparent. Add tomatoes. Halo. Add sliced ampalaya, cover and cook for 3 more minutes. Season with salt and some water, cover and cook for 2 minutes. Add beaten eggs.

You can cook/add optional ingredients like pork, beef, bagoong alamang, hipon, sotanghon, or broth cubes.

If you don't want it bitter try rubbing salt on ampalaya . I like its little bitternes, so I just put salt in the water where I wash Apalaya slices and let it stand for awhile, before I saute it.

Jophen's Baked Macaroni

This recipe is from Jophen, my officemate.

Ingredients:

1k elbow macaroni

red sauce

1/2k TJ hotdog
1/2k ground pork - lean
1 bar cheese
2 bottle ufc catsup
2 big spaghetti *sweet style sauce
1/2 butter
onion
garlic
pepper
salt
sugar

white sauce

1/4 bakers best butter
2 tbsp cornstarch
1 big can evaporated milk
1 pack nestle tetra all purpose cream
1 big nestle cream
1 bar cheese grate

You can do this without baking. Just don't forget to put white sauce inbetween the layers of the macaroni with red sauce.

Chocolait

Mga Sangkap:

2 litrong gatas
1/2 tasa cocoa
1 1 kutsaritang vanilla flavor
1/2 litro tubig
1 tasang asukal

Paraan ng pagluluto:

Pagsamasamahin ang asukal at cocoa.
Idagdag ang vanila ang vanilla flavor at tubig.
Pakuluan at ihalo sa nilutong gatas (pasturized milk)
Dagliang palamigin

BICOL EXPRESS

Ingredients:

60 ml oil
20g garlic, chopped
4 onion, chopped
15g ginger, chopped
500g pork, thinly sliced strips
200g shrip paste
250g siling haba (green), julienned
500g ml coconut milk

In a pan, saute garlic, onions and ginger in oil. When oinions are translucent, add pork.Saute until pork turna a little brown. Add shrip paste and chilies, mix. Pour in the coconut milk, keep stirring. Simmer.

For regular just add 1 siling labuyo. chopped. For Manoy/Manay's, Add 3 pcs. Chop until unrecognized. Ang-hang!

BINAGOONGANG BABOY

Ingredients:

50ml oil
30g garclic
30g red onions
30g tomatoes
100g shrimp paste
5g green finger chili
1/2k pork kasim
10g sugar
vinegar
bay leaf
broth stock

Saute garlic, red onion, and tomatoes in oil.Add the shrimp paste. add the vinegar & sugar.Put in the pork, then add a little stock. Add chili.

Aaaaawww!

My Personal Finance

I have a bad track record in handling my own finances. I got no savings. I got no assets. No business. Am in debt. So I asked, searched and think about how to handle this knotty problem. I found answers. Its not simple. Next time am gonna post something about the things I learn in handling personal finances. Slowly.

POCHERO

Ingredients:

1 pc onion chopped
350g pork liempo, cut into serving portions
1 pouch (200g) tomato sauce
120 g potatoes cut into chunks
2 pc medium ripe saba peele and sliced
1 pc chorizo de bilbao, sliced
1/4 cup cooked garbanzos
3 heads pechay Tagalog

Saute onion an dpork for 5 mins. Add 1 1/2 cups water. Caover & simmer over low heat until pork is almost tender. Retain only3/4 to 1 cup broth.

Add tomato sauce, saba, chorizo, and garbanzos; salt & pepper to taste. Simmer for 10 mins. or until potatoes and saba are tender.

Add pechay. Simmer. Add broth.

Burp!