Laughter is Indeed the Best Medicine

I couldn’t agree with that more! I have been sick for days now. It started with feeling cold even if the weather was perfectly fine and then some aching pains in my back. And two days ago, I had migraine attacks. I can take the backaches and the flu but no way will I be able to handle migraines. The headache which just won’t go away kills me. By the way, add to that tonsillitis. I did eat chocolates and a lot of dairy a couple of days back. In short, I’m having a hell of a time the past couple of nights. I couldn’t sleep well and I would usually wake up in the middle of the night and had to wake my grandma just to ask for some pain reliever.

I couldn’t concentrate on my work and I’m just being a little crappy because of all these misfortunes I have to go through. I’m not invincible after all. I’m easily irritated and pissed and I tend to shout at my siblings with just one mistake. That was really terrible. Also, I seem to have lost some appetite which is very unlike me but at least that’s one good effect of being sick. (I’ve been trying to go on a diet for the longest time but I just wasn’t able to really do it.) But the worst effect of being sick is that I cannot read at night (which I always do before I sleep) because when I do, my head would start to throb and I know I just cannot take that.

But tonight, I was able to read again after a couple of days off the bookshelves. In fact, I just finished reading Lee Iacocca’s autobiography (Truly, a great man!). I’ve also started reading Charle’s Schwab Guide to Financial Independence which I bought for only 10 pesos (around 22 cents) at Book Sale. What a good night it has been for me. All thanks for my six best friends, Chandler, Monica, Rachel, Phoebe, Ross and Joey. Oh yeah, I’ve been watching reruns of FRIENDS today and they just made my day. The show just never fails to crack me up even if I’ve watch it several times already.

And that’s why I say, laughter is the best medicine. I’ve taken up a lot of medicines and I worry whether my kidneys would be able to handle them. Those medicines were really helpful but it did not completely relieve me of the pain and the discomfort. Only after watching some of my favorite FRIENDS episodes did I feel so good and up again. The headaches’ gone and I’m very thankful for that. Although there’s still some hint of tonsillitis but a couple more meds would surely kill it off.

I’ve always believed that laughter is the best medicine but today, I have proven that it really is.

I got paid from Ciao!

I love Ciao! It’s one of the best GPT (get-paid-to) program online. I got my first online payment from this site. With Ciao, I know that my efforts are all worth it.

Ciao is a site where you get paid for reviewing products they have listed in the site. You can review all sorts of stuff from movies, appliances, cell phones, camera, cosmetics and more. They also have a special section called ciao cafe where you can write about life and their special topics. And if you love to write, ciao has a lot in store for you.

But more than earnings, ciao provides a good community for the members where other reviewers can rate your work and leave comments. Some authors would even help you become better at what you do.

Ciao used to pay $1 per review and reviews should be at least 120 words but after sometime they reduce the rate to 0.25 cents. But today, they are not paying per review anymore but they will be paying at the end of the month if your reviews are good enough and gets included in the Premium.

I have not been active there for quite a while not but ciao is still a good site espcially if you’re a good writer. The minimum payout is just $5 and it’s sent via paypal. Here’s one of the payment from the site:

Join the Ciao community and earn now, just click the banner:

Thanks to Unionbank EON Debit Card!

As of January 24, 2009 (PHT Time), my paypal personal account is officially verified.

After waiting for 32 days, I am happy and satisfied that all the wait was worth it. I can finally withdraw my funds from my paypal account to my bank account. Yey!

All thanks to Unionbank’s EON Debit Card. It was not an easy 32 days though. Imagine waiting that long before I can cash out my online earnings. Really wasn’t easy. Add to that the poor service of the personnels at the branch I applied for.

Anyways, if you’re planning to open an EON account,  let me share with you my experience and I hope you can learn a thing or two and you’d be spared from all the hassles that goes with it.

