Mommy Pehpot, Author at Mommy Pehpot

The EX We All LOVE!

Let’s talk about EX!

A North Luzon lover here.. being raised in Central Luzon, you can’t blame me for loving North Luzon more than any other tourist destination in the country.. and yes, going home and visiting North Luzon is a breeze, specially when SCTEX started operating.. un lang pag nag crave ng balot at hotdog ang mga bagets, sa Bulacan pa din ang daan namin.. sarap kaya ng balot at hotdog sa Baliwag stop over 🙂

Kung meron lang Express way to Baguio no? ay wait! meron pala! Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway (aka TPLEX). I learned about this last Holy Week. TPLEX is an 89 kilometer 4 lane expressway..heard that it will be full operational this year.. but I doubt it.. seeing the progress they made from our last travel to last week. malabo yata.. and heard rumors na maraming pang right of way ang hindi ayos.. we can wait.

TPLEX will have 12 exits (wiki entry):

Tarlac
Tarlac Central Toll Plaza
Victoria
Gerona
Paniqui
Moncada
San Manuel
Carmen
Rosales
Urdaneta
Pozzorubio
Rosario

TPLEX starts where SCTEX ends (Tarlac exit)…based on what I have seen.. babaybayin nito ang kabukiran sa kanang bahai ng Tarlac (if you’re facing north).. we passed by a few constructions in Victoria and Moncada… the only advantage of TPLEX.. no more old houses scenes..bukid everywhere!

And while reading about TPLEX, I learned about Tarlac-Nueva Ecija-Aurora Expressway, a 60Km planned expressway that will make travelling to Aurora faster and hopefully safer! weeeh ang saya lang ng mga EX na to!

Surfing @ San Juan, La Union

o eto na ang mga details ng Summer ender namin 🙂

San Juan, La Union is one of the top destination when it comes to surfing.. at dahil hiningi ng pagkakataon at nakapulot kame ng lakas ng loob sa dalampasigan.. sige na nga! subukan na yan!

We stayed at Normi2’s Beachfront Resort (one barangay away from Urbiztondo, which is the surfing site at San Juan). Their surfing rate is 400 PhP per hour which includes surfboard and an instructor.

My brother enjoyed it the most (I think hahaha).. sinubukan ko din naman, kaso nga dahil first timer.. malay ko bang mahuhubaran ka sa lakas ng alon! kaya ayun, ang nag iisa kong picture eh karumal dumal! Huwag nyo ng isipin kung ano itsura.. nakakasuka talaga! hahaha

Eh bitin on our first try, so we asked for another session, this time, umaga naman.. and the kids tried it too!

Proud Mommy moment yan! nangilid nga ang luha ko while watching them.. nakakatuwa lang na they were able to try things.. nakaka proud talaga na open sila to try out new things.. hindi lang yan, they even tried swimming at the pool which is 5ft deep.. at ang lakas ng loob na mag swim without floaters.

Lesson learned: magdamit ng tama! LOL

*surfing instructor: Benson (Normi2’s) 09207986374

Helping Your Kids Prepare for College

One of the first thoughts you are probably going to have, after getting over the glow of becoming a new parent, is “how on Earth am I going to save for my child’s college education?” Here’s the truth: while you undoubtedly want to be the parent who finds a way to save up and pay for the entirety of the cost of sending your kids to University, it’s good to ask them to pay for at least a portion of it.

Helping your child figure out how to save up for college (and other major expenses) is one of the best habits that you can do as a parent. The other is teaching your kids how to handle credit.

So how do you accomplish these goals?

Allowances

There are some hot debates raging out there about whether or not giving your child an allowance is a good idea. On the one hand, you don’t want your kids to get used to receiving money for nothing. On the other, it’s a great way to start teaching your kids about money at an early age.

Some parents compromise on the issue by assigning a dollar value to certain chores (outside of the normal chores assigned to each child) to help kids get used to the idea of earning money instead of just getting it.

Saving V. Spending

Whatever your decision about giving an allowance, one thing is for sure: you want your kids to get used to saving as soon as possible. Set up a standing rule that your kids need to save at least 10% of everything they earn. When they’re little they can simply give that money to you and you can put it in a bank or even back in the bank for them. When they’re older, you can set up an independent savings account for them to use on their own.

Credit

As soon as you feel that your kids are old enough to be trusted with one (and are earning money independently), you should give them a credit card. You can find credit cards with the best interest rates listed at NerdWallet.

Another good idea is to set up a secured credit card for them with a very low credit limit. This way you don’t have to worry about them accidentally overcharging way too much and your getting stuck with the bill. The goal is to get them used to making payments and dealing with interest rates.

The goal is to teach them real world lessons about credit before they get to college and are forced to deal with overzealous credit card vendors. You don’t want them to get overly excited about an account with a 30% interest rate and no credit limit!

Frequent Reminders

Don’t’ forget to remind your kids that saving up for college is a worthy goal. It’s okay if they know that you plan on helping them with tuition. Just keep reminding them that they might also want to eat food that isn’t from a cafeteria and saving up for school can help them afford that stuff.

Good luck!