I just bought a new pair of leather shoes. They weren’t really expensive ones… ok they were cheap. But it’s been a while since I had a new pair and it made me feel good that at least I can stop wearing my old worn-out shoes.

I went to school the following day happy because of my new shoes and I excitedly showed them to a group of my classmates. One of them immediately shouted, “NEW SHOES!!”, and suddenly out of nowhere, almost all of my classmates went to me and stepped on my feet. They were all trying to step on my new shoes. Some even are not just stepping on it once, but many times. Some even really hurt – A LOT.

After all was over, I was left with sore feet and shoes that were already damaged and dirty. I promised myself… never again. I was 13 years old then.

The Sky is a Crybaby by hypertypos

Now all of you might be wondering why the heck did they step on my feet? Yes they were because of my new shoes – But why?

It’s because stepping on my new shoes is supposed to protect me from blisters on my feet brought about by the shoes. It’s a social practice; A cultural norm in our country.

In itself, that social practice is good. The end justified the means (assuming that the practice does protect me from blisters). But society interpreted it or used it in a way that doesn’t make sense already. When you look at my situation what they did was not right and downright inappropriate.

For one, the social norm or practice is really not stepping on a person’s foot. It’s enough to lightly tap the feet of the person wearing the new shoes.

So what then compels these people to step on my shoes like there was no tomorrow?

1. Justifying bad or wrong actions

Some of them I’m sure were envious of my new shoes. Let’s face it; it’s only natural to sometimes feel a little envy when someone has something we don’t have. And if we can’t have that something, we resort to other courses of action to feel better – to not feel envy.

In their case they tried abusing our social practice by really stepping on my shoe. By trying to really dirty them; by putting their whole shoe on top of mine.

2. Going with the Flow

I tried to ask most of them why they stepped on my shoes, and they just plain told me “Because it’s new!” They said that happily without guilt and like it was the most right thing to do.

I asked them a second time because I wasn’t going to accept that answer, and a lot of them told me “Because it’s new!”, “Yeah, because it’s new!”

I asked them a third time and now explicitly asked them – “why step on someone’s new shoes?” They told me again “Because it’s new!”

This only goes to prove that some if not most social practices are being done without people even knowing why it’s being done in the first place. We’ve just been doing it because everybody’s doing it. We don’t even bother to ask why it’s being done and what good that social practice does for us.

If there’s any reason on why social practices are there in the first place is that they were put there to do some good. We don’t do something without even knowing the reason why.

Social Practices and Cultural Norms are big and diverse subjects. Some practices are supposed to be guides for people so they always do the right thing. Some are supposed to make our lives easier. Some old practices are supposed to bring us good luck.

Whatever is the reason, I always try to make sure that whatever I’m doing, be it a social norm or not, is for the good of someone or myself, and I am not hurting or harming anyone in the process.

So what kind of insurance should you first get? Should you first get a life insurance or a non-life insurance? Should you first protect yourself or your car?

The answer seems obvious isn’t it?

I know many people who have cars and have full auto insurances in all of them, while they don’t even have any insurance for themselves or their loved ones. They’re fully covered for anything that might happen to their car but are completely unprepared for things that might happen to them.

Image Credit: Monkey Suit by Del Far

Make Life Insurance your priority when buying insurance.

I’m not saying to get life insurance. What I’m saying is that if you are buying insurance, at least buy insurance which is for you first. At least be prepared if something might happen to you. (Knock on wood).

Knowing what kind of life insurance for you is best.

Below are just some of the types of life insurance plans:

Different Types of Life Insurance:

1. Temporary (Term)
2. Permanent
3. Whole Life Coverage
4. Whole life coverage
5. Universal Life Coverage
6. Endowments
7. Accidental death

Life insurance plans in the market are not anymore constrained on one type of life insurance. Meaning an insurance plan could have temporary life insurance while having an endowment or annuity. Insurance companies now mix the different types of insurances so as to better fit the needs of their consumers and thus make it more attractive to them.

I’m no expert in buying life insurance but I’m very happy with the insurance that I’ve already bought. Below are the basic guidelines that my colleagues and I have used when purchasing life insurance.

