the husband is up to something

I knew husband's too busy to do even a small woodworking project this month. That's why when he kept looking at Reid Supply for a couple of days now for some plumbing and woodworking materials, I thought husband was really up to something. Just this afternoon, though, while having our usual conversation over coffee, he opened up to me about his desire to realize our goal of having a family business. So, that was it - he took inspiration from the page because that's the kind of business he wants to have someday. Hmmm, what can I say? Those are guy's stuff. I wonder if I can also come up with business targeted for women or mothers? Well, I really think the famous financial adviser Francisco Colayco is a great motivator. We have learned so much lately from his lectures aired on TV about the importance of having passive income and accumulating wealth, not just money.

a handyman for a husband

I remember back then when Stephen and yours truly are about to get married, the real estate agent we have been talking to asked me if my fiance is a handyman. This is in anticipation of home improvement and repairs that will be needed in the next few years. I wasn't really quite sure about my answer back then since I really didn't get to witness him personally how he fixes things in their own home; although I knew he used to watch his late grandfather do some minor repairs in his parents' house. I was told that if my husband is a handyman, we would be able to save a few bucks if he doesn't rely always on professional services for minor things that he can do himself. True enough, he is a real handyman. The self-help videos on the Internet have also been a great help to him. Curiosity always drives him to learn how to fix things here and there. In fact, just recently, he's done a great job attending to a plumbing issue at home. He said he has already fixed the leaks to our pipe with the use of band clamps along with other tools. This definitely saved us money because we didn't need to hire a  professional plumber. For this and other reasons, I can really say that the guy I chose to be my husband a few years ago is indeed a real keeper! :-)

planning for that summer vacation

Last night, I noticed my husband looking at a leather briefcase for men at GotBriefcases.com and then I wondered if he ever thought of getting one. Unless he had a change of heart, I thought he's not into this type of bag because he is already comfortable with an old school backpack to get to work - comes in really handy for him because we use motorcyle as our means of transportation. Anyway, I asked him what he was really looking for in particular and that if he's thinking of getting it as a gift to a family or a friend. He said he was looking for a new laptop briefcase that we could hopefully use so we can safely bring our little piece of gadget when we're vacationing or traveling elsewhere. Hmmmm, that was quite a hint! I am so happy to know he's planning on a summer vacation for us. Yipeee!!! I now hope he finds what he's looking for; although, it's also okay to leave the laptop at home so that this won't interfere with any of our planned activities.

to keep or give it away

Ever wondered what a digital hygrometer is? Without looking up for these words using a search engine, somehow, it would give us an idea that it is an instrument or a gadget of some sort used to measure something. Why I brought this up on my blog is because we didn't realize what it was when a husband's relative mentioned that he is going to send one for him, along with other gifts he is also sending for the whole family. We only realized later that husband, being a proud non-smoker, had no use for it. Anyway, it is impolite to say no to a gift. Besides, he can always keep it without using it and not offend the giver. He can also give it away to anyone who will have some use for it. Anyway, what we were really excited about are the rest of the stuff (other than that digital piece of gadget) we would receive by then. Makes me wonder, though, why didn't this relative know he has no use for it? On second thought, maybe this digital instrument can be used for other things other than keeping a cigar's flavor/taste. We'll have to check it out again once it is already in his hands. :-)

traveling with some great company

Before we decided to use the motorcycle in coming to work, husband and I would need to wake up early to avoid the rush hour and show up to the office on time. However, sometimes there are really bad days when both of us would not even recognize the sound of the alarm clock that we would end up skipping breakfast at home just to catch up with our usual schedule of commute. Fortunately, within those "bad days", we would often find ourselves being given a lift by our neighbor who drives his car to work. No matter how much we refused the offer to ride with him, he wouldn't take no for an answer. This act of kindness on his part meant a lot to us, though, because aside from the savings we enjoyed from riding for free, we were able to come to work early and leave early as well. This somehow gives us parents the extra time to be with our little girl. A couple of rides later, he told us that we were also doing him a favor every time we ride with him because he wanted some company when he needs to drive a longer distance. Husband and I told him that the car stereo would make a fine companion when he has to travel the long distance alone; however, we learned that he still needs to get his car audio equipment repaired. The last time we rode with him, though, we noticed that he didn't have it repaired. Instead, he got one of those car audio systems with touch screen feature and USB/SD slots. Totally wow! Since then, we had enjoyed great music as much as we enjoyed the lifts. However, the free rides had to stop since we were already riding the motorcycle. Anyway, he's got great company already.

on credit cards

One of our financial goals for this year was to keep debts at the minimum. In fact, as early as November of last year, my husband already suggested that we no longer renew our credit card after paying all our dues. I was actually hesitant about his suggestion because I thought it would be convenient to have at least one credit card so we can have something to use when there's an emergency expense or any expense that cannot wait until payday. Nevertheless, I gave in to his suggestion and cancelled our account. For almost a year now, we've done all our purchases in cash and in debit transactions through our ATM. It cannot be denied how convenient credit cards are, though, when it comes to online transactions, especially when booking for a flight or hotel accommodation. This is why I asked him again today if we can apply for a new one. Besides, I have already proven to him how careful I am with my purchases. :-) He seems to agree with me this time. News about identity theft cases is the only thing that's keeping him to say yes this time to credit cards and I have yet to convince him how contactless cards can effectively address this huge concern on security. Anyhow, this is not really something that we need to debate about. I would rather that we be without a credit card and live in harmony as couples should. :-)

husband's birthday dinner postponed

Today is husband's birthday. We were supposed to have a simple birthday dinner at our favorite restaurant today but decided at the last minute to postpone it so that we can go home immediately after office work is done. However, we realized that the water pipe at home needs to be fixed tomorrow. So, after remembering that the plumber is supposed to come back tomorrow morning after having inspected the cause of the problem, we had to stop at the hardware store to get one of those threaded inserts that he requested. Good thing we brought the worn-out sample, so it didn't take us longer than 5 minutes to get what we need. We are glad that we still made it home early because little daughter has long been waiting for the birthday celebrant to arrive.