As everyone is busy gobbling mandarin oranges (the homonym for ‘gold’ in Chinese), I guess we can expect more talk about the benefits of buying gold and how profitable it can be.

In these days of financial uncertainty, I’m told that it’s safer to hoard gold than money. That is, if you have the money to buy gold bullion in the first place.

I guess people are more comfortable with cash because they’re more familiar with it than with precious metals. But hey, like the saying goes, you can always learn, and I believe there are always people willing to teach you a few tricks.

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The economic downturn is getting to be quite scary and if anyone out there is still in denial, it’s time to wake up and smell the bad air! The malls are much quieter than ever before even on the weekend, and the sales are still on or just starting again which is very strange.

At the bank the other day, I overheard some people asking the bank officer about investing in precious metals. With interest rates almost a big fat zero now, I guess many people are seeking out alternatives. If you don’t have time to get to a bank, you can find investment information online at Monex Deposit Company.

The other day while running my endless errands, I drove past the building where our insurance company is located. Quite frankly, with school just having started and Chinese New Year coming up in about a week, it’d completely slipped my mind that I have some outstanding insurance premiums to pay.

I was stuck in traffic that day in front of the building and that jolted my memory. Duh! So many things to remember and one more errand to add to my list. Luckily there’s a grace period so I think I’ll wait till the festivities are over and I have a little more breathing space.

But you know, having life insurance is something that’s very important especially for people with families and kids. You want to be sure they’re well taken care of in any event so you can enjoy them without having to worry about the future.

We bought our policies years ago when we first had our kids. But if you’re a new parent and want to explore your life insurance options, you can get an expert appraisal at USA Life Insurance where a consultant will provide you with all the expertise and resources you need to make an informed decision on which policies are best suited to your specific expectations.

Prior to that, if you want to do your own homework first, there’s lots of information on their site that you can browse through ahead of time, so that when you do contact their experts, you’ll already have some questions in mind to ask.

While digging for the children’s old school books recently, I came across a box of foreign coins. Wherever we’ve traveled, we always keep the leftover currency, especially coins, when we come back. Don’t ask me why, it’s almost like a sentimental thing.

Some of the coins we’ve had for ages from before I was even married and certainly before the kids came along. Some of the coins are so old, I wonder if there’s a rare coin or two in there that we could sell !

Maybe I could get the people over at Monaco Rare Coins to evaluate our stash and see if there’s hidden treasure we didn’t know about. Otherwise what are we keeping those coins for anyhow?

With global food prices escalating rapidly, it’s the kids that I feel sorry for. Ultimately I think they are the ones who will suffer most especially those in the third world countries.

In the news today is a family giving up their 11-year-old son to the orphanage in the hopes he will have a better life than if he were to remain in the village. Both his parents are still alive but they have a string of other younger children that they can’t afford to feed.

So they figured he’d be better off at the orphanage where he can have proper care and a proper education. It’s heart-breaking to watch the youngster, fighting back tears, preparing to leave the people he loves and a life he’s familiar with.

It must not have been an easy decision for his parents either. But increasingly it seems parents are seeing this as one solution to the high cost of raising kids.

I tend to look at this as part of a bigger problem. Parents who can’t afford to provide for their kids should seriously consider contraceptives. They should be educated about the responsibilities of parenting and be given the information to make choices before they even have those kids.

The last weekend before school reopens is always crazy busy. I took the kids for their haircuts. They were starting to look like heavy-metal rockers. Then there’s always the last-minute stationery supplies which somehow seem to run out right on the day before school starts.

This time, there was the added hassle of trying to buy up some essentials in bulk. I already have 5 bags of rice, two 5kg bottles of cooking oil, toilet rolls, toothpaste. I wasn’t sure if I should stock up on Milo as well since I still have like 10kg from my last bulk run .

I’ll probably grab some more stuff this weekend. But frankly, if fuel prices are going to go up every month, there’s probably only so much you can stock up. I always buy in bulk anyways so I guess it’s a matter of looking around for the best prices without having to drive out of my way to get them.

When you have kids at home, it’s always a good idea to sign up for some family insurance policies although you can save money on insurance by taking up the one that the schools offer at the beginning of the school year.

Buying insurance is never a problem when you have the money and the time to listen to an agent explain it all to you. I’m sure every one of us likely knows someone who’s selling insurance part-time.

Just give them a call and they’ll be only too happy to go through some of the traditional healthcare options that you can consider.