Friday, December 31, 2010

Happy new year 2011, wishes for new fortunes ahead!

Now I wanna wish everyone happy new year 2011! Gone with the past and here comes another round of a year...~
We'll expect to achieve something in the year to come, so its time to save money up till today, and start preparing to find alternatives to earn more next year.

Whether you're to invest or setting up a good business idea, its good to still have an objective set for a new year to come. I have compiled some short objectives to achieve next year, which bullish investments will I move into and so on...~ Good luck and happy new year!!

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

My 10 ways to save money by shopping

How to save on shopping?
If you really enjoy shopping by spending then don't even bother to read, because this post seems to be a complete opposite.

When we talk about saving money, we are referring to our own habit and discipline to control spending.


Christmas is around the corner, we need to shop for presents, so how do we save on shopping?
My tips here are not trying to make you look fussy or stingy, but if you want to save money, here's how you do it:
  1. Collect coupons or vouchers. No harm keeping all these, you may not know when you need it. Try utilizing these vouchers to buy your necessity and xmas presents at cheaper price.
  2.  Write down your shopping list. Make this a habit, I am serious. If you don't want to get over-budget on your shopping expenses, make sure you know what you want to buy. And only buy what you want to buy, that's it!
  3. Shop around different stores. Yes, this is what ladies love to do, shop around different stores and look for a best buy. This is a great idea, you shop around to survey for a shop that offers a better price. You have to be hardworking nonetheless, especially when you want to get the best deal.
  4.  Buy in bulk. You will notice that some stores offer a 'Buy 2 at a 50% discount'. Try utilize this at your advantage, not necessary to buy 2 for yourself. Instead, you share your purchases with a friend or family member from there you two save together.
  5. Shop at Discount Stores. If you realized that a stand-alone shop that sells something that were marked up higher than the normal price, then don't step in. Only buy at discount stores like Wal-Mart, or hypermarket like Carrefour,etc. These giant hypermarkets have large economies of scale, therefore charging lesser in price.
  6. Get a rebate card/credit card. If you are shopping for grocery or presents, you may want to take advantage of loyalty card that can offer rebates. Here you can save yourself a lot of money
  7. Learn how to bargain. If you happen to shop at a bargain store. Make sure you have your negotiation skills on hand. Desperately negotiating price with shopkeeper may sound embarrassing, but who knows how much you can save from it. 
  8. Buy it last minute. Who says you need to plan ahead? Have you ever notice that some stores offer last minute sales to clear their stock right at the last day? That's where you rush in and shop for the items you longed to purchase. They will offer 50% or 70% discount off the price.
  9. Online auction. Shopping is not necessarily tangible, look for online auction to shop for Xmas present at cheaper price. Best option I can suggest, go to http://www.ebay.com/ or http://www.Amazon.com and hunt for items that are offered during auction. You may get it lower than its normal price.
  10. Save even more through online. Last but not least, learn your way through sites that can offer benefits to help you save money. Below are two of the sites that you can refer to:-
    1. http://www.retailmenot.com/
      •  You can search any items or sites that you want to buy in the search box. The site will show you ALL the list of coupons available for the proposed items. So here's where you can find coupons that provide desired promo or rebates.
    2. http://www.ebates.com/ 
      •  It works the same way like above-mentioned site. However, instead of having to fill in your rebate form every time you get the coupon. This site will store the info in their database, save your hassle. Another bonus is that they offer referral program by tipping you with $5 when you refer a friend to join. 
  
So there you go, 10 possible ways to help you with your finances during shopping period. It makes you happier to be able to save a few bucks, don't always assume that shopping can only be fun if you spend more. Enjoy your xmas shopping ahead =)

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Who Moved My Cheese? Escape the rat race!

Sometimes to be rich, you have to be different...~
Here is how I put it, I've read this simple book by Spencer Johnson, Who Moved My Cheese?. International bestseller with over 24 million copies sold worldwide.

In short, the story talks about a group of mice (Sniff and Scurry) and a group miniature human (Hem and Haw). Both groups lived in a maze to look for cheese, which represents happiness and success.
Apparently after some time they ran out of cheese, Sniff and Scurry were prepared to look for new cheese in different stations (areas). However Hem and Haw were too afraid to go out and explore new stations in search for new cheese.
Throughout such desperation, Haw proposed to look for new cheese but Hem rejected. Hem feared of the unknown and danger outside of the comfort zone. Therefore Hem decided to go out and explore new stations for cheese alone. And so, Haw left without Hem to look for new cheese. 
After some time Haw realized that he has found new happiness and understand that cheese is always out there, but needs to be explored and discovered. 

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You have to read it on your own, I can't write the whole book in~ its way too long.
But the main lesson here is that, if we reserve our mind to stick to the same thing, it may cause danger if something goes wrong. We should not be afraid of changes.

I've actually seen a lot of people suffered, working too many years. Too reserved and they dare not change their full time job because they fear that they can't earn enough to support their life. Therefore they are caught in the rat race again and again!

If you want to be rich, you have to be different. If working for company makes you richer and happier...stick to that until you prosper.

If you hate your job but you dare not quit in fear of not earning enough, then do something.
Start planning financially, keep yourself aware of how to make money work for you. Invest!

Next post, I wanted to share some view of picking a right stock of value investing. For beginner may get to learn how to slowly pick a stock for long term. As the company grow, our money grow together with them.


Other books by Spencer Johnson that may be useful:-

















Saturday, December 4, 2010

How to use your credit card?

