The Peso-Pinching Pinay Is a Liebster Award Nominee

Researching for and maintaining a blog is far from easy. Yet all your efforts, when recognized, pay off. Just recently, a frequent reader of this blog (I seriously think we are going to be awesome online friends) nominated me for the Liebster Award.

Read more about the Liebster Award.

As for my nominator, Jenv T. Corre who keeps the blog – Jenv T Corre’s Wall, thank you so much. I know I’ve already expressed my deepest gratitude for your nomination but one can’t thank a friend enough, can they?

I also read her blog and she pretty much embodies what I advocate on my now-defunct blog (Women’s Nook) that women are strong, motherhood can be difficult but sweet, marriage is definitely not perfect but it can be a haven, etc.

Jen also loves blogging about food and so do I.

As for my favorite blog, hands down, this would be The Poor Traveler. One of our family’s passions is to travel to different locations but our mantra is to, still, peso-pinch while traveling.

One of The Poor Traveler’s static pages. The word “budget” leaps out of the page and screams at me ‘coz that’s what I am advocating on this blog.

This travel blog recognizes the fact that traveling is often thought to be expensive. It debunks this mindset by proving that it does not have to drain every dollar (or in our case, peso) from your savings account.

Saving money when you travel means forgetting this mindset that was built by the travel industry. In fact, you don’t even have to eat in world-class restaurants or sign up for packaged tours in order to have a great time.

Inspired by this blog – and since I am also advocating about budgeting, building savings, and investing – I also included some travel tips on this blog (the peso-pinching version, of course).

Now, I already know about couch surfing, wise use of the public transport, tourism cards, and whatnot.

The Poor Traveler was already featured on BBC, CNN, The Huffington Post, to name a few. They also have a huge following on their various social media accounts. No doubt, this is every blogger’s dream – to reach a wider audience who would take your word as gospel and, eventually, help these readers’ lives improve.

Even as a simple blogger now, I feel great joy when a reader comments and says “your blog inspired me” or “I learned a lot today from reading your post”. After all, this is what blogging is all about – to move others to an enlightened way of thinking while also surpassing one’s old self.

10 Random Facts About Me

Another part of being a nominee for the Liebster Award is to post 10 random facts about myself. While this is optional, I am just eager to share these 10 things so you’d get to know me (click on each photograph to read) –

1. I was born on November 14 and, no, I am not posting the year (haha). Here’s a trivia: many serial killers are born on this month. Creepy, I know. Don’t worry, we’re only using axes to cut down trees and to chop wood for our fire stove. (Photo by Benjamin Balázs on Unsplash)

2. I became a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1993. I experienced teaching religion to high school and college students. (Photo by Lian Jonkman on Unsplash)

3. My profession? Surprise, surprise – WRITING. I’ve been writing professionally since 2006 or was it 2008? And I believe I’m also a dementia candidate because of the ‘forgetfulness’ symptoms that I’ve been experiencing. So I’ll write for as long as I can and I will read for as long as my eyes have light in them. (Photo by rawpixel.com on Unsplash)

4. My shoe size is 7 (Asian size).

5. I believed, growing up, that I couldn’t grow any kind of plant. Just recently, because of our peso-pinching efforts, I researched about gardening and, voila, I can now grow fruit and veggie plants.

6. For almost a year now, I’ve been doing the Ketogenic diet. It helped me drop down my dress size from XXL to M. (Photo by Lukas Budimaier on Unsplash)

7. Unlike most women who love red roses, I prefer the white ones. (Photo by fireskystudios.com on Unsplash)

10. Rice coffee is my comfort beverage. But for catching my deadlines, yes, there is a certain brand of energy drink that I resort to.

8. I don’t like crowds. While I do appear to know how to socialize, most of the time, I am up on my toes wondering what to say next. This is why I took on a writing profession. (Photo by Mike Wilson on Unsplash)

9. I am old-school when it comes to reading books. (Photo by Syd Wachs on Unsplash)

My Nominator’s Questions & My Answers

1. What’s an ideal day for you? An ideal day is when I am able to accomplish all of the tasks/activities that I wrote in my planner the night before (e.g. I worked on my articles, blogs, eBook rough draft, and even facilitated my kids’ homeschooling). 
2. What is your perk-me-up go-to snack? Huge peanuts from Biñan, Laguna. 
3. What is your life song and why did you choose that song? The Greatest Love of All (because I live as I believe). 
4. What is that one thing that you always brag about? I hate to admit this but I always brag that I’m a grammarian. 
5. Where do broken hearts go? And I laughed so hard at this question…hmm…maybe in a landfill where others would find ’em and finally appreciate them. 
6. What is your blogging principle? To always blog from the heart.  
7. Have you experienced an ethical dilemma in your life? How did you deal with it? As a Latter-day Saint, I do not drink alcohol, smoke or do drugs. At an office team building activity, I was asked, by no less than my boss, to drink hard liquor. I did not relent. In the process, she even respected me for my firmness and, henceforth, they always gave me soda instead of even bothering to offer alcohol. 
8. If you will die tomorrow, why not today? And I laughed yet again. Indeed, why not? But I do love living so, nope, the After Life will have to wait for me a tad longer.  
9. What is your greatest fear ever? I have fear of heights (acrophobia), to overcome this, I go with my family on hiking trips. 
10. How do you want people to remember you after you die? That I was a woman who spoke my mind and who lived in a manner that made me happy. 
11. If you can travel back in time, what period would you want to be? Why? I would like to go back to the pre-Spanish era and record, more elaborately, about the existence of government/political systems, also the role that Filipino women played in that society. 

My 5 Nominees

1. Soar High Financial Consultancy (https://soarhighfinancial.wordpress.com/)
2. The Pioneer Woman (http://thepioneerwoman.com/)
3. Ms. Frugal Ears (https://msfrugalears.wordpress.com/)
4. Daily Life of Denley (https://dailylifeofdenley.com/)
5. LuxeBudget (http://luxebudget.blog/)

What to Do if Nominated for the Liebster Award

Refer to this link.

Questions for My Nominees

1. What’s your favorite household chore?
2. What is your ideal life?
3. How would you impress a person that you met for the first time?
4. If you were given the chance to be reborn, who would you be? Why?
5. Would you be comfortable to discuss religion or politics with anyone? Why?
6. Al Fresco or indoor dining?
7. If you are asked to give up a body part, what would it be? Why?
8. What particular historical event would you like to alter? Why?
9. Would you rather be super ugly but filthy rich or good-looking but poor?
10. What do you think is the biggest threat to the environment these days? What can you do to help?