Hard Talk!

Mr.Hubby and I had a hard talk in the car this morning, during our rush hour. Topic of discussion : Malaysia's current economic situation.On how the price of Ron95 might hike soon and how everything else like sugar's price and even the Base Lending Rate (BLR) have increased recently . Of course this is nothing new but rather an economic term referred as inflation.

In economics, inflation is a rise in the general level of prices of goods and services in an economy over a period of time.When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services. Consequently, inflation also reflects an erosion in the purchasing power of money – a loss of real value in the internal medium of exchange and unit of account in the economy.

Malaysia inflation rate as at April 2011 was reported to be 3.2%, while our annual income increment across the board is 5%. Now you know why people of Malaysia, especially the middle and low income class is making a big fuss about the price hike? We went to school just like you , Mr.Ministers. We understand very well the word inflation but what we don't understand is what is your role in helping the people to go through this tough situation? The way you manage country's incomes to ease people's burden? Malaysians who have voted you and gave you the mandate to manage the country!

Okay....I might not be an economist but I am a working woman, a mother and a wife . Let me quote you 1 simplest example, that surely will make Malaysian working women and mothers all hyped up. Child Care. Almost all working class parents send their children to the day care centre, out of no choice. They can't afford a maid and neither can they afford to be a stay home mum. The cheapest resort that I know is baby sitter services(hantar rumah orang) that will cost parents a not-so-expensive RM200. Itu yang paling murah, hokay!!! The next choice is non other that the day care centres with charges ranging from RM250 to a whopping RM900.  

I remember my friend in Perth once told me that Australian government subsidize her child care expenses. Though not fully, but it was good enough to ease parent's burden. We don't have that in our country, right? Not even a Child Care Tax Rebate (CCTR) for out-of-pocket child care costs.What the hell is our Ministry for Women, Family and Community Development is doing? Ms.Kajol, please answer!

However, some companies are subsidizing their staff's expenses on child care, like Shell Business Service Center Sdn Bhd that pays out RM150 per child every month. I'm surprised to find out that not even the government sectors are doing this. This is also part of company's social responsibility, right! It doesn't matter if you subsidize the child care expenses or provide a free day-care centre in the office specially for the staffs. I believe that charity should start from home. So, something to ponder ....why are companies publicizing ie:safety driving course, education scholarships, some Rhino saving campaign and government ie: financial aids to Tsunami victims in other countries as their social responsibility activities, when they have not even take full accountability on the staffs or people's welfare! Now you tell me....is it SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY or PUBLICITY ??? 

Read this with an open heart and mind! I'm writing this on behalf of many Malaysians that would like to clarify that we are not complaining about the inflation but rather voicing out how helpless we feel in hard time like this!

Project baekkk punya!

As I was spending time blog walking with my baby sister on recent weekend, we suddenly came up with a brilliant idea. Well not so brilliant la, but it kinda reassured us on what we have in common :

Who doesn't??

We have somewhat discovered that we are too smart to be thinking that we will end up rich with the "ciput" salary that we are earning now. Well, not exactly "WE" but rather "I". I think she'll be fine with her salary later. A lawyer can't be earning that bad, anyway. Nonetheless,we finally decided that we should not waste anymore time and quickly grabbed a pen and paper and started scribbling our BIG plans.

Brainstorming session went well and we kind of figured out what where we are heading and what we are going to do exactly. You know how sisters work. The chemistry is strong and ideas just kept pouring. The last thing we know, our projek baekkk punya plan was ready.

Though we haven't started a bit, but being typical girls...dreaming of soon to be fruitful effort is the way to start off. Iyola tuu! You never know what the power dreams can do, rite!

Wish us luck!

Mari belajar mengira

Kenapa tiba2 nak belajar mengira ni? Bukan I blaja finance ke dulu? I dah tak reti kira ker? Ker.....semua nombor dah lintang pukang sampai tak boley nak kira. Memanjang negatif jer:(

Bukannyer apa. Many people lost their intelligence,pride,judgement and sense when it comes to money. Lagi banyak duit, lagi susah nak kira. And start berkira-kira apa nak buat dengan duit yang melambak tu. Like myself, an average wage earner, calculation is simple. Let me show you how :

p/s: All figures shown are for illustration purpose only. Tiada kaitan dengan yang masih hidup atau yang telah mati.

