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?

Budgeting: The Envelope System

Here's something that I used to do many, many years ago. I learned this from a friend who I saw practised it (that was how I learned --- by watching).

In the beginning of every month, I would label a few recycled envelopes (earth friendly!) the categories of money in my budget such as travel, fuel, food, clothes, etc. Then, in each envelope, I would put in the amount of money that I had budgeted for each category for the month.

Each time I wanted to buy or had to pay for something, I would take out the required amount from the envelope. When I had extras in the envelope at the end of the month, I would take that money out and save it.

It's a wonderful simple system that puts you in touch with reality if you want to keep track of your spending because when the money's gone in the envelope, it's gone. It gives you an honest reality check about your spending habits.

Dealing out cash makes it more intimate as opposed using credit cards which tend to feel like nothing much when you're paying at the point of sales and not only that, you tend to overspend with credit cards because there isn't a reminder of what the limit for your spending is for the month unlike the cash in envelope where you can see your depleting money levels.

Try it, and you'll be surprised at how much more careful you are with your cash.

   

The Song of Silver Frond by Catherine Lim

This is yet another one of the books that I finished reading weeks ago but am a little behind in chronicling about it here. 

This is a rare and different sort of love story but it's a love story nonetheless. 

The story is set in Singapore and it is about a wealthy old man (who already has 3 wives, many children and grand children) who falls in love with a child-woman egg seller. He is old enough to be her grandfather and she was playing with homemade dolls when he met her.

This couple has hurdles to overcome, hurdles set by tradition, religion and society.   

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 :) 

a great bargain site

i love bargain hunting and am always looking out for a good deal.

WeBUY is great group buying website that lets you enjoy services and experiences without having to spend too much money. In fact the prices offered on the site are 50% - 90% off the normal retail prices.

The bargains include restaurants, fashion, hotels, spas, travel packages, go karting lessons, entertainment, etc.

There is a time limit for each bargain offered (there is a clock on the page below the bargain which will tell you how much time is left for you to act to buy the bargain). When you see something you like, just click on the "buy" button. The bargain will only be activated if the minimum numbers of buyers is reached.

Buyers will only be charged if the deal is activated. You will not be charged for deals that aren't activated due to insufficient responses from other buyers.

I just purchased a full set of high tea with pastry lunch which comes with a further RM5 voucher for the next visit at The Tea Republic for only RM11 (yup, hard to believe considering that it is located in the Bangsar Shopping Centre).

I've never been to The Tea Republic and I figured that RM11 is a small price to pay to sample the food, atmosphere and services offered there.

WeBuy is currently running The RM203,000 WeBUY Community Giveaway Project  where every person matters as they are offering cash giveaways to be credited into your cash wallets if the number people who buy the deal (which is on 100% discount --- yes, it costs you ABSOLUTELY NOTHING --- it's FREE!!!). This system is based on breaking a number of tiers in order to activate the cash giveaways as more and more people "buy" the deal.

At the present moment as I'm writing, 1572 people have bought the deal which means that the RM5 tier has already been unlocked. As more and more people buy the deal, more money monetary tiers will be unlocked resulting in more money in our respective cash wallets. The number of people targetted to sign up for the deal is 10, 000 which will unlock the maximum tier which will get us all RM20 credited in our cash wallets. There are still 57 days 16 hours 29 minutes and 13 seconds to go as I write this post.

Do yourself a favour and sign up today!

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!!!

hanging up by delia ephron

i found this book (which i had already finished reading) under a pile of other book which i have yet to read on my bed (yes, there is a pile of books on one side of my bed).  it's another one of my bookcrossing finds.    

this is another book which i purchased at the last big bad wolf warehouse sale.  it's another werewolf/ human love story (kinda along the same lines as the twilight series).

EVERYBODY has a facebook account!

and so everybody, and i mean EVERYBODY i know has a facebook account (my non-happening sis in Perth included!!!).  i guess i must be one of the very few without a facebook account in this day and age!!!

Nitro PDF Reader

have you ever had to fill out a form you got online that was in PDF format?  what i've been doing in the past was printing out the PDF file and then filling the form in by hand which was a hassle since i didn't have the full blown Adobe PDF program.

i just discovered this really cool program, Nitro PDF Reader, that allows you to do a lot of things that Adobe's PDF Reader doesn't.

