"Guess what!! Look who is blocking the road and forbidding the car from reversing"
"The light is still on and I can't see anyone inside the van""May I know who suppose to give summon for this vehicle for traffic obstruction?"
My friend, JL (not Jennifer Lopez) went for a family trip in Hanoi on March. Everything went well throughout the trip... food was nice... scenery was good.... and etc etc. Things just turned sour while JL and her family was waiting for departure to Kuala Lumpur. The flight was delayed for a while. They decided to utilize the time effectively and grab some handy souvenirs to spur the economy of Hanoi.
Shopping spree started... everyone was happily spending their time to buy souvenirs and coffee...
Things turned bad when they were paying for at the counter... my friend's parents paid for the items and hoping for the correct change (ultimately, it is not correct). After few times of counting, the change is still not the correct figure. JL decided to negotiate with the cashier girl and demand for the balance. However... the girl denied the claim and insisted the change is correct. JL tried to talk properly with the cashier, but the girl kept on denying and pissed off with her. She even threw some unpaid souvenirs towards her. Of course the souvenirs broke and both of them were arguing hotly... (the conversation is similar to a duck arguing with a chicken)
The situation became chaotic and grabbed the attention of custom officers. They interrupted on the incident and brought JL and her family into the investigation room for questioning. They were detained for a few hours due to the cashier's fault. The outcome... JL was asked to apologize to the cashier, pay for the broken souvenirs and wrote a GOOD report on the incident in order to be freed earlier and continue their journey back to Kuala Lumpur (WTH!!!).
For summary on the report... JL wrote that she paid for the souvenirs and wrongly thought that the change was incorrect. Therefore, she argued with the girl and admitted she threw the basket of souvenirs towards the girl.
We have been hearing or sometimes even receiving some forwarded emails on similar incidents happening in airports. Some may just ignored it... Some might take some precaution and try not to do anything silly... Some might just had a laugh on it. However, people tend to start caring when their immediate family members or friends become victims on those incidents. By the time it happens, it is already too late. Try to prevent those incidents from happening again and hopefully no one will be victimized in the future. It might be a small incident but it will keep on happening if no one cares about it and indirectly will jeopardise the tourism industry in the future.
Investment means placement of money in selected intermediaries in hope for good returns to suit ones' risk appetite. It is something all should learn to do to grow your money. If not, the value of money become smaller by years because it is eaten by the extreme inflation. There are a lot of investment opportunities available in the market now. We will look at property investment for today. How do people earn from property investment? Normally, they earned returns from 2 methods: rental and trade.
When someone purchase a property with the intention to rent it out, he is actually hoping to earn rental income every month. Some prefer to trade with properties; which mean buy at low price and sell it at high price.
Last week, I went for property viewing with my friends in Vista Komanwel, Bukit Jalil. Vista Komanwel comprises of 3 phases which are A, B and C. We made an arrangement with the selected property agent to view a unit at 9th Floor in Vista Komanwel A. The unit was empty because the tenant already moved out and the owner decided to sell it off. For location wise, Vista Komanwel actually is not so strategic located or easy accessible compared with B and C. It took a long walking distance to reach the entrance of Vista Komanwel A from Vista Komanwel B.
The unit consists of 3 rooms and 2 bathrooms. The built up is 1,422 square feet. The selling price is RM220,000 according to the agent. The monthly rental can fetch up to RM1,500 per month. Generally, the tenants are students from Asia-Pacific Institute of Infromation Technology (APIIT). Based on our observations, mostly students who rent there are African students. It takes 5 to 8 minutes drive from Vista Komanwel A to APIIT. Every numerical evidences sound reasonable. However, the unit was not up to our expectation. Everything inside was quite in a mess. It will incur some additional charges to fine tune the place if we wanna use it for rental. The inadequacy of information provided by the agent was another major factor to consider. She was not polite throughout the viewing and do not seem to know about the owner's intention. As you can see from the pictures, there are still some wardrobes and cabinets everywhere in the house. She does not know whether the owner will remove them and who should bear the cost of removal. The balcony is actually facing a highway which is quite annoying if the tenant is looking for a peaceful home (tenant might bargain for lower rent due to the issue). The maintenance of Vista Komanwel A was far below our expected level. That is what make us think the property does not worth that much. We actually spend less than 15 minutes in that unit to identify all the flaws.
