Pay Yourself First

I read about this when I stumbled the book "The Richest Man in Babylon" by George Samuel Clason. The book is hard to read because of the wordings there. It's like reading a Bible or Victorian Era English. Some says its very simple technique but very hard to apply. You just save a portion of what you make. Actually it's 10%. Thats it. If this is new to you, read on while I explore the world of Personal Finance. 10% is easy you say? Now, Where are those 10% savings that youre' savin? I can't find mine either. What is left with my salary? Zero. Bunch of Zeeerrooosss.

You can start by Paying Yourself First before of paying other bills. You must set aside 10% of your take home pay. No excuses. I tried it. It's hard. But it works.
If it didn't work, theres a problem with your budget or your broke or your in in debt. That's right we have to be frugal in a way we don't compromise ourselves. Live comfortably without doing any impulsive buying and committing unnecessary expenses.

Financial Arsenal

Pay Yourself First
The Million Pesos Calculator
Handling Friends Who Borrow Money
Giving Financial Support To Your Family and Relatives
The State of Financial Literacy in The Philippines
Overseas Filipino Workers and Their Families
The Middle Class Filipino
How financially literate are you?
Habits That Lead To Success
Paying Yourself First
Tracking Your Expenses
Delaying Gratification
Believing In Abundance
Having A Budget
Managing Your Time
Committing To Your Goals
Keeping Your Motivation
Being Frugal
Your Enemies Towards Financial Freedom
Impulse Buying
Inflation
Procrastination
Fear of Taking Risks
Wrong Beliefs About Money

Tortang Sapal (ng Niyog)

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup coconut residue (sapal ng niyog)
1 egg
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup water
1 onion (minced)
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
salt to taste

INSTRUCTIONS:
Combine all the ingredients until fully mixed.
Spoon a portion then fry until golden brown.
Serve it hot.


from: Kusina Master

Tinuktok

Tinuktok

At last... Tinuktok pala tawag dito sa pinangat na dahon ng gabi na may palaman na hipon na may malapot na gata.

Ingredients:

½ kg freshwater shrimp, peeled and seasoned with 1 ½ tbsp salt
600g meat of young coconut (about 5 young coconuts), grated
2 onions, chopped
2 tbsp. grated ginger
6 cloves garlic
a few pieces of chillies
20 to 30 fresh taro leaves
kitchen string with which to tie each pinangat
6 to 8 stalks of lemongrass (lower white portions only), smashed
3 to 4 cups thin coconut milk

For the sauce/ topping:

2 cups thick coconut cream
5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
4 shallots, finely chopped
2 stalks lemongrass (lower white stalks), sliced
salt to taste
3 to 5 spring onions, finely chopped

Instructions:
1. Combine the shrimp, grated young coconut, onion, ginger, garlic and chillies and chop them together using a large knife or cleaver until the mixture looks like cornmeal. I used the food processor for this task.

2. Wrap 2 to 3 tablespoons of the mixture in two (overlapping) taro leaves and tie each with a kitchen string. I did not have kitchen string so I made use of the stalk of the taro leaves.

3. Line a heavy-bottom pot with the smashed lemongrass and arrange the pinangat pieces on top. Pour the thin coconut milk over the pinangat.

4. Cover the pot and simmer over low heat, shaking it once in a while to prevent burning. The pinangat is done when the taro leaves are already soft or when all of the thin coconut milk has evaporated.

5. While the pinangat is cooking, boil together in a separate saucepan the thick coconut cream, garlic, shallots and lemon grass. Season with salt and simmer until the mixture resembles a thick creamy sauce. Sprinkle the spring onions on top and remove from heat.To serve, arrange the pinangat in a wide platter and top with the sauce.

