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My 2018 Expenses and Income
Some days ago I read a blog post from Suraya of Ringgit Oh Ringgit in which she reveals her annual income and expenses for the last year. I thought, “Hey, I’ll do that too!” Naive, little ol’ me thought that this was going to be an easy breezy fun post to write. I was sorely mistaken. I spent the whole weekend confronting the numbers that my year essentially boiled down to. The more I looked at them, the more anxious and afraid I became about sharing it with the world. It’s one thing to hold those numbers close to yourself but it’s a completely different thing to let other…
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My Stock Investing Workflow: A Step-by-Step Guide
A common phrase I hear is “I want to invest in stocks but I don’t know how to start”. My usual reply to this is, “It’s not that hard to learn, just gotta start somewhere.” For a while, I felt like people just didn’t want to put in the time and effort to learn. After all, there are so many free resources out there to help you get started. These days I’m much more forgiving in my opinion. People just don’t have the time nor can afford to put in the effort to learn. They have jobs, families, relationships and so many other commitments to worry about. I don’t blame…
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Month in Review: December 2018
Reviewing my budget and expenses for December 2018
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4 Ways To Be A Better Human Being To Others
Author’s Note: This post is both a cheat and a self-reflection throwback kind of thing. December tends to be a hectic month for me every year because of Christmas, but now, added on top of it is trying to settle down in a new country and a new job. So, having space and time to write these past weeks haven’t been easy. To those still coming back here to read, thank you and I apologize for the lack of updates. Anyways, during my last days in KL while packing, I went through an old hard disk and found some really cringy pieces of writing that I’ve done in the past. Needless…
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Month in Review: November 2018
Money November saw some huge expenses that ate up a lot of my budget. In my last review, I mentioned that there’s going to be bigger car expenses in November. Can you imagine, I spent RM2k just on my car?? As time goes on, I become more bitter about owning a car. Back in college, a car felt like a privilege, now it feels like an unnecessary burden. A few times I’ve thought about selling off my car but other people in my family depend on the car as well. Adui, I feel a bit sakit hati looking at the numbers. I spent about RM200 on a facial (under personal) in…
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My Not-So-Budget Trip in Europe
I’m having a hard time structuring this post. For one, my trip was long. I spent 45 days traveling through Europe. It’s hard to condense that into 1,500 words or less. Secondly, I am not sure how this post can help anyone budget their very own Europe trip. I’m not going to sit here and pretend that most people can afford an extended holiday, much less one that costs about five figures. Other people have done better than me at budgeting a backpacking trip to Europe. And at some really unbelievably low numbers. But I can honestly say my European trip was one of the most life-changing experiences that I’ve had. For…
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Portfolio Snapshot: Fear Can Be Your Friend
Ho boy, October was something huh? Trade wars, budgets, declining oil price, scandals, jitters, nerves, Halloween. It’s been an eventful month on the market. Analysts are predicting the end of the bull run and further market correction as investors becoming skittish. Day traders and technical players swoop in, taking advantage of oversold positions to reap some good profits. We continue to see that spill over into November. Let’s take a look at the portfolio. Change in FBMKLCI since 1 Oct 2018 = -4.80% Change in Portfolio since 1 Oct 2018 = -4.73% Trades in November: Bought AIRASIA at RM2.72 on 8 November 2018 Sold AIRASIA at RM3.10 on 16 November 2018…
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5 Questions To Ask When Investing in Dividend Stocks
Passive income investing or dividend investing is one way to grow your wealth steadily over a long period of time. Dividend investing does not require as much active management and monitoring compared to short-term trading. It’s an approach suited for people who can’t afford to spend time constantly looking at the market. Most people would say it’s the least glamorous way of participating in the stock market. Nobody’s going to pitch a movie about a middle-aged man who made millions by painstakingly compounding his wealth over 20 years. My tax dollars weren’t used for “The Turtle of Wall Street”. I digress. Selecting dividend stocks for a long-term investment requires research…
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Month in Review: October 2018
Money It’s been a pretty chill month. It’s a bit unsettling that I’m starting to get used to seeing my monthly expenses hit the RM5k range. These days, the bulk of my monthly money drain goes to paying rent. But I’ve reduced a lot of unnecessary expenses last month. Overall, I spent about RM5,211.58. My total spending last month is down by 15% compared to September. In September, I spent a lot to furnish my home. Nine months after moving into a new place, I finally bought a sofa and a fridge. Don’t judge me. In October, there wasn’t much spending for home upkeep, thank god. There’s a slight increase…
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5 Financial Personality Types That Affect Your Money Habits
Sometime last month, I conducted a small personal finance workshop. One of the things we discussed is how our personality types can affect how we handle money. The diverse ways people approach money comes down to things like our upbringing, education, employment status, and where we are in life. It’s often overlooked that how we behave as a person affects how we view money, spending, saving and investing. I’m a firm believer that in order for us to be better at managing money, we must first understand what makes us tick. There are five common personality types we can broadly categorize ourselves into. 1) The Spender We all have that…