1.  You should first decide what kind of insurance you really need.

If your single and you’re not supporting anyone then you might feel you don’t need a permanent life insurance or any life insurance at all. You might think that an endowment plan is the only choice for you.

When choosing an appropriate insurance plan always think ahead. Yes we aren’t fortune-tellers, but we shouldn’t just choose an insurance plan according to our needs now. Our needs change as we get older. Having a goal in life helps us be prepared and be aware for these changing needs.

(I have another article on goals and dreams, which I strongly suggest that you read as it explains the importance of having clear goals and trying to achieve them. It is related to this article as goals help us forecast our future needs. You may read it now or bookmark the link I just provided above.)

What I was just saying earlier is that we shouldn’t just try to meet our needs now but also our possible needs in the future. Life insurance is about securing the future. So think about what your needs would eventually become.

Do you plan to get married? Are you going to be healthy forever? Would you have dependents later on in your life?

2.  Select only the top and most stable life insurance companies

This is really important. You don’t want an insurance company that would just disappear after a few years. You don’t want them to disappear at all. You should only select trustworthy and financially strong insurance companies.

Always check the ratings of insurance companies that interest you. What’s better is that you get the ratings of the top insurance companies in your country or area. Ideally what you want are only insurance companies with an AAA or AA rating, but those with BBB ratings might be considerable as well.

3.  View the plans of the insurance companies you’ve selected.

The reason you’ve selected first the insurance company before looking at the plans is because you don’t want to be blinded by the more attractive offers of financially unstable insurance companies.

Check the insurance plans being offered in the market by the companies you’ve chosen. Again, don’t check out the plans of the companies you haven’t chosen.

4.  Choose the plan that you like best from each insurance company.

This might be tough but choosing only one would make it easy for you on our next step. Make the basis of your decision from step 1, which is deciding what kind insurance you really need.

Compare the plans offered WITHIN each company and then choose the best plan. Don’t compare plans from other companies. Choose one insurance plan from each company.

5.  From the plans you selected, choose the BEST plan.

Now that you’ve narrowed your choices to only one per company, it’s time to compare them all with each other. Choose the best plan that suits you. Again use step 1. Try to identify the pros and cons of each plan to make your decision easier.

6.  Review the contract of your chosen insurance plan.

Don’t forget to review the contract of your plan. Make sure that every detail is in the contract. If you have any objections in the contract, don’t hesitate to inform your agent.

As I mentioned earlier, buying an insurance plan is a big purchase. Having the right type of insurance plan would actually help you cover financial risks in the future. Having the wrong kind however, would be of little or no help in your future.

Big capacity, Big loss

My first encounter with computer was in high school, when the floppy disk was still a big storage device. Today, it is a mere laughing matter to use one. There are even very few devices that still have a floppy drive with it. One meg of memory is way too small; it cannot even hold an ordinary mp3 file. Common nowadays are 2 to 8 gigabyte capacity flash disks or 120 gigabyte to even a terabyte of portable hard disks. Yes, they store a lot of data- mp3, videos, and even programs. It can store everything. The downside, however, is that when we lose it, we lose everything. It is like entrusting everything to a very small inanimate thing. These things are vulnerable to breaking. They are easy to lose too because they are so small. My solution to this would be not getting a storage that is too big, as you could lose that much too. The capacity of the flash disk I have is only 2 GB, enough just to temporarily hold data. It may also be useful to backup your files through compact disks, which you may leave just sturdy at home and retrieve only in case there is a need for restoring.

Virus and more virus

We talk of viruses only with Windows, which makes me amazed at other platforms. I am a palm user and I never encountered virus with it. I have a colleague who has a Linux powered eeepc, and he is the go-to guy when people want to get rid of the virus in their flashdisk. For flashdisks with virus that annoys windows, Linux simply detects normally (and laughs perhaps) and then deletes like charm. As there are more people into windows (at least in my country), I thought virus is one of the problems. With more users comes more hackers and hence, more viruses. Now for technology in general, the virus can be symbolical as there are really virus-like hazards we face with the use of our gadgets. This may not be verified but one way or the other, prolonged exposure to radiation of mobile phones and personal computers might be harmful to our health in the long run. The solution is not overly using the gadgets. I am sure it will not be easy leaving your mobile phone or computer just turned off for some while. But it might be a way to save our bodies from the potential dangers.

