Penned by Sterndal» buying things i really don’t need

Back to school?

sterndal — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 19:45:32 +0000

I was very studious back then. Something my mother always tells to her friends’ children. Like I’m some kind of a model student. It’s embarrassing because it’s been 7 years since I got my degree and until today, it’s the same old story that she tells neighbors and relatives. LOL. She’s a proud mama. Now, this is not to say that I’m the brainy kind of student. As a matter of fact, it’s the opposite. I needed to study harder to cope up with lessons and other school requirements.

After college, I wanted to enroll in PNU (Philippine Normal University) for further studies. At the time, I felt teaching was my calling. But maybe it wasn’t because I always had reasons to postpone my plans of getting a certification in TEFL. I was busy and I couldn’t leave my job. Then I learned about Online Degree Programs that offer plenty of courses including teaching English as a foreign language. I planned to save for those expensive online schools. But before I was able to save half the price of the tuition fee, I lost interest.

Today, I am no longer interested in becoming a teacher. I just have an inkling that it’s not for me and that my two-years stint in teaching preschoolers is enough. I had a “taste” of it and I enjoyed it a lot so that should be enough. What interest me now is designing web pages. The problem is I don’t have the required skills in Photoshop and coding. I am confused if I should enroll in a real school or in online degree programs in art. I saw a $29-worth e-book that promises to teach everything about PHP, graphics and web customization.

I want that e-book! Although there are tons and tons of tutorials in the internet, I’m so tired of searching for the right solutions to my coding problems. Aside from searching is tiring, it’s also time-consuming. You see, between photoshop and coding, the latter is very difficult. At least, for me. Maybe for you it’s a piece of cake but for me it’s really “brain-crashing.”

Anyway, I saw this link hours ago: http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/. The headline says “Get help paying for college.” It made me wonder if such offers are available for non-US citizens? Because I want to send my application. LOL. I wish there was a way to learn web customization without fees and charges. But it seems that I will have to pay for everything including templates, pdf tutorials, graphical elements, etc. Sigh.

When is the right time to buy a new car?

sterndal — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 05:44:03 +0000

I don’t know the answer. I don’t own a car and I don’t even have a driver’s license. But I have ideas. Silly, weird, outlandish ideas. I think that you should BuyYourCar if your current vehicle was purchased when Twitter was a word that only birds say. Twitter was created on year 2006, so based on my rough estimate, your car must be 5 years old now. In my Accounting class cars only have a lifespan of 5 years. So buy a new car now. Used Cars are awesome because they are cheaper but you’ll never know if the water pump or spark plug already needs a replacement. New Cars are highly recommended. These are expensive but absolutely worth your money. Also, don’t forget to send a Tweet to all your friends and and neighbors once you already bought your new car.

Saving for the future

sterndal — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 06:34:09 +0000

To say that I own my time just because I do freelance is foolish. I now realized that for freelancers, time is very important. When I was still working as an employee, I was just waiting for the hours to pass. Please don’t get me wrong. I was working hard but at the back of my mind I couldn’t wait for the clock to hit 5PM, then go home and just forget about paper works.

In freelance, there are no weekends, there are no holidays, there are no days off. There are no Mondays to hate and no Fridays to look forward to. There are no vacation and service incentive leave. But to say that we don’t care about hours and days is just plain idiotic. You know how people tell you not to bring your problems from work to home and vice versa? Well, tell me how am I going to apply that with the nature of my present job

Anyway as I’ve said, I don’t have time. I’ve been in the writing business for 2 months already and I would like to start saving at least 10% of my income in the coming months. Earnings are good but I’m still on a phase where I just want to enjoy and keep things “light.” But I do have some plans of depositing modest amount of money to my Savings Account soon. I’m just in the adjustment phase. Maybe reading savings and financing articles from http://banktime.com/ will inspire me.

I keep on telling myself that now it’s just me. There is no company that would give me a fixed salary every pay day. My salary now is based on how many articles I finished and how many hours I spent for SEO campaigns. No finished article means no food on the table, no chocolate chips, no zesto, no cheese cake … haha! Gradually, I would increase my working hours in Odesk from 20 to 40.

You see, I’m not working much. Last week, I only rendered 22 hours. I earned $101.75 from odesk plus $55 from my blogs. I bought something from the internet for $5, so my income less expense is $151.75 (for July 11-17, 2011). Starting this week I will try my best to render at least 40 hours. I have enough tasks, it’s my laziness that’s getting in the way. Help me Lord

PS. I really need a new blog. I’ve toyed with the idea of buying www[dot]freelanceearnings[dot]com but I don’t want to subtract another $10.99 dollars from my last week’s income. But it’s going to be an investment. Sigh. Why is it so hard to shell out money these days?

Should I own a dog?

sterndal — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 13:00:16 +0000

I used to adore puppies and dogs. Please don’t get me wrong, of course, I still like pets in fact my family used to own one and his name was Box. But as I grew older, I began to realize that having a dog means a lot of responsibilities. As in. You will have to take the dog to the veterinarian when it’s sick and you also need to spend a lot for the dog’s vaccine, vitamins, food, and sometimes if the owner is rich, they even take it to
dog holidays. Haha. I can’t even treat myself to a nice vacation. No. I think I don’t have the capacity to own a dog. But I really really want to buy that beagle I saw from my friend’s friend whose business is dog breeding. Is Snoopy, the cartoon character, a beagle? Anyway, I really admire those people who really spend time and effort in taking care of their pets. It’s not something that anybody can do. Like me, I can’t do it. I am busy and all my love is for my niece and nephews only. So obviously the answer to my question is no.

My dream hunchback

sterndal — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 17:19:34 +0000

For the first time in my entire life, I am dreaming of having braces for my teeth and well, driving a Volks Wagen beetle bug. I don’t know if I spelled that brand name correctly in the same way that I also don’t know how to say it properly. But my father used to have a blue hunchback and it was really cute. It was the family’s pride and probably our most expensive asset.

Anyway, if you are going to purchase a car, which do you prefer? Used BMW or a brand new 2011 Honda Civic? Assuming that the two are equally priced at 860,000 pesos? If you will ask me, I’d go for the brand new car because at least even if its brand is not considered high-end, I am assured that the vehicle is still in its perfect condition.

I am asking because a friend is planning to buy a car. He’s not asking for my advice and I also don’t want to give any advice because I know nothing about cars. It just caught my interest because now I am actually dreaming of having my own car! If I were in his shoes, I’d really go for the brand new HC.