When we bought batteries for our digicam we still made the same mistake.  What can I say we learn real slow. hihi  Now I remember the brand – it was Newstar – and the salesman who sold it to us was all high praises to it.  It was way affordable than the known brands so being the frugal couple that we were we bought a battery brand we have never heard of – again!  A month or two later my camera would show the bright red battery low icon every time I put a newly charged battery.  We didn’t get it at first or we just refused to accept that we were duped once more.  We even thought it might be the camera that was broken.  We were forced to accept the bitter fact that our batteries failed us again after I bought a new battery that was non-rechargeable to test if my camera was broken.  It worked smoothly and never did the low battery icon appear.  So finally we bought another set of batteries for our camera and this time we went for a reliable brand, went straight to the counter to pay it, and refused to talk to any salesperson who might change our mind again.  So no our battery is still running smoothly and we’re still amazed at how reliable it is.  Hubby can take videos of himself onstage for an hour and I don’t hear the complaints I used to hear from him anymore.   So now we’re really wiser and wouldn’t think of buying another unknown battery brand ever.

Fortunately, this kind of game I’m talking about do exists.  Ekomini is an interactive piggy bank because unlike your traditional piggy bank it can be attached to the computer.  Now, how cool is that?  Once connected to the computer the kids can then track their savings.  What’s cooler is it comes with an online game called Ekominiville that teaches the kids the value of savings, planning for purchases, investing and donating to charity and social causes in a cool, non-boring way.  Since the makers of the game know the importance of parents teaching their kids personally about managing their money this game comes with a parental interface that let’s the parents do just that.  So this is actually a game that both the kids and the parents can play!

Ekomini is only priced at  $39.9 and is recommended for kids aged 6 to 12.

Isn’t that such a nice photograph? Neither one was facing the camera but it was still a beautiful photograph. My family must have at least one photo like this before Z grows up. It certainly beats those pictures taken at the studio where everyone is forced to smile and to remain frozen while waiting for the flash.

By the way, there’s this anecdote regarding this picture. See the little prince and princess? They are holding a book there but they were supposed to be fishing instead of reading. However, an overzealous cook cooked the fish they were supposed to catch so that’s how they ended up with a book in a pond. You see? Even a day in the royal life isn’t all that perfect. LOL!

Now, I’m wondering if this house is covered by insurance.

I’m sure the couple who bought this were looking for their perfect home .  What could have been more perfect than a luxurious 6-bedroom house on a top of a cliff, with breathtaking view, and on sale for £150,000, just a tiny fraction of its original £1.5million price? There’s just one tiny catch – the previous owners deserted this house because they thought there was too much of a risk of  a landslide happening. The new owners must have be positive thinkers because they decided they would grab this chance and bought the property. Unfortunately, just a week after they bought it part of their garden has already collapsed!

How about you? Are you willing to buy this home even though you’ll be losing some soil from time to time?

Now, it’s my little boy’s turn to celebrate his birthday. We’ll surely order a Goldilocks Birthday Cake for him. I still haven’t made up my mind what kind birthday cake it would be. Last year, we went with the Lightning McQueen theme. You should have seen his face when he saw it. He had no clue we would be able to get one. I, myself was surprised too. We weren’t able to order in advance but Goldilocks surely saved the day. They were able to give us one at such a short notice. Oh, didn’t I say I love Goldilocks Birthday Cakes?

How about you? Did Google smile on your blogs last New Year?

Although they say both are the absolute must haves, it is unfortunate that my mommy budget won’t allow me to purchase either.

So if you’re a mommy like me who has to be frugal to make ends meet or someone with a tight budget but  needs a planner anyway let me share with you the planner that I have been using for two years now.

Meet the most inexpensive planner – the Goldilocks planner. How much? It’s free. It comes free with the January issue of Good Housekeeping Magazine so you have to shell out P100 to get one. Still, isn’t that the most inexpensive planner in the planet?

Let me walk you through.

On the left side there’s an inspirational quote, list of your goals for the month, list for your important events for the month, lessons learned last month, and resolution for the month.

On the right side there are the dates for the whole month (see those small letters and numbers at the top), the individual dates where you can put your schedule, and an insightful life tip at the bottom.

I love it so much I remember to buy a copy of Good Housekeeping every January. I only buy it for the planner though as I have stopped buying magazines a long time ago. Until now, I haven’t read the magazine but the planner is a different matter!

What I don’t like about it are the beautiful photos that make you want to head over to Goldilocks that very instant and order whatever’s on for that month.

Just look at that photo and you’ll know what I mean. LOL!

This is the third year I’m going to use the Goldilocks planner and I think it won’t be the last.