Life in Philippines - Year End

End of another year

So much changes in a year. A year ago we were looking forward to moving into our new house in Dipolog City getting married and being able to settle and start running a local business. The problem of the slow pace of life and the fact that local people have no financial resources, has forced a complete change of plan, the south of the Philippines is like a different country compared to the Capital area, and it will take sometime to change.

Jasmin's annulment was delayed by a technical error, this however was resolved yesterday so we now just have to wait for the official records to be adjusted, and can finally look forward to getting married in the Spring.

Once we are married we will be returning to Europe to live in Cyprus. It will be challenging due to the financial issues, however will provide a way into the housing market before prices start rising again. Cyprus will provide better possibilities for us in the long term and provide better communications with the rest of my family in the UK.

The year did not end well for either Jasmin or my parents, with my father being admitted to hospital with a heart problem just before Christmas and Jasmin's mother suffering a heart attack on a ferry returning from Manila. both it seems will require pacemakers fitting in the new year.

2013 promises to be a landmark year with everything finally falling into place.

David Ogden
Dipolog city
+639991141149

http://seriouswealth.net

Life in the Philippines

Christmas is coming

Christmas is just over a week away and shopping is becoming a chore, with tricycles and cars clogging up the streets, the best way about town is by mountain bike, but I have noticed lately that air pollution is getting worse, there is a definite haze in the traffic areas. Last week I delivered my Christmas promotions to the local businesses and will see if they bear fruits in the future. Ben our dog is due for his annual anti rabies shot, but the vet informed me yesterday he is out of supplies, it seems that many more people are getting their dogs vaccinated these day, hopefully he will have new stocks next week. The vet confirmed my fears that when we move to Cyprus will be too costly to take the dogs with us as they do not have microchiping or suitable blood testing to meet European standards.

The first batch of carol singers made their rounds, but we are lucky that living in a gated community most are turned away at the gate. I am still not sure of what are plans are for Christmas , Jay and his grandmother are going to Manila next week but am not sure if they will return by Christmas Day, planning and organisation goes out of the window when living in the Philippines.

Business is quietening down for the holidays the only news in this area is the announcements of a change in direction for my veretekk business as it drops its affiliate program, which mean a drop in income from January, but a promise of more to come at ht end of the year.

David Ogden
Dipolog city
+639991141149

http://seriouswealth.net

what Marketing Tool do you use ?

Advertising Tools

What are you you must have advertising/marketing tools that you use on a regular basis and how much are you prepared to pay for them.

Most people have their favourite tools such as Aweber for auto responders and Goto meeting for online meeting and webinar. Some people like to purchase domain names from one company and host with another, others use free hosting.

SEO consultancy services are important for some companies who may not have the time or resources to develop good search engine result strategies for their websites. There are some sites such as IBOtoolbox which offer free social marking and blogging and advertising services were subscribers can earn points which can be converted into advertising.

I myself prefer to pay for a complete suite of tools which are designed to work together but then I pay $55 a month for the privilege, about the same amount I would pay to use Aweber and Goto meeting. I believe I am getting great value for money, unlimited autoresponders ,webinar room. training,hosting including a dozen aged domains where I can add subdomains, an integrated social marketing and blogging systems incorporating smart RSS feed and more.

My question to you is what are you using, how much do you spend and what other tools do you feel are essential for advertising your business.

Sincerely,

David Ogden
Veretekk Trainer
1-386-308-1956 (24 hours)
davidogdens [@] gmail.com
Skype seadogs11
Office Hours-6AM-12AM GMT +8

Life in Philippines

Financial shock

This month my pension payment was reduced for some reason and caused a worrisome time. I was wondering is there had been a change in the UK to reduce pensions. It made be realise that I need to find an additional source of income to protect me in the future. Happily it has been resolved it was an administration error and after speaking to the UK tax office it will be corrected in the next payment/

I have not been able to afloat since moving to the Philippines so now I am trying my hand at virtual sailing in the Vendee Globe around the world race. Tactics and reading the weather are the keys to success, At the moment I am in the chasing pack closing in slowly on a group ahead who have run into lighter winds. I am hoping to catch the front of a new low pressure system to get me to the first ice gate off South Africa. The only problem being is that when I arrive it could be a windless area and many people being me will be closing on my heels. the highest position i have been is 100 but I dropped back to 130 due to a computer outage and am now clawing my way back currently in 109.

