Shakespeare said,
the world is a stage and we are the actors.
We are the actors and the God is the director.

Talking to God, acknowledges that
we believe all blessings come from Him,
Life itself in one continuous blessing from God.

God never blessings us sometimes
and withdraws them at other times,

God is blessing us in every moment of our breathing.

God is there.
He is always listening.
Talking to Him acknowledges that He exist
and everything must come from Him

If you are an atheist,
then the issue would be not of God
but morality.

Even the atheist believes that
what goes around comes around.
Hence, it is about goodness.

RE: The Beauty Of Budgeting : Story to tell

----- Original Message -----
From: fahmy khairuddin
Sent: Jan 19, 2007 10:15 AM

Salam fellows

I agree wholeheartedly with your En. Mahathir... i have an experience to tell, especially to the new young professionals (and a few older ones who got caught in lar)

Allow me to share this as i think this would help all the younger people avoid my mistakes. Others with other credit card nightmare stories please contribute lar. Together we can change the credit card debt problems that is plaguing our young professionals.

My Financial Nightmare Story

In early 2000s took a luxury car loan (due to inflated ego and constant urging from the gf) from one of the main local banks. Part of the loan they gave me a premium credit card with extremely high limits with all sort of perks such as privilege banking, cash withrdawal,etc etc. I already had when 2 cards from my earlier executive days. They werent maxed-up or anything like that, it was there used for mostly buying work clothes, treat dates for nice dinners, etc.

I was running two businesses back then, both were start-ups and one of the company was having cash-flow situation as payments was delayed, and at the same time business was booming. I ended up taking paycuts and irregular allowances (as i was the CEO/MD) and had to advance personal savings so that the personnel can be paid on time. Since cash flow was tight (although the company's sales growth was soaring) i ended up making my car maintenance payment - gas, oil change, parts, and so forth on it on monthly basis by using the cards to manage. I ended up at the end of the year with debts of RM20,000.00. I could plugged it monthly at the cost of RM 2,000, but theni realized then with the card i ended up having to pay more than the original monthly installments! Now to make matters complicated, the car engine blew up and gear transmission went KO and my annual bill on the maintenance blew to RM 30,000.00 .. uggggh mana mau carik duitt...

Now i am stuck with a hot looking car that spent more time at the mechanics than on the road, credit card time bomb, annual road tax at RM 3,000, a bitchy ex (hehehe) and i wont even tell you about the insurance. So time is ticking, i am paying through my nose, and i started having delays in all sort of payments. And i became unhappy overweight jerk who start losing my temper on the smallest of things.

So what do i do???

Who do i call... Well i talked to Johan Nasir (i think some of you guys know him, he used to do credit card restructuring and now still alive somewhere in MAVCAP). Went around and ask for loads of advice and pretty much even ask form loans from my from my business buddies. Best piece of advice I got was from a retired enterperneur -- he said "dont be emotional, just do it". Go out there and solve it, the hard way he said. So i took the blue pill and ....

Car goes first

First order of the day i got rid of the car. It was an emotional separation.. so i bought a used car (a Satria 1.3) although i had a van (more for transporting my staff). Some of my partners and friends lambasted me for "going backwards lar, bad for repo lar.. etc". Guess what? Car got great mileage, killer handling and cheap after-market parts and only rm400+ in monthly payments. In fact i didnt have to valet park the car all the time also helps! First it was kinda sheepish and ego-down driving a car almost 10% the value of my previous car. But i thought of it as a temporary measure..and it sure hell works. Plus the monthly commitment freed is incredible. I could move into a different housing sector altogether for the amount i saved. And yesss i can date more girls!

Credit Card Consolidation

Ok some banks allow credit card consolidation. It is not true for others, but they are banks that allow you to transfer your balance out to another credit card / bank. This can be done but there are time lag commitment for the transferred amount before you can turn it into personal loan which is also known as "term loan".

I wrote in to citibank for 2 cards and converted all my debts to term loan. At 7+% it is a significant reduction of the original interest ratesof 18.5%. For the premium credit card from local bank, i cut the cards in two, send the first half back to the bank. I commited RM 500.00 to its monthly payments, rain or shine. It was suffering a bit at first as initially i had to cover about rm 3,000 committed first before the actual payments goes through.

