A new level of Frugality

Source:http://malaysiapersonalfinance.blogspot.com/2011/10/new-level-of-frugality.html
Frugality in Kuala Lumpur has just gone one level deeper.  A saving of about $550 monthly, a 2 hours exercise sessions for FREE and an opportunity to explore natures within the city has just been proven recently with just ONE simple ACT !  As everything goes, there is some trade off or 'risk' too ...

Its Cycling To Work !

Mathew was a guy who suffers from a terrible 24.3% inflation in 2009.  After he started to follow this blog, he has learned a trick or two to keep things going smoother.  Today he is working as a top executive in a public company but situation hasn't changed much.  He is still in middle level income group.  After his 5 figures income divided by the number of people he has to support, his actual cash-at-hand per person monthly is much less than average personal income ie. $1,500.

Many staffs who worked for Mathew always complains about how tough their lives are and demand a salary increment without extra performance to the company ( while their single income is about $1,500 as well).  Mathew thinks it was obvious his staffs weren't educated well enough in personal finance so he decided to role model to show a point - live frugally.

He used to drive about an hour to work, commute about 22 km and then spent about $10+ for parking fee.  Now instead of doing all that, now

He cycles to work

After the decision was made, he first bought a huge term insurance to cover this temporary needs.  After all, he doesn't want his teaching to his staff to affect his even more important loves to his families.

Once the insurance is approved, he started cycling to work.  It wasn't easy.  He first followed his driving route.  It was dangerous as cars and motorbikes are cruising fast by, ignoring his existence.  But the good thing about cycling . . . is that its both a pedestrian and a driver.  So very soon he found a much shorter and safer path, only 12.1km instead of driving 22 km away.

It took him about one hour to cycle to work.  ( Above 2.5 hours was for walking time )  So practically this doesn't affect any of his schedule at all.  As a matter of fact, this improve the stability of his schedule.  Even when there is an unexpected traffic jam which would cause a normal 1 hour driving to 2-3 hours, his cycling time remains the same as 1 hour.

Mathew also lost 6-8kgs since then, has a much tougher built body now.  He used to pay a lot joining fitness centers etc. but never got the time to actually exercise because he is a workaholic.  Now he HAS TO exercise 2 hours a day.

Mathew also started a health diet to eat more veggie and fruits even before this cycling idea.  Thanks to this cycling exercise, his cycling route passed by a local market at Chow Kit ( one of the oldest and largest wet market in Kuala Lumpur ), he now manages to buy 5 star fruits for only $1, which fuel his breakfast and lunch.

There are much more indirect benefits he received since he started cycling to work.  But as everything goes, there must be some Cons that comes with the Pros. Should one accident happens during his cycling commute, it would most probably cost him his life.  While he was well aware of the risk, he took action to insure against that rick and he also find ways to improve his own skills and awareness to maximize his own safety.

There are quite a lot of tips and tricks he has developed since he cycles to work.  If you were moved by this article and wanted to try this too . . . be warn ahead, there is some risks involved.  Do spend some time to buy me a cup of coffee so I can share with you whatever those tips and tricks are so that you can minimize your risk and maximize your return / saving / investment.

	Driving	Cycling
Time	1 hour	1 hour
Petrol	$10 per day	$0
Parking	$5 - $10 per day	$0

I am just glad living frugally in a city like Kuala Lumpur has just gone one level deeper.  With tons of other extra benefits and with only ONE major risk that a person who really cares can mitigate easily with skills and experience.

Have you managed to find any innovative ways to cut your expenditure or increase your saving by 25% !?

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2012 Budget highlights

2011/10/07


KUALA LUMPUR: Following are the highlights of the 2012 Budget tabled by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who is also Finance Minister, at the Dewan Rakyat today:

* Government will introduce other transformation programmes, culminating in the National Transformation Policy, effective 2011-2020.
* RM232.8 billion allocated to implement all government development plans, focusing on the well-being of the rakyat, with RM181.6 billion for operating expenditure and RM51.2 billion for development expenditure.

* RM13.6 billion allocated to the social sector, including education, training, health, welfare, housing and community development.

