MSAM 2012

About many-many moons ago, the local papers were carrying an advertisement for several days and it looked like this:

MSAM 2012, that's what it is.  2 large house like tents were manned at our KK Sports Complex compound.  MSAM stands for ""Minggu Saham Amanah Malaysia", organised by PNB and ASNB.  I am quite confident that all Malaysians know who they are, err...... unless you are living in a cocoon :-P.

According to their statistics, Sabahans are the largest group of people putting their money in their trust funds.  All sorts there are, all of them starts with the letter "A", followed by "S" and the remaining of anything.  Since this is the first time such big event is being held in KK, I explored what's there to muse myself of.  I was there awhile ago. *grin.........  I hardworking or naut..... this story so freshie.... I could not believe it myself, the antonym of lazy wo.

So here are the pics I took, or rather Beary was the one taking pics with my phone.  My camera konked out, remember?  I'm still thriving in deciding a good replacement camera.  Can't someone invent a camera with wifi connection?  For quick uploading?  Or is there one in the market that I didn't know of (myself living in a cocoon :-PP) 

 I gained weight.  Shut up!! (Maybe its the angle? *wishful thinking)

Inside the tent.  Alot of interactive displays.  Oooo..... Impressive.

Behind me, people mountain people sea.

If you are wondering, I was there after dinner...... still in my working clothes.  Yes, that's how I looked like everyday at work.  Of course, in the morning the perfect fresh look with make-up.  By afternoon, I didn't even bother to do any touch-up, not even lipstick.  Like I said, I'm not a make-up girl.  

Guess who're with me in this pic?

LOL, this is a funny game.  But I heard a lot of people
won something from this.  Care to try? 

Snakes and ladders game for the youngs.

Chop! Chop! Chop!

No, I do not know what the commotion was about or rather why everyone were holding either a red or silver coloured booklet.  They got it at the entrance.  I didn't bother to queue for it 'coz I was never a lucky girl.  Never won anything at random in my life.  *yao ming disgust face* 

And finally, my portrayal of Victoria Beckham and her Evogue.  Do I have her coolness? Her chic-ness?   *vomit rainbow.  Maybe not.  Okay-la, not the newly launched special edition.  But a girl can dream, right?

Oh god, I have got to get a new camera.  These pics looked bad :( 

There are still alot more to offer in this exhibition as there are various booths being displayed.  If you are curious as on which share counters does PNB or ASNB chuck its confident in, this is a good place to start.    The whole idea of this exhibition is to provide exposure and creating awareness to the public on unit trust / mutual fund investment.  Y not organise a visit by sunrise?  'Coz that will be the last day of the exhibition :O.

As for me, its nearly 2am.  Snoozing off time.  Nightey sweets *smooch. 

** RM53,096.29  

** To know my last balance, click here. 

** My figure is so anti in comparison with the exhibition's mission.  Need to refocus after a much much love spending spree.  No, I did not regret.  A girl needs to feel fabulous..... and that's what I did ♥ ♥ ♥ .

** BTW, something to ponder upon.  Got this from the exhibition:

Monthly debt pymt / monthly income = income vs debt ratio

MM : The 3 Buckets (Part 1)

Celebrities / Sports Stars Gone Bankrupt or Deep in Debts :

Mike Tyson

Dennis Rodman

Allen Iverson 

Toni Braxton

Nicholas Cage

Stephen Baldwin 

Michael Jackson

Whitney Houston

Does this list surprise you?  They were once multi-millionaires.  All were professionals in the career of their choice.  They've made the right career move.  Their move brought to them loads of luxurious lifestyles.  Money seems to come easy for them.  But one day, BANG!!  Either insolvency comes or almost there knocking at their doors.  What happened?

The list of stars in financial grunt goes on and on.  Just do a simple google search, the list can be dumbfounded. 

Remember in my 1st MM post, I mentioned that money comes easy.  Whether its a RM1,000 monthly salary or RM1million business income, the truth is, everyone knows how to attain this part.  Its just the mode of attaining them that's different.  Some people prefer to work for others in exchange for a decent dough while the ambitious others do businesses.  THERE IS NOTHING WRONG with your career choice.  It is only a matter of time that everyone will get to their destination of choice.  YES, I SAID EVERYONE!!  Provided your actions correspond with your aims, of course!!

