hi guys, i am new here and and i hope im not too late to be posting this to seek advices. 
Below is my personal income and expenses breakdown for one month. (Currently im staying with my parents)

Age: 23
Net income: RM 2,400

Expenses

Parents - RM 250
Foods - RM 400
Entertainment - RM 200
Petrol - RM 100
Bills - RM 150

FD: RM 2,000 only
Current debt: RM 24,500 (PTPTN)

3 years planning: a) RM 20,000 for maried
                          b) RM 10,000 for deposit to buy new car

Q1) Hows my expense guys?
    Since you expenses is less than 50% of your income, you can set aside a target savings each month before you start spending your money (RM1,200
      maybe?)
Q2) Any idea how to settle the PTPTN? pay RM 100 per month can? 
    I don't know how PTPTN's interest works, do they set how much is your installment every month? My opinion is you have to pay every month as this is your
      responsibility. You can start by paying small amount first, then as time goes on when your salary increases, increase your payment. Maybe 5% of your
      income? You decide. 
Q3) Is my 3 years planning ok? hopefully in 3 years i can achieve it
      As you mentioned about ASB, I assume that you are bumiputra. I don't know how much is your wedding cost. Do include hantaran kahwin, kenduri sambut
      menantu etc. I understand that different state has different culture. For car, it depends on whether you really need the car or you can settle with either
      motorcycle or public transport. If you have to go for a car, my advice is you can opt for a 2nd hand cheap car first.
Q4) For investment, im thinking to go on ASB, is it fine?
      ASB is fine as I consider it as a very very low risk investment. But I understand that it does have a limit/quota on how much you can purchase and how
      units are available in the market. If your risk tolerance is high, you may want to start learning other investment vehicles like
      unit trust/share market/commodities etc. Choose 1 or 2 that you are interested and learn before start investing. Else, just go for amanah saham & FD.
Q5) Invest, saving or settle debt first? 
      Since you have only RM2,000 FD, i would advise you to set aside 3-6 months of expenses/income for your emergency fund first. Then only think how to
      invest your money. For emergency fund, you can either put in FD or Amanah Saham. Actually you don't have to set priority which one first. For example,
      you can't say that want settle debt first then channel all your surplus every month to pay your PTPTN, I don't think it's a wise move. Instead, set a certain
      percentage of your income to pay PTPTN, then divide your surplus into 2 portions, 1 to set up emergency fund while another for investment to achieve
      your three-year goals. Given you constantly save RM1,200 with an interest return of 3% yearly, you will have around RM45k, so definitely you can achieve
      your goals which need RM30,000 and also emergency fund. Think after you get married, are you still going to stay with your parents, then what age you
      plan to have kids etc.

Kindly advice me please

greetings,

first of all,im new in money management(yes,100% new).as im STPM leaver,and waiting for result.
before this,i dont really care about money since what i know is my work as student,study and study for an ace.
all the money,expenses is being taken care of my parents. they always said,my job is to grind myself for studying.
i agree with that part as the higher my qualifications,the higher the pay in future.

but this year,suddenly pop in my head.am i study for their satisfaction?

what if i blindly continue to depends on them,as i continue my study?

everytime i talk about career,'doctors' pop from their mouths.so,study,become doctor.gain money,end.

i dont think gaining money is simple as this.and i dont think i need to wait to become a doctor to gain money.

today,with my spm result,i start a job--my parents feel some kind of shock about this(at Watson,with only starting pay 700 p/month--i know its small)--im going to work there till sept 2011(since degree intake is in this month)
---well,thats the story.

can you please suggest?i need help on how to maximise the 700 i earned.

as how my expenses per month,i dont really have one since im under my parents' expenses.

--right now,i not yet open any bank account and neither i have any asb.what i know,my parents keep a bank book,
which i plan not to ask for(better let it be like that so if emergency happens,i can use it).
im happy if you can guide me.

thanks.

thank you for the advice,

it seems im a lil bit rushy in these,isn it?im sorry.i should keep my head cool.

yes,i think i should learn more on this.i guess a great reading will give me more idea on how to invest in future.

(*extra..am hard to open other thread,just a quick mumbles)
regarding my work at watson,im just a sales assistant.but,with my qualifications,im just eligible to this.
and im thinking of looking for something that can inspire me(maybe going to quit soon,who knows?..but the companions there are great,im going to miss them)

im trying to find a job where i can have more functions.more hands on.more freedom on talking to customer.(actually im going to persue bachelor in psychology/communication/photography--whichever come first,then other will follow )
--going to interview tomorrow,as 'Sales Assistant..again.which,it seems it is same as what im doing rite now',but it seems..'sales assistant' do meant different according to where it apply.

im going to a shop,one that sell lights.im attracted to the lights.simply as that.
--if i get work there..and im allowed to give my opinions to the customer,im happy already.im tired of repetitions.

---done mumbles.

im sorry for the mumbles.

right now,im going to open up a maybank account.from my reading,if im not mistaken,there is many kind of account which are;
-saving
-current
-invest
-trust
-..etc

it seems,there are more sub options on each kind.
i asked my friends,relatives,collegues. most of them said,they choose 'saving'
when i checked about savings,there are a lot of types.
got regular,islamic,basic,etc.

im happy if you can suggest an account that good for starter like me.be it beneficial for long run.

thank you.

