Of Broken Dreams, Shattered Funds

Mar 192010

I have a dream that come this June, I will be able to fulfil my lust for a PS3 and enjoy the glory of FFXIII.

Play Station 3

Play Station 3

But my dream has been broken by certain events that was beyond my control. Previously it was the duty stamp and legal fees that I need to pay to the bank, for a house loan that was entrusted upon me. That had set me back by a few thousand Ringgits.

Final Fantasy XIII

Final Fantasy XIII

Next was the professional fee charged by the housing evaluator for their ‘fair’ evaluation report on the state and value of the house. That has further set me a few hundred Ringgits.

Just a few days ago, I received a call from the lawyer that was ‘appointed’ for me for the Sales & Purchase of the house: I need to settle a few more thousand Ringgits for their legal fees.

All on all, I am now officially on a deficit budget FOR THE YEAR, which means that I have spend more than what I’ve earned for my current financial year which will end in June this year. Technically I still have 3 more months to fix my financial back into positive balances, but it will come with the cost of not being able to spend as I wish.

The legal and processing costs of purchasing this medium cost house was beyond my expectation, and this is one of the expensive lesson that I’ve learned this year. :(

Nail the GST to the Coffin

Mar 182010

It was reported in the news that the government has decided to postpone the tabling of the GST bill in the parliament.

1Malaysia icon

1Malaysia icon

To me, it’s as the same thing as nailing the bill down into a coffin of political convenience. It was obvious from the start that the government was only talking of rhetoric and trying to gain political mileage from the middle classes by talking about improvement to the source of the government’s revenue, and potential reduction in personal income tax once the GST system has taken it’s place in the hearts of our economy system.

And to the same middle class plus the high class citizens, the supposed implementation of GST will bring the impact of self-regulation in taxes and it will help the country a lot especially with the distorted impression that our people are corrupted by birth and everything is governed by the rule of ‘grease money’ or ‘duit kopi’, so to speak. But no, our so-called 1Malaysia government does not seriously taking that into account.

It looks like they are looking more at the backlash that they might get from their own supporters – most of whom the businesses, the ali babas, the ungrateful bastards that have milked the taxpayers money with substandard services and products, the corrupted officials at various government agencies, and definitely from MPs that are only thinking of their own personal gains and losses.

The opposition, being a constant ulcer in the back side, did not help much with the threat of mass demonstration by stupid supporter of theirs that could not even comprehend the basic understanding on how government revenue works – only that they know how to look like idiots on the street, shouting like madmen that does not have an inch resemblance to the ‘adab’ and ‘tatasusila’ of our Malaysian heritage that we are so proud of.

We are in such a sad state of political situation that I’ve lost hope for us being able to rise up out of this ‘middle income’ trap.

Sub of the Day

Mar 092010

What can you say on any offerings of the day, if it was made just for the sake of marketing, without really considering alternative benefits to the consumer?

This is the case of Subway’s Sub-of-the-Day (SOTD) offer. It is a good deal indeed; for RM 7.50 (before tax) you can get one 6 inch sub. Everyday they offer different flavours – Red-Hot Mondays (Italian B.M.T), Cheery Tuesdays (Tuna), Lively Wednesdays (Meatball Marinara), Fresh Thursdays (Turkey Breast & Turkey Ham), Cool Fridays (Smoked Turkey), Dreamy Saturdays (Seafood & Crab), and Magical Sundays (Chicken Teriyaki).

However, the caveat of this offer is that you can only take it as it is. That may sounded okay from the business perspective, because usually any offers that were made are made with restrictions to ensure that the offers were not abused. But in the case of this ‘Sub of the Day’ offer, they restrict it up to the point where it does not make sense to do so.

To simplify my experience, I tried asking if I can substitute the normal four selections of bread with the pita ‘wrap’ bread. It is a healthier alternative as I can cut down the carb intake from the bread). For any normal-priced subs, upgrade or change to ‘wrap’ is free of charge and it will be charged the same price as the one with the bread. However, this is not the case when you want to ‘upgrade’ your SOTD to pita ‘wrap’ bread.

My complain here is that it doesn’t cost them much to allow such option, where it’s technically the same concept as allowing the normal subs to be upgraded. It is understandable that Subway wants to maximize profit, but a bit of leeway should be given to the customers, and this is one of the areas where they should give the customers a bit of an option.

Well, it is already a bit expensive to eat healthy food in Malaysia. I wish there’s more options for healthy food in and around KLCC. :)

Personal Economic Downturn

Feb 242010

It looks like I am heading for a personal economic recession, if my financial records are held to be accurate and reliable.

A quick read-up on Wikipedia revealed that recession, or otherwise called economic downturn, is defined as “a period when GDP falls (negative real economic growth) for at least two quarters.”ยน It is noted that “some economists prefer a definition of a 1.5% rise in unemployment within 12 months”, but that indicator may not be applicable for my personal financial records, since I am not looking into being unemployed anytime soon.

Am I heading towards a recession? My financial records are telling me so. I discovered that for the past three months, I have personally registered deficit budgets for each month. In December 2009, I registered a deficit of RM 493; in January 2010, deficit of RM 734; in this month alone, it stood at RM 1,813 and growing. Obviously there are justified reasons for the excess of expenditure over income, but if we hold on to the recession indicator, it’s already a quarter of negative (personal) economic growth.

It could not be helped that some of my budgeted items have been completely spent just a lil’ bit a month after the first half of the financial year. I have busted my clothing, home electrical, home kitchenware, and travelling budget; while my personal care (ah the cost of vanity!), food dining, social responsibility, and computer budgets are running wild.

I am not complaining of not enough money, because I know that my current salary is more than enough to support my living. What caught me in this possible recession is my lust for perfection – in terms of look, health, happiness, and living – while wanting to have it as fast as it possibly could have come. It looks like I need to put some brake on my past-paced life, for I need to enjoy what I have now.

Come July this year, I am looking to see if I manage to turn the tide on my financial standing and gain considerable savings out of it – I have a PS3, a new LCD TV, and a sound system listed in my wish list for this year. :P