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13 Unforgettable Birthday Ideas

Your birthday is the most significant day of your life which is definitely to be celebrated — be it alone or with people that we love the most!

Days or even weeks before our birthday, some, if not all of us, feel a little emotional and a bit down. Not sure why.. Maybe because we are hitting another year older, or perhaps, you are looking at your previous years and goals and you feel like you didn’t level up?

While these are valid feelings, know that the fact that you hit another year in your life means that you are doing a good job and there are days ahead of you to do what you really want and be happy!

In this blog, we listed some of the unforgettable birthday ideas to help you in planning and creating a remarkable day.

RELATED BLOG:
TOP 5 FUN WAYS TO CELEBRATE YOUR 24TH BIRTHDAY

  1. Hit the beach

    Perfect for every occasion, traveling to a beach will always be a perfect idea! The calmness of the water, gentle splash of the waves, simple by-the-beach dinner, or even a beach party are some of the things that you want to consider.

    Read also: Beach Getaways Ideas
  2. Camping trip

    If you love nature, camping, may it be on a beach or in the mountains, is surely one of the best ways to enjoy your birthday.

    Never forget to bring good friends, music, and hotdogs for your bonfire night! At night, you can also try to set a mini-program with games. Simple, yet you will surely enjoy your birthday.
  3. Bonfire at night

    May you just have a simple birthday with all your loved ones with you to celebrate it. Why not end your day with a bonfire, and maybe grab hotdogs and barbeque?
  4. Go to the nearest amusement park

    If you are wanting to go to an amusement park ever since, this is the best treat that you can give to yourself! So go ahead, book a ticket and explore the amusement park near you.
  5. Climbs a mountain

    I actually did this for my 28th birthday and it was super fun! Much better if you tag along with a friend. You can also join group hikes so you can meet new people.

    Read Also: Where to Climb Mountains in the Philippines
  6. Reconnect with old friends and lost contact family members

    Each one of us is growing old and we oftentimes forget people along the way unintentionally or intentionally. If you have a relative or a family member, even a then-close friend that you wish to forgive, to thank for, and to reconnect, this will be the perfect give to yourself.

    List down the people close to your heart then that you wanna reconnect with.
  7. Staycation alone or with friends

    Here in the Philippines, staycations are actually one of our go-to birthday party ideas! If you are from Metro Manila, the best staycation places are in Tagaytay City because of its cool climate and overlooking view of the Taal Volcano. You may also just try to look for hotels in Metro Manila cities like here in Quezon City, Paranaque City, and many more!

    You can now go to pretty places without going to far places!

    Read Also: Staycation Ideas
  8. How about a food crawl

    I am pretty sure there’s a number of restaurants or cuisines that you want to try recently, right? Why not list them all together, tag along your Mother for a date or your hubby and close friends. That will surely be fun!

    Read Also: Food Reviews
  9. Visit a Home for the Aged/Boys Town

    You may also want to celebrate your birthday with grandmoms and grandpas in a Home of the Aged or Boys town. Some of my friends are doing this every single year on their birthday. They usually create the program, bring a lot of food, and present to kids and the elderly.
  10. Why not go on a Picnic?

    If you are a little busy and don’t really wanna go out in faraway places, but still wanna celebrate your birthday outside, you may try to check the nearest, and cleanest parks in your area. Packing sandwiches, barbeques, hotdogs, for a simple celebration with special people in your life is one of the most amazing things to do during your birthday.
  11. Paint and Sip Party

    Do you want to do something new that you have never tried before or wanting to try again? You can go for a Paint and Sip party! While there are some restaurants that are offering paint and sip party, you may also try to DIY this. Buy sets of painting materials, maybe look for sample paintings on Pinterest, buy your favorite wine, and just enjoy painting,
  12. Plan a Street party with neighbors

    Are you close with your neighbors? Why not try to have a street party! Maybe prepare a boodle fight with all your favorite food. Don’t forget to create a program! Surely be fun!
  13. Stay at home and recheck goals in life

If you want to celebrate your birthday alone, you may just stay at home, and be cozy on your bed while thinking about your life in a bigger picture.

This is also the perfect time to recheck your goals, edit some, and add another according to what you want in life in the next years.

