Lenie and I made it to the Philippines yesterday around 10AM Manila time after a really long flight. We had a pretty good time, although we are really jet lagged. We found Lenie’s family really quickly after the flight, and we went straight to Laguna where she lives. I think she is having a really good time with her family and extended family. We are down here in Sta. Cruz where it is pouring rain. I heard there was a typhoon coming through. I can’t believe how much I miss this place. Lenie misses it too. We have had a great time with her family. Last night we got out all the candy and other things we brought. They were so excited! I will post some pictures when I get some time because Lenie and I need to get going and take care of some errands (I need a hair cut really bad). I hope everyone is safe and happy at home. I heard the Blazers won game 5 of their series, so that makes me happy as well.

Anways, till next time (perhaps tomorrow).

Oh, and if anyone wants to call me, here is my phone number: 011-63-9087823166, just remember that it is a different time here.

Love ya!

Jeff

Remember, it is only $24.95 and has been featured on Ellen’s show….twice!

The Good Cheer Company

From:  The Consumerist

The other day, Lenie and I saw an ad in the local Harmons paper for a sale on Quaker cereals.  5 boxes for $5.  Now how could I pass up on the chance.  We headed out there and got 10 boxes of Peanut Butter Crunch, my favorite cereal.  Well, before the sale ended, we headed back and grabbed another 10 boxes.

Maceys ended up having a sale as well on all cereal, 10 boxes for $15, so we jumped on the opportunity and grabbed some Honey Nut Chex, and a few other varieties.I figure we will be set for a while on cereal, or at least have our year supply of food.  Right now there is a big scare of peanut butter salmonella, however I read that Quaker cereals are going to be just fine.  It would really suck to buy all this cereal and get poisoned from it.

Lenie also loves the cereal, so I will continue to be successful in weaning her off rice.

The first picture below is a Saturday morning before my sister arrived.  See how those presents are so nicely arranged around the tree?  That was my doing.  Lenie and I decided not to spend much on each other this year since we ended up buying ourselves a Nintendo Wii and Guitar Hero World Tour.  I did however get her a few scrapbooking things, and she got me a razor and a wallet.  My mom ended up buying Lenie a Cricut cutter, which is a pretty cool machine that cuts out scrapbooking designs.  Lenie was so surprised that she ended up crying!  The picture below is her holding her Cricut after wiping the tears.

My big gift was a Garmin GPS thing that I got from my parents.  I had been needing something like that for a long time since I have no sense of direction.  Honestly I still get lost in downtown Hillsboro (the city I grew up in for 19+ years).  We use the Garmin all the time, especially going to Salt Lake or other addresses we do not know.  It made it really easy to find KFC for Lenie, and it sure beats using online maps.

We had a really nice holiday and had to go back to Utah way too soon.

Over the past few weeks, I had heard great things about the movie Slumdog Millionaire.  Namely that it had won best picture at the Golden Globe awards and also that Rotten Tomatoes got a 95% positive review.  I thought it would be interesting to see, and so last week Lenie and I drove up to Sandy to see it. (There were no showings down here in Utah County).  I have to say I was amazed at how good it was.

The story is of a Indian boy named Jamal who becomes incredibly successful on the Indian version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire.  After answering the second to last question correctly, the show stops for the night and Jamal is apprehended by police who think he is cheating to get the answers.  How could a boy from the slums know so much?  However, as police interogate him, Jamal explains how each answer he gave was known through a life experience he had in the slums of Mumbai.

It was an amazing movie that Lenie and I enjoyed very much.  We are somewhat used to foreign movies, and this one jumps between english and hindi with subtitles.

Shortly after Halloween, Lenie decided that she was ready for Christmas decorations, so we have gone and bought a Christmas tree which is being desplayed proudly during the first week of November.  In the Philippines, people usually start setting up for Christmas in September, so we aren’t that early.  Pictures of that are to come.

Alright, well gas prices have been falling all around the country, which is good news.  At least more most of us.  I have compiled a list of 6 of my own money saving tips to maximize your savings as prices fall.  You might have heard of these before, but if you haven’t…then you’re welcome.

1.  Get Gas In The Evening Rather Than Morning – As prices fall, stations are trying

to stay competitive by drastically lowering prices.  Here in Orem, prices have fallen almost a whole dollar in the last month.  That is on average of over 3 cents a day.  Stations are lowering prices almost everyday.  It is a good idea to buy your gas in the evening rather than morning to take advantage of falling prices as stations lower prices mid-day.

2.  Don’t Fill Your Tank – For light drivers, some of us might take a couple of weeks to fill up a whole tank.  When prices are decreasing, many drivers are still using gas they paid much more for several weeks before.  If you don’t have to drive far to get to your favorite station, it is much more beneficial to buy only fill your tank partially to then buy gas again a week or so later at a lower price.

As a side note, keeping less gas in your tank will lower the weight of your car.  This, in essence, improves your car’s fuel efficiency by staying lighter.

3.  Reduce Excess Weight – The heavier your car is, the less efficient your MPG is.  Make sure to pull out any extra weight from your back seat, or trunk.  I made this mistake over the summer when, after moving, I forgot to take my weight set out of my trunk.  Pull out golf clubs, those camp chairs from the 4th of July Parade, or whatever.  This will greatly improve MPG.

4.  Develop Good Driving Habits – While driving, don’t make any sudden increases and decreases in speed.  When coming from a stop sign or red light, accelerate gently.  If you can see that you will need to break ahead, start slowing down.  Rapid speeding up and slowing down greatly wastes gas.

5.  Use Costco or Sam’s Club – These warehouse clubs are usually 10 or more cents less per gallon.  For those who drive often, this will greatly outweigh the yearly membership fee (plus you get to take advantage of the other cost saving benifits of buying from a warehouse club).  An added bonus is using the specific club credit card (I use Costco’s AMEX card).  The credit card usually comes with a cash back savings on top of the low prices.

6.  Use GasBuddy.com – GasBuddy.com is a website where users all around the country monitor their local gas stations and post their prices.  These prices are usually updated every few hours.  This resource is a great for both falling prices and rising prices.  I make sure to always check before I need to get gas to find the station with the lowest price in my area.

If these don’t work, you can always just try drafting semi-trucks on the freeway.  That usually works too.

MYMP (Make Your Mamma Proud) is a Pinoy band comprised of Juris Fernandez on vocals and Chin Alcantara on guitar and occational vocals.  They are well known for covering songs from the 80′s and 90′s into acoustic style.

I was introduced to them while I was in the Philippines and was able to aquire some of their CDs which I listened to when I got back.  They now have 5 albums out, the last one entitled “Now” which I haven’t been able to get a hold of yet since it is hard to come by in America.

They play a combination of Tagalog and English songs, but mostly English.  Most of my friends can’t believe they are Filipino since they sound so American.

Lenie and I are huge fans, however unfortunatly I haven’t been able to see them live yet.  When we visit the Philippines again, we will make sure to do that (or hopefully they will tour again in America soon).

Anyways, give a listen:

And:

Let me know what you think!