Noynoy First SONA

It really looks promising but its to early to tell if change is about to happen. The witch hunt for corrupt government officials is now underway and it seemed that an average 2 every week is brought in to court. But there as always it remains to be seen because we already seen thousands of smugglers and corrupt government officials prosecuted before and yet only a handful was actually brought to justice.

But the man has only been in the seat for less than a month and yet he has done more about corruption than the previous administration that governed for 9 years. Mukhang kay Noy Noy mapupunta rin ang Pilipinas sa daang matuwid.

The Big Leap

I have been posting blogs about investing and making wise decisions on money before. Its been a year since I been reading books about investing like the ones from Robert Kiyosaki, Colayco, and Larry Gamboa. At the beginning of 2009 I decided to put all the things I have learned into practice. Reading is nothing unless you actually act on what you learned. For a span of a year my wife and I decided to control our expenses, manage our bills, save, and settle most of our dreaded loans. This is the phase one of the road to financial freedom. The first step was indeed the hardest and yet it is the most important. I was surprised to learn that most of our expenses were spent on impractical ways. We were living beyond our means and risking getting bog down by high interest debt.

For the next 8 moths last year we cleaned up our act financially and I was surprised on how much we saved. The next step for us was wise investing. After we saved a decent amount of money I decided to send it home and put it in treasury bonds (considered as the safest form of investment in the Philippines). This money is now working for me, earning interest on its own and the interest it earns is reinvested therefore your capital grows as the maturity ends. The only downside to this invest is it is invest and forget so for the span of the contract you cannot touch your own money. I also invested in a money lending business that my sister has put up. The investment is modest but at-least the returns are decent.

The biggest investment step I did so far was to buy a house for the purpose of renting. Currently we have just settled the conditions with the bank and we are now a proud owner of our first property. While the down payment almost broke our backs at least the house pays for itself and in five years time the loan will be payed and it will be ours. This will be my first venture in property investment and definitely it will not be the last.

In a span of a year and a half we had made simple changes in our lifestyle yet dramatic results. Who could have thought that just by living within our means and wise investing could go a long way.I cannot hardly stress to my fellow OFW's that the hardest part is to start. Once you got your investing mojo going it will be like second nature. Don't be afraid to fail but make due diligence to check your investments vehicle before committing to it.