Anyway, I would say that I have been successful in escaping these social events but last week I decided to attend. It would be my last event because I resigned already.

It was a formal event and we were required to dress up. Thus I was compelled to buy a black cocktail dress. In addition to that, I had to spend for the accessories and to the beauty saloon.

Honestly, I was really stressed with that event and I detested it more because I shelled out a good amount of money. I could have added that amount to my investment.

Indeed it was a nightmare of expenses for a one night event.

Its validity is coterminous with our residence or employment visa. I renewed my visa last March 2011 and ideally I should renew my Emirates ID too that time. The initial process of our Emirates ID was quite a nightmare because there were long queues. Because of what I experienced, I was just too lazy to process the renewal.

Then last December my colleague notified me that starting 2012 there will be fines for late renewals or applications. In end of January I renewed my Emirates ID. I was quite confident because the fines for Abu Dhabiresidents will start only on 1^st of April.

Actually I was amazed because the processing now is fast and efficient. It took me only 15-20 minutes.

Anyway, after 2 days I received a sms advising me to visit again the Infinity Services, the agency that processes the renewal and applications of Emirates ID inAbu   Dhabi. Then I was informed that I had to pay the fine of AED 580 because of late renewal.

I came to know that I was fined for AED 20 per day since 1^st January because I am holding a government visa.

Really, I felt bad for paying such a hefty fine but I had no choice.

Lesson learned – avoid procrastination!

Last week I sent remittances too, one for my family and the other for my hubby’s parents. I have never been really so keen on sending remittances through Western Union because its fee is expensive compared to the bank transfer.

Of course, I understand that with Western Unionwe are paying the speed of the transaction. It’s an instant transfer and your family back home can immediately collect the remittances five minutes after you send it. While the banks, it generally takes 24-48 working days to credit the transfer in the bank account.

Another plus factor withWestern Unionis the accessibility. You can collect the remittances back home almost anywhere. There are so many shops and stores affiliated withWestern Union. Unlike with banks, remittances can be withdrawn only through the ATMs or over the counters.

Western Unionis ideal for urgent situations where money is needed immediately. Otherwise, I still opt for the regular bank transfers because the fee is only AED 15 whileWestern Unionis AED 35.

We always send our remittances to my parent’s hubby through Western Union but l really never realized the big difference until last week. After completing my transactions in the money exchange center, I took the receipts and sat in my car. I was wondering why it seemed I paid more for my hubby’s remittance than for my family.

So, I was scrutinizing the details of each receipt and eureka! I found the answer. The exchange rate inWestern Unionreceipt was only AED 11.48 while in the bank transfer was AED 11.65.

I got out from the car and verified this to the teller in the money exchange center. And I heard the confirmation.

When sending money through Western Union, the exchange rate is always lower than the current one while sending through bank transfer, whatever is the prevailing exchange rate (during the time you send the money) will apply.

So think again when usingWestern Unionfor your remittances!

Photo Credit: http://marketresearchfacts.com

I am glad that somehow I passed already the stage of ignorance about personal finance. I mean, I am not an expert on that subject but I would say that I am better now on it compared two years ago.

Thanks for the tons free online reading materials about personal finance. My goal is to be debt free and to establish passive source of incomes. I am not yet there but it is on the process. It takes time get rid of old and bad “spending” habits.

I have been working on my “financial freedom” goal for the last two years. It takes a lot of discipline and sacrifice.

Compulsive Buying. Sometimes it is just difficult to ignore the red “SALE” tag. It is like a magnet. When I am in the mall and I see a “SALE”, I cannot resist the urge to rush and to look around. I have always this hope to find something really nice at a very reasonable price.

Now I still shop but only for my “needs” although occasionally I cave in to buying my whims. Before I hit the mall, I already have the list on what I need to purchase. In this way, I avoid compulsive buying even it is a sale.

Cash Diet. It is not an easy journey but possible. I closed all my credit cards last year. Now I am only keeping prepaid card because I need it sometimes for online purchases.

If you do not have discipline, then credit cards can be destructive to your personal finance health. When you are spending and you are using credit card, you do not feel the money getting out from your hands until you receive your monthly credit card bill.

Also, there is a greater possibility to spend more because the expenditures become unnoticed. Unless you are on a cash diet, you monitor every penny that goes out from your pocket.

Simple Living. Honestly I gave up already buying, planning and dreaming fancy things. For me now, it is all about functionality.