* Government will implement a special stimulus package through private financing initiative, through which total projects amounting RM6 billion will be carried out.
* 2012 announced as the year of National Innovation Movement, with a RM100 million allocation to implement several strategic initiatives.

* RM50.2 billion for the education sector, with a development allocation of RM1.9 billion for the Education Ministry to be spent on all types of schools.

* RM1 billion to be provided through a special fund for the construction, improvement and maintenance of schools, particularly to cater to their immediate needs.
* Abolition of RM24.50 and RM33.50 for co-curriculum, internal test papers, Malaysian Schools Sports Council fees and insurance premium involving students in primary and secondary schools respectively, beginning the 2012 school year.

* Financial contributions from companies and individuals to upgrade school facilities to be eligible for tax deductions, to encourage more charitable activities.

* Existing National Agrobusiness Terminal (TEMAN) in Wakaf Che Yeh (Kelantan) and Gopeng (Perak) will be developed as Rural Transformation Centres pilot projects, with four more RTCs to be developed in Kedah, Johor, Sabah and Sarawak.

* Establishment of Professional Services Fund to encourage professionals such as lawyers, doctors and accountants to set up firms in small towns, with BSN providing RM100 million for soft loans with an interest of 4 per cent.

* RM110 million for the implementation of the Rural Mega Leap Programme covering 6,500 hectares in 11 Agropolitan Projects nationwide for the cultivation of commodity and cash crops as well as cage fish culture.

* RM140 million to implement RISDA's new planting and rubber re-planting programmes benefiting 20,000 smallholders.

* RM5 billion proposed to strengthen the development of rural basic infrastructure in a more comprehensive manner.

* RM500 million to continue implementing projects to upgrade basic infrastructure under "Projek Penyelenggaraan Infrastruktur Awam" and "Projek Infrastruktur Asas", providing opportunities for 29,000 Class F contractors registered with the Contractor Service Sector.

* RM50 million to expand rainwater harvesting programme to Sabah.

* RM400 million to upgrade water supply infrastructure in selected Felda areas, besides RM50 million to connect the reticulation system in estates to the main pipes.

* RM150 million to be provided to the Public Transport Development Fund in the SME Bank to enhance bus services for the rural community.

* RM90 million for the provision of basic necessities which includes expanding the clean water supply project as well as income generating programmes for the Orang Asli community.

* Introduction of the New Civil Service Remuneration Scheme (SBPA) to replace the current scheme.

* Improving the salary of civil servants through a single-tier structure with additional increments to enable civil servants to continue receiving annual increments over a longer period.

* Annual increment of civil servants to be increased between RM80 and RM320 according to their grades, beginning 2012. Those who opt for the SBPA will receive an annual increment of between 7 per cent and 13 per cent.

* With the implementation of SBPA, more than 600,000 government pensioners will benefit from a pension adjustment involving an allocation of RM600 million.

* Effective 2013, the government will implement an annual pension increment of 2 per cent without having to wait for any review of the remuneration system or salary adjustments.

* Extension of compulsory retirement age from 58 to 60 years old to optimise civil servants' contribution.

* Additional bonus of half-month salary with a minimum payment of RM500 for civil servants and an assistance of RM500 for government pensioners, to be paid together with December 2011 salary.

* RM120 million to offer 5,000 Masters and 500 doctoral scholarships for eligible civil servants, including teachers.

* The government will offer 20,000 places for diploma teachers to pursue undergraduate studies.

* A special one-off payment of RM3,000 to 4,300 individuals who have completed their contracts with the Department of Special Affairs (JASA) and Social Development Department (KEMAS).

* RM442 million for the development expenditure of the Royal Malaysia Police, including for police housing quarters, purchase of communication and technical equipment as well as upgrading of headquarters, stations and training centres.

* RM500 million to upgrade and maintain army camps and quarters nationwide under the Army Care programme.

* RM50 million for the introduction of a special programme to enable army personnel who retired with less than 21 years of service and are not eligible for pension, to venture into businesses and obtain jobs in the public and private sectors.

* A one-off payment of RM3,000 to each ex-member as well as widows and widowers of special constable and auxiliary police who served in protecting the country during the emergency era.

