Credit Card Daily Periodic Rate Calculator

Ever wonder how much interest you would be racking up for each day that you are late in paying your credit card bills? Well, wonder no more. This calculator will help shed the light on the matter.

I punched in the figures for my outstanding bill amount (and yes, I was late paying my credit card bill this month) and after punching in the figures, and seeing how much I owed the bank with each day that I am late, I was motivated to get out there as soon as possible to pay the bill! Why let the bank make money out of me (with an 18% interest rate slapped on credit card debt, banks are getting a return that is way higher than what they can get in the stock market!).

Anyway, I just found this calculator to be a nifty tool to get me motivated to not be late in paying my credit card bills.

Season Parking Deposit

I finally got my deposit back for the season parking card last Saturday :) It's been almost a year now since I left that place and should have claimed my deposit back a lllooonnggg time ago but never got around to doing it until earlier this year. I've got cash!!! 

How to be a Property Goddess by Smita Talati

This is a guide for women who want to be home owners. It covers all aspects of home ownership from buying and home maintenance to selling, investing and renting homes. 

Put More Cash in Your Pocket by Loral Langemeier

This book is about making more money by doing things that you already are doing (but most probably aren't charging for). It lists possible money making ventures and goes about showing you the steps that you have to consider such as the resources that you have or will need for your venture, your personality, deciding how much money you need to make in a month, how much time it will take for you to receive your first payment, testing the market, replicating and duplicating a business model that is already out there (as this implies that there is a ready market out there wanting what you have to offer), five key distinctions about your venture that makes you stand out in the market, your talk track where you describe your venture in a sentence or two and even the ask-for-the-cash talk track when you need to ask for payment.

This is a fantastic book for anyone thinking of doing some freelance work on the side to generate more income.   

Pay It Down! by Jean Chatzky

In this book, Jean Chatsky shares her advice on how to track your spending, strategies of finding money so that you can pay off your debts and then build your savings after you've managed to successfully pay off all of your debts all on just $10 a day. 

I found this book in the latest Big Bad Wolf Sale and  purchased it because I have read a book written by Jean before and I wanted to see if I could gain any real down to earth ideas about thinking about money. 

The Automatic Millionaire by David Bach

I've been reading a load of books ever since carting back loads of books from the most recent Big Bad Wolf Sale. I haven't been doing a great job at updating my blog with reviews of the books that I've read though...

So, I hope to play catch up with my book reviews within the next few weeks. So here goes...

The Automatic Millionaire presents you with the idea of a financial plan that is automated, one that you can forget about once you have set it in place.

I like the idea how this book presents the idea that you can even make giving to charity (something that is often overlooked when making financial plans) automatic (apart from the other obvious aspects of financial planning that you should automate such as you retirement plan, savings cushion for a rainy day, home ownership and paying off debts).

Paying Me

This is what I do nowadays: for everything that I save when I shop or when I get a service done which I would otherwise have to pay someone else to do (i.e. manicure, pedicure, hair color, etc), I put the amount that I saved away into my savings account. In that way, I'll not only be buying things on discounts but I'll also be building up my savings at the same time.  

Buying Stuff on Sale

How many times have you bought something that you didn't even know you wanted before you saw it on sale at the store? I know that I have been guilty of the crime one too many times.

Buying things that you want and need on sale makes a lot of sense and yes, you're saving bucks. On the other hand.  buying things that you don't really need just because the price has just been slashed 50% doesn't make sense --- that would only mean that you spent money on something that you didn't even know that you needed before you set foot into the store.

Be aware of what's going on when you step foot into a mall or a store. Millions of money are spent researching the psychology of spending. There is a reason why stores are such comfortable places to be in --- they try to keep you there as long as they can. Remember, the longer you're in the store, the more likely you are to spend money on things that you don't really need.

The solution? Make a list of the things that you want. If there's any new product that you want to research on before buying, go to the store during a normal day when there isn't a sale (you're less likely to spend minus a price discount). Make your decision and then walk out of the store and wait for the next sale (in Malaysia, sales are often, so you wouldn't have to wait too long for the next one). Sometimes, if it's something you really didn't care about very much for in the very first place, you might even forget about wanting it at all in the very first place (yay! money saved!). If you still decide to make the purchase when the next sale rolls around, remember, anything not on your list shouldn't be purchased no matter how good a deal it is.

I normally go shopping to do my research on new products that I want to purchase during normal days. I have to make sure that I've done enough research before I purchase anything so that I won't be cluttering my home with things that don't work for me.