Source:
http://malouprestado.com/2013/05/26/a-dish-from-those-days-when-life-was-simple-pinangat-or-tinuktok/

Fish Fillet

Fish Fillet 

Ingredients 

2 medium sized lapu-lapu or surgeon fish 
1 ½ cups hardtack (bread crumbs) 
½ cup calamansi juice 
3 beaten eggs 
salt, pepper, monosodium glutamate 

Fish Fillet Directions 

Clean the fish thoroughly and peel.  Remove fish bone. Cut the flesh into small strips.  Mash of calamansi juice, salt pepper and vetsin (or monosodium glutamate). Dip fish in egg and hardtack.  Fry the fish. Serve with sweet and sour sauce on the side.

Sweet and Sour Sauce Ingredients 

½ cup water 
2 tablespoons cornstarch 
1 ½ tablespoons sugar 
½ cup Pineapple juice 
vinegar, soy sauce, margarine 

Sweet and Sour Sauce 

Dissolve ½ cup water 2 tablespoons cornstarch and 1 ½ tablespoons sugar.  Mix well until thicken.  Add ½ cup Pineapple juice. Stir in vinegar, soy sauce and margarine, Boil on low heat and mix together 2 minutes.

Itlog na may sarsa?

itlog
sibuyas
siling pula
arina (mais)?
berdeng sili




water
ketsup
chicken cubes
asukal
suka
asin

Kaldereta

Ingredients:

pork or beef or kambing cubed
garlic cloves, crushed and chopped
onion, finely chopped
5 cup water
Red bell pepper, cut into squares
Tomato sauce
Liver spread
Crushed chili
Bay leaves
Potatoes, diced
Carrots, diced
Cooking oil
salt and pepper to taste

Cooking:

Boil beef or pork until tender
Heat the cooking oil in the pan and fry the carrots and potatoes until color turns light brown
Remove the fried carrots and potatoes from the pan and set aside
In the same pan where the vegetables were fried, sauté the garlic and onions
Add the cooked beef or pork and simmer for 5 minutes
Add water and add the tomato sauce and liver spread and simmer for 5 minutes
Add carrots, gizantes, bay leaves, bell pepper,crushed chili and potatoes and simmer for 10 minutes
Add salt and pepper to taste!

Hiananese Chicken

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken
1 tablespoon rock salt
75 grams ginger, sliced
2 pieces spring onions leaves
pepper
water

Bring to boil everything. Water should be plenty since this will be used in cooking Hainanese Rice. When cooked, set aside chicken to drip. Splash it with Sesame oil.

Dipping Sauces:

Ginger - Grated or blended
Garlic - - Grated or blended
Sesame Oil
light soy sauce
Sugar
1/4 cup chili sauce
Sesame oil

Mix and blend everything.


Best served with Hiananese Rice and side dish cucumber. Boom! Eat muthafuker!!!

My Survival Kit List

flashlight / batteries / radio and batteries or crank radio
spare battries
first aid kit
swiss knife
-biogesic, imodium, band aids,water purification tablets (aquatabs), betadine, gauze, bandages, oral hydates, antibiotics, 8cottonballs, insect repellant
candles in a tin can and waterproof matches/lighter
extra car keys and cash
important papers (ID)
food and bottled water
clothing and footwear
blanket and sleeping bad
medication
backpack
wistle
playing cards
compass
pencil waterproof paper
duct tape
survival guide
blanket
snare wire /emergency cord
food
dust mask
solar charger
biscuits, ready to eat canned meals
salt

I'll be adding more in the future, while the zombies are eating brains...

Organizing the 5 Gallon Emergency Kit

The emergency kit is divided into a few broad categories to keep his supplies organized and well rounded:

General Supplies
Hygiene Supplies
First Aid Kit

Every item is listed in detail in a printed contents document. On the back is a list of important phone numbers such as relatives, insurance companies, local law enforcement, fire department, etc.

Did you catch the line second from the top? It’s the most important detail on the loadout document – the date. This helps you remember when the bucket was put together so you can keep track of all your expiration dates. A good emergency kit can easily last 5 years or more, but not everything inside will be good for that long and may need to be replaced periodically.