* Agriculture sector development allocated RM1.1 billion.

* Expansion of the scope of the Commercial Agriculture Fund to include innovative agriculture projects with an allocation of RM300 million.

* The government to continue providing subsidy to households with electricity bill of RM20 per month or less, benefiting 1 million households.

* Over RM1 billion for the 1Malaysia Rakyat's Welfare Programme (KAR1SMA) to assist, among others, poor senior citizens, poor children, disabled people. 500,000 people to benefit from KAR1SMA.

* Opening of 85 more Kedai Rakyat 1Malaysia with an allocation of RM40 million.

* Expansion of the My First Home Scheme with a proposal to increase the limit of house prices from a maximum of RM220,000 to RM400,000. Improved scheme will be available to housebuyers through joint loans of husband and wife beginning January 2012.

* RM443 million to build 8,000 units for sale and 7,000 units for rental under the Program Perumahan Rakyat (PPR).

* RM63 million to rehabilitate 1,270 abandoned houses. Another RM40 million to restore and maintain public and private low-cost housing.

* Establishment of the Special Housing Fund for Fishermen with an allocation of RM300 million.

* Health Ministry allocated RM15 billion for operating expenditure and RM1.8 billion for developing expenditure.

* Kuala Lumpur Hospital to be upgraded to be the country's premier hospital with an allocation of RM300 million, of which RM50 million to be spent for the construction of a new outpatient block.

* Budget taxi owners to be given 100 per cent excise duty and sales tax exemptions for the purchase of new locally-made taxis.

* Abolition of road tax on all individually owned budget taxis.

* Providing assistance of RM3,000 for the disposal of old taxis exceeding 7 years but less than 10 years, and RM1,000 for vehicles of 10 years and above.

* RM320 million to implement various activities involving young people.

* An additional 150 futsal courts to be built with an allocation of RM15 million to achieve the "One Court for One Mukim" target, as well as another RM50 million to build football fields with artificial turfs, equipped with flood lights, at 30 selected locations nationwide.

* From Jan 1, 2012, all senior citizens aged 60 and above to be exempted from paying outpatient registration fee at all government hospitals, health clinics including 1Malaysia clinics as well as government dental clinics. They will also be entitled to a 50 per cent discount on LRT and Monorail
fares.

* One-off cash assistance of RM500 to households with a monthly income of RM3,000 and below to reflect the government's commitment to reducing the impact of the increasing cost of living on the low-income group. RM1.8 billion allocated for this purpose.

* Schooling assistance of RM100 for all primary and secondary students from Year 1 to Form 5 nationwide, as well book voucher worth RM200 to all Malaysian students in public and private local institutions of higher learning, matriculation and Form 6 students.

* Helping intending haj pilgrims to register early for the haj by ring-fencing RM1,300 from Account 2 of EPF contributors for registration purposes.

-- BERNAMA


Read more: 2012 Budget highlights http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/2012Budgethighlights/Article/#ixzz1a6d8zfZI

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Tambahan bonus setengah bulan gaji untuk penjawat awam

Source: http://www.bharian.com.my/bharian/articles/Tambahanbonussetengahbulangajiuntukpenjawatawam/Article

2011/10/07

KUALA LUMPUR: Kakitangan kerajaan akan mendapat tambahan bonus setengah bulan gaji manakala pesara kerajaan akan menerima bayaran bantuan RM500.

Perkara ini diumumkan Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, dalam pembentangan Belanjawan 2012 di Dewan Rakyat sebentar tadi.

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Life after graduation: Girl friend and the First Car

Source:http://kclau.com/wealth-management/life-after-graduation/


This is a personal story shared by a reader. Let’s call him Alex.

I graduated in 2000 and get a job at IT Support in an international Australian branch university. The salary of RM1650 (not net pay) was barely enough. My dad so called “help me” to buy a brand new Kancil 850. First month it was free and second month I have to pay for it. All I wanted that time was a 2nd-hand car or I don’t mind at all to use public transport.

If I use public transport, it would take me two buses before I actually reached at home. Office hour finished at 5pm and arrived at home around 7.30pm. The place was like the end of Miri Town (about 45min from town).

