GreenBucks

A friend asked me if I would like to join her team in selling insurance policies. Tempting yes, but I am not sure if I will be able to do what I am supposed to.

When she told me about the seminar I have to attend first about all things regarding insurance business:  health insurance leads, the right terms, how to talk to people, I have to say I was having second thoughts because I have homeschooling children,

Lost opportunity to earn I know. Maybe next time

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With these big supermarkets otherwise known as “hypermarket” opening at almost every available space, it is no wonder that small businesses are losing their usual customers.

Where we are staying, a big hypermarket from a big company of malls just opened up. We decided to check it out one time and although we found the usual stuff being sold in their other outlets, it is still a bit reassuring for some that such an outlet exists within a few minutes from where we live. With school children, one does not know when there is an emergency urgency to get something for school to be used the next day.

On the other hand, I feel that the small businesses in the vicinity of this big store, meaning a few minutes ride and drive, are threatened. Good if these have business insurance to back them up in times of need.

I hope these smaller businesses won’t fold up like how I see happening in the rural areas.

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Hubby asked me why I haven’t started started the backyard garden since I pulled all the vegetable plants when the rains “ruined’ these. By ruined I mean the bitter gourd yield turned orange, the lemongrass wilted, the basil leaves got eaten by aphids and so on.

The seed packets are waiting. The not-soil pack is waiting for me too and I hope it has not expired (if there is such a thing) yet. The lovely colored pots are dusty already. And I can’t find my work gloves.

Excuses, excuses.

Oh wait, I started planting something yesterday, a pandan plant. I hope it will stay alive since I am not sure if it will thrive. If it lives, then we can have pandan rice everyday and pandan jelly and chicken wrapped in pandan leaves. Woot!

I used coffee grounds in the soil by the way, it is good for the soul soil.

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We are saddled with so many choices in life.

Ketchup or salt? Running or walking? To sleep or to watch television?

Yes, as if our life depends on these thing, haha!

We do legwork, canvassing stores for the perfect pair of shoes that not only makes the feet look gorgeous but is slightly cheaper too.

What about bargain hunting during sales, even if one misses a day at work or even has not minded being pushed and shoved?

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What kinds of gifts did you give to your loved ones?

What kinds of gifts did you receive from them?

Gift-giving is a Christmas tradition that will always be there, no matter how people are, in terms of their economic standing because there are a lot of those who have lost their source of income and who are grappling to see the end of these challenges.

One of the most sought-after gifts for the last few years are tech gadgets and gizmos.

There are also those who go the old-fashion way of giving baked goodies like what we did to some of our relatives.

There are those who feel obligated to give expensive gifts especially to their children because these children seem to charm their way into having  their parents part with their hard-earned money.

There are those who got the surprise of their lives as they got engagement rings and would start planning the big day after the holidays.

What about those who got new cars or even new homes? Wow, definitely wow.

But have we thought about those who don’t get any gifts given out of love? They did have some but these were given out of pity. How did they celebrate their Christmas?

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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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