Technology indeed makes. But it sure breaks too. The danger here is we may not be aware of the risks we are putting ourselves to. Now that we know, let us make others aware of it too. More importantly, let us learn and try techy-living happily but with utmost precaution.

Religious institutions constructed near malls are becoming a problem. I don’t know if church attendees can still manage to pray solemnly without getting bothered what time the mall closes, what’s up for sale, etc.

Temptations surrounding a sacred place aren’t a very good idea. A place of worship should have a solemn setting where you can meditate and get in touch with God. This detail has been unnoticeable to some religious organization leaders. It should now be exposed and brought to the spotlight for concerned citizens and worshipers.

To cite some of the activities you can see inside the sacred place: you’d see some churchgoers with a bag of groceries or shopping goodies as they listen to the homily. You would also find people just playing around or talking until the end of the mass. More so, you can’t help but hear their loud gossips, things they’d like to buy, and their excitement to go while the priest is still speaking. It is really very annoying. Sadly, that’s how you’ll see kids and some mature people hear mass nowadays.

I hope everyone who hears mass during weekdays or weekends isn’t going to just go and see how sensible the priest is talking, or criticize the way people wear their clothes. Though it isn’t a fashion show to display all your clothes to wear & be noticeable, you’re also not an American idol judge to question & comment one’s style or capability.

Image Credit: Pentas Flowers by aussiegall

We attend mass to be enlightened, to repent for our sins, and to wholeheartedly listen to God’s words. Many would have their philosophical beliefs or disagreements on how the priest interprets the homily. But please, don’t criticize while they are still speaking.

Now, I end this article thru saying that although society changes, there are things that should be left unchanged and kept with respect. It is reflective on how we adore God & how we should never think of a single doubt about his teachings/creations. Continue to believe and never give up. Do not let any temptation bother you. Reflect & believe!

That same question was also asked by my parents to my other siblings. They answered all sorts of professions from being a bum to the President. All my friends have also been asked that question at least once in their life. I’m sure you have been, even if you don’t remember it.

I still recall that I always acted like I was already a policeman, or an astronomer, or a scientist. That was also the case with my brothers and sisters. My sister was always forcing us to act out her dream where she would make us sit and eat biscuits and pretend she was a mother and we were her children.

My point is, when we were children, we tried to live our dreams. We had a goal (a scientist, a police officer, or whatever), and we tried to reach our goal by acting that we were already there. As we naively believed that by acting it out, we would eventually be it.

However, that same thinking or philosophy is what we’re still doing now. It’s really surprising how many people have become older but still do the same technique to reach their dreams. We expect that our dreams and our goals would come true just as easily.

What’s even scarier is that some of us don’t even have goals. We just live our lives with no direction.

SET A GOAL

Image Credit: 1,000,000,001 hoops by andy emcee

I can’t stress enough how important having a goal in life is. A goal, even a small one gives us direction. It is the first step on who we will eventually be. It helps us predict the risks that we would eventually face. It helps us know what our eventual needs would be.

Having just a dream and setting a goal are two different things.

Dreams are always vague. You dream of getting rich, having a nice house, or being the sexiest person.

Goals however are always clear. It’s not just what you want to be or where you want to be but it is also about when you want to be there and how you want to be there.

You are always allowed to dream but you may never realize them without a goal. Without a goal people just live their lives without direction. They shift from one college course to another. They shift from one profession to another. They do not realize that a goal would actually take them to their dreams.

When setting a goal, always remember to make it specific. For example if your dream is to be rich, what should your goal be? Specify how rich you want to become. 100,000 dollar rich, or 200,000 peso rich? Or do you want it not to be measured by money but on how many assets you have, like 20 cars rich or 10 houses rich? Make a clear definition.

