Lifestyle

Save Money By Caring For Items You Already Own

Starting the beginning of this year, I pledged to continue being frugal when it comes to fashion by recycling whatever I have in my closet. So far, I am succeeding. As a professional woman in my 30s in a conservative working environment, I am slowly overhauling my wardrobe by upgrading pieces while still using my existing clothes and shoes, keeping them well-kept, tailoring them for my figure, and taking care of them in general. In this post, I will share my most important fashion tools and hacks to maximize existing clothing articles. I’ve searched for these solutions for a long

August 24, 2019 1 Comment

Travel

The Wonderfully Strange City of Ashgabat

After my short visit to Ancient Merv, I had a simple dinner at the canteen beside Mary’s train station to wait for my 11 pm overnight train to Ashgabat, Turkmenistan’s capital 360 kilometers to the west. I asked Sergey*, my tour guide, to book the train tickets instead of driving to the capital since I wanted to experience traveling in Turkmenistan using public transportation but also wary of riding the marshutka as I don’t speak the local language. Name changed for security reasons. The train compartment had 2 bunk beds. Naturally, I took one of the top bunks even before the

August 22, 2019 No Comments

PERA

Ultimate Guide to PERA Investment Instruments

It’s been almost 3 years since the implementation of Personal Equity Retirement Account or PERA at the end of 2016. Up to this time, most Filipinos are still in the dark about what PERA means and what it can do for them in their retirement. Many of those who have heard of PERA opt to avoid putting their money in it due to a combination of lack of information regarding PERA investment instruments and confusion on how PERA fits in their financial plans. Earlier this year, I wrote a primer on PERA and why all of us need it asap. I’m

August 17, 2019 17 Comments

Travel

A Visit to Ancient Merv

After my relatively painless border crossing from Iran, I was pumped to finally start the next leg of my Silk Road journey. This time visiting Ancient Merv, located near one of Turkmenistan’s largest cities, Mary. Waiting for me right outside the border gates was Sergey*, my local tour guide. My first request to Sergey was to find me a bottle of Coke, stat! I have been bamboozled into imbibing Zam zam – Iran’s version of Coke – due to its suspiciously Coke-like packaging. Like its originator Pepsi, it wasn’t good enough for my discerning palate. I swear my taste buds

August 17, 2019 No Comments

FIRE

Lighting a FIRE

The FIRE or financial independence and early retirement community is the fastest growing personal finance movement online. The dream of acquiring enough money and assets in the form of real estate, stock and bonds portfolio, and other investments that you can live off the proceeds and retire while still relatively young is the DREAM. For a long time, this dream was unreachable for mere mortals. Not anymore. A lot of people have demonstrated that retiring early is achievable. Mr. Money Mustache FIRE’d at 30. Sam of Financial Samurai retired at 34. Paula Pant became financially free through real estate investing

August 10, 2019 No Comments

Net Worth Report

Net Worth Update and Year (so far) in Review, July 2019

First, I’d like to apologize to my readers for my blog’s silence for a few weeks now. I went on an amazing vacation to Peru and Bolivia to celebrate my birthday and then after I got back, I was afflicted with what I thought was ennui but was actually a mild case of stomach flu. I’m so much better now. And now, I’m posting my long-delayed net worth update for the first half of the year. Looking back, I’m very pleased with how my year is going so far. My parent’s finances are stabilizing so there’s no need for me

July 30, 2019 4 Comments

Travel

Crossing the Iran-Turkmenistan Border

This post was first published in my old travel blog, Erudite Traveller on 20 December 2017. One of the things I obsessively prepared for during the planning stage of my Silk Road 2017 trip is how to cross to Turkmenistan, a land-locked country with border crossings in Iran, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan. In the end, I opted to cross the Iran-Turkmenistan border in Sarakhs, a city straddling the two countries. Getting through the border between the two countries was a surreal experience. The brown and desolate winding mountains and sand dunes in the Iranian side, despite the presence of giant

June 22, 2019 No Comments

Travel

Communing with the devout in Mashhad, Iran

This post was originally published in my old travel blog, Erudite Traveller on 05 December 2017. Mashhad, Iran’s spiritual capital and second largest city is located more than 900 kilometers to the northeast and borders Afghanistan and Turkmenistan. This made Mashhad the perfect entry point to my next destination: the ancient Achaemenid satrapy and Seljuk Turk citadel of Merv (Margiana), Turkmenistan. Although not a usual tourist destination for foreigners and non-Muslims, Mashhad is actually a famous site for Shia Muslims worldwide. Devotees flock to Mashhad’s Imam Reza Shrine by the millions during Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar,

June 22, 2019 No Comments

Products Services and Reviews

The Amazingness that is the Menstrual Cup – Ode to a Feminist Product

It’s very rare for one product to embody most, if not all, the ideals of a wise and ethical consumer: sustainable, economical, empowering, and socially responsible. I’m talking, obviously, about the wonder that is the menstrual cup. A menstrual cup is a small cup made with latex or silicon inserted into the vaginal canal to catch your period. Unlike tampons and sanitary pads, menstrual cups do not absorb blood but collects them. This means you can use your menstrual cup longer each time. Unlike tampons and sanitary pads that have to be replaced every four hours (depending on how

June 19, 2019 No Comments

Travel

The 3,000-year old Kang Village in Mashhad, Iran

This post was first published in my old travel blog, Erudite Traveller on 22 November 2017. It was in Kang Village in Mashhad, Iran, that I learned how to say no five times before accepting offers of food and drinks. Taroof, the Persian custom of civility and deference, can be a landmine in local – foreigner relations. Persians make offers that they expect will be refused. Its basic component is politeness; by a complicated dance of offers and refusals, people show their respect and deference to one another. Accept offers too early and the offerer will be put on the

June 17, 2019 No Comments

Save Money By Caring For Items You Already Own

The Wonderfully Strange City of Ashgabat

Ultimate Guide to PERA Investment Instruments

A Visit to Ancient Merv

Lighting a FIRE

Net Worth Update and Year (so far) in Review, July 2019

Crossing the Iran-Turkmenistan Border

Communing with the devout in Mashhad, Iran

The Amazingness that is the Menstrual Cup – Ode to a Feminist Product

The 3,000-year old Kang Village in Mashhad, Iran

Katie Scarlett

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