I also suggest you make a bucket list of the things that you want to do in the net year. Go to your most favorite place? Try a new hobby? Earn on the side? Write as many as you want.. The things that make you feel most alive.

Pia’s Thoughts

Birthdays are one of the most exciting dates in our lives. Imagine, you hit another year in your life.

Another year to live life to the fullest.

Another year to celebrate life with the people you love the most.

Another year to explore the world, another year to hit those in your bucket list!

Categories
Finance List

10 Tips To Save Money For Your Dream Vacation

We always want to save money for our dream vacation. We love the idea of going to places that we’ve never known but oftentimes, we fail in doing the steps in making our dreams a reality.

And in this blog, join me as I make ways to save for a trip that I never thought will come true. Yes, claiming this already!

We are all wishing for a great vacation. Sandy toes, white sand beaches, relaxing ambiance in the middle of a lush garden. And most of all, no deadlines, no work stress, just you with your friends, family, or love one. Or maybe, just you alone.

Like each and every one of you, I am also fond of dreaming my own vacation.

Of course I love to travel with close friends and with my family, who doesn’t want to? But this time, I am going to my dream vacation.. alone.

I honestly don’t know if that thrills me, excites me, or scares me, but one thing is for sure, I have to go to this place.

Never thought that it will come true this early but yes, I will be going to the land of rolling hills and greens, BATANES!

I can still imagine the time I booked this trip. PAL had a seat sale last year and since I was not feeling sleepy yet, I tried checking a trip to Batanes. And luckily, after hours of booking, I never thought I would tick book and actually pay for the flight!

Thanks for the P3,042 roundtrip fare, PAL! Love kita!

 

THE BIG ‘HOWEVER’

So here goes the big ‘however’.

Like most of you as well, ta daaa! I still don’t have cash for my trip because I used it for our house in Cavite so we can move in already. Huhu but Haha!

We are not wealthy enough to go from places to places but I realized that a single dream can go beyond a thousand excuses.

And traveling is not just for the yayamanins, okay? We just have to plan and save.

Anyway, as much as possible, I don’t want to borrow money for this that’s why I am making this list on how I can make this Batanes dream vacation a reality and this is for you too, reader! 🙂

Read also: 

PS: If you have other ideas, please don’t hesitate to share it with me by commenting below. Thank you!

 

10 Ways to Save Money for Your Travels

As mentioned above, I was not born wealthy and traveling for me before is a luxury. That it is just for the rich kids. And then TravelBook and the blogging world exposed me to a whole new different mindset. That anyone can actually travel if she/he has the right mindset.

So, here are just some of the ways we can do to save money for our travels. I highly suggest though that if you don’t have an emergency fund yet, better check on that as well.

1. Know how much you need to save

Of course before saving for a trip, you need to know how much you need to save for your dream vacation. Do you need P30,000? P20,000 pesos? P10,000?

You can’t actually determine a number if you don’t do your assignment – research.

TO DO:

  • Make an itinerary listed with estimated expenses
    • So this depends on what kind of vacation you want to have, how many months before the grand dream vacation, and on how many nights is your dream vacation.
      • In my case, since I already have a round trip fare, I just need to know how much will it cost me for my tours, food, and lodging in Batanes for 9 days and 8 nights.
      • I researched and still researching for my itinerary
      • I suggest that you make the itinerary using google sheet because you can edit this anytime, anywhere. Just make sure you have an internet.

Personally, my estimated budget for my Batanes trip is P11,000 for 9D8N but will try my best if I can lower this amount. I have also started listing my itinerary in google docs sheet. Like my page here if you want to stay updated for this dream vacation. 🙂

2. Budget your money

Okay, guys.. You still need to budget your money even if you don’t have an upcoming trip, okay? If this is your first time to make one, I hope you’ll do this religiously ever if you don’t have a trip. You need to have one so you’ll know if you can cut on some expenses and for you to allocate your money effectively and efficiently.

TO DO:

      1. Make a budget today! Grab a pen and paper, list your expenses, and income and assign amount on each category (food, transportation, rent, etc). Remember the golden rule thought. SAVINGS = INCOME – EXPENSES and not the other way around.
      2. I’m including a 50-30-20 Budget tracker here inspired by savingspinay.ph. This works for me and maybe for you too!