In defining a goal it is also important that you set the time on when you want to accomplish it. Next year? When your 30 yrs old? When do you want the goal to be realized?

PLAN FOR YOUR GOAL

How do you plan to reach your goal? Plan your moves in achieving that goal. Having a detailed goal means that you must also have a detailed plan. Your plan should always be more detailed than your goal. Your plan should also have a specific timetable.

Think Think Think

Image Caption: Close your eyes by prakhar

Let’s say your goal is to be 10 houses rich in 10 years and you’re still in college. How do you plan to do that? Your plan may be finishing college first. Part of finishing college is getting high grades and graduating at the least possible time. After that, you plan to go to real estate as a regular employee or an agent. And so on and so forth.

You may find yourself stuck and unable to know what you need to do next when you’re planning. Don’t be disappointed or frustrated. Defer your planning for now. You’ll figure it out as you execute some of your plans.

REACH OUT FOR YOUR GOAL

My Goal in Grass

Now that you have a goal and now that you have a plan, then all you have to do is execute it.

Try to live your life and make your plan your guide towards your goal. As you do that, you’d notice that some of your plans are not the best courses of action. Change them if necessary so that your plan would be more primed to reaching your goal.

Remember, your goals are a reflection of your dreams. If you think you won’t be happy once you reach your goal, then you aren’t fulfilling your dreams.

Your goals should make you happy, and the process of reaching them should also be a great journey as well – even if there are sacrifices.

Enjoy reaching out for your dreams.

I have always believed that to solve a problem you have to know what caused the problem and acting upon it. It doesn’t only solve the problem but it also prevents your problem from occurring again.

The Credit Card Trap

So how do we really end up into the deep hole of credit card debt? I have 3 general scenarios. It may not cover all, but these are the most famous of all.

Even very small businesses accept credit cards

Scenario 1: Man/Woman turned to purchasing god/goddess.

Here is Jack a normal employee, with no credit cards (we were once like him, it just seems so long ago). Then like bees attracted to honey, sales agents of credit card companies somehow know of his existence and offer him credit cards. At first Jack only gets one, and doesn’t use it. But somehow, credit cards find their way to his office desk as pre-activated and ready to use. He keeps them as he sees no harm in them. Before he knows it, he already has 6 credit cards – all activated and waiting for his command.

Now when he was looking at a sports store, he spotted these nice pair of running shoes. They only cost a few bucks so he decides, what the heck, and decides to buy them. As he was about to pay he notices that he doesn’t have enough money!

He didn’t know what excuse he was about to say so as not to be too humiliated when the cashier speaks up and says, “cash or card sir?”

And we all know what happens next. He realizes he has 6 of those so called credit cards, and uses them to pay for those very nice running shoes. When he goes out of the store he can’t hide his smile on his face and can’t stop thinking how helpful his card had been.

Now I don’t have to detail what happens the following days. But whenever he sees an item he would like to buy and knows that he doesn’t have cash for it, he remembers his credit cards, and uses one of them. Surely he stops and thinks if he can afford to pay them come the bills, but he reasons out to himself that either he really needs it, or he thinks he won’t have a hard time paying them.

This scenario goes on and on and he’s quickly digging himself in a financial hole. As if it couldn’t get any worse…..

he falls in love.

And he decides, he’s going to impress her by all means.

Scenario 2: Man/Woman and the Payment System

Now Lois, the mild mannered reporter, has 5 credit cards whose monthly billing statements are due in different dates. One in the 9^th, Two in the 15^th, One in the 21^st, and the other at the end of the month.

She thinks that as long as all of her credit card statements are due in different dates, she can pay them all easily. What do you think?

Photo by *_Abhi_*

If at the first months she doesn’t notice the hardships of paying 5 billing statements even in different due dates, she’s bound to find out sooner or later. I mean, she only has two paydays right? She also has to pay for electricity, rent, or food right?

This is where the complexity of payment really comes into play. We then become victims of the payment system of credit card companies. Before you know it, your 10,000 debt has grown to 50,000 in no time, or you’ve been paying partial amounts for 1 year to your 10,000 debt and its still 10,000.

