When andrea and I got together, it was only then that I became aware of how much everything costs. You see, before we became a couple, I didn’t care about how much money I saved or how much I’d spend. That’s why I was surprised to find out that in UK, according to a news article that I read, singletons spend less than couples.

Apparently, the average UK single consumer spends only £281 a month on rent and bills compared to £500 spent by members of couples. Moreover, a single person consumes a monthly average of £22.85 in restaurant bills while people with partners reach a monthly total of £39.50.

It was really shocking. But then, I got to thinking. Isn’t it just normal? I mean, although singletons show very little care for money, they also normally settle for thrifty items because they’re only concerns are their own basic needs. Couples, on the other hand, spend for more than themselves. They spend for their partners too. Not to mention, because they’re spending for the ones they love, they’d be more willing to pay larger amounts just to get the items with the best quality. This could be the main reason why there’s a large gap between expenditures of singletons and couples.

This basic difference may also be the cause of why new couples find themselves pushed against a wall and facing Secured Loans after a few years of being in a relationship. They are trapped in the web of bigger spendings without any warnings whatsoever. And with very few ways of getting out of the situation, some choose to get out of relationships just to get away from bigger responsibilities.

Fortunately for andrea and I, we’re both as thrifty now as we were before we dated. So now, we are still able to keep track of how much we save because we know how much we spend.

After being reminded by my old teachers of how notorious we were in high school, I couldn’t help but wonder if there really is such a thing as karma. Why?

Because this year I had a total of 8 disciplinary cases in my section alone. As a matter of fact, 4 of  my students are still in specially-arranged suspensions right now.

Is this pay back for what we did? Am I getting a taste of what we gave our teachers back then? But I can’t recall being the culprit even once. I will even proudly say that I just happened to be in the section where the culprits are. Yes, these culprits may be my friends. Yes, I may have laughed at their antics too but I don’t recall being the actual one at fault for any of the disciplinary cases that we were involved in.

I’m not so sure. Perhaps my biggest fault was that I never stopped them, or that I was simply alright with them pushing through with their ideas. I don’t know! All I know is that my students now are probably in the same league as I was or we were before.

Perhaps, this is my second chance to do something about the problem. So that instead of just sitting back and carelessly watching everything unfold like what I did before, I can now have a hand in correcting things. Because whether this is karma or not, I have a responsibility to these students to give my best in forming their characters.

Since phone calls take up a large portion of papa’s (andrea’s dad) expense, we decided to help him save money by buying him some phone cards for his next trip outside the country. Because his work takes him away from home for months, his only way of getting in touch with us and especially with his grandson is through phone calls. You see, letters or mails rarely get to him because ninety percent of the time, they are at see, far away from any courier or mail deliveries.

In terms of accessibility, the proven best way for him is really through phones, but the problem is international calls cost a lot. In fact, papa has experienced spending hundreds of dollars just for phone cards alone. This year, however, we’re hoping that that wouldn’t be the case anymore.

In order to find the most affordable international phone cards available, we’ve searched the internet for any information on the matter. And as it turned out, pinshark.com leads the charge in offering the most affordable and most diverse choices of phone cards in the market. In fact, they promise to save customers as much as 80% of their long distance bills if they use the phone cards they carry. I think papa could really earn some extra if he could get his hands on them.

That’s what we hope to achieve because if papa saves some money then perhaps he can bring home some presents for his grandson for Christmas. Wouldn’t that be worth it? Hehe!

Today was the second of day of eliminations for the science expo. Yep, only the second day, yet it seems like a ton of things has happened already. The funny thing was that no matter how many projects we saw and judged yesterday, we still can’t help but be amazed with the projects that the children presented today.
You see, it’s the fourth and fifth graders’ turn to showcase their projects and taste how it is to be questioned by a panel of teachers. Surprisingly, however, some of them presented so much more eloquently than other high school students. In fact, a lot of them were more enthusiastic, more prepared (in terms of what they have to say) and so much more entertaining than the presenters yesterday because of their funny antics. Although some of them were off because they’re too tensed, most were able to answer or at least amuse as by their attempts to answer our questions.

With the way things are going, the level of sophistication that the projects seem to be showing, the knowledge that the children obviously gained, and the skills they’ve learned in answering questions because of the expo, I’d say that the science expo this year is proving to be a success.  (That is of course if we don’t consider all the bloopers that happened during the making of the projects.) But we’ll never really know until we see the end of it. The completion obviously still remains to be seen. That is what’s for tomorrow. For now, I’ll find solace in the fact that we all survived one more day. Hehe!