Recently, I've been going to drugstores to try out anti-aging serum testers. I know that I want to buy an anti-aging serum as my current serum looks like it will last me another month or so. Since there are so many brands and products out there, I'm using this time to do my research and make my decision. When the next sale comes around, I'll be ready to purchase the product that I want.

One thing to note: The product that I'll be buying may not be the cheapest on the market. The cheapest product may not be the best product (nobody wants premature wrinkles.... hey, nobody wants wrinkles, period!) as I'm making an investment on my skin and how I look (yes, vain thought, I know!). This will be a long term investment in me!!! Why wait for a sale, you ask? Well, that will be when I'll be purchasing a product of value and one that I need at a lower price and thus saving money! 

Online Savings Account

Maybank's m2u Savers account is an online savings account that allows you to earn higher interest rates (2.1% - 2.3% per annum) compared to the conventional savings account (0.15% - 1.4% per annum).

It's easy to open an m2u Savers account if you're already a maybank2u user. You open the m2u Savers account through your existing maybank2u.com account. It took me no more than 3 minutes to set up my account (honest!) and you will see your new account in your next log in on the maybank2u.com website which is great! (Yes, I actually logged out and back in again to check that (1) the new m2u Savers account had been created and (2) that the amount that I transferred from my existing savings account is registered on my new m2u Savers account).

The new m2u Savers account that you set up is linked to your other existing savings/ current/ credit cards maybank accounts. It is also linked to your existing ATM card. 

The minimum deposit amount to open a m2u Savers account is RM250. RM250 is also the minimum amount of money that you must have in your account to keep it going.

In order to earn high interest rates, you need to have at least RM2000 in your m2u Savers account. The interest rates that you will earn is as follows:

RM2000 - RM 50000     2.1% per annum

Above RM50000            2.3% per annum

The interest is calculated on a daily basis and is credited into your account on a monthly basis. I'll be looking out for my first interest credit at the end of the month.

Keep in mind that Maybank is offering this high interest rate as this is an online banking account which means that you are not supposed to utilise the bank's over the counter services as all of your banking will be conducted via their ATM/ Check Deposit/ Cash Deposit machines. 

Maybank will impose a RM5.00  fee for the following over the counter services:

Withdrawals of less that RM5000

GIRO transactions of less than RM5000

Fund transfers of less than RM5000

In short, any transaction shy of RM5000 DON'T do it over the counter at the bank! Go use the machines!

The RM5 fee, however, will be waived if the transaction that you need to conduct amounts to RM5000 or more.

Should you not be impressed with the m2u Savers account after you have opened the account, keep in mind that a RM20.00 charge will be imposed should you want to close the account within 3 months of opening it.

Make Money Not Excuses by Jean Chatzky

This is another book which I picked up at the last Big Bad Wolf warehouse sale.

This is a personal finance book written by a woman for women. Most women make excuses as to why they are not actively involved in the management of their money and what this book does is tell women to stop being passive and start taking an active interest in managing their money.

This book is full of financial advice that are do-able. She gives a breakdown on how you should funnel your expenses according to the various expense categories:
Housing               35%
Saving                 10%
Living                  25%
Transportation     15%
Debt Repayment   15%

Housing includes not just the mortgage payment for your home but also the cost of living there such as taxes, insurance, utilities and repairs.

Living expenses include things like clothing, food, donations, entertainment, gifts, travel, etc.

Transportation includes not just payment for your wheels but also gas, insurance and maintenance.

Debt Repayment are payments for debt which don't include payment for your home or your car.

There are also maps to a million throughout this book that illustrates how much you'd earn if you put in a certain amount of money away to invest each month and shows what the amount will be in 10, 20, 30 and 40 years' time.

For example, if you could save $10 a day, which is $70 a week, and you put it away to invest at 8 percent, it would be 55,615 in 10 years, 179,062 in 20 years, $453,069 in 30 years and $1,061,266 in 40 years. Amazing, huh?

I'm inspired to save!!!

And oh, by the way, she has a website (click on the link) where you'll be able to find more money advice.

I Will Teach You to be Rich by Ramit Sethi

To be honest, I had absolutely NO idea who Ramit Sethi was when I purchased this book. I only discovered that he's big in the US when I visited his website and youtube and found a bunch of his video clips which were aired on TV in the US.

This is a book which I stumbled upon in the last Big Bad Wolf Warehouse sale. I'm really glad I purchased it.

Okay, the title of the book is kinda corny, but the RICH in the title has more to do about having enough $$$ to lead a rich life doing what you love instead to being RICH in just the monetary sense.