Income = 3000 minus Expenses:

1)Car = 750 ni kalau pakai keta buatan Malaysia la. Ni kira installment je tau. Tak masuk maintenance cost lagi. Paham2 jelah keta buatan Malaysia ni. Ehem2 la kan. Ada jer benda nak repair. Malaysia BOLEH! Boleh la sangat....

2)House = 800 ni on average je. Tak kira la umah sewa or beli. Negara MAJU la katakan. Semua mahal. Pirahhh mabuk

3)Phone+internet+ASTRO = 200 ni yang paling busuk la I kira. Tapi, sapa suruh korang pakai telefon, internet and subscribe ASTRO? Tula "DEORANG" cakap, "ubah cara hidup". Tak nak dengar. Lepas tu complaint gaji tak cukup. Bloody b*s#ard betul la sapa yang cakap ni kan. Cakap pakai otak la, bukan ikut sedap mulut je. Ni dah jadi keperluan la sekarang.

4)Study loan / PTPTN = 250 . Ni la nama dia pinjaman sampai syurga, cos THERE'S NO END to the loan repayment. Interest yang tak berhenti 2 berjalan. wakakakakakakakak.Macam haram.

5)Petrol & toll = 500. Esok RON 97 naik harga. SYABASH beta....(ni skrip hindustan marah)

6)Nursery,susu+pampers anak = 400. Ni pun I kira nursery yang letak budak kat living hall and baring tengok dinding je. Buku takda, toys takder.Takda belaja apa. Yang macam tu boley la dapat 250. Nothing less. Susu ngan pampers pun yang sempoi2 je. Don't you dream about milk with DHA or mommy pokoyo pampers. This calculation is for 1 child yer. Children doesn't come cheap these days.hukhukhuk. Kalau nak beranak lebih, haaa....."Lu PiKiRla sendiriiiiii"

So, take a calculator and see how much balance I still have at the end of the month? 100 eh? Owhh....ok la tu. Cukup2 jer buat belanja makan husband and wife for the whole month. Crazy rite? 100 can't even last you for 1 week. Makan roti canai singgit tiap2 hari boley la. Lepas tu end up high blood pressure. Too much of cholestrol. See, I told ya! Its not hard for me to calculate because my balance sheet is always zero at the end of every month. hahahahahahah.

Its different from people with billion ringgit. Sampai tak reti nak kira dah pasal banyak sangat. Membazir tak hengatt walaupunnn....bukan duit deorang or even mak bapak deorang. Malaysians.....WAKE UP! This is the reality. A developed country is not judged by its 100-storey skysCRAPer! There is a glut of offices in KL. Developers are facing hard time to rent / sell their office spaces. And it will cost the country a 5billion worth of damage. Woot...woot! This landmark tower will eclipse the 88-storey Petronas twin towers completed during Mahathir's administration. So, what is this all about? Nak compete siapa boley naikkan bangunan lagi tinggi ker? Weiii....."ini harta bukan Ahmad Albab yang punya". The money belongs to the people.

The country is advance in the eyes of the world if the health,education,people's welfare,public transportation are efficient. Bukan pasal berapa tingkat bangunan paling tinggi yang ada kat sini and tak jugak because of the mega entertainment hub yang ada. Another thing... Ada orang nak invest ke pun buat building tinggi2? If yang cakap tu one of the opposition leader, dah tentu2 la cakap deorang politicize kan issue. But when Richard Branson speaks, he speaks on behalf of the foreign investors! Ke....Richard Branson dah lompat parti....masuk Keadilan/DAP/PAS? wakakakakakakkaka.