We can change our lives.

We can do, have, and be exactly what we wish.

~ Tony Robbins 

So, revealing fact no. 1 here.  You do not have to work madly racing for a high paying job in order to get a good life.  Yes, high pay accelerates in reaching your dream destination, but if you fail to juggle the 3 buckets, you may as well end up just as any one of the stars above.  

QUESTION: Have you met people who nag nonstop of their financial woes even when they just got a pay raise? (I'm asking a very ironic question here le, 'coz I think I am that person le :P).

Okay2 *self slap face*, gonna move on and teach this kitty and you all what the above superstars have failed to juggle, i.e. the 3 buckets.

Reintroducing the below image again.   

I must self praise myself again as I am very lousy at drawing.  But the image is simple and fetchingly good, right?  *vainmode.  Okay-lah, boleh tahan saja (marginally satisfactory only)  :PPP.  As long as it helps in our learning process, I am satisfied.

To recap , what you are seeing is the liquid that flows out of the left faucet is the "S" sign with 2 vertical bars running through it.  The liquid will be captured by the 1st bucket. 

Introducing the 1st bucket : Your "NEEDS" bucket. Anything that falls in the category of "surviving" will fill this bucket.  Food, drinks, clothes, clean air, shelter & etc etc.  The bucket does not conform to a standard size. You name your needs, and the bucket will accomodate accordingly.  Some people may even include cellphones, pc, spiritual comfort and etc etc.  Like said, everyone has their own individual needs bucket.  Only when you have satisfactorily fill this bucket, any $$$ excess will flow out into your next bucket.

AHA!! So, for those with non fancy-ful income, do not despair. There is opportunity for you to move faster than the rest.  Define your Needs bucket.

The bucket includes protection too, or in other words, "security".  Some people may argue that there is a need for job security.  But for the purpose of this learning curve, the job part has been covered by the faucet.  We are managing money after the job/business produces a return.  So you make sure your faucet is of strong and sturdy, of the hardest steel/material.  We are learning to be sustainable, manageable and hopefully future-able.

The other structure of security is Insurances, which forms the core for protection.   Personally, I have been battling this mentality thinking that insurances are important.  In financial planning, the hierarchy to practice is PROTECTION, SAVING, then INVEST.  I am at times pro while other times against it.  I am especially against it when sales agents kept pushing for a sale, but not able to help in visualizing I have a need for more protection *raging mad.  Nevertheless, I am angelic enough to be patient while he/she finishes her stuff *batting eyelashes. 

I find myself not appreciating insurances, not until when I start managing my 2nd bucket, which then I learn to understand its priority.  There's so much more to understand about Insurances.  Maybe a future post will be done on this.  But for now, we need to move on on what lies ahead when the Needs bucket is filled. 

What will you do with the excess money in hand?  Remember, the bucket's size is dependent on you.  Once that's filled, the excess amount will most likely be saved or you starting on venturing for some luxury.  And that, ladies & gentlemen, will bring us to the next bucket, WANTS.

To be continued.....

From Blah to ♥ ♥ ♥

What sorcery is this!!  Hot hot sun scorching above my head.  I swear today's temperature, or to accurately describe, of recent days, almost melted me.  Just to state things clear, I am a Sabahan and my land is currently experiencing the dry season, which explicitly explains my agony.  Boo!!  

To state one other thing clear, I do not mind myself getting tanned, hence, being under the sun.  BUT!!, I am more agitated when I start sweating.  Sweating makes me so un-fabulous!!  I feel sticky, I feel smelly, my body temperature goes up threatening of breakouts, my make-up melts, etc etc etc.  To sum it all, hot weather makes Vkitty a depress meow.  I tried hard for the last 2 days to supress myself from depending on the cooling air-conds in an effort to save this already fragile and warm globe called Earth............. okay, I was more on trying to conserve energy 'coz I wanted to lessen my bill amount :P.   

The TRUTH is, I was on leave for 2 days and wanted desperately to clean and clear the sorta pc, sorta office, sorta wardrobe, sorta store but mostly junk in Cheeky's future bedroom.  The room was designated as his long time ago, but he hesitated to use it.  So Beary and myself just chuck most stuff in and sorta ignoring from cleaning up.  Now that he's grown up and needs his own space, I have gotta get the room ready.  NO MORE DELAY!!  But HOW?? Motion on a hot weather with in mind minimizing energy bill = Sweat!! = Depressing!!  