The monthly instalment was RM587 for 5 years. Plus fuel consumption would cost me around RM250/RM300. I filled RM30/RM40 tank and can use it for 4days before refuelling again. Owning a car has teach me how to DIY almost all the basic car maintenance from changing Engine Oil to changing Air Filter. I managed to spend around RM1K or RM2K to make the car beautiful (ICE and body-kits). My determination to get a Japanese rim was too strong that I saved RM300 every month to get it. At last I ordered a 2nd hand Japanese rim for RM1800 complete with tires. I even skip my lunch for few times in a month and even “tapau” food (packed food) from home.

At the same time I was paying credits card that I don’t use. Why?? My GF used it for her NOKIA 6680. I pay for it for the name of love. My mistake!! It accumulated to RM3.8K because my GF never pay the minimum amount required. Luckily she got her scholarship to pay for it but again my useless money handling took over. I never fully settled it and only pay half of the total amount. And I keep using it for online purchase such as plane tickets and so on.

I occasionally paid my “PTPTipu” study loan. Sometimes RM200, sometimes RM50 and most of the time none! And I never received any letter or payment acknowledgment from PTPTN that time. I assumed they had lost the students’ list names.

One thing I did right was to pay myself first (RM300/RM200) once I received my salary.

Notes from KCLau:

As normal young graduates, getting a car had become more of a necessity if you are living in Malaysia. Public transport is available but it is many times more troublesome if you had to travel quite a distance to your work place.

I do agree with most people that car as a necessity, we as Malaysians are forced to spend a big chunk of our income on owing a car that makes it seems like a luxury item.

For the case of Alex above, he had to spend RM900 out of RM1650, which is more than 50% of his gross pay. This is without considering the extra he spent on beautifying his Kancil with accessories. The sad news is that Kancil is like the smallest car and also the cheapest new car one can get in Malaysia. Some foreigner said that it looks more like a toy car, which we can’t deny about it.

Since you can’t do much to change the car price, what you can do is to reduce the spending on cars based on the budget you can afford.

What do you think about this story? What does it remind you of? What do you think Alex can do to improve his financial standing? Write something in the comment section below.

Here is the Part II of Alex’s story:

I left the company after 3 years plus to join new IT company to implement new project in Sarawak. The basic pay was actually smaller from previous one but i get do OT regularly due to project implementations. That include on call duty at night and weekend. I also entitled to claim milleage to do site visit and maintenances. Roughly i earned about RM2600-RM2800 per month. I still continued to pay my car installments(5 years loan tenure) but i hardly spent money on car modification anymore. I saved a lot on fuel consumption because the office is nearer to my house and milleage claims.

I finally settled my credit card installment about a year after i joined the company. The card actually expired but i didnt bother to renew it. Then i started to pay my study loan regularly. Instead of paying minimum of RM192, i paid RM200. I dont changed my handphone to latest one in the market. Instead i repaired my own handphone;updating firmware and hard reset. I used it untill it died or cost of repair more expensive than the phone itself.

Instead of buying expensive phone, i look for “ordinary” CSL handphone. It served me well untill i forgot to take it out when i am doing my laundry. I rushed to buy RM110 Nokia phone when it happen. I promised myself to upgrade later when the time is right.

Fast forward my story, i changed another job to an International company almost two years after that. I thanked GOD for HIS blessings. Then i started to buy and read financial planning books. It was KC LAU’s book(cant remember the name though) then followed by others.

Early this year, i bought a landed property RM230K(property in Miri is expensive compare to other place in Sarawak). My 850 kancil still with me minus the installments. I am still living with my dad(my mum passed away last year) ,brother and little sister. I planned to rent out my house when it completed next year and keep staying with my dad. Our family house is double storey terrace house.

I already bought an investment linked insusrance for myself. On top of it i also used my EPF account 2 to buy some unit trusts. I was lucky to have cousin working with bank industry. Now i am trying to save 50% of my salary every month instead of 10%.