Scenario 3: Man/Woman and the Temptation named Zero Percent

Mark and Martha have a new home. They basically have everything they need in their home.

One day as Mark went to the mall and saw a very nice 42-inch HD Ready LCD TV. It was what he had always wanted but couldn’t really afford.

When he looked at the top of the TV however, there was a big sign which read, 0% interest for 6 or 12 months.

Image Credit: Why we need so many buttons? One is enough by Tanya Dropbear

Mark went home with a brand new 42-inch T.V.

Soon after they have a new refrigerator, washing machine, and sound system in their house. All to be paid in 12 months.

Those are just three of the most common reasons why we go into credit card debt (with number 1 as my top pick). Just imagine if they were all happening at the same time to one person. Well it can happen as those three are very associated with each other.

It has happened to me.

So what do I do to get out of credit card debt?

Well if you haven’t read one of the articles “What everybody should know about getting out of debt or staying out of debt”, I suggest you do so. It explains in detail what we must primarily do to be able to get out of debt (not just credit card debt) and how to stay away from it forever. The below information is useless when you don’t take into heart the message from the abovementioned article.

The first step is really obvious. Stop using them already! Don’t put yourself into more burdens! Don’t put it in your wallet anymore. Don’t reason out to yourself that it’s for emergency purposes and you won’t use them for anything that’s not useful. “Useful” is a very subjective word.

Just put your credit cards in a small container. Put in you locker and never use it again. By never carrying it around you, the temptation to buy would be much smaller. That in itself is a very big first step.

Knowing and Weighing payment options 

You have three main opponents when you’re trying to pay and rid your credit card debt. These are: the interest rate, due date, and the minimum payment due.

These three are like the three musketeers. If you want to defeat them you have to take them all down.

For example you owe on your credit card card 1,000 bucks. Interest rate is 3.5% per month, while the due date is tomorrow, and the minimum payment is 100.

What’s the ideal payment situation? You just pay the 1,000 bucks before the due date. You won’t have to worry about the 3.5% monthly interest rate and the minimum payment.

But we all know we aren’t in an ideal situation. When we are in a deep debt, we can’t really pay all of it. So what is the best course of action?

Pay on time and pay substantially more than the minimum.

What?!

Pay on time and pay substantially more than the minimum.

Its really that simple. I’m not proposing a magic solution here. I’m proposing an honest and surefire way to get you out of your credit card debt. It may be a toil and you may have already known this, but that is what you need to do.

(Now I can’t stress enough the importance again of the message in the article I’ve mentioned earlier named: “What everybody should know about getting out of debt or staying out of debt”. If you haven’t read it, please do so. As the lesson learned there goes hand in hand with this.)

Is it really that simple? Well, yes and no. Yes if you’ve learned and taken into heart the message in the article I’ve mentioned earlier – although it would still take hard work. No because as I’ve mentioned, this IS hard work. This is more than just paying on time. This is more than just paying more than the minimum amount. You would need dedication and sacrifice to successfully do this.

Lets say you have 5 credit cards with huge debts. All of which have 3.5% monthly interest (42% annually).

Visa 1 – 2,000

Visa 2 – 4,400

Mastercard 1 – 4,000

Master card 2 – 8,200

Platinum Visa – 10,000

Lets also say you have always been able to pay on time. However, you only have been able to pay a little more than the minimum. And because of this, the interest rate of 3.5% per month is making your balance stay the same - even when you are paying.

If you start to pay first Visa 1, which has the lowest debt among the five credit cards I think you would be doing the right thing. You only pay enough on the rest of the credit cards, so that their balance would not get bigger.

Sooner or later you would have paid all of your debts in Visa 1 - whereas your other credit cards’ balances have all stayed the same. You can now start with Visa 2.

Now what I’ve mentioned above is just an example. You may have a different strategy (like starting with the card with the biggest debt), or you may do it a little more different, or you may be in a different situation (like you can’t even pay the minimum on all the credit cards), but you still need to pay on time and pay substantially more than the minimum to get out of your debt.

