October Updates and My Search for Additional Source of “Active Income”

October has been a busy month for me. My daughter celebrated her 1^st birthday last Saturday, October 18^th and I spent most of my time preparing and DIY’ing (customizing) everything from the invitations to the decorations, loot bags, and all other stuff. Though I spent quite an amount for that, I could say that our expenses were much lower compared to if we had it done at a fast food restaurant or at an events place but without sacrificing the food and the quality of the stuff I made. It was tiring but it’s all worth it.

I temporarily took a vacation from my investments. I’ve been really busy with other priorities and I knew I won’t be able to focus if I did it all at the same time.

My portfolio in the stock market is still showing negative and I urgently need to take a closer look at each stock. I need to do a comprehensive research and decide on which stock to retain and which ones to let go.

In forex on the other hand, I have been trading using my demo account. I earn, I lose, and I earn again but I’m not yet confident to trade using my live account with my prize fund. I need to study more.

My savings and emergency fund turned negative after all the expenses incurred lately. Thanks to my mutual fund which came to the rescue after reaching the maturity period of my 5-year contract. It wasn’t much but not only had it saved us from getting into debt, but it also helped us in starting over after all our recent expenses.

I got my husband, myself, and some family members insurance policies from Philamlife, which I got at a much lower price because I acted as the “middleman” or the agent. That was really the original plan – to be a licensed financial advisor or insurance agent so that I could avail of my own policy at a discounted price through my commission. But because I believe in the benefits of having insurance, I made it a part-time job in order to serve others who are also interested.

Aside from these, I’m also thinking about putting up my own business. On what type of business and how to do it is something that still remains to be a big question for me.  Thanks to the seminars and mastermind sessions that I’ve attended because somehow I learned about business plans and ideas. I still have so much to learn but I’m taking one step at a time. And hopefully I’ll be off to a good start pretty soon…

For the meantime, I need to find ways to earn additional “active” income. I have a small investment in the stock market but I consider it as a passive income for our long term goals. My husband is the sole provider for the family right now and we make both ends meet by “living within our means.”

I budget his income as effectively as I can and I think I’m doing a good job because we’re able to manage our expenses. With his income alone, we’re able to pay for our necessities, utility bills, baby’s needs and we still get to dine out or have our family date at least twice a month. He doesn’t earn that much but we’re happy because we don’t have debts. However, we usually have very little or even nothing left for our savings and investments. And that’s the very reason why I’m currently looking for opportunities to have an additional source of active income.