Shopping List: 5 Gallon Emergency Kit

It may be instructive to compare this list with the much higher calorie emergency kit from Mayday disaster preparation company. Human beings need about 2,000 calories every single day – which adds up really fast. Depending on your anticipated needs, you may want one or several food-geared buckets in addition to your emergency supply kit.

General Supplies

glow sticks (12 hrs)
flashlight
liquid candle
matchbooks
mylar blankets
hand warmers
AM/FM radio
whistle and lanyard
sewing kit
blank notebook
pencils
extra batteries (for flashlight and radio)
zip ties
P-38 can opener
trash bags
N95 dust masks
duct tape
small tarp
paracord
safety goggles
split leather gloves

Hygiene Supplies

Hygiene supplies are packaged inside their own separate bag. These basic supplies should look familiar – it’s similar to a toiletries bag you might take on vacation.

bar soap

kleenex

floss

baby shampoo

hand lotion

sunscreen

toothpaste

toothbrushes

feminine hygiene pads

comb

toilet paper

washcloths

First Aid Kit

The first aid box is packaged with a list of contents taped to the inside of the lid. Moist towelettes and antiseptic towelettes and latex gloves kept on top so you can clean your hands before digging through supplies.

basic first-aid guide
moist towelettes
antiseptic towelettes
latex gloves
acetaminophen (Tylenol)
ibuprofen (Advil)
aspirin
diphenhydramine (Benadryl)
loperamide (Imodium A-D)
burn cream
sting relief towelettes
hydrocortisone cream
triple antibiotic ointment (Neosporin)
cough drops
earplugs
instant ice pack
tweezers
nail clippers
scissors
digital thermometer
cotton balls
waterproof adhesive tape
gauze rolls
gauze pads
moleskin
band-aids
butterfly bandages
ace bandage
triangular bandage
hand sanitizer
Q-tips
petroleum jelly
RAD sticker (personal radiation dosimeter)
potassium iodide (radiation emergency thyroid blocker)

From: http://fivegallonideas.com/emergency-kit/

Solar Water Bulb

Materials:

Pet bottles
Encased in - Galvanized corrugated sheets
Filled with water solution of household chemicals (Clorox)
Rubber Sealant

Assembly step 1:
Cut approximately 9x10 inch of metal roof sheet (flat or corrugated)

Assembly step 2:
Cut a circle slightly smaller (2mm) that the circumference of the bottle conainer.

Assembly Step 3:
Cut the difference in diameter (2mm) radially. Make small strips that will bent upward steel sheet. With a steel brush or sand paper scratch the surface of the bottle to allow the glue to stick better.

Assembly Step 4:
Apply rubber sealant or epoxy resin to the small perpendicular strips and glue to the upper one-third of the plastic container

Assembly Step 5:
Fill the container with 10 ml of chlorine and the rest with filtered water. Fill the contaier with 10 ml of chlorine and the rest with filtered water.

Installation Step 6:
Cut a diameter imilar in size to the plastic container on the roof

Installation Step 7:
Place the bottle with the skirt glued firmly in place directly on the original roof

Installation Step 8:
Fix the solar bulb firmly in place by drilling holes on the  perimeter & riveted on the roof. Apply a rubber water sealant around the newly cut hole on the roof to prevnt leaking. Protect bottle cap from cracking by sun with a protective plastic tube


Comments:
This only works in daytime light or your can const but a small piece of corrugated transparent roof sheet.

Watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYTIYUUK70I

Tobby Pimento Cheese

Ingredients:

1 (3-ounce) package cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup grated sharp cheddar
1 cup grated Monterey Jack
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon House Seasoning, recipe follows
2 to 3 tablespoons pimentos, smashed
1 teaspoon grated onion
Cracked black pepper

Directions:
Using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese until smooth and fluffy. Add all of the remaining ingredients and beat until well blended. It can be used as a dip for crudite or as a sandwich filling.

