ADOPTING THE BABY STEPS: SAVING FOR COLLEGE

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When everything is settled in with your emergency and contingency funds, instead of jumping to your retirement fund, complete all responsibilities and work with your children's college fund first. It would be good to think about your retirement fund but it would still be a number of years away while children are growing quickly. The moment you started a family, it would only take around 18 years before you got a kid to send to college. While, hopefully, it would still be double those number of years until retirement.

With the lesser time frame for the children, it would be better to focus on a year or two solely on saving for their college fund. Allot two years focus on each child. So if you plan or already have 2 or more children, double the number and that would give you the total number of years you are supposed to save for college funding solely. The two years may not even be enough for an employee to save for each child, but this is just the focus or saving solely for one baby step. The succeeding years, you might want to divide the savings among your retirement fund and the children's college fund. 

Baby steps 4 and 5 together. 

This is a new scheme which combines saving for both college and retirement fund. So give two years for each child and save their college fund. After the two years, divide your savings to college fund and your retirement fund. Paying off your retirement fund earlier ill be requiring you to give lower payments. The installments paid on the retirement fund will be earning interest which will be possible to suffice the inflation on your senior years.

How to plan on the first two years for college funding?

It is not just checking on the tuition fees of each university, but compute all the expenses that your children will be asking from you.

• Start with learning the fees of universities in your local and also in another city. You can decide on which to start with. After all, you are going to save while your children are still young, thus, there is no point of asking a 9-year old on which university he would like to go to in college. To be at a safer side, check on the university out of your town which offers the lowest fees and use that as your basis. Another alternative is directly targeting potential universities you would like your child to attend to.
• Include the expenses for books, school tools and gadgets that your children will be required. Since this is not yet certain for now, you can make an assumption that at least 15% of the school fees would be for projects and tools needed at school.
• Learn the way of living in that place, check out the people's lifestyle. Does the place offer cheap board and lodging? On the other hand, scout for information about dormitories of schools too.
• Do not forget to include the inflation of all expenses in your computation. From the school fees to transportation, food and housing, inflation should be computed.

How to save for the college fund?

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• You can open yet another account for your children's college fund. This will assure you that you have divided all savings properly. The only drawback is that every pay day or day of deposit, you will be carrying so many accounts.
• Another thing is to have it included in your contingency fund. Remember that your contingency fund is something you are not to touch unless you are out of job so your college fund will be safe. Another good thing of pooling your fund into this account is the higher interest rate your fund will be earning as you keep bigger lumpsum.

Know more about the other Baby Steps.

ADOPTING THE BABY STEPS: SAVING 3-6 MONTHS OF EXPENSES

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After placing an end to the old you, you are now ready to start building up your wealth. Being debt free is such a good start for investments but before working on your dreams, it would be better to make sure that you are secured for the immediate future. There is an immediate security that you need to fund on at times that future problems with your finances arise. This baby step is similar with building your emergency fund. The only difference is these problems can come but not that urgent although devastating. This is the problem of unemployment.

When someone gets laid off or retrenched or basically let go, the first thing that comes to mind is: "How am I gonna live now?" And for the family person ... "How will I support my family?" Unemployment occurs any time to any one despite excellent performance in the company. 

How to plan for the immediate expenses?

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In the Seven Baby Steps, it was very clear that you should be saving for 3-6 months expenses. However, would saving this much be enough until you can land to another job which will sufficiently support your family? The better thing to do is to check the chances of getting hired with equal or even better pay after computing your expenses. Don't just focus on the expenses, also think about the probability of landing to an equally paying job.

• Compute for your expenses, even at least the basic, which means wants are still not included. If you are confident that you can save even for those in the want list then there is no stopping you. However, if you would like to move on to the next Baby Step, it would be better to tighten your belt a little "to live like no else soon". 
• Now that you have an idea on how much you spend, you can start checking the length of time you are supposed to save this amount. There may be countries where it is easy to get back to a job like around 3 to 6 months, but there are also places where competition is high. Although there are some part time jobs to help you make ends meet for the meantime, your target is to get back to the old income level you once had or even better.

How to save for the contingency expense?

When you know how much and how long you are supposed to save, then it is easy to do the math and start the baby step. 

• Open another bank account to place your contingency fund. It is best to have an account which is not easily accessible such as bank accounts only using passbooks. Banks are surely closed on weekends which will hinder you to have impulse withdrawals on those days you go shop out with the family.
• If you find it troublesome to fall on queue every time you make a deposit, then you can still carry an account with a card but make sure you can discipline yourself never to touch the card for any other reason than for the unemployment contingency.