Weather, Y U make me depress-ful???  The depress-ness also affected my creativity 'coz I wanted to blog too during these 2 days.  Depress = Writer's block = Pathetic me :(  

And so I finally caved in, I asked for air-conditioned environment, but its not at home.  I went out instead.  Sat in Pizza Hut and ordered their new menu.  At this juncture, I guess you can say I indirectly did not save on my energy bill for I was ngomming away......  Yes, smartasses, you with your calculative genious-ness *clap & rolleyes*.  Anyway, I then "recuperate" my emotional self.  What sigh of relief!!  Yes, a huge Sigh!!!  While waiting for the meal to serve, I explored this photo editing appl which eventually I found my fabulous self again.  And here're my masterpieces:

I'm guessing by now, you should have found out that I am actually introducing my new hair colour to you.  LOL, creative or naut?  I mean my introductory?

After a few washes, the colour finally set at my desired shade i.e. auburn.  My 1st day after colouring was all....... bleeding of mahogany *hands on face*.  Was all shocked but thankfully, the reds drained away.  Happy happy me munching away hee hee.

BTW, I really did go to Pizza Hut and here's the proof :

New menu.  My absent mind could not recall the name :P

And I was really into cleaning up the room.  More proof :

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Me bad.  No pic wo.  But just to tell, its a whole lot messy.  I no eye see & no idea from where should I start :( 

Update 20120402 + Sneak-peek on MM

Finally I have a hint of breather after 2 months long of events handling.  Have you been missing me? *grinning

I would love to start telling you the stories of what I did since my last post, but heck, the experiences were not always sweet. And without much of pics, I guess I may bore you to death. Choi, choi, choi!! *touchwood

There's just not much of awesomeness in the past months.  Just work, work, work and meetings, meetings, meetings ensuring things would turn out right, which they did.  Of course the events went great!!  I'll try and describe more about the events next time, if I feel like it....... :P  And so the reward after crunching all my youthfulness in my job..... is a month end pay.  Sounds pathetic? Yes? No? 

Anyway, whether its pathetic as it may or may not sound like, I still need to look forward and forge ahead with my life goals.  Yes, I have goals, how about you?  I have often thought how my life would be if the critical events of my life are differently handled.  Of course, the grass is always greener at the other side of the fence, there's no use crying over spilt milk.....(I've no milk to drink yet by far, thank you!!).   Yet, hope is not always in despair, 'coz as long as you and I focus on the long term goals, the short to medium ones are only minor events to "entertain" our lives.

Hence, I'm going to write another post on money management.  I do not know about you, but my goal has to be attain with some loads.  And when I say loads, please do not imagine infinite number of lorries of hard cold cash.  You don't really need millions to live a happy and carefree (debt free) life.  Some people are just as happy with what little cash they have yet are able to sustain a family life with their plot of farm, or maybe adding a head or two herds. (Farmville??  Joking!!) & etc. etc. etc.  The reason I'm continuing with this topic is because of the positive feedback I got from my last post. Thank you all who commented.  You are my motivators.

"The responsible lending guidelines, among the pre-emptive measures by Bank Negara to contain surging household debt, have made a strong impact on most people. Will the guidelines be effective to control the alarming levels of household debt and put the brakes on loan growth?"  ~ The Star Online, March 24, 2012

FYI, Bank Negara is our Central Bank, and the lending guidelines is for our banking institutions. So what do all these mean?

That's my sneak-peek.  Will tell you more next time.

As for myself, I need a re-colouring of my hair badly.  So so so damn neglected my desire on maintaining my FABULOUS-NESS.  And this time, I'm going for probably......... auburn?

Ugly kitty is so out of touch with Fabulous :(

**  RM52,630.01.

**  To know my last balance, click here. 

**  The disturbing news :  Banks to raise credit card balance rates ~ The Star Online, February 15, 2012. 

**  Update : instead of just 3 banking institutions, as of today, most if not all,  Malaysian banks are having the new balance interest rates.

**