Lesson Learned...

Well lesson learned, 5 years later i have only 1,500.00 debts as of today and a few months time God willing it will be cleared..

For alternative, pre-paid debit card (VISA) is available, and that is used for hotel travel and tours. Rest carry cash lar...

I sold the Satria back about a year plus ago.. ya know.. it was more emotional to let the satria go rather than the original car. Ya know why? Cause the satria brought the memories of hard days and humbling experience. It taught me that looking good cannot override your budget at all COST. (Plus for some reasons too young girls like to be in Satria too.. that i havent figure it out till today hehehe). And when Proton debut the Neo, i was secretly wishing for it.. :)

I drive a simple sedan to and fro work now, and still worries much about toll, gas hikes, and maintenance as usual la.

Oh ya the company clear itself out of the cash flow.. and there are now new bills in form of taxes start to roll in... Life goes on...:)

... and wisdom to contribute

Avoid credit card pile up my friends... it is a flood gate that once opened it cant be closed that easily because of its complex relationship to lifestyle . This is due to the fact that most of lifestyles today are drilled by "i must have it" and competition to "out-spend" each other. Trust me, you dont need this form of competition.

The marketing executives are so sweet when they offer it to you and the some of the perks (like free cellphone, etc etc).. ... then watch what will happen when you default in your month payment. See the amount of harassment you get. The worst harassment i received was from Citibank. They "missed" call you on your cell from their IVR so when you call back you get a machine at the end of the line. And they did it during office hoursand critical meeting time. And you know the other end of the line is some fresh graduate who took the job up cause she cant find a place in the market and from the tone of the voice she /he really hates the job. And the bloody managers are always hiding behind their staff. I bet you they have a high turnover rate.. well that is different thread lah..

Oops and another -- Car is a deceptive asset. On paper it is a depreciative value over straight line period but in actuality the market gets worst off for 2nd hand cars. No matter how good it looks, it never increases in ringgit value unless you are into antiques. Buy cars with the lowest
(1) depreciation value,
(2) relative low maintenance and cheap parts,
(3) Cheap Loan interests, and
(4) easy to sell.

Hope this helps all you young 'uns there. Live FREE (Free of debts that is..)

cheers
Fahmy the moo

The Beauty of Budgeting

----- Original Message -----
From: mahathir allaudin
Sent: Thursday, January 18, 2007 4:43 PM

I'm not a cheapskate and well known for that especially among those who really know me well even though recently a friend of mine called me that because I refused to call her up so that she can tell me in detail about how she spend her Rm1,000 on her hair treatment(over few days for "x" amount of sessions/treatments).She is not bald or anything like that at all but the whole beautification of the hair and some sort of professional treatment/makeover for the long hair. God knows what she did to her hair and why the whole treatment cost that much.

Anyway,I just think that some or even most Malaysians in general are leading a lifestyle that they can't afford but thanks to the miracle of plastic a.k.a credit card(s) they are able to do so.Whether you make rm2,000++ or even rm20,000-rm50,000 a month or even more there should be some kind of budget to guide us by even if it is easy money and not sweat money for some.We should remember those from riches to rags who lost their wealth due to their lifestyle or even mismanagement of funds by themselves or the ones they trusted to do so on their behalf. This whole budgeting concept is something that I'm looking into this year to have better control over the spending.

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Can you name a Fortune 500 company that doesn't have a budget? Don't spend too much time thinking about it - there aren't any. Successful businesses around the world have one thing in common: they budget their money. And they do it because it works. But although making money and making a budget appear to go hand in hand, a report on consumer finance by the U.S. Department of Commerce found that throughout most of 2005, American households shelled out more money than they took in. Clearly, the overwhelming majority of Americans do not have a personal budget. So, do you know where your money's going each month? In this article, we show you how to get a better idea of how you spend your money by putting together a personal budget.