The Nitro PDF reader allows you to not only read PDF files but also to fill in forms (i really need that), use your own handwritten signature on those forms (so you no longer have to print out the forms and then have to sign on them with a pen the old fashioned way), allows you to make notes on PDF documents, highlight points as you read and even make notes on them!  these are not only great as collaboration tools but also great studying tools for students (i know i would have appreciated having a program like this when i was doing my masters).

it also lets you convert files of other formats into PDF (according to the website, you can convert from 300 different formats).  it also allows you to copy information from a PDF document and place it onto any other document.

it's compatible with Adobe PDF and best of all, it's FREE!!!  :) 

a beautiful quote

i found this on the net:

"Work like you don't need the money
Dance like no one is watching
Love like you've never been hurt
Sing as if no one is listening
And live every day as if it were your last"

learning

if it weren't for the recent turn of events, i wouldn't have:

1. learned to use photoshop (no kidding!!!)
2. learned to use illustrator(ditto!)
3. spent much time thinking about design
4. leaned about vimeo and the great movies that people out there are making
5. had time to design my own logo, blog heading and lots of other things
6. had time (and energy) to rediscover yoga
7. had time (and energy) to do workouts
8. discovered audio books library

i have to thank the people who have generously contributed tutorials on youtube for the first two items on my list. i have been enlightened because of them.  thank God for social media!  :)

something new

i learned how vehicle wraps are done. totally enlightening for someone so clueless about such things!  thanks youtube!

the heart of success by rob parsons

this is another book that i purchased in the latest big bag wolf's warehouse sale last year. this book keeps you grounded on what's REALLY important and how to be a human being in business.

the outcast by sadie jones

i bought this book in the last big bad wolf warehouse sale (last year).  it's a sad story about a boy who grew up in a small town being the outcast.  it is about perception that people have of each other and how they don't want to see things for what they are as the truth is often not pretty.  

podionovels

i just discovered this really great site for FREE podionovels.  

i'm currently listening to Shadowmagic by John Lenahan. give it a go, you might find a book on the site that you will enjoy.

the money secret by rob parsons

i purchased this book in the last big bad wolf sale (last year --- yup, i'm still plowing through my purchases from that sale and fishing out something to read from that lot when i feel like something of a certain genre to read).

it's a simple enough book to read about money management. 

reflections

there was a time when i used to be so nervous about work, not because i didn't know that i was good at it, but because the guy who owned the business was into looking for faults in all of us who worked there.  he would take a harmless comment from a student and misconstrue it and turn it into a witch hunt.

it's hard to relax, when you're constantly worrying that you're going to get into trouble just because a student doesn't like you and complains about you to him.  i have spent time worrying about things that i shouldn't even be thinking about.

i used to wonder why the only other staff who had been working there before i joined the company had only been there for a year longer than me.  "what happened to the rest", i wondered.  i saw a long list of phone numbers belonging to staff who used to work there (and who have since left) on the wall of his office.  many on the list, didn't last more than 6 months.

since i joined that place, i had seen many come and go and yes, true to form, many didn't last more than 6 months.  now, i know for a fact that if many people come and go and can't stick around for even 6 months, it's not them, it's the school that's making it impossible for them to work.  

the owner of the business, who in the beginning came across as a nice guy, started growing fangs by the day.  there were a lot of fault finding but never any real staff development was offered (which is strange for the trade that i am in).

he also cheated the customers --- something that i wasn't comfortable with.  they would sign up for a 6 month program and in the fourth month, the owner would inform the customer that they couldn't deliver the program as promised due to lack of student numbers for that level.  he would then go on to offer then a lesser program.  the customer has no choice but to accept what is offered as they have paid the school 6 months in advance when they signed up with the school.  

programs have also been known to be terminated mid session due to lack in student numbers.  

the owner engages the services of instructors based on their sex factor (yes, you read it right) and not on their ability to guide and facilitate learning.  he says that this is what the customers want.  word has it that in the evenings, he takes the sexy ones out for "drinks" (keep in mind that the man in question is 50 years old and comes with a wife and two kids).

here are a few things about the owner:

1. he doesn't come to work before lunch.

2. even when that happens, he leaves around 2pm for lunch.

3. his lunches are normally very long (usually more than an hour long).

4. he makes his appointments wait for him (and we're talking HOURS here and not minutes).

5. he is indecisive.

6. because he is indecisive, when he does finally get around to making a decision, he does it last minute which complicates the work situation as the session is already in progress and the students are not told ahead of time about the "new" rules of the game.

7. he comes in to work late to avoid having to deal with the students' complaints.

8. he doesn't know anything about the trade that he is in.

9. he holds grudges (you don't want to step on his tail!!!)

10. he micro manages when he should be macro managing.

11. he believes in working the teachers to the ground.

12. he makes teachers go in to work on saturdays (not half day but full day!) even when it is clear that there is nothing for them to do.

13. he has a thing for sweet sexy young things.

14. he takes very long tea breaks.

15. he often makes promises to the students which he doesn't deliver (100 contact hours have been reduced to a mere 30 contact hours).

16. when the students sign up with the school, they are not given a copy of the contract that they signed.

17. he is quick to blame the teachers when the students complain about the quality of teaching (and not the non-existent teacher development programs offered by the school).

18. he has favourites, his pets, who can do no wrong.

19. he just luurvveesss gossip.

20. he says things (not nice things) about you behind your back.

21. his meetings drag on and on and on for hours (no kidding).

22. his meetings have no agenda (which explains why they drag on for hours).

23. when he calls for a meeting, he is NEVER on time.

24. sometimes, staff have to wait for HOURS for him to appear.