Read about the other baby steps.

ADOPTING THE BABY STEPS: THE EMERGENCY FUND

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The first thing to consider before working to financial freedom is to secure oneself financially. This is when you would have to prepare for emergencies. Because emergencies would also occur at an untimely, it is best that you are always prepared. 

Before you can tackle your first baby step, you should identify your possible emergencies in order to know just how much emergency fund you should set aside. Make a comprehensive study about your lifestyle and create an inventory of everything you need and those you have. It is clear that "want" is out of the question here. There is no emergencies for things we want.

What are those circumstances that most of us consider as emergency?

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• Health emergencies. Top priority is to stay alive and well. Anything wrong with our body or to anybody in the family, surely this should be given prompt attention and care immediately.
• Weather or environment influences. It is the rainy season, so it would be best to keep a big amount of the emergency fund ready just in case a cyclone comes visiting your area. This is true to all other disasters which are no doubt always categorized as emergencies.
• School fees and projects. A school activity came up, you have to have some fund for this or else your children will feel you have deserted them.
• Broken appliances. This depends on how important that home device is. If one can still live without it, then don't consider making a fuzz when it broke. For example, the microwave doesn't want to work anymore, think if it is a critical situation for the family, if you can still prepare meals without it, then consider buying a new microwave when truly there would be extra from your budget. Another is the computer, there are some people who work using the laptops or computers, then having this device broken should be considered an emergency or else, there would also be no income without it.
• Car maintenance. Just like home appliances, setting the emergency fund also depends on people who have cars or not (and if cars are vital for living or not that much).

How to plan for Baby Step 1?

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Now that you identified what kind of emergencies you might most likely encounter, you can arrange how much you should keep. 

• Check out how much hospitalization fees are in your place. Imagine the worst scenario and get the most probable billing for that. There is no need for you to go and interview hospital personnel. You can gather information from people around you who have had hospital emergencies. Knowing the amount they spent, add at least a fraction of that amount just in case bills and services will inflate.
• For natural disasters, if you are able to complete all your supplies before the season of disasters arrive, then that's absolutely great. The only thing you have to consider for your emergency fund will be emergencies that might happen to your house. For example, flooded basement, cut electricity, no communication or transportation services, etc.
• Have a talk with your children's adviser to know just how much they might need for projects and other activities besides their tuition fees. Among all the emergency categories, this is the least amount.
• If your home appliance is a vital part of your living, then keep the purchase amount as part of your emergency fund.
• Similar with any vital home appliance, if the car is considered a necessity, make sure that you have enough funds to maintain it.

Starting with Baby Step 1

Now that you got an estimate on just how much you should keep for emergencies, it would be easier for you to save (having a specific amount for a goal). 

courtesy of Khalaf & Nguyen, PLLC

• Allot a certain amount every time you receive your pay in order to quickly complete your emergency fund. Although this depends on how fast you would like to complete Baby step 1, you do not really need to pressure yourself too much yet especially if you still got time on your side. For those parents who are going to have college kids soon, then they should definitely work double time for Baby step 1.
• Keep your emergency fund somewhere easily accessible. You can open a regular savings account with a card and with the least maintaining balance. Having a card will be more convenient to extract from your emergency fund when the need arises.

Check on the other Baby steps.

JUST HOW EASY ONE MAKES BABY STEPS

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As the popular saying goes "One has to learn how to walk before he could run", this is the same thing when one wanted to reach financial prosperity. Everyone would like to be in that euphoria sometime in the future. It is always the dream of everyone to work hard while young and strong so he could relax and enjoy life after.

Although some people tend to enjoy every bit of their time, (this is, in fact, also good) others do focus on their future. So many are of this case especially if they have more responsibilities in life like parents who have huge duties for the family. Those single can still enjoy more of their time while they are young because of not that much responsibilities.

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The "Seven Baby Steps" is a very popular book written by Dave Ramsey gearing toward financial prosperity and freedom. In this book he discussed ways on which a regular person can still achieve wealthy lifestyle. One has to follow a certain principle in life in order to gain what one dreams of. In it, and also in his videos, he would always reiterate saying "One has to live like no one now, to live like no one else in the future. A simple line pointing out to delayed gratification.