Andrea’s dad will be starting his own business soon. He has prepared hard for this and he has thought well about it. He still has an issue that he hasn’t resolved yet. He’s stressing over how he’s going to Track employee training. Since this is his first business, he wants to make sure that his employees are trained properly. He has asked us for help on how best to train his future employees since Andrea and I are teachers. We let him know about conductit.com, they offer softwares that would make training easy for him. We just hope he finds good people to work for him.

When Sir Henry, a co-teacher of mine, informed me that the school was inviting teachers from my alma mater to judge the science expo, I wasn’t sure what I’d feel. First and foremost, I was never a popular student back in high school, at least not in the eyes of the teachers. Hehe! Second, I unfortunately had the privilege of being grouped in the most happening sections of high school. (I don’t know why but it seemed like I never had a boring section back then.)

I guess what I’m saying is that I’m not sure how my teachers regarded me before or what they’d recall about me if I see them again. Unfortunately, however, I was bound to know. Because the moment they came to Hedcen, I was assigned to entertain them a bit and to show them around.

In the meanwhile Sir Henry, being a natural at icebreakers, mentioned to them that I was a former student at Pisay - where they still teach up to now. So as expected, they asked me what year I graduated. The moment I said 98, it was all over. You see, the reputation of my exciting batchmates were able to carve a distinct picture of our batch in the minds of my teachers.

At least now I don’t need to speculate. Thanks to them, I know now that a lot of teachers who knew batch 98 remembers us in a not so good light. Because when they talked about my batch, all they could recall were the disciplinary meetings they attended because of us. Huhu! I can’t really blame them. Seeing my old teachers made me realize how notorious our batch really was back then.

A few weeks ago, we started hunting for accessories that will help give our house a makeover. We’ve bought a few items already but the curtains still remain elusive. We couldn’t find the right one because of so many problems - price, designs, difficulty in installation, cheap-looking components, and so many other things.

As a result, andrea and I are now thinking of using window blinds instead. It’s much easier to install, longer-lasting, comes in many different designs, can be made up of different materials, and more importantly, is just a click away. Why? Because they’re now available through the internet. In fact, I was just checking out nobrainerblinds the other day, and I was amazed at how easy it is to get blinds now. The company showcases not only a wide assortment of blinds, they also feature brand products with lifetime warranties at very affordable prices. The moment andrea and I saw the samples and prizes, I knew we would be dropping the search for curtains already.

After the wait, we finally had the science expo eliminations for the first batch of presenters yesterday. For some of the high school students, it was a single night’s wait. For most of the high school students, however, it was a 5-week long period of waiting and manual labor. Unfortunately, for some, it was more.

For us science teachers, on the other hand, it was a year-long dread. You see, plans for the science expo were thought of and mapped out completely way before the expo was launched. The science teachers, I’m sure, have researched and found various feasible topics that they could give out to the students in case when the students would find it difficult to come up with topics on their own. Not to mention, we’ve struggled the whole year to give the students as much concepts as we can for them to use in this particular time of the year, in this particular event.

That’s why it was a little disappointing to see things start out chaotically for the eliminations. Since the rooms were used for the exams in the morning, the teachers and students had to manually extricate all equipments in the classrooms where the eliminations were to be conducted.  It was a good thing though that judges were a little late because this gave each group ample time to set up properly.

When judging commenced, however, everything gradually became in order. The participants, although they were anxious and restless, seemed to quiet down perhaps because of anticipation. They were glued to their seats for a good portion of the time. It took 5 hours for the judges to run through all the projects and grill each student. At the end, some were disappointed with themselves for not being able to answer adequately. Some were just simply delighted that it was over, while others showed no feelings at all - no remorse, no reliefs, nothing!

Anyway, whatever the case is, it’s done. That’s what’s important for me right now. It’s the end finally… at least for the high school department.

Part of the makeover that we’re aiming to give the red car is a complete tire replacement - meaning a complete change in the car’s set of tires including the rims. Especially since we’re planning to give the car a new paint-wash, it would certainly look nicer if it had new chrome mags and brand-new tires.

This is exactly thereason why I’m on the hunt for really nice and affordable wheels right now. Currently, I’m checking out Wheelfire because it showcases a really convenient and customizable search for browsing available tires and rims based on sizes and makes. Not to mention, they’re regularly offering great wheel and tire packages.

Of course, budget is still one of my top considerations because no matter how much I want to pimp my ride by getting 18 inch rims or really thin tires, I still have to be realistic with the cost. I mean I can’t simply buy tires with my enthusiasm right? Anyway, as soon as I find my choice of tires, I’m off to talk with the detailer to discuss how much the paint job would cost and see if I’d still have enough for new tires.