I’ve gotten out of debt by using this method and even ended up with a good credit rating (which is the real upside of this method). Whenever I got to pay in full one credit card, I immediately cancel the card and then happily cut the credit card. I get happiness out of it - besides the fact that it won’t offer any more temptations to me.

This may sound cliche but you should always remember that although getting out of credit card debt is hard, you should never give up. Take it one step at a time…

Let’s first talk about two of the most famous ways to EASILY get into debt.

Credit Cards

Yes, it’s that shiny little plastic card inside your wallet. It’s that plastic card that gives you the power to purchase something you really don’t want. It’s the plastic card that gives you power to purchase something that you don’t really have money for. It’s supposed to make buying easy.

Image Credit: xb_cardv3_1 by o5ть35

The credit card in itself is really very simple, but it can easily make the most complex situations. It’s simple because you just choose what you want (or you let the salesperson persuade you), present your card to the cashier, sign and then receive the item. Just like that. No worries, no hassles – at least for now. Until the bill comes, and you actually pay for the item you have bought. Paying is the complex part.

Paying credit cards actually have many factors. Annual fees, finance charges, bonus/reward points charges (yes, there is such a thing), interest rates, and minimum payments are some of the factors in paying credit cards. Remember, the credit card is just supposed to make buying easy for you. It didn’t say anything about making payments easy as well.

Loans

We’re talking about all kinds of monetary loans – a cash advance loan, car loan, housing loan, government loan, etc. You get a certain amount of money, and you promise to pay the amount plus interest rates in a staggered manner.

Loans are supposed to help us. When you need a car, there’s the car loan, a house – a housing loan, cash – a cash advance loan. When you really need it, a loan could really help.

So what’s the problem on loans? Again, it’s the complexity of payment.

Image Credit: Apostrophe Hell by aeu04117

Now that we have two of the most famous culprits in putting us in debt, it’s just a matter of knowing how not to pay them but still get out of debt right? Wrong. If you think this is about a trick to get around the money you owe then you’re in the wrong place. I hate to be harsh but you really are in the wrong place.

Then why did we identify the two? It’s because to solve a problem, we have to know what caused the problem.

But are these two really the problem? I hate to disappoint but they’re not. And no, I won’t be saying that the problem is you. Well maybe you are. But hear me out just a little bit more.

Finding the root cause:

Do remember, that the credit card’s purpose is to make buying easy for you. Paying has always been complex. That’s why if you don’t have a credit card, you can’t buy that “dream gadget” or “dream shoe”. Without the credit card, payment is done upfront. No cash, no item. Credit cards actually do intend to help us.

As mentioned earlier, loans are there as well to help us. They offer to give you cash/credit so you’ll be able to buy that thing you said you needed.

Now that’s a key phrase.

“Buy that thing you said you needed”

Is that phrase entirely true? Is that shoe or gadget or car or thousand dollar watch, what you really needed? Or is it merely something you really wanted?

Image Credit: Obscured Fame by Eleaf

Now I don’t want to go and discuss in detail what are the things that are really needed and what are just wants. But let me just tell you that most of the things that you buy when you swipe your card or loan money are just plain wants.

Let’s go over a few.

When you got that cool phone from the shop, did you really need it? There are way cheaper phones out there that can still call and text.

When you got that phone from a high end subscription from your mobile provider, did you really need it? You say you need it for work? Then isn’t it supposed to be provided by your company?

When you got that car from a loan, did you really need a car? You got to your office just fine before.

When you got that loan for a business you were to undertake, did you really need to put up a big business right from the start? Or could you have started small?

I can go forever with this.

The Ultimate Lesson

It’s really about distinguishing wants vs. needs and acting upon them. I’m not saying you ignore your wants. You’re a human being, and you deserve it.

What I’m just saying is your real needs should first be fulfilled before anything else. If you think you can satisfy your wants without sacrificing your needs, – then do so. I’m just saying that by willing to sacrifice your happiness for temporary satisfaction or contentment is too great of a risk.

Don’t risk your financial future because of a cell phone that would be outdated in two months time anyway.

(There is another article named "Getting out of your Credit Card Debt" which I reccomend that you read after this one. Its best that you read that article right after this one.)