Shopping Missy

We have a couple of sample boxes here in the Philippines - Glamourbox , BDJbox , Saladbox . These companies aim to provide the best way for consumers to try new products by sending a box of sample-sized beauty products monthly. A subscription may be from 1 to 12 months depending on your choice. November of last year, I was at my year's peak of online shopping. Being new to these sample boxes, I opted to subscribe to different companies for 1-3 months - with an expected 6 boxes until April 2014. On my 3rd box, I realized that this sample boxes are not for me. More than half of the products I have received are unusable with my lifestyle - a kitchen deodoriser, green nail polish, lip tint, eye brow grooming certificate or facial treatment. Except for hair care and soaps, I ended up giving away everything else. Yesterday, I surprisingly received my last box. I actually forgot about still having a subscription so I already have 20% happiness just by opening the package :) And I was ...

I mentioned in my previous entries that I have lived overseas for some time which is why I didn't have a Philippine issued credit card. It wasn't really a big deal until I needed one to pay a local service company. So my quest began... In order to apply for a credit card, one has to prove financial capacity. Meaning a source of income LOCALLY - a licensed business or an employment. If you are an expat here, you have to have a working visa plus an employment certificate from the company. I would like to stress the word LOCAL meaning the business or office should be located and properly documented here in the Philippines.  With these in mind, I know I am not qualified for the normal credit card. This is when I discovered the SECURED CREDIT CARD. What is a Secured Credit Card? This is a credit card with a collateral. Meaning you have to have a Time Deposit in the bank and then you'll be given around 80% credit limit. Example, with a P20,000 Time Deposit, you will get a cre...

Last December, I was trying to stay away from driving to the mall because I knew the traffic would be terrible. With much free time at home coupled with my unused shopping energy, I ended up shopping online.  I am not new to online shopping as I have lived overseas where it's convenient. Back to my story -  I tried having personal items delivered here (in Makati) from strawberrynet.com . Ordered mid of December, tracking stated it arrived here in the Philippines January 2 but I received a notification from the Makati Post Office January 20. The notification was stating that I should personally claim my parcel (no doorstep delivery for parcels via the post office). Upon claiming, I was surprised with how much I needed to pay as "custom taxes." I had expected duty taxes around 12% as that's our VAT rate here in the Philippines but I was charged P1,223 for a P3,257 worth of items. That is 37.5% TAX!! Here is how it was computed: Item cost (2 small perfum...

It's been a while since I last posted. The holiday season had really been a busy season for me. Aside from not having time to shop for myself, I had no time to go to the gym as well. I am on a plus size and I had to work doubly hard than most people so that I will at least not gain weight. But with tons of parties at home, I reached my much dreaded obese numbers. Argh!! And to add to my weight problem,  I had already requested freezing of my gym membership for 4 months starting January 2014 since I have travel schedules. This is when I decided to try healthy food delivery service where menus are prepared based on targeted caloric intake for the day - 1200 calories/day. I booked  @ DIETDIVAPH  for this week (Monday to Friday). I received my food at around 6:00-6:30 am daily. I wasn't expecting much but I was quite happy with the taste of the food. I ended up eating everything and actually enjoying it. I am on my 5th day and so far, I lost 4 lbs. I wasn't very ...

It's Christmas time! If you're like me, you probably have your presents nicely wrapped with special name tags and greetings by now. But if you're like my best buddy, you're in a panic mode with only a few days left before Christmas and no prepared presents yet. So I came to her rescue. If you're on the same predicament as her, you may check out the following: Marks & Spencer Buy 1 Beauty Gift Set at 15% off and get the next Beauty Gift sets at 20% December 8-22, 2013 Marks & Spencer Promo Perfume Set Original Price: P1550 / Discounted Price: P1317.50 Original Price P995 / Discounted price P845.75 Coffee Price: P315 Tea Price: P715 Beauty Bar Some items have as much as 45% discount Burt's Bees Lip Balm in cute Christmas Packaging Price: P325 Price: P400 Lip Balm and Cuticle Cream Box set Perfume and Hand Cream Original Price: P1395 / Sale Price: P767.25 5 travel size Bod...