How easy or hard are the steps then? For a person who has a strong will to gain his goals in a given period of time, it would be easy to have the baby steps. There would somehow be a different case for those who have instant self-gratification as one of their beliefs in life. The days of great industrialization had brainwashed people to buy a lot of products. The manufacturing industry came out with so many ideas like, "Eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow you may die." This scheme truly worked for the industry. So many manufacturers became rich! These days, if that same saying is still working on someone else's mind, then that person should pray that he is truly going to die soon or else, he will be broke for the rest of his days.

The principles inside the book start with getting ready for things to happen in the present then moving on to forming your future. Although everything is true, some people might find some baby steps only adoptable in the better worlds. A slight variation would be needed for some places which are still thriving on their potentials to success. In some cases, an alternate list of baby step like the following may be more adoptable.

courtesy of Medium

Baby Step 1: Keep an emergency fund
Baby Step 2: Roll out of debt
Baby Step 3: Fund 3-6 months of expenses
Baby Step 4: Save for your kids' college fund
Baby Step 5: Invest on your home
Baby Step 6: Work out on your retirement plan
Baby Step 7: Build and share your wealth

ADOPTING THE BABY STEPS: ROLLING OUT OF DEBT

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Debt is something which hinders a person to financial stability, it hinders a person to think and act clearly according to his needs and wants. Having a debt is like being stuck in a rut, hard to move on. As hard as it sounds, there are just so many instances that a person who is determined not to loan or borrow might still be forced to get acquainted with debt. Life's surprises do not all have a happy ending, there is just so much with life that sometimes people are forced to go into debt with their own dear reasons.

As it looks like normal these days already, most if not all people do have debts. So what would be a better way for us to start our life anew than to clear ourselves of debt.

From Dave Ramsey's "Baby Steps", he has prioritized clearing oneself from debt over the others and right after keeping an emergency fund. According to importance, having an emergency fund is indeed a much needed fall back in case something happens.

courtesy of kahaba.net

The West may apply Dave Ramsey's ideas as they are but for the rest of the world, there should be some minor alterations in order to have with financial freedom. 

As stated in the book, clearing up debts according to the interest rates is a good way to work on your debt(debt snowball). This asks one to arrange his debts according to the interest rates and prioritize paying the one with the highest interest rate. Focusing on a single debt at a time will help you pay a bigger amount which can help you complete your payments faster.

Another case, is to divide your payment among the debts you owe and pay equally. This is somehow a little bit disadvantageous because there would always be debts which are bigger in amount than others. Not paying the minimum in this type of debt will incur more interest.

So how can a regular employee with a minimum wage be able to free himself from debts?

Paying debts need a lot of sacrifice. The first sacrifice will require you to immediately allocate a portion of your salary to the debt you want to finish. This should be done right after you received your pay. The sacrifice will come in budgeting the rest of your 15-day salary throughout the upcoming 15 days.

Ways to budget the remaining fund?

• Pack your lunch from home. If you are more comfortable with taking lunch out, this might come as real pain. Just think that you only need to pack lunch from home until you can pay all your debts.
• Walk to work. If you live just a few kilometers from work, wake up early and walk to work. Wear comfortable pair of shoes for this case so you will not feel so terrible upon reaching the office.
• Follow your budget strictly. This not only concerns about stopping eating out or treating friends and family. This would also mean to remove those unnecessary things from your list. Prioritize on those things you need, list them down, keep some pocket money, and the rest of your money should be paid to your debt.
• Learn to eat food which does not cost that much. It might be great to eat sumptuous meals everyday, but how about adding some veggie meals a few times in a week. Vegetables are so much cheaper (and even healthier) than meat.

How should you pay your debt?

Most employees feel it is more convenient to pay debts every month-end, the others would like to pay on the 15th and another on the 30th. Both ways will be reasonable as long as one has the determination to stick on one's budget plan.

Those who would like to pay only on the end of the month, it would be a good plan to budget all the expenses on the 15th then try to pay as much as you can on your 30th pay. If there is an excess on the 15th, discipline yourself not to buy anything else and keep it for the 30th's budget.

For those who would like to pay every payday, take note on the dates of paying bills and all those scheduled expenses. On your payday, immediately separate the amount you want to pay to your debt. The remaining amount will be used for the other necessities like food. This does not mean that you give food the least importance. From your remaining amount, budget it on low-cost food which would still meet great nourishment for your family.

Apart from paying the interest, make sure that you follow the amount you decided to pay on the principal.  Bigger amount paid on the principal debt will mean the faster you will be free from your rut.

Learn about the other steps.

WHAT IS ACADEMIC ADVISING PROGRAM?

