GreenBucks

GreenBucks went to the WordCamp Philippines last September 6, 2008.

The lectures that I have attended were the following: Blogging 102 which is basically about how to advertise and have contests (plus where to get the prizes to be given away) to increase the blog’s juice on readership and traffic.

Then I attended the Building a Blogging Community. This is very timing since my friends and I just launched a new group writing blog, the FilipinoMomBlog.

I also attended the lecture on plug ins and SEO.

Then Mr WordPress himself Matt Mullenweg, presented the new developments for WordPress including the WordPress 2.7 which will be available in November.

I had fun learning new things except for one major mishap. My (Sandisk) SD card decided to go nuts so I lost all photos of the lectures that I took. I just took several photos again but the new WordPress 2.7 photos were in those that were probably lost 🙁

Incidentally, some of my photos were recovered last night. Woohoo! (insert Plurk banana dance here) Thanks hubby!

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Sinag is the Philippines’ solar-powered car which participated in the World Solar Challenge in Australia last year.

Sinag means sun’s rays.

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A lot of people aim for “The American Dream”.

What is exactly the American Dream?

Living in the suburbs, having one or two cars, vacation, shopping sprees, credit cards and other luxurious and comfortable ways to live. These are good to do as long as one can afford to pay for all of this. What if one can’t pay for all of these?

But this scenario is changing.

They are losing their homes and their cars. The American government even gave out tax rebates. Fannie Mae, the largest mortgage buyer and Freddy Mac, the second largest mortgage buyer were given emergency rescue plans.

Women who used to be in the workforce are not working anymore. Banks are reporting billions of losses.

This is being forecasted as the “death” of the middle class.

Americans as well as the British are deep in debts and there is more to this than meets the eye.

Why does this happen? It is because they are spending more than they can afford, courtesy of the lending companies.

So what do they do? Get another credit to pay for a credit.

So who is to blame? The credit availability or the mindset of getting things that can’t be paid for in cash but through credits?

Read what happened to Diane McLeod in a NYTimes article entitled “Given a Shovel, Americans Dig Deeper Into Debt”.

May this serve as a lesson to everyone who loves charging their purchases to credit cards.

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If I were to believe the many emails I have been getting, I should be a very, very rich person by now.

How many times I have won a European lottery when I have been to Europe only in my dreams is way beyond me.

How many times I have been bequeathed a will by strangers with so much money is mind-boggling.

How many times have my “number” been drawn and I have won lots and lots of money.

Well, if these emails are to be believed, where is my money then? Why am I still slaving away day in and day out just to help my family get by?

Fake lotteries. There are lots of them here.

I have deleted these emails as spams. Who knows, there might be worms in these. Ugh.

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Yes, I know I am a day late (Pacific time) with my post but I believe that peace transcends all time and situations, if only we will allow it to happen.

Peace is not the absence of violence but also has the presence of justice, according to Mahatma Gandhi.

Peace is a rare commodity.Its a commodity because it is expensive. Billions are spent to curtail war, to stop terrorism, to have peace. But with all the families broken, the souls destroyed, antiquities forever gone, do we even say that peace has been achieved? Are we even happy with the way things turned out? Can we truly say that we feel safe and secured? Can we really say that justice has been served or is being served or will be served to those who truly deserve it?

I do not understand why people have to fight over territories, why people have to prove who reigns supreme. Maybe I do not want to really understand for if I do, I would believe that this is the right way and therefore would promote the fighting. Why can’t people learn to live with each other, accept each others’ uniqueness and eccentricities and maybe, we would have peace. But this is hard, for everyone has his own agenda, his own reasons for the actions being done, and his own righteous beliefs?

Oppression. Killing. Famine. War. Terrorism. Environmental destruction. Natural disaster. Even family matters that seem trivial, all these and more, cause disturbance of peace.

Through it all, maybe peace is a mindset, a lifestyle and a kind of wishful thinking. With all the negative things happening, can one really have a peaceful mindset? I do not know if I am even making any sense here, I feel like I am rambling.

The Bible says that: For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. (Romans 8:6).

Thank you, Mimi, for starting this Blog Blast for Peace where bloggers can stand up as one voice and express our feelings about this matter. Here is Mimi’s Blog Blast for Peace Revolution of Words post.

Dona Nobis Pacem

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Nice asked me to answer this question:

Can you share any budget or money saving tips that you find effective?

I found this very apt because of the present situation we are experiencing, not just here in the Philippines but all the over the world: food crisis, rising price of gasoline, environmental concerns, rising cases of violence among others.

On the other hand, I find this question amusing. Why? Because we have been saving, budgeting, saving, scrimping, budgeting…ok you got it, but still, no matter how much we save, nothing seems to be happening good with the budget, if there is even a budget at all.

Anyway, here are a few tips I can write about on how we try to save:

1. Instead of frying the chicken pieces, cook these with vegetables and sauce, that way, we have more servings. Same goes with fish and other food products. Be a kitchen genius. There’s no need to buy expensive ingredients if one knows how to cook well. If not, learn to cook and avoid, asmuch as possible, eating out.
2. Turn off all electrical appliances that are not in use.
3. Buying of toys and other unnecessary things are not allowed. These unnecessary things are the trinkets, small things that become junk after a few weeks.
4. Stick to the budget. The what? Yes, the budget, especially during Christmas holidays.
5. Bring food to work, or in my eldest daughter’s case, bring cooked food for lunch.
6. Take care of your things so these can last long.
7. Eat at home before going anywhere. And when going somewhere, bring packed food and drinks.
8. Ask yourself first if you really, really need a thing before purchasing. Be honest.
9. Wait for your favorite items to go on sale, even if it means a loooong wait.Who knows, you might change your mind and not buy that thing anymore.
10. Be simple. Feel joy and happiness without spending a dime by appreciating the wonderful things around you. In other words, walang malling, sa bahay na lang tayo.

This I can honestly say, our family can go to a mall to eat and browse, and window shop and leave the mall without spending on anything other than food, gas and parking ticket. Well, of course, that too is still spending so we would rather stay in the house or go for a nature walk.

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