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 saw a humongous house beside my parents’ house being built. It sits on two properties one of which was a former rice mill.

My mother said it was worth PhP50,000,000! I can’t believe its that expensive!Just last week, a client of my BIL who is an interior designer gave him a nod to look for a beachfront property/place to build a resort with that price.

Much as I wanted to, I was not able to take a decent photo of the house because we were in transit and because the fences were high.

Imagine that, in dollars that would be worth more than $1,000,000!

The hubby and I were discussing what kind of construction materials were used in that house to have it worth that much.

The interiors would be so lavish I guess, with branded materials that mean quality like Kohler sinks or fixtures from other countries. Like what? Italian ceramic tiles or maybe granite and marble from New England?

One thing for sure though, I want to see how it is in the inside once its finished.

As if I can go inside the house

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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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This generation of young children is probably one of the most profitable generations when it comes to consumerism. The children being the target of invasive advertising where truth is distorted and where there is no clear line dividing what is real and not real is happening right before our eyes.

Children younger than eight easily believe what the ads are telling them. I know because I have two children in that age bracket. They think that just because a product is seen on television endorsed by good-looking children mean that they have to get those products on our next trip to the supermarket.

I do not subscribe to their wishes easily. Not because the children in a TV ad are eating vegetables as a result of the use of artificial flavoring mean I must have that too. Not because beautiful children with beautiful smiles use a certain brand of toothpaste mean I have to get that for them too. We gotta be more practical than believing in TV ads that aims to make a profit.

How can my children have a higher IQ by just drinking a certain brand of milk if I do not teach them how to use their thinking skills?

For me, good products do not need blatant advertising.

These products being advertised do not just center on food items which are most often than not bereft of nutritional value, but extends to clothes, toys, must-have electronic gadgets, events, and other consumables.

Excessive materialism and believing in products because of advertising are just a few things we can teach children regarding consumerism. Not everything should be carried from the supermarket aisle all the way to the ringing retail pos systems or in other words, cash register.

So what should parents do?

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