Managing Personal Income

I had a chat with a member of the SEV team (you know who you are) recently. He/she (I am not giving any clues who this person is) admitted to me that he/she is always short in cash. I told him/her that sometimes it is not how much you make but how well you manage and prioritise your spending.

I know some people that make 5 figure incomes but have debts all over and is consisntently in deficit. I know an accountant (a good friend of mine, an ex-colleague in KPMG) that is very good at managing other peoples’ or company’s money but when it comes to his personal wealth, he ‘sucks’ badly (and he makes more money than many of us). He is constantly in debt and ‘pokai’.

I know I might not be the best person to advice him/her on this issue, but I think I can give some pointers from my own experience. My personal advice and experience:

1. First rule : you always plan lesser than what your actual income is (people will accommodate their lifestyle according to their income so don’t give in to peer pressure);
2. Second rule: you never plan with what you don't have (don't speculate on how much bonus or increment you will get and don't get trapped by CREDIT CARDS!!!);
3. Third rule: make sure you always have an allocation for savings and/or investment (even if it is only RM5 a month);
4. Fourth rule: if you want to feel that you are never short on cash, you need to make your income 'berkat' (sorry, don't know the English word for it). Prioritise your income... i will share with you how i prioritise mine, most importantly, the top 3 items (see below)....and for argument purposes, lets assume an income of RM 1500 (my income when i started work at KPMG); and
5. Fifth rule: need to work on in creating passive income (want to know more, come and talk to me hahahaha)
   
   Salary RM 1500
   
   Contribution to Parents RM 200
   Zakat and Charity RM 100
   Allocation for Haj RM 100
   Food RM 300
   Rental and basic amenities RM 200
   Logistics RM 150
   Clothing RM 100
   Entertainment RM 50
   Others (emergency) RM 100
   Savings/Investment RM 200
   
   Of course, the allocation changes as new requirements or changes in lifestyle. This was mine during my bachelor years. Now, I have a family to accommodate and thus my life style changed as well.
   
   You might ask where is the allocation for my car? Well, I only bought my first car after 4 years working. Before that, the public transportation was life. I would rather pay more on the down payment than to increase in my monthly allocation on other stuff. Up until now, I am only paying less than RM 500 on my car, and it sure gave me room to breath during ‘bad’ times.
   
   Hey, that’s my 2 cents on the issue, what’s yours???

Aren't We Courteous

I would like to express my deepest frustrations towards many Malaysians that are still lacking in their ‘civic consciousness’. There are many incidents that reflect this but I want to focus on just the situation in our public transportation facilities.

My wife is currently 6 months pregnant with our third child Alhamdulillah (insyaAllah the Dr said, I am expecting another daughter…). Anyways, today she had to take the LRT. We kind of overslept this morning. After Subuh prayers, we continued with our beauty sleeps and only woke up at 7.17 am. Normally, we leave the house at around 6.40 am and will reach KLCC by 7.50 am (Petronas starts work at 8 am, that is why most of the time I will be amongst the first to arrive the office). It is so pathetic… it takes about an hour to travel to work in the morning (due to the heavy traffic) when it takes only 15-20 minutes should I leave after 9.30 am (mmm this is another topic I will later write in my Blog!!!). So this morning, we had to make a judgment call.. at the end, she decided that she will take the LRT as she knows that she will make it to the office by 8 am.

I just had a phone call from her (it’s 7.56 am, she’s at the office already). She told me about how NO one was courteous enough to give her a seat. I have gone through this scenario before. I remembered when my wife was pregnant with our first child (Mu’adz). Back then our ‘economic’ or ‘financial’ conditions were not that stable yet, so we relied heavily on the public transport for our logistical needs. Most of the days, I would have to ask the people that are seating to give seat to my pregnant wife, any elderly or disabled (or most Malaysians call OKUs..). And most of the time someone will offer their seat (unfortunately, mostly it is not the men but the ladies..). I remembered one time, a ‘BOY’ (but in a 30 yr old body) just totally ignored us and purposely shut his eyes while listening to his walkman.

It was during this time that Sharizat’s ministry came out with the ‘Aren’t We Courteous’ campaign. Seeing the ad where Azlin (or whatever his name is) acted as the rude passenger that did not give his seat for those more in need. Man, I really supported that campaign. It worked to a certain extend. At least, sarcastically people are reminded that the seats are reserved for others less fortunate. Unfortunately, the campaign ended (I guess) as it is no longer advertised. In my humble opinion, we should continue and in fact intensify the campaign.

