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Financial Literacy Month comes to a Close   Well, I for one think it is awesome that we have a National Financial Literacy Month in the USA.   Financial Literacy is so important to all of us.   When I first started teaching Personal Finance I thought students were taking my class because they wanted to get rich by investing in the stock market.   Boy was I wrong.   What they taught me was that they just wanted to enjoy life and be able to easily pay their monthly bills. Those first kids taught me a valuable lesson that I carry with me today in every lesson I design.   They were so smart!     To end the month on a high note let’s take a look at two fascinating businessmen.   Check out the videos below.          Whiz Kid Investor (MoneyTrack Episode 312)      Buffett's best tip for personal finance   Thanks for Stopping By!    

I agree with Gretchen Rubin when she tackled vitality first in her happiness project. Just 3 days to go before the formal start of my project and i'm still trying to harness all the energy I can muster. First on my list, which seems so difficult to accomplish, is sleeping early. Since I went back to work from my maternity leave, I've been going home late. And to make up for the long workdays, I sleep in during the weekends. This bad habit had screwed my body clock. My erratic sleeping pattern has left me feeling lethargic. I'm also currently struggling with my belly fat which gets me feeling frustrated every morning when I put on my clothes and nothing fits well. I'm not a fan of sports and i have never hit the gym so this is proving difficult for me to address. I tried cutting back on rice but whatever I lose during meals I gain again courtesy of junk foods. In preparation for my happiness project action points this month of May, I've been going through my past iss...

There is something seriously wrong with me these days. This morning, I spent almost an hour going through my meagre wardrobe looking for something that would fit. Gaining weight is proving to be a constant source of frustration. I need more Zumba sessions and more discipline to lose my belly fats (from pregnancy) and some pounds (from stress bingeing during the busy season). We had our first in-house Zumba session in our group yesterday. Just us and the dvd player. No instructor. Hopefully, it will turn out to be a regular fitness thing. Last night, I went to sleep at 2 am. And woke up at almost 11 am! I promised myself I would sleep early this week but there were some important things at work that I had to lose some sleep over. And for two consecutive midnights, the kids wake up as soon as husband and I get through the door. Next week will be different. I hope and I pray. I can’t concentrate on my job. I’m used to being efficient. I know because I log my tasks every 15 minutes (a habi...

(This is a repost from my other blog. For the past weeks, i have created 2 new blogs with posts about my happiness project. I wanted to start fresh. I wanted some anonymity. But now i'm getting confused trying to maintain 3 blogs.) Here I go again. It is tax season and I'm stressed and chronically fatigued. I put in long hours at work and feel that I have limited time for family and leisure. My enthusiasm meter which was full, fresh from the new year, is now drained. This is my 11th year and one would think I would have acclimated by now to the stress and demands of my profession. Big NO. Every year, during this time, I rethink my profession and my decisions. And I end up - still Here! During these difficult times, I resort to wishful thinking... How I wish I were so rich, I did not have to work one single day! Then I turn to Lotto and hope and pray (with million others) that I win. I don't. But for some time, I allow myself to dream that I did. Sarap sana! Same thoughts ye...

I've said it before, and I will say it again: we need to have a REVERSE EMINENT DOMAIN policy. In other words, we need to allow businesses to purchase government assets when they see fit. In the past I have argued that the right be extended to all non-military government assets and national parks. Given sequestration, I'd be willing to start smaller: any government service that stops functioning effectively (e.g. air traffic control) should be open to purchase by private entities. That will give policymakers incentives to keep the functions they really want to maintain under government control. As matters stand, they have incentives to make life as difficult as possible for ordinary Americans to extort more taxes from them. News flash: air traffic control can be privatized. Policymakers just have to allow it to be. Reverse eminent domain is a MARKET method for reducing the size of government: the government functions most easily privatized will be the ones that businesses bid f...

O nce upon a time, a bold band of historians from France called the Annales tried to crown their discipline the Queen of the Social Sciences, but the Ivory Throne ultimately fell to the tribe called economists. Unity was one of their tools of conquest: although some economists considered themselves different, and identified with exotic realms like Austria and Heterodoxis, most fought under the newly restitched banner of a Scotsman who perished in 1790. The neoclassicals, as the dominant caste of economists came to be known, frequently disagreed amongst themselves, such great believers in competition they were, about such important matters as how far away from the ocean they plied their black arts, but against outsiders they were as solid as the hoplite phalanx at Marathon. “We know better than all the pretenders to the throne,” they told the people of the realm, “especially that great bitch goddess Clio because we manipulate the same magical figures as the great Wizards Physicks and Ch...

