Planning to Invest

Today's trip to the mall led me to buy these from Fully Booked:

I was originally planning to buy just Eats, Shoots & Leaves, but after getting it from the shelf, I browsed through the other shelves and Kiyosaki's Rich Dad's Guide to Investing caught my eye. I'm familiar with Rich Dad, Poor Dad's success even if I've never read it, and a lot of people say it's a good book to guide you in money matters. I should probably read it, too. Haha. Anyway, Rich Dad's Guide to Investing caught my eye because I've been wanting to have a source of passive income, and investing is one way to do it. Sure, I have savings and I can say I'm saving pretty well, but I know it's not enough to just have savings. Money that's just kept in a bank won't last. 

I don't know a thing about investing. The word alone makes me picture graphs, charts, percentage signs, money, numbers, and everything Math-related in my head, and the universe knows how much I hate Math and how much Math hates me! When I hear people say how it works, I can't understand it, but I know I need to understand it because I need to invest. I'm turning 25 this year, and my dad always tells me that it's best to invest while one is young because once one starts a family, priorities change, and family, especially the kids, will always come first. 

I'm turning 25 this year, yes, but time flies so fast. Before I know it, I'll be 50, and it won't do me good if all I have are a few pesos saved in the bank. I've started reading Rich Dad's Guide to Investing while waiting for my mom, sister, and nieces at the mall, and so far, I like it. I like how the book explains how investing will help. In the next chapters, I'm hoping to learn how to invest regardless of how much money you have, and by the time I finish the book, I hope I know how and what to invest on. 

How about you? Are you keen on investing? Do you have sources of passive income? Would you mind sharing how you're doing it? :)

Voting

It's just noon but I think my day has been eventful already. Today is elections, so it's a non-working holiday. My parents and I planned to go to the polling precinct early, but we ended up leaving our house at 10 a.m (well, I woke up at 9.15 am haha!). But despite our being late, there was no queue at our assigned polling precinct, so it only took us about 15 minutes to finish voting. That's good for us, but I can't say the same for the other polling precincts. Others have voters queuing up for hours under the heat of the sun. Not to mention election-related violence, cheating, missing election paraphernalia, and other problems which I hope and pray wouldn't happen (even if that's shooting for the moon).

Some people do not vote because they're already jaded with the system. They say nothing will change anyway, or that the same trapos (traditional politicians) will just end up getting elected. While there is a lot of truth to these, I don't believe these are excuses not to vote and to just set aside this right and civic duty. Yes, nothing might change, but all the more nothing will happen if we will not vote.

My vote has been cast, and I believe along with my accomplished ballot is my contribution to change this nation. And every election day, we are given that power--the power to help make a difference. To overhaul this system and create a new one that would benefit the poor, the marginalized, and everyone, not just the rich and the powerful. We may be miles away from achieving the Philippines we envision as ideal, but with every intelligent vote we cast, we get closer and closer to that.

Pixie Cut

Because I've grown fond of my short hair, I decided to go for a shorter hairstyle. Yesterday, I went to the salon to have my layered bob made into a pixie cut.

My New Hair

I love it. I never knew I could rock short hair, and ever since I had my hair cut short, I don't think I'll ever go back to having long locks. Short hair is easier to maintain. All I need to do is to have it dried in front of the electric fan (using the hairdryer is fine too, but the heat makes my head ache) before going out and apply some hair product (Vitress works for me!) to control the frizz. On a bad hair day, I just have to put on a headband and I'm good to go. Plus, Manila's heat and humidity aren't hair-friendly, and I neither have the time nor the money to have regular hair treatments. I only go to the salon for a haircut. 

As I've said earlier, I love my pixie cut, and I plan to keep this for quite a long time. Or if I get tired of it, I'll probably go back to my layered bob. But definitely not the long hair that I used to have. How about you? Have you found the right hairstyle for you?