Online buy and sell options for Filipinos (Part 2)
This is part 2 of a series of articles on online buy and sell options for Filipinos. Click here for Part 1 of the series.
Today, we’ll look at two other buy and sell options online.
Online buy and sell options for Filipinos (Part 1)
I’ve been making money on the web since 2004, and have had some experience buying and selling things online. Some of you have probably considered doing the same thing, whether you’re looking for a good deal on an mp3 player, trying to sell your own handicrafts, or you need to dispose of some unnecessary possessions for emergency cash.
However, most people don’t know where to start.
I found that the online buy and sell landscape for Filipinos is very different from that of most Western cultures. With that said, I’ve evaluated some popular online buy and sell sites for Filipinos. This is the first part of a series of 3 articles on the subject. We’ll be reviewing the following sites:
- Bidshot
- eBay.ph
- TipidPC
- Sulit.com.ph
- Other ways to sell online
Without further ado, we’ll start with a couple of auction sites:
Read MoreFree Personal Finance Ebook
There’s a free personal finance ebook available at Mytwodollars.com . “Money Matters for All Ages: A Guide to Taking Control of Your Finances from Birth to Retirement” is a comprehensive collection of personal finance and frugality tips that may prove to be useful, no matter how old you are. This includes infants and young children, teenagers, college-aged people, and people in their twenties up to the sixties. This ebook also covers advice for retirees. This series was even featured on MSN Money.
Here’s a description from the website:
This e-book is the culmination of sixteen different personal finance bloggers who got together and decided to write a financial guidebook that spans an entire lifetime. From the innocent little infant to the older retiree, all the different stages of life are covered here. Whether you are in your 20’s or 30’s or any other age — you can benefit from reading this book.
I’ll be taking a quick look myself, and I might even post a review. So far, it looks like we can all learn a thing or two from this handy resource.
Click here to download the ebook. Once you’ve read it, feel free to share your comments with us.
Read MoreCooking in batches
In a previous post, Goal for the month: No Fast Food, I wrote about the benefits of cooking your own meals vs. dining or eating out. Frugal Pinoy reader Jinoe sent the following comment:
I would love to do this also for similar reasons (esp #4). But lately Im in a rush. Cooking my own food takes more than an hour plus cleaning up. So fastfood was an option.
If you still want to cook for yourself, but don’t have the time or energy to do so every day, you can cook in batches. On weekends, days off, or whenever you have a lot of free time, cook one big batch of food that you will heat up for the rest of the week. (An exception to this might be the rice, which you can cook once daily with no hassle using a rice cooker.) Here are some pointers:
- It requires a bit of planning. Since you’re cooking food in big batches, you need to plan ahead. This includes ingredients, what meals you’ll be having, and the quantity of food.
- Use your freezer. Most of the food you’ve cooked should be stored in your freezer to prevent spoilage. Just pop them up int he microwave or heat them up in your stove when you’re ready to eat. It’ll take roughly 5 minutes to do this per meal for one or two people.
Click here for a very informative article on batch cooking. It includes notes about shelf life of certain foods, a list of foods that don’t freeze well, recipes, and more tips. It’s like Batch Cooking 101.
Read MoreBloodlines as Credit Lines
(Thanks to Soli for the title and insight.)
Here in the Philippines, it’s ordinary to seek out the help of close friends and family whenever we’re in financial need. There are even cases where mere acquaintances ask each other for monetary assistance. We’re generally matulungin (helpful) as a culture, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Let’s take a deeper look into the idea of using blood lines as credit lines.
Why it works to ask friends and family for financial aid:
It’s part of our culture. From the concept of bayanihan to proverbs about being a “good Samaritan”, at an early age we’re taught to be helpful.
It’s easy. All it takes is a phone call, a visit, or even a text message. “Pare, pautang naman, o!” These people are close to us, and most of them are willing to do anything to help us keep out of trouble. It beats filling up long forms and attending interviews when applying for a loan.
In some cases, it makes sense. If you’re a fresh graduate, starting a new career, and need to help support the rest of your family, it’s hard to find the extra funds to save up for retirement or an emergency fund. Also, for people who find themselves in financial emergencies and didn’t have the foresight to plan for them, they are left with no choice except to ask for help. After all, it’s much better than using a credit card with steep fees and interest rates.
Now let’s look at the other side of the story.
Why it is also dangerous to ask family and friends for financial assistance:
Apart from the money you borrow, there will also be utang na loob. And that is a much trickier transaction to measure. One never knows when utang na loob is ever repaid in full. If someone lends you money and later requests for non-monetary help, you feel obligated to give in – no matter how uncomfortable you may be with some of these requests. Hey, it might not even be your debt, it could be your parents’ – but it doesn’t stop you from feeling utang na loob.
Unsurprisingly, the idea of utang na loob, intended as a display of genuine gratitude, has become one of the foundations of corruption in this country.
Sometimes too much help can turn into hindrance. Someone I know, let’s call her Ms. A, was surrounded by friends and family who gave her financial assistance whenever she needed it. Her loved ones thought that they were helping her. However, the core of the problem wasn’t really a stroke of financial bad luck – Ms. A just had such poor money sense. She spent too much money on unnecessary things. Because everyone was always there to “help” her, she never got around to addressing this problem. The result? Mountains and mountains of unpaid debt – with more on the way. She’s become completely dependent on others and doesn’t even feel the need to look for a source of income via a job or business.
It puts a strain on the relationship. When money comes into the picture, a new aspect of your relationship surfaces. I’ve known of families that have had near or completely irreparable relationship strains because of money. Sisters don’t speak to each other for decades because of unpaid debt. A father disowns a son who doesn’t want to pull his own financial weight. People who were formerly friends start avoiding each other. For this reason alone, I don’t think it’s worth it to rely on friends and family for financial aid.
What is the solution?
Consider what you know about the other person. When borrowing from a relative or friend, or when lending money, think about the other person’s financial sense and what kind of strain this might put on your relationship. Is this person money smart but just ran into some unexpected bad luck? If you’re the one borrowing money, ask yourself if the lender trusts you enough to repay the loan.
Think about other options. Borrowing and lending may not be the only solution to financial problems. Are there items that you can sell? Is there a regular expense that the borrower spends needless amount of money on? Long lasting help doesn’t come in the form of cash, rather it comes in a finding a system that works. That saying about teaching a man how to fish – that one applies here.
Every situation is different, but these are just some things to keep in mind whenever you come across a financial problem where you may have to use your own network of friends or family as financial backup.
Have you ever borrowed money from a relative or friend? Have you ever lent anyone money? Feel free to share your experiences in the comments.
Read MoreHelp Iligan and CDO
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