Hey, that’s my 2 cents on the issue, what’s yours???

Prayers for Sharlinie

I pray to Allah for the safe return of Sharlinie to her parents and family. Lets take a moment and make a Doa to Allah, as He is the only one who we worship and the only place that we seek assistance from…. (We recite this every day at least 17 times as it is in the 4th sentence in surah Al-Fatihah).

Sharlinie has been missing since (if I am not mistaken) 9th January. I need not elaborate on how the story started and escalated. Up to now, I think the media has taken this to a scenario where it has forced the police to do house-to-house checks, got certain individuals and NGOs to provide monetary rewards on any information that leads to the safe return of Sharlinie, posters stamped at each corner of the country, suraus and mosques are consistently conducting Hajat prayers etc. Everybody wants to be a part of the initiave to get Sharlinie home.

Lets not forget the few other cases before Sharlinie…. Everybody remembers Muhammad Nazrin or Yin and Nurin Jazlin (these are the one currently on top of my head right now) in fact there are many more. We hope Sharlinie’s case will not end as tragic as it did for Nurin. This is what I am worried about. It got me thinking whether the strategy to go to media was the ‘right’one.

I was discussing this over with an ex-cop neighbor the other day and his immediate response was that sometimes media was what made things worst. The abductors are already on a ‘nothing-to-loose’ mode. In fact the first thing they did was to shave the kids hair off. The same story for Yin (shaved by the Myanmar couple) and Nurin (her hair was shorter, that’s why the parents could not recognize her). I am afraid for the worst. When these abductors are pressured and become more desperate, they might go to the extend of even ‘murder’ waliyazubillah. I believe that’s what happened to Nurin. I think, the police should put as much effort as possible to all cases regardless whether it went on the media or not and we should not go straight to the media on similar incidents.

Hey that’s my 2 cents on the issue, what’s yours???

Trials in Life and After

I believe everybody at least in Malaysia is aware on the on-going Royal Commission of Inquiry on the video clip of a ‘now-famous’ lawyer, VKL. People get famous for a lot of reasons, but when your name is published in papers, internet, sms, mms for a crime, then it’s really not something anyone should be proud of. Let alone, if you are allegedly brokering for the highest judicial appointments of the country (the very institution that reflects ‘Transparency, Justice, Fair, Integrity.. to name a few). Personally, I do not want to comment on the inquiry, the video clip, the lawyer or any witnesses testifying on the stand, and we are talking about VVIPs, high profile individuals which includes the former PM and CJ. I do believe that you are innocent unless proven guilty. There’s always 2 sides of a coin. Let the court do its job.

Anyway, while I was reading about the drilling questions a commission member asked TEC, a well respected former CJ on his relationship with VKL, questions that later supported by evidence (photos) of his close relationship with the lawyer (on trial…mmm who is actually on trial here???) it occurred to me there are lessons to be learned from this episode. Some will say, we should emphasise on more integrity, responsibility, honesty in life or practice higher ethics. Lets just look at the basic Codes of Ethics listed in the Prime Minister’s Dept (Among them are - Intergrity - to practise values of honesty, sincerity and integrity in all matters; Responsibility -to possess high accountability and responsibility in performing duties, without abusing power and position for self gain or other interested parties; and a few others..)

Me, I think a bigger lesson here is....... that we will all be trialed one day. And on that day, no one will be spared (yup, that includes YOU and ME), we will be judged by Allah the Almighty in the most just court room ever. On that day, we will not be able to say, “No, I can’t remember” or “No, it was not me….” as on that day, all our previous actions on earth will be presented in front of us. We will be asked for the smallest thing (the air we breath – have we used it wisely) to be biggest of things (how we have used the wealth, health etc given to us). Therefore, I seriously think that the biggest lesson to be learned from this is that we should act as how the prophet (s.a.w.) has defined “Ihsan - 'It is to worship Allah as if you see Him, for though you do not see Him, surely He sees you'. If we act in Ihsan, then insyaAllah we will pass the 'Ultimate Trial'...

Hey that’s my 2 cents on the issue, what’s yours???