Welcome 2011

Today is the 2nd day of 2011 and it actually feels like 2010. I planned to make a blog entry on the last day of December but geesh, I forgot about it. It must be the age. But I'm young(if 30 something is young), and shouldn't be forgetful.

Okay, so who among my early blogging peers are still blogging? I mean blogging. Not copypasting and/or reviewing and/or newsreporting. My blogroll isn't that filled because I deleted that blogrolling link that they say contained malicious codes. What malicious code? Was there a proof?

I'll take a peek at the blog of my peers. Must be 50plus of them. Some had already shed off their masks of internet anonymity. I did. But partially. What will my niece say if she reads this blog? She'll be amused because she will not understand anything until, maybe 10 years from now.

Others retired. It's really sad to think that those I interacted with 4 years ago are no longer blogging. Some may have forgotten that we were once internet friends. They should know by now that I am only using a pen name. And that if you ever try to search me on Facebook using my pen name, you'll be surprised to see that I am Caucasian, tall and handsome. That is NOT me, of course.

So, what's up for 2011? Nothing, really. This blog will still be about my leftover thoughts, and that I am still here blogging.

Let us try politics next time.

Trying-Hard Haggler

Yesterday I went to Tutuban Mall. I would have wanted to go to Divisoria mall but I got stuck in traffic. The normal 30-minute drive from Makati to Divisoria became a two-and-a-half-hour ordeal. When I tried to maneuver, as I thought of taking another route, I was caught on a u-turn violation. What I did to get away without paying the hefty fine is another story. But it's somewhat related to my title, if you get my drift.

So, what's with Tutuban?. First, I wanted to buy some RTWs to bring to Cebu. Second, I wanted to try my best to haggle like my wife does when she goes to the area. The P250 becomes P150, or something like that. Wifey sells them at margin.

My problem is not in the selection of items to buy. I can manage even if I have to endure the suspecting gaze of the salesladies. "What is this big guy doing, buying women's clothes?". I don't also need to ask the salesladies of their opinion on the design of the clothes. If I like what I see, I directly go for it.

Now, I have this difficulty in haggling, negotiating with the seller to bring their price down. P250 for a dress is already cheap, right? That is if you are in a department store. But in Divisoria, you can bring it down to P100 if you have the skills. So what were my intro lines?

"I buy these for wifey. I'm gonna resell these. I have no money left, and I appreciate if you sell it to me at this price." I am a trying hard haggler, you know. The most I got is a P50 reduction of their initial price. For the uninitiated, this is already a good start. But I am not yet satisfied.

If I'm gonna resell to wifey all the items I bought yesterday, I'm very very sure that I will incur losses.

Where's The Blog Money?

This blog already earned around $500. This month? Before your imagination goes wild, I want to make it clear. I made around $500 only in its more than four years of existence. On the average, it's roughly $10 a month. If I bought Starbucks coffee with it, I only got to drink three mocha frappe.

So, where do you find the big money in blogging?

After the sponsored post frenzy two years ago, wherein I earned 99% of my keep, the income from this blog is purely on adsense. And looking at my adsense stats, I earn less the twenty cents per month. I got a big fat zero yesterday, and nothing also the other day. Maybe I should write weird stuff in here. A lot of people are searching for scandals, right?

Seriously, there are ways to make money from one's blog. Here a video posted two years ago by someone who must be successful by now:



Now you can earn millions with your blog. Sorry I didn't.