:: Christine's Blogs ::

My Blogs

2008-07-10T15:18:00.001+10:00

I actively blog on my wordpress sites:

About Christine | Only The Good Stuff | What Simply Works

See you there!

Dreaming of My New Lens

2008-05-08T23:38:00.002+10:00

I am scouting for a new camera lens. I thought that it is cheaper to buy from Singapore compared to Sydney, but I received good advice that the prices are the same. This means that I can buy my new lens at a sooner time.

If ever, this will be my first time to buy using an online store software. I have asked friends around whether the online store is reputable. As it is, it is scary to leave personal details on the internet and even scarier if you will leave your credit card details.

Since the advent of ecommerce software, many businesses were able to catapult their sales. What makes this appealing is that you can window shop any time you please and buy the merchandise at the comforts of your home. You can avoid the hassles in queuing to pay and the human traffic inside the stores which can be overwhelming at times. No need to push your own shopping cart, too!

I am excited to finalize my purchase and grab hold of my new lens.

If You Miss Home

2008-04-17T01:04:00.001+10:00

Living away from home presents many different challenges. One of which is communication. Even though there are free internet services like yahoo or skype, it is different when you speak to your loved ones on the phone. While the rates are not cheap, it would be good use prepaid phone cards similar to india phone cards.

I should let my relatives in the US know about these prepaid cards. They call my folks back in the Philippines as well as their other relatives there. The voice quality should be at par from the bigger telecom companies. It is big savings if you get both good voice quality and cheap phone card rates.

From the phone card site, you can quickly decide on which card type you’ll get. The rates and quality per card are all presented on the main page. No need to doubt if you’ll get the amount of talk time based on the amount you paid for.

Thanks to cheap but quality phone cards. Calling home need not be costly anymore.

On Being Debt-Free

2008-04-16T20:18:00.006+10:00

It is sad to see many families lose their homes, properties and worse their families due to debt problems. What with the looming US recession and its impact globally, many mid to low income families are now struggling to make ends meet. Couple this with bad financial management; many people are trapped into paying the interest alone in their car, mortgage or credit card payments!

Good thing there are companies who help people recover from bad credit loans. They give hope to those who are qualified and are determined to get rid of their debt and start afresh. They work with financial consultants to study their spending habits and give sound advice as to how they can make better payments and eventually be debt-free!

Not many families are upfront when it comes to facing financial crisis as money is a sensitive matter to discuss. But confronting the issues and getting help from a debt servicing company will surely get them back on their feet.

Ecommerce Shopping Cart Article

2008-04-16T19:56:00.002+10:00

For many merchants selling online, it is imperative to know the market’s behavior. What better way to achieve this than by using the best web analytic tools for web statistical needs. Information such as number of hits, most viewed page or most view product on the site, the length of time a user stayed on a page, etc are helpful means to determine how best you can improve your service, your products and your online site overall. Being knowledgeable about your market is a major key in improving your business.

While not many merchants are internet-savy, I think it is worth investing to get someone who can do the web statistics for a small fee. It will be difficult for a business to advance without the proper ground work. Selling a good product and Marketing your shopping cart go hand in hand to ensure your staying power in the online business.

More Opportunities to Earn

2008-04-16T08:37:00.003+10:00

I didn’t realize that getting into paid blogging can be this addicting! It involves hard work but as soon as you start reaping the rewards you know you will not regret that you blog for money.

My second approval came from Smorty. I was so excited to do blog advertising that I was able to finish them all in a few hours! Smorty’s website is user-friendly. I didn’t have any trouble in navigating and familiarizing myself with the functions. It is easy to grab an opportunity, work on it and eventually submit it. You can also see how many you have made and how much!

You will not find questionable advertisers. You won’t have to spend a lot of time scrutinizing their sites because you know that Smorty has done that for you. They won’t let you work on indecent advertisements. The rates are also competitive. I can imagine how much more those higher PR ranking sites make! Ha ha.

I’m really glad I signed up with Smorty.

My Father's Dream

2008-04-15T12:50:00.001+10:00

When my father was in the US army, he would bring home toy M-16’s for my brother. He would patiently assemble it and teach my brother how to play with it. One Christmas, my father brought a complete set of soldier’s uniform complete with the head, body gear and BDU Pants. Oh, how my brother loved it. He even posed gamely on the camera as soon as he fitted the gear.

Fast forward to 2007, my brother graduated with an Engineering degree and did not consider joining the army. Yes, my father was disappointed initially but got over his dream for my brother. For the rest of the family, we are just happy he is not in Iraq.

Happy With PayPerPost

2008-04-15T12:26:00.002+10:00

I’m on my 3rd week of paid blogging and the 3rd approval I got is from PayPerPost. Finally, yey! With so many paid blogging sites around, it is imperative for us bloggers to choose those that are professional and honest in their business dealings. And because I am new, I’ve been really careful which paid blogging sites I subscribe to.

What I like about PayPerPost is that there are lots of opportunities to choose from! They have a wide range of ads and all of them are ‘decent’. Surely, you will not worry about your blog’s image or theme. They make sure they adhere dutifully to blog ethics. Also, the dashboard shows everything that you need to navigate around. You don’t have to make several clicks just to get to where you need to be.

I really am excited into this little business venture of mine. I am looking forward to share a portion of my earnings to charity, WorldVision.org. I dream to be able to send less fortunate kids to school. Maybe in time, given the hard work that paid blogging requires, I maybe be able give to more charities!

Isn’t it so amazing that we can now earn through blogging?

Celebrities and Their Private Lives

2008-04-14T21:30:00.008+10:00

One of the things I noticed here in Australia is that they have a high regard for their own talents. Whenever I watch the news, there will be none if not few celebrity (gossip) features. The nature of the news updates on Kylie Minogue's battle with cancer, Nicole Kidman's pregnancy and Heath Ledger's death were delivered without the usual intrigues that only 'curious minds' can create.

Back home in Manila, the celebrity shows feature 90% of the celebrity's dark past, secret affairs or any cheap gossip that they could find about the actor. Sad to say, these shows hit high ratings and therefore make good money in exchange to exposing another person's private life.

It is a shame, really. But that's a sad reality.

Of 'Responsible' Spending

2008-04-14T01:11:00.000+10:00

I remember during my early-goings in Singapore, it was not easy to avail of a credit card. Until after six months of contracting work, I took a more permanent job and received my first company credit card there.

From then on, I have received pre-approved cards and it came to a point that I had to decline them! That was how much these credit card companies encourage you to spend. The thing is not many people manage their credit lines properly. They get excited over the huge card limit, max it out with 'unreasonable' expenses and pay only the minimum balance. Before they know it they end up with bad credit credit cards standing.

With impulsive shopping as a form of addiction, I think these growing number of credit card companies should do something to encourage some form of 'responsible' spending.

I Disclose

2007-11-20T21:15:00.002+11:00

This policy is valid from 15 April 2008.

This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. This blog accepts forms of cash advertising, sponsorship, paid insertions or other forms of compensation. The compensation received will never influence the content, topics or posts made in this blog. All advertising is in the form of advertisements generated by a third party ad network. Those advertisements will be identified as paid advertisements. The owner(s) of this blog is compensated to provide opinion on products, services, websites and various other topics. Even though the owner(s) of this blog receives compensation for our posts or advertisements, we always give our honest opinions, findings, beliefs, or experiences on those topics or products. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the bloggers' own. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider or party in question. This blog does not contain any content which might present a conflict of interest.

Change is Good

2005-04-07T01:09:00.000+10:00

I've finally moved to Wordpress! My new site is now, Marikit. See you there!