I got a call from hubby this morning and is asking me to check my email as he sent me an Excel file for our projected budget sheet for 2011. I am impressed as at least now he is really becoming serious in really saving up and investing for the future of our kids.

Aside from the monthly amortization that he allotted for the property that we will be buying, I also saw a separate column in hubby’s budget sheet for additional investments and hubby told me that it will be our savings in case we want to make additional investments like buy gold coins.

Gold is a very good investment as its value does not depreciate over time so hubby believes that if we have extra money, gold is the best way to preserve it.

I am very positive that we will have a good year ahead in 2011 as I can see how serious and dedicated hubby is in attaining our financial goal.

We got home today and we saw the big mess in our house because of all the clutter and hubby and I look at each other and thought that we really need a big house. So we are really happy when we found our dream house that is on sale. We already dreamed of us living there: there are six rooms plus the two big rooms at the ground floor so hubby can definitely have his own room for his toy collection and all his bowling trophies, the kids can each have their own room and there is even a spare room to be their play room and my parents can live with us too.

We got the news that our loan has been approved but the appraised value of the property was way too low than what we expected so we requested for a re-assessment. We are also even thinking to try other banks like Banco De Oro and PS bank as we heard that BPI really gives low appraised value of property.

Hopefully by next week we will have the answer so we can finally proceed in purchasing our dream house.

We went to Nuvali with my mom, dad, sister and her boyfriend two weeks ago and we really had a great time boating, shopping and food tripping. I haven’t downloaded the pictures yet so I will just make a separate post about it.

But last Sunday, we went back to Nuvali for the second time and this time we tagged along my Tita Jie, my lola, Tita Jenny and her two kids Aliah and Jego, my cousins Tessa and Joseph, my brother and her wife Grace and daughter Izzie and of course my mom, my dad, my sister and her boyfriend, Ronie.

It was actually the Christening day of my niece Izzie and since we are complete, we decided to have a short road trip to Sta Rosa, Laguna and show Nuvali to my relatives. We left Pasig around 3 PM already and so it was almost 4:30 when we arrived in Nuvali. I know there was a long queue in the boating and so I went to purchase our tickets right away while my other relatives checked out the bazaar.

We did not wait that long for our turn to ride the boat and the kids did not get tired waiting as they tried feeding the kois while waiting. All of us tried the boat ride except for my dad, my nanay and VJ and Ronie. Everybody enjoyed the short ride and if there were no long lines, we would have tried it for the second time.

After the boat ride, we moved to Paseo de Sta. Rosa for a quick shopping and this is where we had dinner also.

It was a very long and tiring day but it was a great bonding time again with my family. I hope I will always have the budget for activities like this.

It is still a busy week for me as I still have a lot of things to finish. Aside from work, we will be very busy also this weekend as Bela will have her ballet recital this coming Sunday.

I have a lot of deadlines to meet on Saturday but I have some mommy duties too as I have to take Bela to her ballet practice so I am planning to bring my laptop with me so I can work while waiting for her. I also plan to do some shopping if I will find the time as I haven’t actually started yet with my Christmas shopping and next week will be the Christmas party of Bela already.

Sunday will be her recital so I am sure we will be busy preparing Bela as we are all really excited as this is her first ballet recital.

But even if this is going to be a busy and crazy week, I am still excited as I have a lot of things to look forward to for my family.

Have you ever thought of buying more than one baby outfit? Unless you are selling them in a retail setting, there is no reason to purchase a large quantity of baby clothes. However, for some people buying more than one baby outfit can save money in the long run, such as purchasing cases of clothes on websites such as Tapout. Some online vendors offer discounted rates if you purchase more than a certain amount of clothing for your baby.

If the online vendor offers a discount on ordering more than one case, you can also save money on shipping. Think about this: instead of paying for shipping on one case every time, ordering more than one case can help you save a bundle on shipping, or receive it for free because of the quantity. In a few days time, the cases of baby outfits you ordered online is at your doorstep.

Your next question is probably, “What would I do with more than one outfit for a baby?” But, if you are in the habit of forgetting or losing your items, having a “backup” outfit for your baby might just be what you need. Also, with the way babies dirty clothes, there is at least more than one occasion in which you wished you had a replacement outfit for the one the baby had recently soiled. Extra outfits are also good as gift items, or to donate to charities.

Not only can you use the extra outfits as replacement outfits when you lose your favorite one, or give them as gifts, but quite a number of people have gotten into the habit of displaying their baby outfit as a fashion statement; they change their baby outfits as often as they change their own outfits, and with the different range of colors and styles, babies can be as well dressed as their parents!