• December 23, 2008 – I applied directly at the nearest Unionbank branch. It took me around 20-30 minutes because I have to wait for the personnel to be available. Filling up the one-page form will just take 5 minutes or less though.
• January 5, 2009 – I paid the bank a visit again to claim my EON card. To my dismay, my card was not available yet at that time and the girl said that I have to wait 10 banking days from day of application. The problem is they did not tell me that when I applied. They just said to come back January.  And considering that I have to travel a 2-hour drive just to get to the bank, I was really pissed.
• January 19, 2009 – I wanted to make sure so I went back two weeks after. Now, that’s more than 10 banking days. Surely, my card would be ready by then and thankfully, it was. (Before you go home, change your password first because you cannot do that on line.) As soon as I got home, I immediately linked my EON card to my paypal account and I’m one step closer to being a verified paypal user. I also enrolled my EON account to their online service at www.unionbankph.com.
• January 24, 2009 – After trying several times, I was able to log in to my online EON account and I was able to get the EXPUSE  number that paypal needs for the confirmation of my card.

Here are some more tips to make it easier for you:

1. Do your homework. Check out the requirements for the application of the EON account at the Unionbank site.
2. Have a photocopy of your 2 IDs beore going to the bank to apply.
3. After you have applied, wait for 10 banking days then call the branch (to make sure) if your card is ready.
4. Once you have your card, deposit at least Php100 in your EON account because paypal deducts $1.95 (more or less Php95). But don’t worry, paypal will give you back the money once you confirm your card.
5. Enroll your EON account online. Visit Unionbank site.
6. They said that your online account will be activated 48 hours after but don’t believe them. It took me five days before I can log-in successfully.
7. Now, get your EXPUSE number and confirm your card. See example below.

Now, you can verify your paypal account even if you don’t have  a credit card.  All you need is an EON Debit Card.

I got paid from Review Stream

If you love to write and if you want to get paid for it, then you should know about Review Stream.

It’s a great place for writers where you can submit reviews of almost every consumer product you use. You can write just about everything and anything from movies, restaurants, electronics, books, cars, and more.

The current rate for every review is $2. Yes, that’s right. You get paid $2 if you meet Review Stream’s criteria. On one hand, if your reviews fell short, you can opt to choose the bulk rate which is worth 0.40 cents per review. Still not bad, right?

The key thing to remember is to write reviews that are specific and discusses your experience about the product. Your reviews just need to have a least 200 words or if you’re the chatty type, you can write as much as you want. There’s no limit to the number of reviews you can submit everyday.

After 72 hours, you will get a confirmation in your email of how much your review is worth. Always remember to tick the bulk rate, okay?

The minimum payout is $50 and they pay via paypal. When I finally reached the payout after a month and a week, I got the payment the same I requested for it.

Here’s my Review Stream payment proof:

I got paid from Slice the Pie

Slice the Pie is my number one money making site. After a month and a couple of weeks, I have earned over £170.87 [around $239.18] with STP. But more than the earnings, STP hold a special place in my heart because I enjoy what I do and I get paid for it.

Slice the Pie is a place for aspiring artists who want to share their music to the world and for music lovers and fans who just want to hear “a piece of the music industry”. If you’re an artist, you can upload your tracks and let thousands of music fans hear it and critic it. While fans are typically called scouts and they get paid for giving constructive and helpful reviews for thousands of tracks in the scout room.

I am a proud STP scout. If you want to be one too, here’s how to do it:

1. Of course, you need to sign up for a free account at Slice the Pie. It will take no more than a couple of minutes to do that.
2. Once you already have an account, you can now start scouting tracks in the scout room. Just click the SCOUT tab and it will direct you to the scout room.
3. That’s it. You can review as many tracks as you can. And the more reviews you make, the more you earn.

The current rate for STP earnings are as follows:

1* : v0.01

2* : £0.03

3* : £0.05

4* : £0.07

5* : £0.10

The minimum payout is £5 and the payments are sent via paypal. After requesting for payout, you will receive the money after a day or two. The maximum day to wait is 4 days but for me, I never have to wait that long.

Here’s my latest STP payment proof and scouting profile:

My scouting profile as of January 22, 2008

One of my STP payment proofs. I still have more!