We decided to move on our venture and step into Vista Komanwel B for viewing and enquiries. The location of Vista Komanwel B was far far much better than Vista Komanwel A. The accessibility is easier from the main road. The entrance is extremely strategic. It is just situated opposite of International Medical University (IMU). We can observe a lot of local IMU students walking in and out of Vista Komanwel B. We even interview some of them for our knowledge. Mostly occupants are students from IMU due to the proximity for schooling.
Vista Komanwel B consists of 3 blocks. Compared to Vista Komanwel A, the maintenance is much more better. We were not able to view the interior of any unit from that block. However, we all agreed that Vista Komanwel B is far more worth than others. Apparently the pricing for unit here does not differ much compared to Vista Komanwel A.
We did not manage to have a look at Vista Komanwel C. However, we did some research and the pricing at there has a slightly higher market value. It is situated nearby IMU too. In conclusion, we are totally agree that it is worth buying for investment for Vista Komanwel B. The things to consider include proximity to IMU and the condition of the blocks. Bear in mind, the property is for rental purpose, we may want to sell it off in the future for higher price. Condition of the block plays a vital role to ensure appreciation of the selling price in the future.
Do share with me if you all know anywhere in Klang Valley that able to fetch high rental. I seriously looking for one. Thank you!!!
Landing a job is becoming harder than ever. Most people have high expectations and requirements on their job selection. Some expecting to get into MNC, some expecting to able to travel around, some hoping to earn RM3K a month... the worst one... some hoping to have all the BENEFIT...
I have a friend, Ms A, who was once unemployed for one year since graduation due to her naivety, has now settling in a less expected job with just RM1.5K per month. I recognized the importance of landing a high pay job to live in the cities nowadays. However, the economy has forced people to be more down-to-earth to get a relatively low pay job to sustain their livings. Earning a little pay or being unemployed?
JUST FACE THE FACT!
It is better to have a secured job than stay unemployed and keep asking pocket money from your parents. Life must continue... every month you will be happily receive your salary in the early month but I bet usually it won't last for 2 or 3 weeks. Most probably, you will stay at home on the 4th week....doing nothing...because everything you wanna do (or plan to do) will incur additional costs.
WHAT SHOULD YOU DO??
Let me share with you some effective ways to continue your livings...
1) START SAVINGS
Some must think it sounds CRAZY... since the current income they earned is insufficient for their day-to-day livings. But it is even more IRRATIONAL if you continue to work and do not save. WHY? Imagine you continue to work-and-spend it all attitude... Where will you be after 5 or 10 years? Are you moving forward in your life? Think wisely.
How do I save? How much do I need to save?
You can start savings now. I advise you to start as soon as possible. The earlier you start, the faster you adapt on your savings habit. You can start to save as little as RM100. I would advise you to save at least 10 percent of your salary. If you can save more then it will be better for your future. Another way is to increase your savings every month. You can save RM100 for 1st month and increase to RM110 the following month and so on.
You have to take note that the money you save is for your future. Not to buy your favourite handbag or latest mobile phone. This savings fund is non-touchable. You can consider opening a separate bank account for your savings. Ensure the bank account do not have an ATM facility. The harder for you to access the money the better. Do not delay your savings. Bank in the money to the account on the day you receive your salary. ALWAYS PAY YOURSELF FIRST! Or you can consider asking someone you trust to help you save. Is either your parents or your wife/girlfriend (somehow girls manage finance better). If you do not save, you will be in big trouble. Imagine on one unlucky day, your boss decided to terminate your service immediately due to bad economy, what will happen to you?
2) SLOW SPENDING
You know how much you are earning every month. How? You got your payslip stating your basic salary and deduction of EPF. Then you will got your net income credited into your account. Correct? However, how much is your spending? Yeah... You can always assume your monthly expenses and expect there is something left in your wallet or purse by end of the month. But generally it won't happen. Why?
