Inverter Technology and my experience

Since the start of the year 2015, we have replaced our conventional refrigerator to the inverter type fridge. Likewise we changed our regular window type airconditioning unit to a split type inverter.
Guess what after a few months of use, i have been consistently saving about 2k pesos a month. I think in about 2 to 3 years time, the savings on electricity will pay for the cost of the inverter appliances.

We got the Panasonic inverter refrigerator.

We got the split type inverter aircon Koppel.

We will know further if maintenance cost will outweigh the electricity savings.

Tips: Saving on Electricity

I just received our electric bill this week. Guess what, our bill for the past month was at 6.7k. The previous electric bill was at 8.5k. That's a whopping 1.8k reduction and that's huge. Apparently our consumption reduced from 694kwh to 572kwh. That's a difference of 122kwh. So I tried recalling the things we have done to be able to achieve these savings.

The following are so far what I have recalled:

1. I had our two window-type aircon units cleaned.
2. I used electric with speed setting low and placing the fan nearer to me.
3. I used my 3G usb modem more often than our dsl + wifi.
4. I shutdown my laptop instead of sleep mode or hybernating.
5. I changed my usage of laptop and TV, ie not having them switched on at the same time.

I wonder if this trend will continue in the next bill as the next months will be summer and the aircons will consume a lot of electricity.

Tips: Investment on Insurance and Savings

At a early adult age I was influenced by mother to invest of insurance and savings. I greatly appreciate and thank her because I was able to saved a lot. There a lot of investment instruments nowadays that even double your investment in 5 years. For example, my mother invested in a double your money in 5 years and it will mature this year. Her investment of 500k will be 1M. In this type of investment, we have to be careful of the companies offering these types of products and make sure these companies are stable.

You have also stocks where you can invest your money,
a) short term where you profit from buy low and sell high
b) long term where you gain from dividends issued by companies, increased in stock value over long period.

My first insurance saving investment I made was when I as in the early 20's.  My total investment in 5 years was 150k and since 2003 I have been getting a pension of 2k a month and this is for life. I hope the investment company will not close.

The second insurance investment was long term savings with a huge international insurance firm. Since 2010, I have invested over 500k over for 8 years. Since 2011, the investment's income has paid for my premium. To date, I have a cash dividend amounting to 200k and this investment is returning to more than 60k year on year. Not bad right? If you are interested on the insurance company please drop a comment.

Where to buy groceries

I have been taking the opportunity to shop our groceries in different stores to be able to determine the lowest prices. My general observation is that it seems these grocery stores are talking with each other. There are items which are cheaper and expensive in one store, but vice versa in another store. There are items which can only be found in certain stores. So where do we do our groceries..  it's the store near us with free parking. The following are our grocery store preferences:

1. Pioneer Center, Kapitolyo
     > generally cheaper for all grocery items ie oil, canned goods, distilled water, formula milk
     > free parking
     > exclusive item bought/usually available - drypers, ram beans
2. Robinson's Supermart
     > a bit pricy compared to Pioneer Center
     > free parking for receipts with more than 1,000Pesos
     > exclusive item bought/usually available - bundling of items, free taste
3. SM Store
     > generally same price with Robinson's ie cheapest tag price for the formula milk we are buying
     > no free parking, we only do our groceries if we need to go to the SM Malls

I have been also to Pure Gold and Cherry Fooderama which are also generally same price with Pioneer Centre. I will still have to do my groceries in Super8 which I heard maybe the cheapest.

Credit Cards with Fuel Rebates

With soaring fuel prices, I am looking into ways of cutting down fuel expenses.  I have been light on the accelarator pedals, coasting on the roads and scheduling my trips and routes. I also looked into these credit cards with fuel rebates ie BPI Petron-Mastercard and Citibank Shell Visa. 
I prepared a sheet to see  whether one can  really have fuel savings using these cards.

Credit Card	BPI Petron Mastercard	Citi Shell Visa Card
Fuel Rebate	3%	5%
Annual Fee	1,550	1,800
Fuel per year in Peso to be charged to credit to be able to save on Fuel	51,667	36,000
Fuel per month in Peso to be charged to credit to be able to save on Fuel	4,306	3,000
Savings per month if fuel per month is at 5000pesos	21	100
Savings per month if fuel per month is at 6000pesos	51	150
Savings per month if fuel per month is at 10000pesos	171	350

Here are my findings:

1. You have higher rebates with Citibank Shell Visa however the annual fee is higher thank BPI Petron Mastercard
2. You have to pay annual fees which reduces your "fuel cost savings".
3. For you to be able to realize savings on fuel cost/rebates, your fuel expenses charged to your credit card should be more than 5,000pesos.  Also you should have full payment every month on your credit card to avoid charges.

If you are going to use these credit cards for the fuel rebates and your fuel expense is not above 5000pesos, you are better off using your regular credit card or cash payment.