My principle is easy “if you cant afford to buy things cash, you cant afford to buy that thing at all”. Example, i saved some money for two months to buy my FIRST laptop(RM2K), though i am IT guy i never owned a laptop. My advise is buy AMD based laptop instead of INTEL. It will save you around 20% of the price.

Recently i purchased a second hand DSLR to pursuit my interest in photography. I owned a Canon EOS 350(film) when i was in university but i have to sell it because i cant afford to pay for the films(i shoot a lot but only handful of photos useable). I hope my photography skills will help me to pay for some bills later.

The best is to get a good cheap second hand DLSR and try it. If you dont like it, you can always sell it. Instead of buying an expensive DSLR but later you found out that you prefer “auto” settings or compact digital camera. Some good place to look for cheap second hand DSLR are lowyat.net and free trade zone photograph

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9 things you didn’t know about the life of Steve Jobs

Source:http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/technology-blog/8-things-didn-t-know-life-steve-jobs-172130955.html
For all of his years in the spotlight at the helm of Apple, Steve Jobs in many ways remains an inscrutable figure — even in his death. Fiercely private, Jobs concealed most specifics about his personal life, from his curious family life to the details of his battle with pancreatic cancer — a disease that ultimately claimed him on Wednesday, at the age of 56.

While the CEO and co-founder of Apple steered most interviews away from the public fascination with his private life, there's plenty we know about Jobs the person, beyond the Mac and the iPhone. If anything, the obscure details of his interior life paint a subtler, more nuanced portrait of how one of the finest technology minds of our time grew into the dynamo that we remember him as today.

1. Early life and childhood
Jobs was born in San Francisco on February 24, 1955. He was adopted shortly after his birth and reared near Mountain View, California by a couple named Clara and Paul Jobs. His adoptive father — a term that Jobs openly objected to — was a machinist for a laser company and his mother worked as an accountant.

Later in life, Jobs discovered the identities of his estranged parents. His birth mother, Joanne Simpson, was a graduate student at the time and later a speech pathologist; his biological father, Abdulfattah John Jandali, was a Syrian Muslim who left the country at age 18 and reportedly now serves as the vice president of a Reno, Nevada casino. While Jobs reconnected with Simpson in later years, he and his biological father remained estranged.

Reed College

2. College dropout
The lead mind behind the most successful company on the planet never graduated from college, in fact, he didn't even get close. After graduating from high school in Cupertino, California — a town now synonymous with 1 Infinite Loop, Apple's headquarters — Jobs enrolled in Reed College in 1972. Jobs stayed at Reed (a liberal arts university in Portland, Oregon) for only one semester, dropping out quickly due to the financial burden the private school's steep tuition placed on his parents.

In his famous 2005 commencement speech to Stanford University, Jobs said of his time at Reed: "It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5 cent deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the seven miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple."

Breakout for the Atari

3. Fibbed to his Apple co-founder about a job at Atari
Jobs is well known for his innovations in personal computing, mobile tech, and software, but he also helped create one of the best known video games of all-time. In 1975, Jobs was tapped by Atarito work on the Pong-like game Breakout.

He was reportedly offered $750 for his development work, with the possibility of an extra $100 for each chip eliminated from the game's final design. Jobs recruited Steve Wozniak (later one of Apple's other founders) to help him with the challenge. Wozniak managed to whittle the prototype's design down so much that Atari paid out a $5,000 bonus — but Jobs kept the bonus for himself, and paid his unsuspecting friend only $375, according to Wozniak's own autobiography.

4. The wife he leaves behind
Like the rest of his family life, Jobs kept his marriage out of the public eye. Thinking back on his legacy conjures images of him commanding the stage in his trademark black turtleneck and jeans, and those solo moments are his most iconic. But at home in Palo Alto, Jobs was raising a family with his wife, Laurene, an entrepreneur who attended the University of Pennsylvania's prestigious Wharton business school and later received her MBA at Stanford, where she first met her future husband.

For all of his single-minded dedication to the company he built from the ground up, Jobs actuallyskipped a meeting to take Laurene on their first date: "I was in the parking lot with the key in the car, and I thought to myself, 'If this is my last night on earth, would I rather spend it at a business meeting or with this woman?' I ran across the parking lot, asked her if she'd have dinner with me. She said yes, we walked into town and we've been together ever since."