As you can see, when something monetary is in black and white (payslip), people tend to notice and pay more attention about it. As for spending, people tend to be ignorant and less calculative. They can hardly see the big picture of their spending.
Assume Mr. A is earning net income of RM2K per month. He enjoys drinking on happy hour and spends RM15 everyday. For a month, he is spending RM450 (RM15 X 30 days) for happy hour. This is amounted to 22.5% of his earning. Spending RM15 daily might look small but it is drying your wallet day by day. How do you overcome the problem?
Firstly, you must learn and understand your spending pattern. Before the day you receive your pay, prepare a projected monthly expenses. Then you can start to jot down all your daily expenses which include your meals, tolls, parking, petrol and etc. By end of the month, you need to compile your monthly expenses and compared with your budgeted spending to have a clearer picture of your spending.
"REMEMBER WHEN THINGS ARE IN BLACK AND WHITE PEOPLE TEND TO NOTICE IT"The next step require you to breakdown your category of spending whether you can try to eliminate or reduce it on the following month. For instance, mortgage and insurance payment is fixed and payable every month. This category neither can be eliminated nor reduced. On the other hand, expenses that you have controlled on such as entertainment can be reduced or eliminated if you want to. Try to take control on your variable spending. Slowdown your spending. Change from spending for happy hour daily to every 2 days once. By doing so, you will significantly see a boost in your income immediately by end of the month.
Treat yourself as a company. Be responsible and manage your cash flow. Imagine a big company foes not take control on its cash flow, what will happen to it? Most probably it will go bankrupt very soon. The same theory applies to individual too. PROFIT OR LOSS? It is up to you to decide.
3) SEARCH SOLUTION
After all your efforts, you noticed that something is amiss. You realized that you are spending RM1.10 for every RM1 you earned. How to solve it?
When you are spending more than what you earned, you are in critical stage of debtness. You are owing people (bank) money! This does not sound good. Imagine you are compulsory to repay your debts next month. You will eventually become a free labour and work for your creditors for that month.
The next wise step to take is to increase your earnings. Get yourself a part time job. I bet many companies are looking for promoter on weekend. You might consider using your skills to earn money. Conduct tuition for students or get some freelance projects if you are a technical person such as web designer or programmer.
"STOP BLAMING OTHERS FOR NOT EARNING ENOUGH"There is a lot of ways to earn additional income. Just fully utilized your brain and think.
The optimum method to sustain in the current hardship living is to employ all of the above ways: start to save early, reduce spending and increase income. By doing so, your future will be more secure and guarantee.
Yes! Yes! Yes! Look like you have just graduated from University with a recognized degree after 3-4 years of studies. For head start, those newbies will continue the norm and start searching for jobs that are relevant to their degrees. Nowadays, I think landing a job is not that easy but I believe many companies are still hiring. For those still looking for job, be more optimistic and do not be too selective on your job. You should be lucky if you are offered a job rather than be part of the 26,000 unemployed in the country.
1 month... 2 months... 3 months...
Generally, a company will offer 3-6 months probation for its new staff. Now, you become a PERMANENT staff. You got your confirmation letter! What is NEXT?
You continue to work hard for your job day and night. Then one day, while you enjoying your lunch in your favourite kopitiam, someone come to your table and asking you to apply a credit card from him or her (Luckily, not someone asking for money... HAHA!).
Or while you enjoying your walk (most probably in major shopping centers), someone will approach you and trying to start off their MISSION to offer you a credit card. I bet many have experiencing this scenario. It will even worst if you bump into an aggressive salesperson. He might follow you from behind like a paparazzi as if you are the celebrity of the year. LOL!
Those salesperson will start to bombard you with everything you wanna hear..."instant free gift, free-for-life, no annual fees, cash rebates, collect points for gifts...etc". Eventually, you will give up and sign for at least a credit card. Izzit getting a credit card a sin? NO! I will share with you why you should at least get a credit card.
But firstly, before you decide to sign up for a credit card from any commercial banks, you should consider some factors. Yes! Fancy design does not mean the credit card is better.