Adoii...malas nak cerita banyak la. I am done with my mathematics tutorial for today.So, kalau korang tak reti2 gaks mengira, baca banyak2 skit. Tapi bukan la baca "Utusan Meloya" or tengok "Belitin Utama". Choose your reading material wisely. Sebab tu kena spend on internet kat atas tadi. Kita bukan kena "ubah cara hidup" tapi "ubah orang yang manage duit negara kita".hahahahhahha.This is our country's future and money we are talking about. Think and calculate wisely:)

2 down, 2 more steps to victory

10am today has been a step closer to my dream in owning my dream house. Alhamdulillah....semuanya lancar. The signing ceremony happened @ my office in PJ. Hubby and I sign punya la banyak paper mengalahkan pak menteri. hahahahha. I dah tak larat nak baca apa yang ada dalam agreement tu. Berpuluh2 muka surat.Sudahnyerr, I main saaaiiinnnn je. Harap2 nye ok la .

Bila dah maju lagi setapak ni, maknanya makin dekat lah ketikanya di mana nak kene start bayar interest kat bank sementara nak tunggu umah siap tahun depan. Mana pulak nak cekau duit ni? Nak bayar sewa rumah sekarang lagi, nak bayar interest rumah baru lagi. Feninnnnnn.

I have to start doing some math now. Macam mana cara nak tambah income and at the same time kurangkan monthly expenses. Macam nak pecah kepala ni pikir. Dulu masa belajar business math or even stats kat uni pun tak sesusah ni. Maybe cause they were all virtual numbers kan. This is like REALLLLL.Anyway, I have a rough idea on how to reduce my expenses. So, first thing first.

I'll start by surveying a new day care centre for Iman Nadyne. Kesian dia. Lepas ni dah takde lagi la pergi umah nenek dia pagi and petang. I pun makin lama makin tak jumpa la mak bapak I.Huwaaaaaaa:((( But seriously,RM500 is too expensive for me now. I seriously have to consider a new place for Iman:( I sedih gilerrr actually. Iman is very happy now, being close to her cousins and families, since nursery dia sekarang kat bawah condo my parents je. So, pagi2 I hantar dia kat umah parents dulu. Petang pun, my mom akan amik dia dulu before I sampai umah lebih kurang pukul 7. So, even if I have to work till late pun,I tak payah risau pasal Iman, because she's in my mother's good hand.

How I wish I dont have to choose. But this is life. Its always about making the right choice. Especially when it comes to our financial situation. Bila keadaan sesak dan terdesak tu, kadang2 selalu merungut and mulala terkeluar ayat2 macam "Kalaula aku kaya....., or Kenapa aku tak kaya?" Ayat Quran tweeted this today: "Syaitan menjanjikan(menakut-nakuti)kamu dengan kemiskinan dan menyuruh kamu berbuat kejahatan"(2:268). "Ya ALLAH, aku berlindung denganmu dari segala kejahatan dan godaan syaitan. Kau permudahkan segala urusanku di dunia dan akhirat". Ameennn

My determination

Hello Mr.Wednesday! Seperti kebiasaannya, hari rabu ni energy level memang bagus since dah tengah minggu. "Mood pun macam bunga" (quoting my mom's line). hahahhahaha. Semalam kan I cerita pasal my effort yang terbaru for extra income. Yela....kan nak masuk rumah baru ni. Banyak belanja. Nak bayar monthly installment lagi, nak renovate rumah lagi....macam2. All these have boost up my determinantion untuk kerja kuat. Kuat la sangat....:)

So, I dah strategize my business plan..chewahhh. Macam nak business juta2 la pulok!Apa2 pun dalam hidup ni... kena plan, be it small or big. I pernah dengar pepatah omputih ni " if you fail to plan, you plan to fail". So, I susun strategy baeeekkkk punyer macam mana nak memaximumkan income I through jualan prepaid card tu nanti. I harap2 jadi la hendaknya.And hari ni dengan rasminya I dah transfer top up kepada customer pertama. Complicated gaks. Maybe sebab tak familiar lagi kot. Lama2 nanti ok la tu.

I really hope ALLAH bless me for my effort to increase my income for my family. I just want all of us to live comfortably. I hope its not too much of a wish and prayer. AmEEnnnn