3. Stick to your budget and track your expenses daily

Now that you have a monthly budget already, next step is to stick to your budget and track your expenses.

From here, you should really be focused to stay on track and not to splurge on things that you don’t really need.

TO DO:

      1. Use the envelope budgeting system. This one helped me so much!
      2. Download an expense mobile app to track your expenses or you can also track by manually writing it down in a small notebook.
        • Currently using iSaveMoney app on android.

So now that you already know how much you need for your dream vacation and you already know how to budget your income, here are some extra sidelines and tips on how you can make your dream vacation come true.

4. The Invisible Money Challenge

This is actually a technique I have been doing but I always fail to achieve. You will be putting aside specific money (20, 50, 100, 1000 peso bill, 10, 5 peso coin) for your trip and will regard it as invisible money.

TO DO:

      1. Decide the specific amount of money that you want to be invisible for your dream vacation.
        • I tried the 20 peso bill invisible challenge but I think I need to shift to P50. Pray for me! Haha!
      2. Set a coin bank at home or a savings account dedicated for your travel
        • Every week, I plan on transferring to my travel savings account para less temptation. Mahirap na. Haha.
      3. Never ever use this for other type of expenses
        • Never use this money for your skin care or make up buys! No. No. No. Learn how to discipline yourself and forget that you have this money for awhile. You’ll thank yourself after. I promise.

5. Sell Your Unused Things

I am positively sure that you have tons of things at home or in your apartment that you don’t plan in using anytime soon. What to do? Sell them!

TO DO:

      1. Check all your clothes, books, kitchenware, anything that you don’t need anymore and and sell them to friends and even strangers! If you are planning to do this from time to time, you can use these platforms to sell:
        • Carousell
        • Shopee
        • Instagram
        • Facebook Page

6. Sell Yelo and Ice Candy

I know it’s already rainy season while I’m writing this. But hey, still, if you have a refrigerator at home, go and make yelo and ice candy! Titila din ang ulan eventually. Haha!

Let your family know why you are doing this and for sure they will support you on this as well.

TO DO:

      1. Talk to your family. Let them know the reason why you want to do this.
      2. And of course, know how to make ice candy!

7. Earn Extra Cash Online

Your skills can turn into cash online!

Whether you love writing, designing, or if you have a knack in social media marketing, you can actually earn from it by doing part time jobs.

Sign up to different online work sites and look for a job that you can deliver:

      1. Onlinejobs.ph
      2. Upwork.com

Or if you love traveling, you can also sign up for a travel company’s referral program just like TravelBook’s wherein you can get referral fees when you refer TravelBook.ph’s hotels, tours, and activities to your friends and get up to 65% referral rate.

You can also use your referral code even in your own bookings! Talk about cashback! You can sign up here. 

Yes, earning online is totally possible!

8. Solicit Cash From your Aunts, Uncles, Ninangs, and Ninongs

I know, I know!

Maybe you’re thinking what will they say because you already have a job and all that. But, why not try? Haha!

I honestly don’t know if this will work because this will be the first time I’ll try this on my Batanes trip but I want to do this. Hahaha. But possible, right?

TO DO:

      1. Just try to ask but don’t get mad if they won’t give you. Okay? Haha! At least you tried. *wink*
      2. Oh, don’t forget to ask a small amount from your Mama and Papa too! Just a small amount please.

9. Set up a savings account for your dream vacation and set an automatic money transfer 

One of the things that I wish I did last year is to set a separate account for me and my Mama’s travels. Starting this year, I am planning to take my Mama on a vacation, inside or outside the country that’s why I am planning to open a bank account and request for an automatic transfer of money.

This will greatly help in your future travels. Just make sure that you still prioritize your savings rather than your travel fund!

TO DO:

      1. Ask your bank that your current company is using for your salary (assuming that you are an employee) if they do auto-transfer.
      2. If yes, open an account solely for your travel fund
      3. Request for an auto-transfer of a specific amount   

Currently, I am using my then salary account from the Robinsons Bank. But I am already planning to open in Metrobank since we are using this bank for our salary.

10. Tell people about your dream vacation

..and how you will achieve it. Declare that you will be going there on these travel dates. Ask for suggestions to people who have gone to your dream place already. Ask for some tips, what to do, how to save, what are the things that they love about the place.. Tell people about your dream and for sure, this will fuel excitement and focus in helping you reach your dream vacation.