- Payment - Will you wanna get a card if you have difficulty making payment every month? You need to drive all the way downtown, stuck in the jam, queue for a long period just to pay the bill every month. It will be more convenient if you do not mind to incur additional charge of RM2 for service charge by using your existing bank account to pay for your credit card via e-banking or ATM machine.
- Free-for-life - This word is a bit catchy. If you notice in every credit card application form, this word will normally end with an ASTERISK (*). It means it comes with terms and conditions. Normally, free-for-life card will require cardholder to swipe at least 2 times every month or spend more than RM3,000 on retail transaction in a year. Remember to ask more about it before you sign up. If not, annual fee is still charged on your card although you just display your card at home.
- Cash Rebate - This feature is the most popular and beneficial for cardholder. Who do not want a card that you only require you to pay RM97 for RM100 you spend every month? I bet those who know how to calculate also want to enjoy this benefit. As usual, everything comes with terms and conditions. Different cards offer different cash rebates. Some allow you to get rebate every month while others allow rebate on annual basis. Some allow instant cash rebates on certain merchants. What you need to consider? Will you get a card that offer cash rebates in Carrefour but you only shop in Tesco? Be SMART!
- Point Rewards - For me, this is an additional bonus. It will be difficult to utilise the card to collect points everywhere. Normally, the bank will cooperate with selected merchants to allow you to collect points. You won't be that CRAZY to change your lifestyle to visit every restaurant, hotel, boutique, spa or etc just to collect points. I bet you will have your own favourite hotspot to hangout.
STOP! You might hear from others' bad experiences regarding credit cards. You might have friends, relatives or colleagues have difficulty paying for credit card due to overspending or mismanagement. They are the banks' best friends and loyal customers. The more they owe, the more interest will be charged.
What you need to do? Do not apply for a credit card? Just bring your cash to everywhere you go? Buying a laptop with RM3000 cash in the wallet? Izzit safe to bring so much cash in the city nowadays?
I will teach you how to handle this issue. But nothing come easy. Discipline is the key to overturn the problem. Let us start...
There is always a problem where people fail to notice how much they spend with their credit card until they receive their monthly statement. Oppss...They spent RM2000 and they only have RM200 in the bank. How to settle the debt? As usual, they will pay the minimum payment of RM100 (5% of total spending) and hope they will settle the debt next month. Guess what??! Same thing happen next month and the debt hole become bigger and bigger. Will this thing happen if you monitor your spending?
The main point now is MONITOR your spending. There are many ways to monitor your spending. The best way is to keep the receipts after you swipe your card. DO NOT throw your receipts. Besides being useful to trace your spending, you can use it cross-check with your monthly statement to avoid additional charge or credit card frauds. I have been using this method to monitor all my credit cards. It is easy to talk than action. You need to start to ACT NOW. Once you started your monitoring, you will know how much you spend and whether you have the capacity to repay it at the end of the month.
By doing this, you will become the banks' most hated customers. They won't able to earn any additional interest from you. You won't end up struggling to repay your debt and getting your salary every month to repay the bank. So... do you wanna become banks' best friend or most hated customers?
Bla... Bla... Bla... I heard some opinions....
"Who need credit card if I have cash? I do not mind shopping with plenty cash in my purse."
"My mom does not let me to apply for one?"
Let me tell you why you need at least a credit card. I won't share with you the reasons even your children know about the benefit of having a credit card. Let get more deeply...I will tell you something you do not know....
- Future Borrowing - If you do not know, a credit card is considered a credit facility provided by the bank to consumer. Whenever you have a credit facility with the financial institutions, Bank Negara will have your record. Getting a credit card is much more easier than getting a car or housing loan. Assume you are a 35-year-old man applying a housing loan and you have clean record and free from any credit facility, what will the bank think of you? NO! You are wrong! They won't think you are a good customer. You are their HIGH RISK customer. YES! You heard it correctly...HIGH RISK. They might just reject your application for housing loan. But why? For bank, it is very unusual for a person at that age who does not possess a credit facility. Bank assumes credit card is a necessity for everyone except for the people who do not qualify for one. Because your record is too clean, the bank cannot determine whether you are a good paymaster or not. They will rather not accept your application than risking their profit on you.
