Save Up!

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of ING Direct. All opinions are 100% mine.

Since moving to London, I've been planning on opening a Savings Accounts for myself. But the thing is there's just too much of a hassle, and I got lazy... so never mind. :D Hubby has an account anyway, and I use it whenever I need it (which is all the time hehehehe).

But... I'm still thinking about it. Having my own account would still feel different... holding my own money, or maybe budgeting our household expenses. Or maybe shopping without hubby seeing my expenses. hihihi!

Anyway... the other day I discovered this widget from ING Direct, which is amazing! From this I can easily see how much, on average, households are saving in my area.

Find out more about ING Direct Savings


What I did was I clicked on the "My Comparison Table" and zoomed in on my area. Red, green and blue dots will appear. Click on those dots and the average household savings in those areas will appear.

If you see the blue dot, you're seeing the average savings per region. Zoom in more and you'll see green dots, which refers to the average savings per county. Zoom more and you'll see red dots that points to your local district. This would be encouraging for me and for others as well to save more because I can easily see if we're saving more or less than the others. :D

What do you think? Try out the "My Comparison Table" and tell me how much you could be saving. :D

Missing My Family

I miss my family…

After going back to London from our very short vacation in the Philippines, I realized that I miss my family. It took us a year before we had the chance to go back home, and I have never been gone that long before since I started working. Even during business trips, I do my best to go home at least every 6 months or every Christmas. Now, it’s different because hubby and I are too far and air fare is too expensive.

Not only do I miss my family in the Philippines, I also miss my other relatives who are in the US, especially my grandmother and aunt, they’re in New Mexico.

Tita (that’s what I call my aunt) is a doctor and a nurse (yes… both! She was a registered nurse first, then took up medicine and now she’s a doctor), but I think her career in the US is in the nursing field. I guess you can call her a Career Builder or a traveling nurse? Hihi! :D Kidding aside, she has great benefits with here current work. And she loves it there.

Lola (my grandmother), on the other hand, has been living in the US for a long time… can’t remember since when! She’s a US citizen now. Before Tita moved to the US, she was living with my aunt in LA. Now, she's with Tita in New Mexico... too far away from our other relatives.

Hope Lola and Tita can visit me here…. Or maybe hubby and I can visit them there… :D

Christmas is in the Air!

It's December! Christmas is sooo in the air! And we have Christmas décors at home too. :D

Our flat's very small but we saw this small pot of Christmas tree and a small pot of poinsettia from the supermarket. So that's it... our Christmas décor. :D

It's super-cold now here in London. And now, the strong winds from Scotland are on their way south. So since last night (or was it early this morning?) we can hear the wind from outside.
So sad... coz I was planning to go out today and go malling...

Speaking of malling... I haven't bought any Christmas present for hubby... what to buy what to buy?!?!

11 days to go before Christmas!

What a Nightmare!

I had a really weird dream last night...

I was at home, with my family. They were out of the house that time, but I was expecting my dad to be in the living room, watching TV. When I went to the living room, it was someone else... a man carrying a knife! As soon as he saw me he gave me this scary grin that I only see in movies. So I shouted and ran, and he chased me around the living room. He caught me and I screamed louder. As soon as he stabbed the knife (or was about to stab the knife) to me, I woke up.

Whew! Seriously, the dream and my screaming felt so real! I was so surprised I wasn't screaming at all when I woke up! So... thank you God for waking me up!

I think this is the result of reading too much of The Hunger Games. :D

Happy First Year!

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Straight Talk for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

I can't believe it...  time flies so fast! In just a few days (less than a week!) we'll been living in London for a year! Yay! 

This means one thing... we can now cancel, renew/extend or replace our contracts. What contracts am I talking about? Contract for our flat, cable, internet and phone plans.

A few days ago, I came across Straight Talk. Straight Talk is mobile phone plan provider. Comparing their monthly plans to my monthly usage, this can cut my cell phone bill in half! Imagine the amount of money saved if I can switch to Straight Talk.

Here's the list of their Monthly Plans:

• The “All You Need Plan” meets even the needs of heavy phone users with 1,000 minutes, 1,000 texts and 30 MB of web data.
• Unlimited Monthly service is only $45, and includes calls, text, picture messaging, and web.
• Imagine unlimited calls, text, picture messaging and web for a whole year, for only $499.00!
• 411 calls are included at no extra charge.
• Free from activation, reactivation, or termination fees

Straight Talk only uses trusted phone manufacturers like LG, Motorola, Kyocera, Nokia and Samsung. Their phone selections include reconditioned phones that are great for teens/young users. They also have the new touch screen phones with various features. Android on Straight Talk will be amazing!

One thing that I like most about Straight Talk is there are no contracts! On top of that there are also no surprise bills and no credit checks. They have great nationwide coverage and excellent reception/connectivity.

Another major thing that I like about Straight Talk, is their International long distance service. Straight Talk International Long Distance Service is a flexible prepaid calling service that enables you to make international calls from your home, cell or office phone at low rates. Great to use to Call a friend overseas.

If this is available here in the UK I would get one Hook, line and sinker.