ATM cards are very convenient. It allows us to do various banking transactions anytime, anywhere. But do you know that using your ATM card from other bank’s machine are charged with service fees? Banks now charges up to Php 11 per withdrawal using other bank’s ATM and Php 1 per balance inquiry. 

The best way to save money is to use your own bank’s ATM machine. BPI has the most number of ATM machines installed and it woudn’t be difficult to find one. Note though that BPI charges $3 for withdrawals made from the Cirrus/Maestro network using other bank’s ATM.

If you frequent SM malls, BDO and Equitable bank’s ATM is ideal. BDO and Equitable customers can withdraw from each others ATM without charge. Both banks have merged recently.

If you withdraw several times a month, the Php 11 charge can easily add up. Be wise and withdraw only from your own banks ATM as much as possible. Better yet, choose a bank with the most number of branches and ATM’s.

Everyone using a printer knows that the biggest cost of using a printer is in the ink. You can buy an entry level printer for Php 2,000 and spend Php 1,000 everytimg your ink runs out.

Printer manufacturers such as HP, Canon and Epson makes money not on the printer but on the consumables. In my experience, it is worth buying re-manufactured or replacement ink rather than using originals. I try to avoid refilling ink cartridges as this is messy.

If you are a heavy printer user, consider buying bulk ink cartriages. The one time purchase may be costly but the printing cost in the long run is worth the investment.

For laser printers, I’ve tried both refilled and re-manufactured toners. I find the toner refill more reliable than buying re-manufactured ones.

Consistency is the key in finding a good ink replacement. If you are satisfied with the ink you bought, consider using the same brand the next time around.

Oh, by the way, don’t throw that defective printer. Printer manufacturer have trade-in promos yearly and you can save thousands by trading-in your old defective printer.

We were struck with two brownouts yesterday in the office. Rather than wait it out and distrupt our work schedule, I decided to call Meralco’s call center number, 16211.

As with other big companies, its an autmated system that greets you when you call Meralco. The good thing about browout inquiry is that the system can accurately provide the time when electricity will be restored. In the first inquiry, the system notified of an emergency line problem and that service should be back by 2pm. Electricity returned a little past 1pm.

In the next brownout, I called a few minutes after experiencing the outage. The system then gave a notice that service will be back at 3:30pm or 30 minutes after. Service returned at 3:20pm.  

In both instances, it was good for me to know when electricity would be back so we can adjust our work activities. Great service Meralco for this system!

Note: you need to have your service identification number ready to use their automated system.

There is a preoliferation of Internet based investments schemes offering high interest rates. More popularly known as high yield investment programs (HYIP), a high percentage of this investment schemes are meant to fool the unsuspecting public.

Take the case of Francswiss.com. Francswiss offered $45 a day for an investment of $1,000. That’s a 4.5% interest a day. This program provided a referal fee of 10% to any member that can bring in a new member. Because of this referal program, Francswiss managed to lure a lot of investors.

In the beginning, investors are able to get the interest. Several would even testify that they were able to get their money back with the complete interest. However, after the discovery of their schemes, the late comers are left empty handed.

Money does not grow on trees. Beware of investments programs that are too good to be true.