For your information, I am actually graduated with a business degree majoring in Marketing. Frankly speaking, my current job does not fully utilize my marketing skills and knowledge. Maybe this is because of employers' fault especially Human Resource Department (HR). Try to buy any newspaper and flip to the Classified at the Jobs session. I bet you will see at least 10 jobs with the title of "Marketing Executive". Bear in mind, the title is just a catchy phase to CATCH your attention. It can be sure that 99% of the job is actually SALES job with CREATIVE job title. Haha! Gotcha!
OK! Let get back to the topic. Being a Marketing graduate, I still pay attention to the ads although it is not related to my current job. Observing ads has become a habit since my Uni life and it continues till now. Who knows maybe one day I will eventually get back into PURE MARKETING job and my ads knowledge will be helpful (Daydreaming!). Haha!
I came across a few ads by Nikon that I wanna share them here. From my point of views, the ads are actually very creative and eye-catching. It is entirely able to convey its messages to the consumers. The ads is about the special feature of Nikon-S60 camera that is able to detect up to 12 faces. AWESOME! I want one of those if I have the money.
Hello! Mr. Adventurer! Beware! Snapping picture in the forest can be dangerous too. There are a few "friends" waiting at the back to "greet" you.
This should be eye-catching for MEN. Is it suitable for under 18?
Hey girls! Nice position. Smile! Opssst...the curtain is still opened. Look like we have guests opposite the apartment. Shall we invite them to join in the FUN?
WOW! This one is a bit SPOOKY. Who still want this camera?
Hey dear, you have a nice bedroom. I never know you have so many "roommates" living with you. You should ask them to pay the rental too.
Anyone want to buy this amazing camera now? Or you should think twice because the camera is too powerful for a human being to handle. Haha! We should really appreciate the creativeness of the marketing person who came out with the ideas. Bravo! I suddenly feel proud being a Marketing graduate. LOL!!
How do you spend a wonderful Sunday? I might suggest you to relax at home or shop around for bargain. You will able to see the wonderful sign of "SALES" everywhere in the shopping areas in Kuala Lumpur or Petaling Jaya, Malaysia. I believe it creates better effect for Malaysians if they put the sign of "FREE".
It had been raining everyday but last Sunday (8 March) was tremendous hot since morning. Shopping was on the top list that day. I do not feel like spending my Sunday doing nothing at home so, I head to IKANO (the place you can purchase IKEA products) for shopping (OR for "SALES" items).
The journey began...
Everything was fine when i started of driving to the destination. Driving in the city is part and parcel of my job (being a salesperson). You can see plenty cars on the road on weekend compared to weekdays which is reasonable because it is holiday (That is what I thought). Things get worse when I got nearer to IKANO.
I can see massive traffic jam heading towards the car park. Many BRANDS of cars are queuing up . I saw HONDA, TOYOTA, BMW and etc. I can even see PROTON. Haha!
Second thought, it should be NORMAL since it is Sunday. It is a good day for family outing or window shopping. Or maybe they just went there for lunch.
I got into parking 20 minutes later (it only took me 5 minutes to reach parking on normal days) which is quite fast because I skipped the jam and used an alternative entrance (Clever huh?). I continued my walk to IKANO until I saw ....
MANY MANY MANY shoppers queuing up for payments with their trolleys full of goods ...
Wahhh Lauu Ehhh!!! This is only the "SALES" effect. I wonder what will happen if "SALES" become "FREE".
Some questions popped up in my mind ...
- I thought the economy is going bad. Why so many people still afford to spend so much? (Getting extra 3% from EPF is additional for shopping??)
- Is buying a chair, table, bed or TV cabinet a necessity at this time? (I thought we should be more prudence and spend wisely)
- Are they so many people buying furniture because they are moving into their new homes or renovating their current house? (I thought sales of properties is decreasing day by day)
I truly believe Malaysians react extremely fast (faster than a speeding bullet) when they saw the magical word "SALES" in the newspapers, catalogs or even in the shop. Are we getting smarter after experiencing Asian Financial Crisis in 1997? I do not know and I hope we do learn something from the past.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