Hello you guys. My head is really mess up now thinking bout our future (me and my sweetheart).
I just wrote a post few pages behind and now I will post another info about my financial planning and I do need the expert's advices here.

This will be an update. Here we go

My salary: 4375 (after EPF deduction and etc)
My expenses>>>

1. Car loan: 823
2. Rental: 530 (I just found 2 housemates last 2 weeks and only need to pay for my rental RM230 but to cut the story short, 1 of my housemate moved out today so the rent will be covered by me for the time being until I can find another renter. Hope so )
3. Family: 300
4. Phone: 70
5. Streamyx: 55 (sharing)
6. Astro: 60 (sharing)
7. Utility: 25 (estimated only)
8. Petrol: 200
9. Food: 200 (trying to cook at home. Already buy the kitchen and all the stuff for cooking)
10. Others (flight ticket, futsal, movies): 200 (again estimated only as I don't buy flight ticket every month)
11. Insurans: 150

Total expenses: 2613
Saving: 4375-2613=1762

Already have RM 9k in my saving account. Planning to open ASB and put 4k from my saving account into ASB so I only have RM5k for emergency purposes. And will put my monthly saving=1762 into ASB.

So my problems are:

1. Planning to get married by the end of this year. Total budget would be around 25k. But now only have 9k cash in hand and need about 16k more. If calculate roughly, if I can save 1.7k monthly, in about 10 months it would be 17k so add up to the 9k I have it would be sufficient. But I would have no money at all after the wedding. The reason I want to get married faster is because me and my gf working at Sabah but her working place so far and the road condition to her place is not so good (road lubang2, many hills, many big lorries and "jalan kampung"). If we get married the chances of her transfers to area KK is high. You have no idea how I feel everyday I let my gf drive 2 hours (both ways) on those road conditions..
So my question is it ok to go with this plan?

Since you mentioned akad nikah, I safely assume that you are a Malay. I don't know how much is your wedding cost. You need to prepare a more specific budget for your wedding cost. Do include hantaran kahwin, kenduri sambut menantu etc. I understand that different state has different culture. Consult your friends and relatives who just got married last year. If you think you & your gf are ready and you've decided to get married, plan carefully and go ahead.

2. If we want to buy house at Peninsular, how many we gonna need roughly?60k?
Thank you. This thread have give me many valuable advices and infos. Any comment from forumers are very much appreciated.


60k can buy a property worth around 500k. And yes, you can get a house within that budget in Shah Alam. It just depends on what kind of property you want to buy. What if after you buy a house in Shah Alam and you fail to transfer back to here? Then you are paying loan and rental at the same time.

Hi guys,I'm currently 19 and have a stash of cash in the bank. (read:accumulation of 19 years of angpau money and some 'rewards' for academic performance ). Is it wise to take 1/3 of it out to lock it in FD for 1 year?I mean all my money now is currently in savings,and as most of you here know,the yield of FD currently is almost 10 times more compared to the yielding of normal savings. 

My question here is there any extra terms that I have to note for FD?My basic understanding of it is its a lock of the funds for a certain period of time..or is there additional charges or rules ?

thanks in advance

Thanks a lot for both of your replies.   FateTwister,are there any books out there that you would recommend to a beginner like me? Once again,thanks

Edit:How accurate is the data provided at http://www.bankinginfo.com.my/ are they constantly updated?

just come across the thread and would like to seek some advise,

currently i'm 21, just finished my first year in one of the public university at degree level.

although currently i'm supported with PTPTN loan, which is 28k for 4 years, but i've come across worrying my future after i graduate. from the PTPTN loan, actually there is not much to save up since half are for the course fees while the rest are for daily expenses.

after graduation, commitment such as PTPTN loan return and expected expenses (car, petrol etc)

so is there any option to gurantee an amount of $$ just to secure the future?
interested to start a FD in CIMB, is this a good choice?
already have some EPF saving because of previous employment, but guess it wont help much in the near future because cant withdraw it anyway.

thanks

Great thread. Just what I needed since I just enter the workforce few months ago.

Income:

Salary: RM2150 (After EPF)
Side income: Around RM500 - 700

Investment:
Investment linked insurance - RM10k/year (Only need to commit 6 years. Hong Leong Wealth Builder. However, me myself is an agent so I get around RM1.6k rebate back for every 10k I pay)

Considering my peanut salary, I am not really sure this investment budget suit me well. I mean 10k per year surely not a small amount. But my mom already help me to pay the first RM10k lol. Means I have 5 years left to pay.

Expense:

Food and entertainment - RM400 - 600
Bills - RM200 (Phone and streamyx) + Rm100 (Astro - sometimes mom pay sometimes me)
Petrol - RM200 - RM250
So overall I still have around RM1k to 1.5k to save per month. I have my own fully paid car but I am still staying with my mom. Just wanna ask, with my current potential savings per month, what kind of investment should look at to increase my money? I am still not looking to buy my own house or marriage any soon lol.

Hmmm ... I have some advice to ask from all the sifus here.

When I took my car loan, I took a 9 year loan and it was at 4.1% interest rate. I know. It sucks, but I had my reasons.

Now I'm thinking of settling the loan within 5-6 years because I heard that banks give a lot of discounts these days. Do you guys think it would be worth it?

Or would I be better off putting that money into those Cash Builder thingies or properties?

Another reason I'm considering this is because I also want to make sure I reach the point where car resale value > remaining car loan as soon as possible.

Any advice would be much appreciated.