 

I am a firm believer that as much as God wants us to use our time wisely, He also wants us to enjoy living here on Earth. He made these beautiful places as a manifestation of His love for us that He wants us to also enjoy and marvel on these beauties.

Who’s going to Batanes this September? Let me know so we can share tour expenses.

Do you have tips on how to save money for your travels? Hope you can share below. We want to know too! 🙂

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Life Lately: My PCOS Journey

Categories
List

Top 5 Fun Ways to Celebrate Your 24th Birthday

How to Celebrate your Birthday

We all have that one special day each year when we get to celebrate it with delicious food together with the people we love and who love us in return — our birthday.

Most of the years, we celebrate it with cake on the table, balloons on the wall, delicious food cooked by your Mom, together with familiar faces surrounding us. But then, this year is special! We are turning 24 years old and we are actually feeling old responsible (really?) with so many things in life. And before we go emotional, let us share some of the birthday party ideas that you can do for your upcoming birthday celebration.

RELATED BLOGS:
15 UNFORGETTABLE BIRTHDAY IDEAS YOU NEED TO DO
10 Tips To Save Money For Your Dream Vacation

Birthday Party Ideas

Though those simple get-togethers might be really fun and one of the happiest moments in our lives, we listed here are our top 5 fun ways that you can celebrate your birthday — be it with your family and friends or even if it is just you alone on your 24th birthday.

1. Themed Birthday Party

Hey! It’s your birthday! If you are looking for birthday celebration ideas, and if you have the means of doing a themed birthday party, why not go and try to organize one?

How about a themed beach party? Or a 1950’s party with vinyl records playing on the jukebox?

You can also try to have a beach party on a secluded island or a happy pajama party at your favorite hotel! This will be incredibly happier and more exciting! If you were to have your themed birthday celebration, what would that be?

Japanese Themed Party

 

2. Get that bucket list and cross that one extremely fun item

bucket list is a list of the things that you want to do or try in life that will make you feel happy. See mine here.

So now, why not celebrate your birthday by getting that old notebook listed with your bucket list, wipe the dust off, and check that one extremely fun item that you want to tick-off the list!

Or how about Bungee Jumping? Or have you thought of riding a camel? Or what about traveling solo? Have thought of traveling abroad? Whatever that is, go ahead, and tick that off!

Why not try bungee jumping?

 

3. Why not try staycation?

Most of our birthday celebrations are all held at home. Why not try to hold your party in a hotel? Stay for a night maybe with your close family members and friends with a delicious set of dishes, a bottle of wine, and a karaoke night.

We’re sure that would be the best! If you’re residing here in the Philippines, you may try the cozy Cafe Lupe Hostel in Antipolo, the elegant Best Western Hotel Subic , the out-of-the-country vibe of Torre Venezia Suites Timog or my most favorite hotel up in the north, Azalea Residences Baguio.

In one of the best glamping spots in the Philippines, Nayomi Sanctuary Resort

 

4. Pamper yourself

Alright, alright dear. So you want to be alone. You want to spend your day all by yourself. Why not try to pamper yourself?

Go ahead to that salon in town, get your hair done, your nails painted, and why not try treating yourself with spa as well. Giving that birthday gift to yourself will definitely boost your confidence! And I think this is one of the best birthday celebration ideas.

 

5. Go to a Theme Park

Okay. So you have never tried any zipline ride or even tried to walk on a hanging bridge. This year, on your special day, why not try going to a theme park with these kind of adventure?

Or how about going to a mini paradise with all the animals and nature? Go to a theme park with your family and friends and experience fun and amazing way to celebrate your birthday.

 

One quick tip: Write/Revisit your goals

Revisit the goals that you have written before.

Or if you haven’t written any, now is your chance to think about your future plans. Get a notebook, write what you want to do for the next 5 years.

Pia’s Thoughts

You are now on your 24th year and one year more, you will be now in your quarter-life as they say. Let us try to revisit or rewrite our goals. By this, we can check things that we have already done and things we have to start doing. This can definitely help you to be more motivated to do more in life.

Congratulations on your 24th year! I’m praying for strength and wisdom for your life and happy birthday! We hope these birthday celebration ideas helped you in any way!