Get Over the Terminology

Part of America's aversion to budgeting may be rooted in language. The word "budget" - much like the word "diet" - has negative connotations. Budgets and diets are viewed as restrictive reminders of things we cannot have. This is linguistic nonsense. A budget and a diet are both tools. If the tools are used properly, they lead to a desired outcome. Nobody dislikes the word "shovel", even though the use of the shovel requires effort. People use a shovel to dig a hole. They use a diet to develop a healthy body, and they use a budget to develop a fiscally responsible lifestyle. If it makes you feel better about the process, drop the word "budget" and call it a "spending plan". Instead of viewing the plan as restrictive, think about the things it allows you to buy. After all, a budget is nothing more than a plan for how you will spend your money.

Start with Your Bills

Many people complain that they can't create a budget because they don't know exactly how much money they will earn in a given week. While it is true that workers earning an hourly wage or working on commission don't get the exact same dollar figure in each paycheck, the amount that you earn has much less to do with the basics of budgeting than the amount you spend. Instead of focusing on whether you earn a few dollars more or a few dollars less each month, focus on your monthly spending. The question is simple: where does your money go? Regardless of how much you earn or when you earn it, everybody has fixed expenses, such as the following:

• 
  -Mortgage payments or rent
  -Transportation (car payment, gasoline, train or bus pass, etc.)
  -Utilities
  -Food
  -Insurance

If your recurring expenses don't add up to the amount of your monthly income (and one would hope that they don't), your next step should be to save the receipts from every purchase that you make next month and use them as the basis for creating additional categories or adjusting the numbers in the existing categories.

Beyond the Basics

Once you have the fixed expenses covered, it's time to plan for the variables, such as the following:

• -Birthdays/holidays
  -Gym membership
  -Pet care
  -Haircut
  -Clothes
  -Vacation
  -Entertainment

These items are listed as variables for two reasons. The first reason is that these expenses vary from month to month. The second is that if you don't have the money to cover these expenses, the expenses get reduced or eliminated. If you're out of money, the entertainment budget takes a hit and you stay home on Friday night, or you don't buy those new shoes that you've been considering. Part of taking control of your money is learning how to exercise some discipline in your spending habits.

Look at Your Income

Now it's time to take the theoretical aspects of budgeting and apply them to your life. Take a look at your monthly income. How much are you bringing in on your worst month? Compare that number to the amount that you are spending. Ideally, the income is larger than the output. If so, it's time for a personal savings plan. In other words, don't spend everything you earn - save some for yourself. If you are spending more than you are earning, it's time to review your spending habits. When the output is larger than the income, you have two choices: increase your income or cut the expenses.Strategies to increase your income include getting a new job, getting a second job or finding a roommate to help you with expenses. Strategies to cut your expenses include eliminating impulse buys, which are a major expense for most people, and cutting out planned, but unnecessary, expenses. Keep in mind that simply cutting out that cappuccino in the morning can save you more than $40 a month. The concept is really quite simple - if it's not in your spending plan, you don't buy it.

Create Your Spending Plan

Nearly everyone wishes for more money at some point. That said, all but the wealthiest among us are essentially living on a fixed income. In other words, you bring in a certain amount of money each month, and when it's gone, it's gone. Accepting that reality is the key to living a happier, wealthier life. Keep in mind that your creditors don't work for free, so spending money that you don't actually have is also incredibly expensive. Fortunately, getting your finances on track isn't that difficult, and while there are spreadsheets and software programs designed to make the budgeting process faster and easier, all you really need is a piece of paper, a pencil and the desire to live within your means. The example below will help you get started:

As a general rule, you should also plan to set aside enough money to cover at least three months' worth of your expenses in case of an emergency. Once that money is put away, you won't need to rely on your credit cards should you lose your job or experience unforeseen expenses. Like every other recurring item in your budget, the emergency fund is something you fund one month at a time until you reach your goal.

Conclusion

Despite its negative connotations, a budget is really just a tool that can work to put your personal finances on the right track. If the most successful multi-million dollar companies must budget their spending, it makes sense that a typical household should have to control its expenses in a similar way. Budgeting your money need not be seen as a chore. After all, accepting the limits of your income is the best way to take control of your spending, live within your means and, ultimately, reach your financial goals.