Updated: December 31, 2019
This blog is now running on its 13th year. Yes, I’ve been writing here for more than a decade already, as my archives page would prove.
I started this website primarily to share my stories and lessons on how I’m working to achieve financial freedom. And in 2010, it was recognized as the Best Business and Personal Finance Blog at the Philippine Blog Awards.
Today, and to end the year, I’d like to share the top blog posts for the past 10 years (2010-2019). Consider this as my way to celebrate our time together, especially with those who’ve been here and reading my blog for many years now.
As I see it, I won’t be stopping anytime soon. And I’m actually excited to launch a couple of new projects in 2020, which will further advance this advocacy that I started back in 2007 to help Filipinos become more financially educated.
Number 10
Why Pinoys Spend So Much To Get The Starbucks Planner That They’ll Never Use Anyway
This post was born out of a conversation with my friends while hanging out in Starbucks during the holidays that year. A friend asked this exact question, and it took us the whole night trying to figure out the psychology behind the promo.
Honestly, a good number of my blog posts were born out of real life conversations with friends — the experiences we’ve had and the stories they’ve shared to me.
Number 9
How Do You Make Money From UITF Investing or Unit Investment Trust Funds?
I wrote this post because I was trying to find a way to explain what a UITF is for an upcoming speaking engagement. After writing this, creating the presentation deck went fast and easy.
Fun fact: I’m the one who drew the illustrations in the post, which I also used as slides for the Powerpoint I made.
Number 8
Philippine Stocks That You Should Buy For Long-Term Investment
The best companies to buy in the stock market is one of the most common questions that people ask me. Thus, I decided to create this blog post, which features the EIP or Easy Investment Plan companies of COL Financial.
I trust the list, and follow it myself; that’s why I featured it. The list is for those who wants to do passive cost averaging investing in the stock market, which is also my primary strategy.
Number 7
Philippine Small Claims Court: How To Make People Pay The Money They Owe You
This post was inspired by a friend who actually went to Small Claims so he could get his money from a relative who owes him. After hearing his story, I did research and came up with this post.
Through the years, I’ve received emails from people thanking me for the post. And while the system isn’t perfect, and some haven’t been successful, it’s still good to hear that most have been able to get their money back from their debtors.
Number 6
The Story of Mr. Invest Now, Mr. Catch Up and Mr. Wait Longer
This one became very popular in social media. This was my blog’s first article on Facebook that really went viral, which unfortunately, resulted to it being plagiarized by other websites.
On the other hand, this post has also inspired other bloggers and financial educators to create their own related stories. And together, we helped motivate more Filipinos to start investing early.
Number 5
Sari-Sari Store Business Tips
Our family used to own a sari-sari store. My childhood days were often spent there, helping my parents by being the cashier because I love using the calculator.
Most of the tips I shared in the article are actual lessons I learned on how my parents managed our sari-sari store business back in the 80s.
Number 4
5 Important Tips for Starting a Rice Retailing Business (Bigasan)
For a brief moment, I did business consulting and coaching. Among the different types of businesses that I helped develop, the rice retailing business was among the most popular request, especially from those based in the provinces.
I wrote this post to help others who are planning to put up this type of venture; and would like to have some basic guidance on how to start their own Bigasan business.
Number 3
How To Increase Your Chances of Winning The Lotto
I love Math, and this post is actually more of a Mathematical exercise for me than anything else. If I can be honest, I actually wrote this post simply to amuse myself, and never expected it to become very popular.
There was a time that I considered deleting the post because the comments section have become a place where people ask for lotto hearing numbers. But then the traffic started to dwindle and I thought it’s okay to just retain the post.
Number 2
20 Financial Mistakes That 30-Year-Olds Regret The Most
People often crowdsource information on social media. This article is one of them. I asked my social network this question and after a day, I have for myself a list of responses, which I eventually curated into this post.
This article has resonated so much with others that up until today (5 years after its original posting in 2014), I still see it being shared on Facebook.
AND FINALLY…
Number 1
What Happens If I Don’t Pay My Credit Card Debts?
This number 1 post was actually written back in 2010, and holds the record for having the most number of page views in this blog for the past decade. Additionally, the daily visitors have remained steady through the years, which I think is both good and bad.
It’s good because I know this post is helping others learn more about the consequences of their credit card debt. But it’s also bad because the number of visitors are not showing signs of decreasing, which means many are still going into debt.
That’s why, I don’t see myself retiring this blog in the near future; because there’s still a lot of work to do, and more people to help.
To you who is reading this blog post, thank you for being with me in this journey. And I hope that you stay as we continue working on this advocacy for more years to come.
CHEERS! Here’s to your success in 2020 and beyond! HAPPY NEW YEAR!
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I have had the pleasure to read each and every ones of these top ten posts. All of these articles offer something special, a gem of wisdom, advice for better living of perhaps ways to reduce debt and gain financial freedom. Thank you Fitz for the effort you have exerted for all these years. You have fans in the EX-pat community, I am certainly one of them.