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So you are already in the tertiary education, this does not mean that you are good to decide on your own just yet. There may be some of the lucky ones who would actually start planning their life ahead and be fortunate enough to really be in luck. However, there are also those who are still struggling on the choice they made. Some may struggle but they are well determined that the course is the right one for them. They can still be right.

So what is academic advising? This is a program which is focused on helping the students attain their educational (as well as career) goals. An adviser is assigned to each student and both have responsibilities to make the students’ track to educational success be visible and clear.

Adviser Duties

Advising program does not let students ask academic help to their advisers for cases like answering homework or giving more lectures to a course. Advising program is limited to the assistance on making sound plans and decisions for students to discover their full potentials as engineers.

The adviser may not be teaching the subjects one more time but they should assist in the development of consistent career plans aligned with students’ interests and abilities. The student would be assisted in understanding the rationale of engineering.

The adviser should also help students develop a positive working relationship with faculty and school staff. They should provide students with accurate information regarding department policies, requirements, and procedures.

It is also the duty of the adviser to refer the student to the guidance center when student seems to need further professional advising assistance.

Student Duties

With the huge number of students for one faculty, students are responsible on making appointments in advance and appearing on time. They should be prepared with their concerns. If the concern is about subjects to be taken for the next semester, students are required to have a copy of those subjects they are interested with.

Students are responsible in the decisions they make. Although advisers provide advice, students have the last decision to make. They should clarify confusing concerns with their adviser.

It is the duty f students to be fully aware of the adviser correspondence sent personally or as an announcment in the building. Students should also respond on time if required.

Students are responsible in taking advantage of resources in the department which will improve and develop their educational experience.

PARKS IN BAGUIO CITY: MELVIN JONES

The soccer field of the city right at the heart. The Melvin Jones is a park and a soccer field in one where most big concerts and most of the big gatherings held. Although the grass has not grown that much in the area due to the ground being stumped at and walked on, the place is still preserved as the wide open area of Baguio city.

Two big stages are across the two opposite sides of the field. And two park Restaurants are on its opposite ends.

Floats from the parade are usually parked in the Melvin Jones for spectators to gather more pictures, however, lately, the Athletic Bowl is more often used when crowds of people perform events because the latter has benches for people to rest on.

How to reach the park?

Melvin Jones is along the Harrison Road but route for the entrance is in Lake Drive.

Establishments near the Park?

Along Harrison Road are a few establishments such as Tiongsan Harrison department store, and banks - BPI, BDO, Summit bank and Landbank, also found is the Philippine Red Cross and the Patriotic School. On the opposite lane is the Burnham Lake.

Melvin Jones is just one of the scenic parks of Baguio city.

Elementary students in Melvin Jones practice for the street dance

BAGUIO FLOWER FESTIVAL: BONSAI CUP

  

For bonsai lovers, the Bonsai Cup is the chance for them to showcase their passion. Bonsai Cup is an exhibition held at the Rose Garden this Festival season in Baguio city. A silent exhibit but elegant and still wonderful for those who appreciates nature.

Growing bonsai (actually stunting the growth of the bonsai) is a hobby which needs skills in art and appreciation and tons of patience. The best thing is pruning the branches into a shape of a dwarf tree where one can clip the tree into one’s imagination.

Tables have been placed in the right side of the Rose Garden slopes for the event. Different bonsai trees with their elegant-looking pots are on exhibit. All look like small trees literally with other additions to the plant like rocks or ceramic figures. Small trunks made to look like worn out and old, eaves made to be smaller than normal - the attributes of dwarf trees.

For those who appreciate growing these small trees, the Bonsai Cup is a good medium to learn more about how bonsai should be grown and directed. The art is simple but exquisite. Those who would also like to venture on this hobby can take this chance to learn before buying their own masterpiece.

BAGUIO FLOWER FESTIVAL: THE MARKET ENCOUNTER

The Market Encounter is a full month event participating in Baguio city’s Panagbenga. Business owners would get a stall at this tented activity along Burnham Lake Drive. All kinds of things to buy in a bazaar are also present in this encounter. From shoes to clothing to crafts… Market Encounter basically covers everything to buy and check in Panagbenga. But the food, oh the food. Panagbenga is the best time when all kinds of street food are available for grabs.

There are stalls selling shoes - leather, rubber, flats, sandals, boots and all kinds of shoes. Another There are also clothes offered by other sellers - shorts, shirts, jeans, pants. And for souvenir, different colors and different designs of Baguio T-shirts are on sale.

Other souvenirs are key chains and wood carvings. Baguio city has been known to offer carvings which are appreciated by locals and foreigners alike from big warrior statues, wood masks, ash trays and even the famous “barrel man”.