House Seasoning:
1 cup salt
1/4 cup black pepper
1/4 cup garlic powder

Mix ingredients together and store in an airtight container for up to 6 months.

Simple Cheese Pimiento

Ingredients:

1 block of cheddar cheese, grated
1 block of butter, softened
1 can of red pimiento, diced
2 tablespoon of milk (optional)

Here's what you need to do:
Put in a large bowl the butter and cheese.  Mix well.
Add in the red pimiento and mix together.
Add the milk if the mixture is too thick.  If not, you can skip the milk.

Filipino Cheese Pimiento

Ingredients:

1 cup American Cheese,or any Quickmelt cheese finely shredded
3 tablespoons Pimiento, finely chopped
1/4 cup Evaporated Milk
2 tablespoons Butter, melted hot
Pinch of Salt and Pepper(optional)

1 Mix the cheese, pimiento and evaporated milk thoroughly.
2 Add the hot butter and mix to have a spreading consistency.
3 Season with salt and pepper to taste.
4 Spread onto slices of toasted loaf bread and serve as a snack or merienda.


TIPS:
For easier shredding and handling, freeze the cheese for at least an hour.

No Canned Pimientos? Use RED bell peppers. Drop a whole red bell pepper onto boiling water for 2-3 minutes, remove seeds and ribs and chop finely.

Do not remove the skin of the red bell peppers, or you would end up with a pale red, almost orange color pimiento.

If you can find the small sweet cherry peppers, use them instead of the red bell peppers. They are usually sold as ingredient for salads.

Substitute regular milk, cream or half and half for the evaporated milk if you don't want the spread to be a little on the sweet side.

Proper Barbecue Chicken

1. Dry rub.
2. Keeping half the grill hot and half of it cooler.
3. A finale on barbecue sauce.


The chicken cooks on a relatively cooler part of the grill covered in a pungent rub of spices--essentially slow-roasting in its smoky environs--the skin gradually crisps into a mouthwatering crustiness and the interior juices baste the chicken while it cooks.

Then, and only then, we see the appearance of barbecue sauce, when the chicken is essentially finished cooking. Then it gets painted on the chicken liberally and constantly over a hotter part of the grill, allowing it to caramelize and turn syrupy just the right amount. Then you devour it like crazy.

Magic Dust -


(makes 2 cups)

1/2 cup paprika
1/4 cup kosher salt
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons mustard powder
1/4 cup chile powder
1/4 cup ground cumin
2 tablespoons ground black pepper
1/4 cup granulated garlic
2 tablespoons cayenne (or less to taste)
Combine ingredients in a container and mix thoroughly.

To begin, mix up the magic dust and sprinkle it pretty liberally all over the chicken. While you can proceed right away, see if you can plan ahead long enough to let the chicken sit, covered loosely in the refrigerator, for a few hours or even a day.


Barbecue Sauce

2 cups ketchup
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons molasses
2 tablespoons prepared yellow mustard
1 tablespoon magic dust (recipe above)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Hot sauce (such as Tabasco) to taste

Prepare the barbecue sauce by putting all the ingredients into a small saucepan and bringing them to a boil. Turn down the heat so that it just bubbles a tiny bit and simmer it, whisking once in awhile, until it's dark and thickened, 10-15 minutes.


-From PauperedChef

Total Green Goodness Smoothie

Feeling a little tired? Maybe you need a green infusion!

Drinking greens is like breathing oxygen. Greens have chlorophyll and essential minerals that can be beneficial for blood circulation and weight loss, assist in colon cleansing and liver flushing, and help improve your skin.

1–2 cucumbers, peeled and chopped
1 handful Italian parsley, chopped
1 large handful spinach or kale, chopped
Juice of 2–3 lemons
1/4 cup water (optional)
1 sliver fresh ginger (optional)

Combine all the ingredients in a high-powered blender like a Vitamix and process until creamy and smooth. (The mixture won't come out as smooth with a regular blender.)