Global Climate Change Policy: Some of the Economic Issues Involved By Robert E. Wright, Nef Family Chair of Political Economy, Augustana College SD for Greenfest, 19 April 2013 I’ve never understood why some people, mostly political conservatives its seems, push back so hard on claims that humans are changing the global climate. We’ve been doing it on a local scale for hundreds of thousands if not millions of years. Our buildings are mostly about climate control and in fact that euphemism is even used in the HVAC -- or heating, ventilation, and air conditioning -- business. A fire in a cave is a form of local climate control, as is a shelterbelt or hedgerow. Our cities are regularly several degrees warmer than the surrounding countryside, and the larger the city, the larger the differential. That several centuries of factories and a century of automobiles has caused larger scale changes is, therefore, not surprising to me. I don’t know if the claim is true or not as I am no expert in s...

merryli, merrily we roll along chasing dreams. :)

I barely have free time. And during those rare times that I do have free time, I don't get anything done. I want to do so much that I end up... browsing and reading celebrity tsismis at pep.ph or reading Star and OK magazines. :) Entertaining but hardly productive. It's been months since I finished reading The Happiness Project and vowed to start a project of my own. I had the best intentions but no time. But finally, April is almost over and work should taper off a bit. The remaining days of April should be about tying up loose ends at work and gearing myself up for more intentional living starting May. I'll be needing lots of discipline, structure, good habits and resources. Most importantly, I hope that by some good fate, no major issue will crop up at work that will keep me pre-occupied. The month of May will be about: Clarity and Positive Energy 1 - Toss, Restore and Organize 2 - Tackle nagging tasks (ie. dental and OB check up, LTO drivers license renewal) - warts re...

People are staring at me. My head is aching. My face feels weird from the anesthesia which is now starting to wear off. My lesions are starting to hurt and itch. Ouch! I had my facial warts removed today and i'm making a 'drama' out of it. The drama queen has found time for drama. Another busy season is over. :) I spent the whole morning since I woke up trying to contact my HMOs. I was a bit guilt-stricken from the spending last week that I felt like scrimping today for the warts removal. Unfortunately, HMO 1 will shoulder only 1K and it has to be done by an accredited doctor (PF!). HMO 2 covers face and neck warts removal but not the face. After making some calculations, I settled on going to a derm clinic where the rates are cheaper. Take the risk. :) I'm not supposed to wash my face for the next 48 hours (oil production!) so i'm taking Monday off (yey!). I'll be cooped inside the house (blog time)! I can see the light. May I be able to stick to my beauty regi...

National Personal Finance Challenge One of the most interesting sites I came across recently is the National Personal Finance Challenge .     It sounds pretty cool.   .   Their site reads, The National Personal Finance Challenge is an opportunity for students to demonstrate their knowledge of Personal Finance by competing with other students across the nation in a three-round competition. The two teams with the highest scores will then compete for the national title in a fast-paced "Quiz Bowl" round. In the spring of 2013 we will crown a new National Personal Finance Championship team. Students will have a chance to win awards such as $1,000 per team member, $500 per team member, iPads and Kindles. All students will enjoy an exciting day of challenging competition, meet students from other states, and have the opportunity to win additional prizes and cash! The National Personal Finance Challenge will be held May 2, 2013 in St. Louis, MO. The National Personal Fin...

Celebrating Financial Literacy Month with a SALE!   In celebration of Financial Literacy Month, my big sale at Teachers Pay Teachers begins today.  The following Personal Finance lessons will be 20% off between April 16th and 18th.  These are all great lessons that my students love.   I am sure your students will love them too.   The Wonderful Life Assignment – Setting Goals is FREE.     This fun, interactive project gives students a chance to get to know each other while creating a presentation that reveals their goals regarding career, wages, and lifestyle . It also sharpens their communication and presentation skills. As a culminating activity each student presents their project to the class. It is a great first lesson. This is an outstanding lesson, not only for personal finance, but for any class where the objective is for students to introduce themselves to the class and talk about their goals and i...