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COVID-19 and MCO Resources for Malaysians
Our lives have changed drastically in such a short span of time and it can be overwhelming to deal with such a change. Some of us are lucky enough to still have our jobs, but there are large parts of our society that are now out of work. For some, having our children at home means that they’re not learning maths and science in school. For others, the inactivity and lack of social interaction can creep up on us and weigh on our emotions. And it’s also hard to keep up with all of the news surrounding COVID-19 and what you can do to help yourself and others during this…
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Portfolio Snapshot: Brace for Impact
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this post are my own opinions and does not constitute financial advice or a recommendation to buy or sell securities. Disclaimer 2: This is a stream of consciousness writing mess, so take from it what you will. I was 6 years old when the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis happened. I started college just as the global banking system collapsed in 2008. In 2013, the European debt crisis was at its tail-end when I started my first job. Even as I lived through 3 market collapses, I was too young and oblivious to comprehend their damaging effects. Though, I heard and read countless stories about those…
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Month in Review: February 2020
Every month, I track my spending and share them openly here. In my Month in Reviews, I go over notable (and often discretionary expenses) for the month and reflect on some key areas of life tied to money, either directly or indirectly: career, health, relationships and personal growth. Writing these updates gives me helpful insights into my own life, and I hope they help you as well. By sharing my experiences with money, I also hope to encourage you to feel comfortable approaching your own finances and keep the conversation around money alive. Spending Breakdown In January, I mentioned that I’m trying to budget more carefully this year. Unfortunately, things…
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How I’m Setting My Goals for 2020
Truth be told, I’m terrible at goal-setting. For most of my adult life, I’ve either: 1) not set any goals at all, 2) vaguely visualised goals in my mind, but never took actionable steps to see them through, or 3) set goals so unrealistic, fall very short of the mark as I tried to reach them, then, feeling discouraged, I’d abandon the effort altogether. Everything I’ve done up to this point in my life, such as getting good grades or saving money, unfortunately, wasn’t achieved through positive goal-setting. No. Instead, I achieved milestones out of sheer fear and panic that life would crumble right before my eyes if I didn’t.…
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Month in Review: January 2020
Every month, I track my spending and openly share them here. In my Month in Reviews, I go over notable (and often discretionary expenses) for the month and reflect on some key areas of life tied to money, either directly or indirectly: career, health, relationships and personal growth. Writing these updates gives me helpful insights into my own life, and I hope it does the same for you as well. By sharing my experiences with money, I also hope to encourage you to feel comfortable approaching your own finances and keep the conversation around money transparent and alive. Spending Breakdown Barely a month into 2020 and my budget has gone…
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How I Spent My Money in 2019
A little over a year ago, I moved to Singapore. Plenty happened since then, most of which was reflected in the way I spent my money in 2019. Challenges came with my move such as building a network of friends from scratch in a new city and finding an affordable place to rent. The biggest challenge was juggling my expenses both in Malaysia and Singapore. I was paying off my car in Ringgit but paying rent in SGD. I’d use my credit card to pay for a meal during a weekend in KL and then back in Singapore, I’d be scratching my head figuring out how to consolidate my expenses.…
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Month in Review: December 2019
Well, happy new year folks! This one’s a little bit late but better late than never! My final month of 2019 proved to be one of the hardest months to keep my spending in check. Let’s dive in: Money Investment – S$5000 In December, my total cash outflow came up to about S$8600. This deceptively looks like I blew all my money away but a huge chunk was actually contributed to investments. Barring that particular outflow, my actual spending came up to about $4600 in December. It’s still a relatively high number because of the splurging I did around Christmas-time. Most of that splurging was done in KL as seen…
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Month in Review: November 2019
Well, hey there! I’ve been awfully quiet (again) on the blog and on social media. But with good reason. As some of you may know, I recently started at a new job. And adjusting to a new job (again) takes a lot of focus so I needed to prioritize that for now. I received a lot of encouraging comments on my previous Month in Review that really warmed my heart and I’m going to push harder to give you more content. I’m sorry to keep you guys hanging, I’m in awe of your patience to put up with my now inconsistent posting. Thank you all for that, truly, from the…
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Month in Review: October 2019
As we hurtle towards the tail end of this year, I find myself taking stock of the four areas of life that I value; money, career, health and personal growth. Often, in the effort to progress in one area (eg: career) I end up sacrificing another (eg: health). It is a never-ending balancing act that I’m sure is a common human struggle. These month-in-reviews showcase these struggles. Ultimately, I hope you can find solace in the fact that we’re all going through shit together. Let’s get into it. Money Hitting the S$3k mark frequently in the last months has been a worrying trend. I expect that my privilege as a…
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10 Favorite Websites To Read on The Internet Right Now
Who here is an avid reader? I love reading. It is one of the few things I truly enjoy doing the most during my downtime. Reading keeps my brain active. It’s where I get new ideas, learn about the world and experience someone else’s perspective. It’s also a great way to brush up on grammar and learn new styles of writing. Unfortunately, time has become an increasingly finite resource. When I was a teenager, I would devour 1000-page epic novels in less than a week. Now, I struggle to finish a 300-page novel in a month. Maybe this is one of the trappings of adulthood. To get my dose of…