For more of a kick, add more lemon juice.

Sip, and enjoy. Feel the goodness spread throughout your system!

Makes 1 serving


The following article was written by Kristina Carrillo-Bucaram. The following recipe comes from Kristina of FullyRaw.com. Smoothie picture from PETA.

Turn a Worthless Business Idea into a Million-Dollar Startup

Everyone has ideas. I get ideas by the dozen. When I’m brushing my teeth, when I’m driving to work, when I’m at my desk reading an article. But that does not mean that all can be converted into million-dollar businesses.

Not that these cannot be converted into million-dollar businesses, but I may simply not be driven enough to see those particular ideas through to that milestone.

You may get many ideas, too. But if you don’t, don't despair. You don’t need ideas to start a business. Regardless, your business ideas are worthless. Let me explain why.

Ideas are just ideas. An idea is the seed of a successful product or service. Without proper care and maintenance, it will not bloom. Ideas require solid research of the target market, a good strategy and a sound business plan, without which, ideas cannot go much further.

Related: 4 Ways to Find Your Next Revolutionary Business Idea

If you want to start a business and make a go of it, you need more than just an idea. To begin turning startup dream into a million-dollar business, consider the following advice.

1. Settle on one business idea.
If you're mulling a number of ideas, odds are good that none of them will see the light of the day. Why do I say that? Because your approach is all wrong. Skimming through different ideas every day and figuring out whether they motivate you or whether they work won't get you anywhere.

The amount of time you’re spending on them will likely be insufficient. An you're probably not passionate about any of them. So how do you fix it? Take one idea that moves you, that you feel most passionate about and stay with it. Stay with one till you can’t go any further. Until you’ve given it your all.

Only then will you know whether or not that business idea is worth a million dollars.

2. Validate your idea.
Your idea is absolutely worthless if you keep it to yourself and do not test it with actual customers.

Writing a business plan with projections through market research is a sure-shot way to a startup doomsday. Nothing beats an actual customer using your product or service.

So how do you get to customers when you’re at the idea stage and don’t want to spend a huge sum building something they don’t want?

Build a minimum viable product or a prototype. The idea is to put out something that offers the main value of your startup or that solves the core problem of your customers.

The prototype could be a PowerPoint slide, a dialogue box or just a landing page. This is something that you can often build it in a day or a week. A prototype can be an actual functioning product with the core features offered.

Share this with your network and see the response. Are people excited to use it? Do they feel their needs or problems are resolved by using your product? Is it easy to use?

3. Execute.
There is no such thing as a million-dollar idea. Facebook was not a million- (or billion) dollar idea until it saw the light of the day, until it was executed.

Ideas evolve into products which themselves evolve over a period of time through constant customer feedback and use. You must build a prototype, beta or a minimum viable product and get it out in the hands of the customer. Let your customer decide whether the idea is of value or not.

Most people just don’t get their products out in time and spend most of their resources in trying to build that one perfect product. Save yourself some grief, time and, most of all, cash, and build on a product that your customers want.

4. Find a large market.
Don’t waste your time on an idea that does not cater to a large audience. Sure, you can start local and expand later, but is your idea solving the needs of a few hundreds? Is your idea scalable to the next hundred thousand? If not, you’re not building a business.

Validate whether the problem that you are trying to solve is truly the problem of the masses. And not just yours and a few neighbors and friends or your network.

Think big, think global, if you can.

Base your idea on a large audience and you’ve got yourself a product with the potential to grow into a larger and a more successful business.

5. Make it a must-have, not a nice-to-have.
A lot of ideas are utter nonsense. Those can surely be turned into selling products, but you won't end up building a business out of them. These are the nice-to-have ideas.

You must spend time getting to know from the market whether your idea or product is a nice-to-have or a must-have. Nice-to-have products are mostly in the novelty domain or are not compelling enough for customers to buy or own.