Financial freedom is not an easy journey especially if you are already trapped in spiraling debts. However, it is not yet too late and there will always be ways to improve your financial situation. It is just a matter of choice.

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My sister's old & worn out diaries for tracking her daily expenses

It is such a shame to admit but I learned the importance of tracking my daily expenses through my sister who is 9 years younger than me.

When I had my short vacation last year, I saw her thick and worn-out diary. The pages were full of stapled receipts and notes with figures on it. Curious, I asked my sister.

I came to know that she has been tracking her daily expenses as early as 10 years old but took the serious turn of detailing every expense only at the age of 15. She continued practicing it until now and it has been very useful to her especially after she started working and earning her own salary.

Because of her records, she can calculate every year her annual expenses. She even confidently shared how much annual income she needs to survive and even mentioned which year she lived more expensively compared to the other years. She attributed this particular year with high cost of living when she moved to Manila (the capital of Philippines).

If you are like me who disregard the importance of recording daily expenses, then the following points may encourage you to start adopting such financial practice.

Transparency. Have you ever sometimes wonder where did your money go? I oftentimes encounter this situation when I receive extra money like bonus or an incentive. After few days, I ponder what happened to that amount as there is nothing left in my wallet. Tracking your daily expenses will entail detailed transparency in your expenditures.

Knows When Not To Spend. Monitoring your daily spending will give you an idea of your expenditures yesterday or the previous week. It makes it easier to realize that you have been overspending by just looking at your financial records. This is helpful especially when you are setting a daily budget. Once you recognize your overspendings, you can adjust or control your expenditures for the next few days to ensure that you will be in line with your budget until the next salary comes.

How much You can Save. Religiously tracking your expenses can help you save. You will not know from where to cut costs if you do not know where your money goes, right? Your records will show how much you are spending for entertainments or for weekly groceries. Thus, to increase your savings then you must slash your expenditures in your entertainment expenditures.

Setting Target for Next Year. I have been working in the hotel industry for some time now. After midyear, the management will be busy preparing their target and forecast for next year. In order to come up with these figures, they will base it from the previous performance and figures. Similarly, it applies to our personal finance. How can we set our monthly or annual target for next year if we do not know our performance and expenditures for the current year?

These are some of the benefits of tracking your daily expenses. I know that embracing this practice can be daunting. I did it and stopped after few months but now I am doing it for good and for real!

Here are some tips to make your daily tracking easier.

• Ask and keep receipts of your daily purchases
• Carry always a small notebook and pen in your bag. This is excellent way to jot down expenses while travelling and keeping records for expenses which do not have receipts.
• Spend 10-15 minutes in the evening to write down your expenses.

Hope it helps! If you have more tips, please feel free to share..

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My colleague was calculating her approximate expenses for Ramadan. Confused, I asked what was the calculation all about. She was quite concerned because during Ramadan it means that she will shell out more money for the parking tickets.

Honestly, it really didn’t occur in my mind but she is right. The paid parking during Ramadan is from 9 am until 4 pm and from 10:30 pm until 2:30 am. Since our office ends at 3pm, it means that we have to pay 4 hours parking fee instead of the usual parking fee of 3 hours during the normal days.

If it is not Ramadan, the paid parking is from 8am to 9pm and since our office finishes at 6pm, we are paying only 3 hours. Oftentimes we go home at past six, so on average we are spending AED 4 for standard parking and AED 6 for premium parking for two hours.

Honestly, the amount is immaterial if it is calculated only on daily basis. However, end of the day when you sum up the parking fee expenditures, it is still a good amount of money.

Like my situation, I am spending an average of AED 9 per day for parking and that is only for the parking fee paid after office hours. Then on Saturdays as I do not have work I am paying AED 15 for the full day parking fee.

It means that I am shelling out an average of AED 240 per month and approximately AED 2,800 by end of the year.

See, after all it is not a bad amount, right? With that amount of AED 2,800, I can already purchase an airline ticket for Abu Dhabi – Manila – Abu Dhabi (except on high season like December).

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One of the reasons that I hang on to saving one credit card in my wallet is its usefulness in online purchases and transactions. Let’s face it. We need at least one credit card to do online transactions like purchasing your domain name or airline tickets.

So when I discovered the prepaid card of National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) last week, I was delighted.

Very eager to know about its features and benefits, I inquired and days later applied for it. I see it as an excellent option to keep me away from any spiraling debts and be in control with my finances.

