money matters

Money Matters + Clay Advisors: 5 Tips On How To Get Better At Managing Your Money

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Photo by Sincerely Media on Unsplash

The beginning of the year is always the best time to evaluate your spending habits and money management skills, as well as formulating ways and making plans to get better at managing your finances. This is most ideal especially if you have plans for the year that would require spending or saving up big amounts of money and/or investing your hard-earned money.

Create A Budget

Creating a budget and making a list of all your incomes, savings, and expenditures is a fool-proof way of tracking your finances. It primarily serves as a record of where all your money went and gives you a clear picture of your financial situation. This written record will allow you to better monitor your finances, thereby making money management a whole lot easier.

Plan Those Purchases

Whether you have major purchase plans for the year, like buying a house or a new car, or simply doing the groceries weekly, it is best to plan your purchases ahead in order to see how you can regularly set aside a fixed amount for the said expenses. Creating such will also allow you to schedule major purchases around those dates when you are expecting bigger income or additional bonuses while relegating smaller or regular purchases on dates when smaller amounts of money are coming in.

If you are planning to buy a new house, using calculator apps like the one found at https://www.sofi.com/home-affordability-calculator/ will also be effective in helping you plan and prepare your budget for this major purchase.

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A Day In The Life Of Mum, mum for a cause

Pawning For A Cause + My Very First Sangla Experience

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I never had a personal experience with pawning but I remember it clearly when my Mama would pawn whatever jewelry she and my Papa owned whenever we fall on hard times or her brood of five needs extra money for school projects and other expenses. In fact, there are a number of occasions when pawning helped make both ends meet for our big family with our Papa, an ordinary employee, as the only bread winner. Thankfully, now that I am a parent myself, there has never been any immediate financial need that would require me to pawn or get a loan.

It is true that there is a stigma surrounding pawning or what we call in our vernacular, pagsasangla, in our conservative Filipino culture. Some would speculate that you are probably neck-deep in debt or is simply too poor to opt for pawning. But in reality, and, in realization, as I just had my very first pawning experience, it is actually a very practical and wise way to get funds for emergency, for augmenting your inadequate budget, or, in my case, helping a charitable foundation, without resorting to getting a loan with big interests or borrowing from families and friends.

Pawning For A Cause

I have just tested firsthand how pawning can be practical, very reliable, and hassle-free.

I recently met with a mum blogger friend in an event and she mentioned about Hero Foundation, which she has supported numerous times being a military wife herself.

image from the Hero Foundation website, herofoundation.com.ph

According to their website, HERO or Help Educate and Rear Orphans is a non-stock and not-to-profit organization that provides “supplemental financial support for the AFP {Armed Forces of the Philippines} orphans. The support come in the form of stipends directly given to the families to help with the cost of books, uniform, meals, transportation, school supplies, and sometimes, even their tuition fees.”

Since December is almost upon us, I thought it would be a great idea to spread some Christmas cheer by donating to this foundation who helps educate and raise orphans of our fallen soldiers. I am certain that whatever amount I give will go a long way in providing for these children and in helping them have a brighter future. It is also some sort of a personal tradition to help and donate to causes and charities each year whenever I can, my own little way of sharing the blessings I continuously receive.

You can also help by sending your donations to:

BANK OF THE PHILIPPINES
Account Name: HERO Foundation, Inc.
Peso Account: SA # 0013-6263-32
US Dollar Account: SA # 003184-0434-31
Reference No.: Donors name or write ANONYMOUS

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Tips and Tricks

Tips + Tricks: 7 Things You Should Do When Starting An Online Store

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Research shows that up to 80% of internet users make at least one online purchase in their lifetime. This statistic explains the trend by most businesses to launch online stores. They are simple and cheap to set-up compared to the brick and mortar methods, and retailers can reach more customers within a short period. In fact, marketers predict a surge in e-commerce sales by up to $523 billion in the next few years. These are some pretty great facts for any retailer who wants to set-up an online store, but research also shows many e-commerce businesses do not make profits. Some cite ineffective marketing campaigns while others have poor business operations.

Savvy entrepreneurs share their insights on how to improve the chances of success of their online stores by doing these 7 things when starting an online store.

Choose your System Carefully

Naturally, retailers will follow what other retailers are doing. However, some companies use specialized custom solutions developed on old systems that may not support your business. As such, any online startup business should choose a popular system that is well-supported. It should also produce attractive shops and have a good community. Retailers who don’t want to use codes can choose hosted platforms like Shopify.

Ultimately, if you will opt to launch a new website for your shop, it is a must to invest in a Website Design that is very user-friendly and has a responsive design that would provide customers with optimal experience to keep them coming back to puchase.

Pay Special Attention to SEO

A while ago, developing SEO optimized content for an online store was pretty easy. However, with the unpredictable changes in Google algorithms, it has become difficult to create unique content for the stores without duplication. It does not render SEO impractical; in fact, it is the most important tool for stores that want to improve their ranking and visibility.

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