FB TROOH 4 - Out of our league...

I believe most people who want to buy a home are priced out of the market. If they place a high enough bid on a home, their mortgage will be a continuous source of stress every month! Finally developers and the government are getting around to help. Click on this link (this will require a login) for more.

FB TDGOT 3 - Never a better time...

It's been a while since we've posted here. Hey I'm just glad people still come by every once in a while to read our squished column. In the next couple of weeks things should start picking up as we finally begin our wedding preps in earnest. See you soon Schatz!

My college days were spent taking care of computer labs. Well, mostly we would just hang around, take a student ID, and assign them a computer. If there ever was any problems, it would be some weird virus a student would bring or the occasional jammed up dot matrix printer! Mostly, I would just wait for the end of the month so I could get my paycheck. Fortunately that helped me out with commuting and a little for fun. Most of it would go to paying for books I would need for the new trimester. Ahh to be somewhat self reliant!
Here's another article on helping college kids with their budget for the new year.

FB Those four letter words...

I have cursed. Boy have I cursed a mouthful specially in my teenage years. I distinctly remember during my freshman year when cursing was a favorite pastime. We would try to grab the attention of another student by saying "Hoy g@g0!" At the end of a long exam you could overhear us saying "T@ng1n* eksamen iyon ah!" I know of one classmate who would exclusively use "put@ng1n@m0" wherever he went. There was this one time he would say it one after the other and it was quite hilarious. Oh and of course, we wouldn't be caught dead saying these things in front of a faculty or staff member unless they were cool with it

Apparently, there are people out there who have been studying the use of swear words (you may have to sign up for an account to read this article). One of the things I would agree with in the study was that mouthing profanities is a way of reducing stress. Also, most curses involve something about the genitalia or bodily function. Nowadays though I've pretty much minimized my cursing and even replaced some of them to some nonsense words. One thing I found funny was that some words that are benign today were apparently vulgarities in the previous centuries! Considering that profanities reflect what current society deems taboo, that does make sense.

FB Don't think your kids are watching you? Think again!

Do you remember those old commercials where you see adults throwing garbage out in the streets or jaywalking and then you see their kids looking at them? Here's an article about how kids are imitating what they observe from their parents when it comes to alcohol and smoking. Hmm, it looks like I won't be having that wine bar at home then until all the kids are in college.
My dad was a chain smoker when I was growing up. Fortunately, he's stopped cold turkey when we were older. I do remember though that my dad would avoid smoking when we were around but even if he used perfume, the stink of tobacco smoke still clung to him. When my siblings and I grew up we NEVER wanted to try tobacco. We just knew it was bad news and didn't need it in our lives. So I think, it really depends on how you were raised and the company you keep. Then again, you have the final say if you want to smoke (or drink or whatever else) or not.

FB TDGOT 2 - More Tips...

Last week I posted an article on teaching kids the value of money. Here is another follow-up article from the Newsweek. I can never understand why ANY adult would give his or her kid a credit card when they are not even old enough to go to the mall on their own. I mean, when I got my first credit card I tried as much as possible not to use it. Hey that only meant piggy gets fatter a lot faster. When I got a couple of months worth of my salary in the bank, I got on ebay and bought my first ever computer!

FB Gender Segregation for Schools?

In the Philippines, we have a lot of privately-owned schools that cater to only one gender. In HS, I moved to one of those schools when, just the year before, I was attending a coed gradeschool. One of my first impressions upon entering my classroom was that it was going to be an interesting year. I wasn't disappointed as the first activity we had as a freshman batch was to be hazed by the upperclass men. I didn't even consider during those four years if there was any difference between the way we, coed or all women schools, were taught. Apparently, some schools do cater to this way of thinking. Read this article if you are interested.

FB TDGOT 1 -They don't grow on trees...

In this article, they discuss some tips on how to guide your kids through something even adults have problems with -- money. When I was growing up, I was never given an allowance by my parents. The only time I would receive money was during my birthday or Christmas. Other than that, I learned about how to handle money from observing how my mom took care of our household expenses. When I started saving my aguinaldo's and monetary presents, I would usually hold off on buying candy or something frivolous for something a lot more substantial. When I lost my first wallet, I pretty much made sure all my cash was in the bank and I just brought my ATM card with me wherever I go (of course my Dad helped me out with that one). Of course I made sure I had enough money to pay for my fare. I still get a gentle ribbing from my good friends whenever we go out and I'm the only one paying with a credit card for a $10 lunch.
What about you? How did you learn about managing your finances?

FB It's just you and me -- right?

Ahh the challenges a young couple faces after marriage. There is the constant threat of missing dinners because of work, forgetting special dates (ok that's mostly on the men's side), pressure on having kids and a whole lot more. Of course, there is the matter of fidelity. This article is saying that people think, at times, that their fling(s) don't count. That since more and more people are having unattached relationships, monogamy is an afterthought, something to work towards to. Even if most people say that married couples should have a monogamous relationship, they also believe that if one strays, the other won't leave him or her immediately. Between my fiancee and I, I think we'll be sticking to one another like a piece of peanut butter sandwich to the roof of one's mouth.

FB Stuck From The Hips Down

When I was in college the most serious relationship I ever encountered was the regular student couples. Once in a while I would hear about some teachers getting to know each other a lot better. Even then, it would take a while before I would hear any of those same teachers getting married. As for students, I do remember one batchmate of mine who dropped out of school and got married to her college sweetheart. Eventually, I would hear of others who do get married but that was after college. As more and more people delay marriages to have a career or are just not looking for that kind of relationship, I am heartened to read about college students who are interested. Hopefully, this will turn a couple of heads from those who remain forever single by choice.