Paintings and art craft are also a part of this encounter. There are stalls selling paintings already in frames. There are also stalls which offer arts for kids and adults alike.

And then the food… all kinds of food can be enjoyed in the market encounter and people are truly enjoying them. The best smelling beef shawarma is sold in regular, medium and large sizes. Shawarma rice and shawarma burger are the new addition to the shawarma group. Regular shawarma costs 35 and can be bought for 100 if you get 3. Medium shawarma is 45 and large costs 55. Shawarma burger can be bought at 35 and shawarma rice costs 55.

 

Chicken stalls sell chicken skin, fried chicken and other varieties. Then the footlong has been an all time favorite too. People just enjoy having enormously long hotdog burger with veggies and all sorts of mayonnaise and ketchup in it. Footlong costs 35 and can be at a discounted price of 100 for 3 footlongs.

Different drinks are also sold. From smoothies, shakes, fruit juices and basically everything non-alcoholic. Food and beverage which are nice to enjoy while walking around.

PARKS IN BAGUIO CITY: THE IGOROT GARDEN

The Igorot park is a small peaceful area exactly at the center of downtown Baguio. Although surrounded by a few trees, there is more paved space than plants in this park. The main attraction of this park is the pedestal of majestic native warriors more than 10 feet high.

Small city events are conducted in this park. The area before the pedestal is often used as stage for rallies, concerts and the like.

With benches located at the sides of the park, most people would sit and spend time or wait for a meetup. A group of chess players are also often seen playing the sport in this park. Old and young men mostly carry their chess boards and just ask anyone who would like to play with them. When the game starts, slowly more and more spectators crowd them and study silently as well or watch on how the game ends.

Few years back, there are tables and benches were tables are designed like chess boards from white and black pebbles. Most chess enthusiasts would only need to carry their chess pieces and perhaps chess clocks to enjoy a game or two. Because of the rising problem of trouble when people might start gambling over the game, tables were removed but it never stopped players to get a spot in this park and enjoy chess.

How to reach the park?

The park is basically in downtown Baguio so taking a public utility transportation is available at almost all routes to downtown. When riding a taxi, Igorot Park is already a household name which every driver knows.

Establishments near the park?

Across the arch of Igorot park is Tiongsan Department store, to its left is Venize Hotel and McDonald’s, on the right is a public parking lot with Ganza restaurant. Just after the great statues behind the park or grill stalls, where smokey but tasty chicken and seafood await.

Igorot park is just one of the amazing parks in Baguio city.

BAGUIO FLOWER FESTIVAL: LANDSCAPING EXHIBIT

The landscaping exhibit has been a part of the city event from the very start. This is the event where a handful of contenders would need to design the most elegant, inviting, and soothing landscape according to a theme.

For 2018, there are almost 20 contenders for the competition showcasing the biggest flowers, the most colorful petals, the most ecstatic layout where one who visits the exhibit would say, “I wish I had this setting at my own backyard. Each one is given just a small space of around 3m x 5m. This space utilizes only the sidewalk just across the Burnham Lake. At this time, the Lake Drive is converted into stalls for the Market Encounter joining the Landscaping Exhibit altogether.

Landscapes showed different variety of bloomers such as the boat orchid (cymbidium) which actually costs shockingly; marigolds, daisies, petunia, impatience of different species, not just pink or red anthurium but purple and white; hydrangea in variety of colors, and so many flowers to feast one’s eyes on.

The Dwarf village

Different styles and motives has also been used for the landscapes. One has the village of small dwarfs and elves. So fantastical that it brings one’s childhood memories of getting to be friends with these cute mythical beings. 

Hi ho! Dwarfs traveling back to the village

Others used a garden theme with cute paved walkways lined with greens and flowers of differing varieties; walls were covered with plants and beautiful leaves. Corners and strategic spots would have clay pots and statues, nipa huts and garden benches. 

Alluring site where it is hard to resist to dream of a nice place with a wonderful backyard full of amazing things.

Fountains are also one of the major attractions used by a lot of the competitors. Falls from stoneworks or captivating water flowing out from a bamboo chute can be seen always in the landscaping event.

Admittedly, with all the hustle and the bustle just at the other side of the landscape (where multitudes of people check the market encounter), it is so soothing to hear the water trickle while watching the scenic view of the bloomers.

This is 2018's landscaping exhibit but all other exhibits are not a bit less than we had this year. 

Every exhibit was done full of colors, full of love, full of inspiration.