So, what are its features and benefits?

 The NBAD prepaid card works like a debit card but can be used as well for online purchases. All you have to do is to fund the NBAD prepaid visa card and it is ready to use like online shopping.

 Applying for it is very easy. I just went in Khalidiya Branch. I completed the registration form and presented my driving license. Any ID will do. Then an initial deposit is required. The minimum deposit is AED 100 and the bank charges AED 10 for the first deposit. The fee for the subsequent deposits will be AED 5 per deposit.

After an hour, I left the bank with the NBAD prepaid visa card on my hand though activation is done within 24 hours.

Balance inquiry can be done through the ATM machines of NBAD or though online.  

To learn more about this product, click it here.  

Don’t get me wrong.. I am not paid to write about this product. I am just happy to share that this option is available and I personally believe that it is an excellent choice especially for those (like me) who are working on improving their financial health.

I think AED 5 deposit fee is very minimal comparing to paying an interest or late payment fees for not being able to fully settle their credit card bills every due date.

I still need to find proper shelves for my new collections.

Even before I embraced the life of sensible frugality, I always believe on buying second hand novels books. I love collecting and reading books but I do not have the means to cave in always to such indulgence.

So following my post earlier about places in Abu Dhabi where you can hunt second items, I scoured the Dubizzle looking for a good deal of used books last month. Then I hooked up with a woman who read voraciously and fortunately has the resources to buy new books.

Initially she was selling the used novel books at Dhs 10 (USD 2.74) but after negotiating we agreed to slash the price into half considering that I would buy the entire books.

And now, I am proud to add another 136 books in my collection with the genres (detective, crime and thriller) I really enjoy reading.

If you have books to donate for me, let me know and I will be more than happy to receive it. Rest assure your books will be at home in good hands.

image source: www.kiarts.org

Working expats here just come and go. This is the reason that you can always find a quality second hand items stretching from kitchen appliances, furniture, car, and so on. When expats leave the country, they only have three options – to donate, to sell or to send it to their next destination.

So, if you are like me who recently adopted the last name of “Frugal”, then a second hand or used items shop will be a good hunt, right? Personally I refuse to invest in extra items at home because it will imply extra luggage, more things to pack or to dispose, and a waste of money.

When we shifted to our new flat, we bought the basic appliances and furniture only – washing machine, fridge, bed and cooking stove. Luckily, we had colleague who would be stationed in another country. So we became the generous recipients of his sound system, sets of cooking ware, wall décor, books, lamps, and more though we still need to buy a dining table.

If you are considering to hunt for used items, here are few venues to start.

Dubizzle – This is a famous online classified ads ranging from cars, properties, job opportunities and other miscellaneous stuff.

Souq.com – Souq (Arabic word for market) offers online shopping for new and second hand items.

Spinneys’ Board – Spinneys’ is a premium supermarket scattered in Abu Dhabi and other Emirates. They usually have a board located in the main entrance. You can find ads for second hand items which are for sale.

Nefertiti Used Furniture – A colleague of mine had recommended me this shop but I have not visited it yet until today. According to my colleague, they have a good collection of used furniture and household appliances.

Classified Ads from the newspapers

Bazaar.ae – This is an another online classified ads (which I haven’t explored yet).

I came in UAE in mid April of 2002. Summer season was just approaching. I was staying in a cheap accommodation equipped with just the basic facilities. My roommates, who had been in UAE for decades, taught me some tricks on how to economically survive the scorching summer season.

Storing buckets of water. Generally cheap accommodations do not have the option of cold water in their bathroom or kitchen and during summer season, the water coming out from the faucet in midday is like boiling water. You cannot even afford to use it for shower as it seems to burn your skin.

Hence, it is quite common to see buckets of water stored in the bathroom the night before. It allows the water to cool down.

Weekend Hang out. I heard this from others. Rather than spending their weekend at home, they go to the malls and stay there until dark. Nope, they don’t shop. They simply hang out to kill the time. In this way, they can save electricity rather than using air-condition system the entire weekend.

Take your lunch in the office. Most of the private companies here in Abu Dhabi have long lunch breaks like 3 or 4 hours and with this extended break time, it is really tempting to go and stay for awhile at home. Unfortunately during summer, it is best to take your lunch and spend your break time in the office.

Going home takes time and the weather is really unpleasant. It can be dehydrating too. So, pack your lunch with few good magazines or pocketbook to read.