My computer outage was caused by a typhoon passing across Mindanao, thankfully only a few 100 people lost their lives compared to over a thousand last year as they had warnings to get into shelter. These typhoons are part of the change in global weather patterns and it is always the poor and ill-informed that seen to suffer.

David Ogden
Dipolog city
+639991141149

http://seriouswealth.net

Life in Philippines

Life Drifts on

Very little happening in the Philippines this past week, yes they are gearing up for Christmas a major celebration time for them. Traffic is busier in Dipolog city. They have been repainting the pedestrian crossings, not sure why because most motorists ignore them. Maybe one reason is the paint seems to wear off in a matter of days, and there are no warning signs or beacons so they are hard to see.

I learn something new yesterday as there was another 12 hour power outage and that is that the ATM's don't work unless the banks are open, it was a national holiday so banks where shut and it seems they do not have auto start generators. As I was not able to work online we decided to go shopping but that came to an end due to lack of cash. Oh the joys of being in a third world country.

Jasmin is still awaiting for a legal document to be processed, it would seem some documents went missing and we had to obtain a legal document from the post office to confirm it had been posted. We are now in December and if we do not receive some good news this month all out plans for next year are in jeopardy.

I have finally made contact with my Son after a three year gap, something was blogging wither his or my email address, his news was not good as he has been made redundant, and at the same time I have become a grandfather.

David Ogden
Dipolog city
+639991141149

http://seriouswealth.net

Life in the Philippines

Waiting for results

I am not sure that the saying no news is good news, is good, we are still waiting for final confirmation of Jasmin's annulment and this probably now means that we will not have the documents until January with a knock on effect which will delay our movement to Cyprus until the summer.

We have one piece of good news that one of the documents we need is Police clearance here in Dipolog and we have been informed that this can be carried out in Dipolog city rather than having to travel to Manila as we were originally advised, however now the requirement for this document has also been delayed so once more be are back in waiting mode.

One item that I have been actively pursuing is the cost of moving currencies between countries and I have come across a number of options to using banks, which on the face of it can save money. Most banks make a standard charge of around $30 to transfer money, which if you are sending a small amount can make up a high percentage of the cost. In addition to the fixed charge they also earn a margin on the exchange rate. By using an FX broker service you can save between 3-5% on the money you transfer. I have signed up with a couple to find out what kind of saving I can make of transfer between the UK and Philippines and the UK and Cyprus. But in these difficult times even a few pounds per transaction soon adds up.

Postal service has improved a bit, but once again late delivery of time sensitive documents has cost me money. This is a sad state of affairs and needs to be addressed by the Government.

It would seem that law and order is starting to breakdown in Sindangan, where we used to live, with crimes of murder occurring on a daily rather than a monthly basis, not sure if this can be blamed on the upcoming elections which are due next year, which always increases crime figures.

David Ogden
Dipolog city
+639991141149

http://seriouswealth.net

Dipolog City - House and Lot For Sale

Original Article @ Dipolog house and Lot for Sale

We had a nasty little surprise this week when we discovered we had not paid our property tax for the year. we had received the title to our property in August, which showed that Property tax had been paid for 2011 and we assumed that that we would be informed when we were due to pay the current year tax. Never assume anything in the Philippines, apparently in Dipolog City, the Tax falls due quarterly in advance and home owners are notified by the posting of a notice outside city hall. This is fine if you happen to pass city hall and see the notice, otherwise you are in the dark. We ended up paying interest, which having become somewhat cynical, we believe is another way of making money out of people, maybe they did mail a reminder but then in a place where mail delivery is also suspect that is not the answer either.

The good news however is we have paid the property tax for 2013 as well so that the purchaser of our house will avoid the problem next year.

Till the next time

David Ogden
Dipolog City
+63659082832