If you want your ideas to develop into successful products that help you create and sustain a business, then go after must-have ideas.

So, decide what is important to you: the figment of your imagination that tells you your idea is a million-dollar one or validating it to build something that can get you the actual million dollars.

Fried Chicken (Max's style)

 Ingredients:    
3 chicken leg quarters  
1 tsp. of grated garlic 
1/2 tsp. of grated ginger 
salt  
pepper (I used white but black is okay)  
about 2 c. of vegetable oil for frying


Instructions:     

1. Rinse the chicken and pat dry with paper towels.Place the chicken in a container. Add the garlic, ginger, 1 and 1/2 tsps. of salt and 1/2 tsp. of pepper. Rub the seasonings and spices into the chicken well. Cover and let sit in the fridge for at least an hour.
2. Prepare the steamer. Cut a piece of baking paper to fit snugly into your steamer basket. Cut out holes on the paper. The paper ensures that the chicken won’t stick on the basket; the holes ensure that condensation falls back into the water beneath the basket.
3. Steam the chicken for 30 minutes. Remove the steamer basket from the pan. Sprinkle with more salt and pepper. After five minutes, turn the chicken over and sprinkle the other side with salt and pepper as well. Leave for another ten minutes to allow the juices inside the meat to settle. That’s what makes the fried chicken moist after twice frying. If you skip the resting part, all the juices will just ooze out into the cooking oil.

Heat the cooking oil. Fry the chicken, two to three minutes per side, just until lightly browned. Drain on paper towels and allow to rest for ten minutes. Same principle as before.

9. Reheat the cooking oil. Fry the chicken a second time, two to three minutes per side again, until the skins are golden brown.
10. Serve with rice. Or enjoy the chicken by themselves.

Preparation time: 5 minute(s), excluding marinating and resting between frying
Cooking time: 45 minute(s)

Homemade Chicken Nuggets

Prep Time: 40 minutes
Cook Time: 8 minutes
Total Time: 48 minutes
Yield: 42 nuggets
Serving Size: 5 nuggets

Ingredients:

3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 1/2 teaspoon of salt
3/4 teaspoon of parsley flakes
3/4 teaspoon of oregano
1/4 (heaping) teaspoon of onion powder
1/4 (heaping) teaspoon of pepper
3 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups of flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 cups of canola oil

Instructions:

Heat oil in a heavy-duty skillet or saucepan on medium-high heat. Set a candy thermometer in place.
While oil is heating, cut chicken breasts into cubes, then place in a food processor. Process chicken into a fine paste. Transfer processed chicken to a bowl. Combine salt, parsley, oregano, onion powder, and pepper, and sprinkle over chicken. Combine well.
Whisk eggs together in a small bowl. Combine the flour and salt and put it on a plate.
Measure chicken paste out with a cookie scoop and roll into 42 balls.
Roll ball in flour, then coat with egg, and then coat in flour again. Use your fingers to press the ball down to make a nugget.
Once oil reaches 350-365 F place as many nuggets as possible in the oil, and fry until the bottoms are golden, turn and fry until the other side is golden, about 4-5 minutes per side. Remove to a towel-lined plate (to catch any excess oil).

Spicy Buffalo Cauliflower 'Wings'

Ingredients: 
1 cup water or soy milk
1 cup flour
2 tsp. garlic powder
1 head of cauliflower, chopped into pieces
1 cup buffalo or hot sauce
1 Tbsp. olive oil or melted vegan margarine

Preheat the oven to 450°F.
Combine the water or soy milk, flour, and garlic powder in a bowl and stir until well combined.
Coat the cauliflower pieces with the flour mixture and place in a shallow baking dish. Bake for 18 minutes.
While the cauliflower is baking, combine your buffalo sauce and olive oil or margarine in a small bowl.
Pour the hot sauce mixture over the baked cauliflower and continue baking for an additional 5 to 8 minutes.
Serve alongside vegan blue cheese dressing and celery sticks.