In 1991, Jobs and Powell were married in the Ahwahnee Hotel at Yosemite National Park, and the marriage was officiated by Kobin Chino, a Zen Buddhist monk.

5. His sister is a famous author
Later in his life, Jobs crossed paths with his biological sister while seeking the identity of his birth parents. His sister, Mona Simpson (born Mona Jandali), is the well-known author of Anywhere But Here — a story about a mother and daughter that was later adapted into a film starring Natalie Portman and Susan Sarandon.

After reuniting, Jobs and Simpson developed a close relationship. Of his sister, he told a New York Times interviewer: "We're family. She's one of my best friends in the world. I call her and talk to her every couple of days.'' Anywhere But Here is dedicated to "my brother Steve."

Joan Baez

6. Celebrity romances
In The Second Coming of Steve Jobs, an unauthorized biography, a friend from Reed reveals that Jobs had a brief fling with folk singer Joan Baez. Baez confirmed the the two were close "briefly," though her romantic connection with Bob Dylan is much better known (Dylan was the Apple icon's favorite musician). The biography also notes that Jobs went out with actress Diane Keaton briefly.

7. His first daughter
When he was 23, Jobs and his high school girlfriend Chris Ann Brennan conceived a daughter, Lisa Brennan Jobs. She was born in 1978, just as Apple began picking up steam in the tech world. He and Brennan never married, and Jobs reportedly denied paternity for some time, going as far as stating that he was sterile in court documents. He went on to father three more children with Laurene Powell. After later mending their relationship, Jobs paid for his first daughter's education at Harvard. She graduated in 2000 and now works as a magazine writer.

8. Alternative lifestyle
In a few interviews, Jobs hinted at his early experience with the psychedelic drug LSD. Of Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Jobs said: "I wish him the best, I really do. I just think he and Microsoft are a bit narrow. He'd be a broader guy if he had dropped acid once or gone off to an ashram when he was younger."

The connection has enough weight that Albert Hofmann, the Swiss scientist who first synthesized (and took) LSD, appealed to Jobs for funding for research about the drug's therapeutic use.

In a book interview, Jobs called his experience with the drug "one of the two or three most important things I have done in my life." As Jobs himself has suggested, LSD may have contributed to the "think different" approach that still puts Apple's designs a head above the competition.

Jobs will forever be a visionary, and his personal life also reflects the forward-thinking, alternative approach that vaulted Apple to success. During a trip to India, Jobs visited a well-known ashram and returned to the U.S. as a Zen Buddhist.

Jobs was also a pescetarian who didn't consume most animal products, and didn't eat meat other than fish. A strong believer in Eastern medicine, he sought to treat his own cancer through alternative approaches and specialized diets before reluctantly seeking his first surgery for a cancerous tumor in 2004.

9. His fortune
As the CEO of the world's most valuable brand, Jobs pulled in a comically low annual salary of just $1. While the gesture isn't unheard of in the corporate world  — Google's Larry Page, Sergey Brin, and Eric Schmidt all pocketed the same 100 penny salary annually — Jobs has kept his salary at $1 since 1997, the year he became Apple's lead executive. Of his salary, Jobs joked in 2007: "I get 50 cents a year for showing up, and the other 50 cents is based on my performance."

In early 2011, Jobs owned 5.5 million shares of Apple. After his death, Apple shares were valued at $377.64 — a roughly 43-fold growth in valuation over the last 10 years that shows no signs of slowing down.

He may only have taken in a single dollar per year, but Jobs leaves behind a vast fortune. The largest chunk of that wealth is the roughly $7 billion from the sale of Pixar to Disney in 2006. In 2011, with an estimated net worth of $8.3 billion, he was the 110th richest person in the world, according toForbes. If Jobs hadn't sold his shares upon leaving Apple in 1985 (before returning to the company in 1996), he would be the world's fifth richest individual.

While there's no word yet on plans for his estate, Jobs leaves behind three children from his marriage to Laurene Jobs (Reed, Erin, and Eve), as well as his first daughter, Lisa Brennan-Jobs.

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