Casita del Rose

These were delivered to the house several nights ago. I had no idea what they were, except that they're apparently the new rave in snorkeling.

Thenice Freebreath Snorkeling Face Mask

We received 2 mask in S/M size and another 2 with L/XL size. Two for the kids and 2 kids for adults. Somebody's a little excited for an upcoming Holyweek adventure.

Time to unbox this baby.

The box includes, a fancy net holder with velcro enclosure, the mask, a breathing tube, a small manual, and a small packet of accessories.

To assemble, firmly attach the tube on top of the mask. There's a rubber ring on the base to prevent water from coming into the seem.

There's also a space to put in your underwater camera, for when taking pictures ala GoPro.

The mask is lined with rubber and there are adjustable garter straps on each side, making for a snug fit.

This is how it would look, as modeled by my birthday boy.

With the Thenice Freebreath Mask, there's no need for tubes in your mouth when snorkeling, since your whole face would be covered by the mask. The air would be delivered via a tube attached on top of the mask. A little bulky, yes; and reminds me of Power Rangers when you have it on.

Even the boys seem to agree. Presenting Blue and Red Rangers.

Thenice Freebreath Snorkeling Mask is made by a Hong Kong company, and readily available in the Philippines thru Lazada and online re-sellers in Facebook. The price ranges between P1,700 to P2,800.

Photo Credits: Power Rangers

The Philippine Bureau of Treasury has raised over P70 Billion from its latest tranche (RTB 19) of 3-year fixed Retail Treasury Bond (BTr) offering last March 28, 2017.

The BTr has a fixed coupon rate of 4.25% per annum, at a face value of P5000 per bond. A rate that's considerably higher compared to the last tranch (RTB 18), which was 3.50% fixed for 10yrs.

Retail treasury bonds are open to the public and is a good way of introducing the average Juan dela Cruz to the world of investing. It's considered to be very low risked, and can be treated the same as a time deposit.

The public can get the bonds from 17 different banks tapped by the Bureau of Treasury, between the public offer period of March 28 to April 06, 2017.

For those interested, simply contact your bank agent provided in the list. You'll be required to sign up some forms, and have the invested amount on your bank account for debiting.

Every quarter, the interest would be credited direct to your bank account, until the bond matures. At such time, the total amount invested would credited to your bank account. Take note that the interest is subject to a 20% final withholding tax; which is the same as any deposit account that earns interest.

To know more about Retail Treasury bonds, visit their site here.

Not familiar with BTrs investing? Here are some of the best blogs regarding this simple investing tool.

Think Pesos
Security Bank
Isensey

Photo credit: Philippine Bureau of Treasury

If you're into online shopping or an avid user of sharing apps like Grab car, you can actually get a rebate each time you shop from these merchants. You can even get a rebate from airline tickets. Signing up is totally FREE and the cash back is easily credited to your bank account.

Simply sign up with Shopback; click the store link from their platform and buy as normal. Shopping from Shopback platform ensures that your purchase is credited for the rebate.

Shopback is a start-up company headquartered in Singapore that uses Southeast Asia's love for online shopping. They partnered with over 1000+ online stores to give rebates back to customers while shopping. Think of it as a rewards program online.

The rebate is a percentage of your total purchase on a store. For example, merchant A is offering 6% rebate and you're total purchase, excluding shipping, is P1000. You'll earn P60 as rebate from the transaction.

It's like scouring a free shipping every time. What's best is that the rebate is on top of any sales, discounts or promotions the store is running.

To know more about Shopback, visit their website here.
To sign-up here for a free Shopback account and a get a P100 sign-up bonus.

Photo: Shopback

Wilcon Depot (WLCON), a known construction material retailer in the Philippines is set for an Initial Public Offering (IPO) at the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) this March. The very 1st for the local bourse this year.

The IPO price is set at P5.05 per share, which is on the low end of the IPO price range that the company submitted to PSE. Up to 1.39 billion shares are to be listed, with the P7.03 billion proceeds to be used in doubling the companies stores from the current 37 to 65 in the next five years.

The offer period will run from March 20 to 24, with the listing happening on March 31.

To know more visit PSE.

Photo Owned by: Wilcon

A recent guest wrote about their experience in staying at Casita del Rose in her own blog and sent the link to our Facebook page along with a 5-star rating.

Reading the post while doing grocery shopping wasn't conducive to health. My youngest son had to guide me by my arm while we shop since I'm fully distracted. All my attention was on my phone and the blog I'm reading.

The guest gushed about our bedroom feature wall and how the room was arranged to bring a homey feeling to guests. This brought a sense of validation to me.

Hubby and I designed the entire room around that feature wall. It's made of pallet wood, sanded and stacked in random fashion, then finished off with a top coat glazing to make the wood shine.

The wall sconce are outdoor lights meant for perimeter fence, but I think it works perfectly here. It gives a log cabin vibe to the entire place.

The decor of the room is actually not finished yet. I still have more knick knacks to put in to complete that log cabin look. Watch out for those little details when you visit Casita del Rose for yourself.

Read MsEu's blog here.

Photo courtesy of: Casita del Rose, Just like Eu

I've visited BPI Family with the intent of opening an account for Casita del Rose. It would make tracking of finances that much easier if I can separate the expenses for the unit, as compared to our household expense.

Ms. Janice of BPI Family Noveleta was nice enough to explain the different ATM account that they have.

The BPI Pamana Savings account caught my attention. Getting an insurance is a wise move, but with all the bills, getting that insurance takes a back seat.

The account comes with a free Term Life Insurance worth 3x the account balance is provided by BPI-Philam. No premiums nor check ups needed.

It is similar to your typical savings account that earns interest upon reaching and maintaining a certain monthly balance. There's an ATM or Passbook option and you can even open a US Dollar Pamana account.

To open an account, simply go to any BPI or BPI Family bank account and bring the following:

Government ID

Proof of billing (address must be the same with your ID)

1x1 ID picture

Opening balance is as low as Php 5,000 for a BPI Family ATM and Php 25,000 for BPI Island ATM account. For a full listing of deposit rates and maintaining balance, visit BPI.

I like staying on top of my bills; and with Casita del Rose being about 40km away from our house, it would be difficult getting the Meralco billing statement physically and paying it on time.

No electricity at Casita del Rose is a big NO-NO!

It's a good thing that Meralco now has e-Meralco billing statement. You can access your account online and see your billing statement even before they are physically delivered to your address.

There's also e-mail notification where they would send a copy of your billing statement to your registered email.

To register, follow these simple steps. You'll need your Meralco bill. The oldest bill you can use is 2-months.

Register here.
Agree to the Terms and Condition
Enter the needed information, which you can get from your Meralco bill.
Click 'Enroll'
Create your username and password
Tick the “Do you wish to be notified of your bill due date and bill amount through email?” *You'll still receive a paper copy of the bill even with the e-bill

You can now log-in to your account.

You can enroll multiple Meralco account under a single log-in account. Just go to Options > Enroll Another Service.

Visit Meralco you have more questions about e-Meralco Bill.