CHRONICLES OF OUR PRE-RETIREMENT - Epi. 5

 Hello y'all!  We're in the middle of summer and if you are in the Midwest you know how hot it gets, but I can't complain.  We have had really nice temperatures for the past weeks and cooler temps during the night.  I chuckle when Evergy messaged me 3 weeks ago telling me we were poised to have a 64% increase in our electric usage.  But last week I received another message from them congratulating me for using less energy the week before.  Well, that's because of the nicer temps we have had up until last week.  But this week's forecast looks like it's going to be a scorcher and I felt it yesterday and today. It's like being in the hot oven getting out of church and into the parking lot.  Whew!  Oh well, this is Kansas, after all.  So the order of the day this week would be stay indoors if possible.

Before school started JJ and I have been doing our morning walks up and down the hilly part of our neighborhood and I noticed two houses with for sale signs.  One was only in the market for 3 days and it got sold, the other was only on the market for a week and it too got sold.  I thought I must work on getting our house ready for the market but then Mike and I decided we'll hold off and wait until the end of the year before we put our house up for sale.

Well just this last week, I noticed another house just four houses down from our street had a for sale sign up and it had a sold sign on it.  I didn't even notice that this house had a for sale sign in it and when I checked it out it was only listed for a couple of days and it got sold already.  Another house on the same street further down on the corner had a contract pending on its sign.  I know this house had been on the market for more than a month because JJ and I walk past it during our morning walks. I told Mike I'll go ahead and get our house ready for the market by October/November and he agrees.  I believe we should do it before the Feds increase the interest rate again and besides that, the prices of housing have really almost doubled up which means we get more money for our house.

So since the forecast for the coming week is high temps, I'll work on the basement and get it ready for painting and also I have to gather the necessary documents for Mike and JJ's 13a visa applications.  I have lots of copying to do and sorting these documents.  I've printed the checklist of paperwork that needs to be submitted to the Philippine Consulate Office and found out I'd better start working on these now instead of later.  Oh by the way, I do have a video where I talked about 13A visa for Mike and JJ and you can watch it here if you like:

Well, that's it for now my beautiful people.  Y'all stay away from the heat, drink plenty of water, make sure you have water with you when you are out and about.  May the Lord keep us in our comings and goings for in Him alone we live and breath.  SHALOM!!

CHRONICLES OF OUR PRE-RETIREMENT Epi. 4

Hello lovely people!  Well, JJ has started school this week and can you believe almost two weeks have come and gone for the month of August already?  Have you noticed the days zip by so fast these days and before we know it Fall will be here.

In preparation for our move to the Philippines, we have to figure out what kind of visas Mike and JJ need for them to be able to move and live, and in JJ's case study, in the Philippines.  In my research I found two options for them:

A.  The SRRV (Special Resident Retiree's Visa) is a special non-immigrant visa for foreign nationals who would like to make the Philippines their home and the benefits are:

1.Indefinite stay with multiple entry/exit privileges;

2. Exemption from:

    - Bureau of Immigration ACR-I Card (annual reporting);

    - Custom duties and taxes for one time importation of household goods and personal 

       effects worth up to $7,000.00;

    - Tax from pension and annuities;

    - Travel tax if retiree has not stayed for more than one year from last date of entry;

    - Student Visa/Study Permit.

3. Access to the greet and assist program at selected Philippine airport;

4. Free subscription to the PRA newsletter;

5. Discount privileges from PRA accredited merchant partners;

6.Free assistance in transacting with other government agencies;

7. Entitlement to PHILHEALTH benefits and privileges.

There are 5 options offered in this kind of Visa program and we are interested in Option #5 but upon further investigation we decided not to do the SRRV program.  I just made a video about this and the reason why.  You can watch it below:

Well it looks like we are going to start gathering paperwork for 13A visa instead.  We've done this before so it should not be hard.  I know it entails going to the Philippine Consulate General in Chicago, which I am not so excited about considering what is going on around Chicago but it needs to be done. 

And that's it for now my dearest friends.  Have a great weekend and I will see you on our next episode.  May the Lord keep us in our comings and goings for in Him alone we live and breath.  To Him be the glory!

CHRONICLES OF OUR PRE-RETIREMENT - Epi. 3

 Hi y'all!!  We turn another page of our calendar and it's August which means we are at the end of summer.  And for us it means we are 5 months or 23 weeks away from when Michael says goodbye to his work to retire.  Actually he keeps pointing out to me that he is not retiring in 5 months but he is quitting his job in 5 months.  And he is right.  He doesn't turn 62 (his target date to retire) until next year but it really doesn't make any difference.  Quitting, retiring, they both means you stop working, right?  So having mentioned that, we will be working on our house to get it ready for the market then, so we would still be working although not for someone else.

Well, I've been dreaming of building a "payag" next to our house in the Philippines.  I wanted to have it built last year when JJ and I were there but since I wasn't sure then when we might be back, I decided against it.  A "payag" by the way is a Filipino term for gazebo, except a "payag" has a place to cook and a place to take naps and it's even used as a place to sleep at night if you have family or friends visiting.  It's also a good place to lounge and hang out during the hot season.  We decided that in our "payag" we will have a sink, a place for cooking/grilling and a place for our "pugon" or earth oven.  The other part of the structure will be open with counter the length of the open space with bar stools so we have a place to eat or enjoy halo-halo on a warm afternoon weekend.

Speaking of halo-halo, we are having one every other night.  If you are curious what it is I made a video while I was making it.  It's so good and very refreshing.  You can watch it below:

  

So there you go lovely people.  I know I'm just rambling here but if you want halo-halo, message me and I will be more than happy to prepare one for you.  Until next time may the Lord keeps us all in His care for in Him alone we live and breath....SHALOM!!!