Category: Family

How To Handle Income Differences Among Your Siblings

Are you the breadwinner of the family? Have you been blessed with windfall and is expected by your siblings to give them or their children balato or significant money gifts?

In Filipino and Asian culture where families are closely-knit, there is always an assumption that good fortune enjoyed by one sibling should be automatically shared with the others. For example, if one family member becomes a successful entrepreneur, he may be expected to find jobs for his brothers and sisters and probably their children as well. The brother or sister with more money may pay for the educational fees and related needs for the nieces and the nephews.

What siblings owe one another has no ready answer. Family history, cultural traditions, and personal beliefs shape the way how siblings share with, support, and help one another.

Here are few suggestions for siblings dealing with money differences that can maintain understanding and fellowship in the family. Continue reading How To Handle Income Differences Among Your Siblings

7 Things To Do When You Lose Your Job

Losing a job that is out of your control is probably one of the most heartbreaking experiences. It can bring you sleepless nights because of bills to pay and other financial responsibilities.

Once you’ve received the pink slip, your mind is already racing with questions: How did that happen? What could you have done something better to not lose your job? But perhaps the most anxious question to ask yourself is “What will I do next?”

Here are seven things to do while you are mourning the loss of your precious job.  Continue reading 7 Things To Do When You Lose Your Job

Why You Should Not Be Ashamed To Sell

When I was in the later part of elementary school, our family’s finances went sour. My father’s office furniture trading business was a flop and he was swindled by his business partner. I was very sickly that all their earnings from our restaurant were just being used up for my check ups and medications. My parents were forced to close down the restaurant since they could no longer give time to manage the operations.

A few years later, my father died from kidney cancer. My brother and I had to help my mother sell kakanin (native delicacies) such as pitsi-pitsi, puto-kutsinta, cassava cakes, and others. That meant waking up early in the morning to help prepare the ingredients and cook for at least 2 hours. We would deliver the kakanins to a couple of public schools before we prepare ourselves to go to our school.

There was nothing to be ashamed in selling kakanin. But there would come a time that we felt like giving up. Thankfully, my mother had a strong will and determination to help us finish school. She showed us how to be patient and not to be discouraged to reach for our dreams. Continue reading Why You Should Not Be Ashamed To Sell