This personal finance book explains in simple terms many things I didn't know before reading the book --- the difference between mutual funds, index funds, lifecycle funds, stocks and bonds, the importance of diversification, asset allocation, dollar cost averaging, etc.

He also offers a lot of common sense advice (but as you and I both know, common sense is not so common anymore) such as why you should have a credit card (it's not all bad, as many people think), the importance of having your investment portfolio diversified and typical asset allocations by age.

He even gives you a script for what to say when you call up your credit card company to negotiate with them for a late fee waiver (note: this is only if you've been paying your bills on time and have missed a due date once and not for repeat offenders!).

He also asks, "How you're going to spend your next $100?" --- now that's a question that forces me to think about how I've been spending my money and how I would like to change my spending habits to include my plans for my future.

I particularly loved the way all the information was presented in the book which made it enjoyable to read and not dry like most of the other personal finance books out there. This is a must have personal finance book if you're clueless.

Here's the first chapter of this book which is entitled Optimize Your Credit Cards (click on the link) which you can download FREE!!! My guess is that you'll be hooked once you've read the first chapter and will want to purchase the book.

Have you really SAVED anything lately???

Here's an interesting thought --- a savings in not a savings until you actually SAVE it!!!

You know how most people say they saved X dollars when they purchased something during a sale? Well, here's an interesting thought --- it isn't a savings until you actually put the money that you "saved" away into a savings/ investment/ retirement account.

Otherwise, you didn't save anything. You only paid less for the item!

With that thought in mind, I'm putting the RM180 that I would have otherwise paid towards my annual fee credit card into my investment account (for those of you who are unaware read this post).

So... have you really saved anything lately???

Free Annual Fee Credit Cards

Remember my earlier post about the Maybankard 2 credit cards (click on the link if you haven't read it --- What do you mean you haven't read it yet??? Just kidding!) which are free from annual fees and which, at the moment, are offering the lowest APR (annual percentage rate --- fancy term for what is otherwise known as yearly interest rate)? Well, I just received a phone call yesterday afternoon informing me that my credit cards are ready for collection.

Now I'm going to cancel my annual fee card credit card and that saves me RM180 a year (yes, that's the insane amount of money I have been paying my bank for generating business for them by using my credit card!!!).

What have you done to reduce your expenses?

Tracking my daily expenses

I've recently downloaded a free personal budget template from Google docs and have been tracking my spending habits since the beginning of April.

I'm curious to see what I have been spending my money on and I'd like to see if there are areas that I can cut back on (I'm sure there are!!!). Many times we think that we spent x when in reality, we spent x+30. It's easy to fool ourselves when we don't really know what our outgoings are.

I've set myself a daily budget and try to stick to it as best as I can (I'm not always successful I must admit!).

So far, since I began tracking my expenses, there have been two occasions that I have impulse shopped --- something that I am guilty of time and time again. I just can't resist the four-letter-word --- SALE!!!

I don't know why I buy more of the same things that I KNOW I already have... While there are days that I cave in the minute I see something I want on sale, most other days I am pretty good and am able to walk away from a sale, telling myself that if I really want it, can't get it out of my head 3 days down the road, I'll go back to the store and make the purchase. I'm happy to say that on most occasions, I'd have forgotten about the "must have" item by the time I get home :) 

the best credit card deal in town at the moment

I've got a Maybank credit card account that charges me a annual fee which I'm not too happy about. Although I've got nothing on it, i don't want to close the account.  However, I'd rather not pay the annual fee charges (it's bad enough that we have to pay the RM50 service tax on each of our credit cards as required by the goverment).

I've been doing some research on credit card deals and found that the Maybankard 2 cards gives you the best deal at the moment.

These cards come in platinum as well as gold. You get two cards when you sign up : an American Express and a choice of a Mastercard or Visa.

These are offer a lifetime free waiver of annual fees and the current finance charge is only 8.88% per annum which is the lowest finance charged offered in the current market.

You pay only RM50 service tax for BOTH cards instead of RM50 for each card.

On top of that, you get 5% cash back when use your American Express card during the weekends.  There is a limit to the cash back that you can earn though --- it's only up to RM50, but still, it is still savings and it all adds up.

If you're into point collecting, the Maybankard 2 American Express card rewards you with 5X the retail purchase amount spent on the card.

I'm all for saving money and if i can get the same services from the same bank for less money, why not?

I'm kissing my annual fee credit card goodbye and hello, Maybankard 2 cards!!!