"You went for a date with your partner in a posh dining restaurant. Right after you finished your meal, you asked for the bill. The French waiter came with the bill on a silver platter, and you tossed your plastic gold on the plate. The waiter swiped it, and you signed your receipt and off you go~"

That's how easy credit card can be! Swipe and go, no need to pay by cash. But if you pay after due date, bank will charge you interest of average 15% of your amount. If you owed $5000 outstanding, you will be charged $750....Just because you did not pay on time you will be charged $750 for nothing!

So what am I saying here? Don't use credit card? No such thing!
You still use credit card~ well, use it wisely. If you know which credit card to use, you can in fact save your money!


There are a few criteria to review before you consider using credit card (Note: The banks mentioned below may only be applicable in Malaysia only):-
  • Pay your credits on time. Very obvious that you should pay on time to avoid creating debts and got charged on interest for nothing. This requires a good habit/discipline, for sure its a hassle to always pay the bill every month, however do you want to waste your money for the bank interest??
  • Look for card that offer cash-back or rebates. As you swipe your card you will receive a certain percentage of money to be returned back to you, this means you saved more money by using credit card. Eg. Alliance Bank Classic card offers rebates from 0.5% to 1.2% for monthly spending of RM1 to RM1,000. UOB ONE classic card offers 2% cash rebate on grocery shopping in Tesco, Giant and Carrefour AND 2% rebate on petrol purchases at any BHP stations.

  • Card that offers 0% instalment plans. Sometimes you may buy stuff that's expensive. Don't worry just swipe your card, as long as it offers 0% instalment rate. Just make sure you pay your monthly credit before due date!  Eg. Citibank credit card offers 0% instalment on a selected list of merchants; and instalment tenure can be 6,9 or even 12 months.
  • Look for reward points on issuer's card. Most people are attracted by this, the more you swipe the more points you will get. And you can redeem rewards from the points you have accumulated. But my suggestion, don't swipe for the sake of the points. Swipe for things that you REALLY need, if you don't need it don't bother to swipe. Because this is a strategy from the bank to make you spend more! Eg. Issuers like HSBC, Citibank and EON bank credit cards offer variety of items to be redeemed from the points accumulated.
  • Waive annual fee. Some credit card issuers charged annual fee for the credit card you own. Look for banks that are able to waive your fee, so that you will not be charged at all for the card you use. Eg. CIMB MasterCard and Ambank's platinum & gold cards offer free for life waiver.
  • Discounts and privileges for card owners. This part is where you save money. Issuers offer discounts on dining restaurants, hotels, travels or even shopping. So here's where you have to target on which card to help you save more often. Eg. HSBC SmartPrivileges offer 70% discount off normal-priced product of 138 selected merchants and CIMB Bank Smart Rewards gives 30% discounts on 120 merchants chosen. 
  • Some cards offer free flight benefits. If you travel often, look for cards that offer benefits for traveling. The concept is that for every flight you took, you will be awarded with mileage points. After you accumulated enough points, you may be entitled to redeem a flight ticket for free! Eg. KrisFlyer American Express Gold Credit Card offers such service for flight originating from Malaysia, each RM2 you spent you will earn 2 KrisFlyer miles. Collect enough you get free flight reward!

Therefore, are you able to find some benefits that your card can serve you? Utilize it, because banks are offering it generously. And remember, never ever get caught on interest rates, happy swiping! =)

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Anybody can make MONEY, everyone is equal

Simple sentence and easy to understand. Everyone is equal here no matter how rich or how poor you are, I don't care about racism or life status.

As long as we are born in this world, we all have equal chance of being rich or earn more money.

My blog objective today is to wake you up, if you tell me that you belong to the following statements:

#1. I don't think I can earn extra money, because I don't have enough to spend already!
#2. Whenever I think of fast/big money is either a scam or very risky.
#3. Only salespeople can earn money if I don't do sales I don't earn money.
#4. Money is the root of evil (define evil to me, i have my post mentioning this sentence:

http://wealthstreetjournal.blogspot.com/2010/11/money-is-root-of-evil-really.html)


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Whether you are rich or poor, young or old, high class or low class status. IT DOESN'T MATTER

People who come out with the 4 statements above is either unable to find better alternatives to get rich comfortably or find excuses to be lazy.

To make money its simple, as a starting ground, I have suggested some steps below:
  1. Set your objective - Its the fundamental and its a must. As we plan to earn money, we need to know how much do we want to earn in 5 years time or 10 years time? Why do we need money for? For house? Travel? Financial independence?
  2. Find your way to achieve your objective. Of course there has to be a way to earn that money, but it doesn't come easy. 
  3.  Do your homework. How to earn your money? Start an online business? Sales? Investments? All these need essential amount of homework. Find more info, get to know the relevant materials to boost your skills. You expect salespeople to earn big sales just by talking? No way, they learn from experience and homework to practice their selling skills.
  4. Move your butt and start doing something! As you are reading this, it makes you feel excited, wanted to earn more. Or have you been thinking of earning money BUT waiting for a correct timing. When is the correct time other than NOW?
" I learnt something from a friend of mine.
Carlos Slim Helu (world's richest man) and me have a lot of big difference, but we both have something in common. TIME. 
Everyone has 24 hours a day to spend, depending on how we utilize it. And so, if we wait for another day to plan, we wasted 24 hours, then another week we wasted 168 hours. So how long do we still need to wait??"

 So the saying goes again, move your butt and start doing something. Its all about action that proves everything. If we don't do it, we will never see the difference. Good luck! =))