the most bestest way is still don't get any girlfriend at all, I don't have girl friend and I save a heap lot! I will only get a girlfriend when I know I can afford to have one.

afford is one thing. sound financial management is another.

ah_suknat,

Most things in life that bring happiness is free. We ( me and my wife) used to share a bowl of noddle when we dated. It does not cost that much. In most relationship, money matters a bit but then again it should not matter that much. What matters more is TIME. Is the person willing to spend that much time and part of his/her life with you?

IMHO, time/life is MORE PRECIOUS than money.

Dreamer

Hye guys, it seems like me also need some advices from u guys.

I've been working for a year. And unfortunately, only this year I'm planning to start saving and I dont know where my money goes last year.

My nett salary is 1770.

so this is how i'm going to plan my budget each month, starting last month

parents - 250
rental - 150
bills (internet, electricity) - 50 [sharing basis]
prepaid - 60 (i seldom use it for make a call, luckily i've a gf that understanding, she prefer sms)\
saving - 600
entertainment - 150
food - 300
transportation - 100 (i mainly use public trasportation - lrt )

total is 1660

this is only a rough estimation and i'm pretty sure that there is sumwhere i can cut, and actually i'm not very happy with what i've planned. looks like i dun make enough saving. (my previous target is to save 700 monthly, but i dunno is this doable)

so guys, any ideas how i can improve? i know discipline is the major factor when we planning. but i need some ideas to give me clear view how am i supposed to plan my money.

thanks.

xakheir, you're able to have around 1/3 of your income as savings, that's great!

now consider this - after a few years of working, say if you maintain the similar expenditure regime. you'll save even more.

i'd say continue with what you posted, fine tune it and wait for pay rise.

actually, at first i'm only planning to save only few amounts, about 200 - 400.
but after awhile (thinking and thinking for the future) i said to my self that i must save more.

by the way my salary just got increment starting last jan. last year i've got 1600 and this year it increased to 2000. (thanks to god)

for this year, i'm also planning to do/find more freelance job, so i can add more to my saving...hopefully my "rezeki" this year is good and of course it will only come with hardworks..

but speaking of freelancing, yes it give u more income, but i'm not sure if i've work/life balance..because whenever i do freelancing, for sure i dun have enuff sleep and rest. earliest i can go to sleep is at 3 and sumtimes not sleep at all and go to work following day.and it really tired.

so any advice for this situation?

freelance doesn't mean more income.

freelance means you CAN get more income but there are also times when you won't have income at all and might be even for a period.

if you work for people (is in the usual job la) then at least money is fixed coming in every month unless you are very unlucky to be fired or the company decides to close (happened to me before)

by freelancing, you also have the flexibility and freedom.

judging from your expenses layout, it seems to me thats very reasonabel. you don't overspend and as goldfries mentioned you save 1/3 of your salary and believe me not many young people can manage to do that now adays! further more you are dating

1st of all try to cut down the least important expenses which is the entertainment expenses. I can have lots of fun with internet alone. try to cut rm50 for entertainment.

2ndly food expenses. if you can cut down rm1.5 a day, that another rm50 a month.

now you can have 700 for your savings.

the easiest way to reach your goal is force savings aka"pay yourself 1st" approach as most of the forumers had mentioned countless times. Open another savings account, once you receive your paycheck, straght away take out 700 into that savings account and never touch it. meaning your nett spending money is actually rm1070, so you need to adjust your monthly spending for that amount of money.

if you really thinking of savings your money ASAP, so that you can put it into some investment vehicle, I would consider you to discuss with your parents whether you can cut your money given to your parents for a while until you save enough money in your investment to bring sound dividend or returns. but you can ignore this if your parents is depending on you to survive.

last but not least, try to find a part time job or side business, but make sure the time and effort doesn't affect your primary job time and performance.

just my 2 cents

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Added on February 10, 2008, 5:42 ameverythings needs money, no one can deny that. and you can't have time if you don't have money. becouse you spend most of your time earning money when you reach to a point where you are havings kids and aging parents.

so which one would you choose? working hard and ignore relationship while your still young, so you don't need to spend that much time working in your mid-life and instead spend time with family and kids and no need to worry about bills?

or like the average salaryman, trap in the rat race, unable to spend time with kids while they are growing and your parents last moments because you are outthere somewhere working to pay the biils?

because I am not rich, I can only focus my life in the afterwards. for now, I just can't afford to have the luxury of a teenage life.

This post has been edited by ah_suknat: Feb 10 2008, 05:42 AM

ah_suknat,

The problem with most people is they spend most of their time earning and spending money.

<<or like the average salaryman, trap in the rat race, unable to spend time with kids while they are growing and your parents last moments because you are outthere somewhere working to pay the biils?>>

I know plenty of housewives that spend most of their times in everything else except spending their time with kids. Ditto with the men. Many of the people that I know have the time but they choose to do something else other than spending time with their family.

So, we are talking about different group of people.

Dreamer

yeah.. wat goldfries said some of it is quite reasonable. but women still women. if really make things control everymonth so nice it will be great. but reality is not too easy. but by the way did u have a gf? can share ur experience how to make financially effective. ??? i still need to push down my variable expenses.

and suknat said not afford dont get any .. is not afford or not. this is part of life. u dont get it now . once day u need to meet the truth. and.. that y financial planner drive in ... we need to plan it nicely.

someone ask credit card 15k is not from gf. is happening when i am young. just coming to work and no control from the gadget and car accessories. but 2 years ago had totally disconnnected with them.

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Added on February 10, 2008, 5:11 pmfood until which category? utilities?

This post has been edited by love87: Feb 10 2008, 05:11 PM

Hi all, not sure if this is the correct place to ask this.

What I want to ask if 1 day I'm dead, can my family members claim all of my money in my savings account?

[quote=jhcj,Nov 21 2006, 05:36 PM]
This is by far the best advice I've ever followed since starting work. Every month I'm putting aside RM300 (in other words I'm "paying myself" RM300), and you can really see the difference after a while! For example, after just 4 months, you already have RM1200. Keep that up for a year, and you have RM3600 already!

God! i think this will work so nicely...gona give it a try...

get an account without the ATM n handover the account book to my dad and boom! saving saving saving~~~

love87, i dated for like 7 years or so, got married recently and just celebrated my 1st anniversary.

the thing is most people don't realize that CONTROL is necessary. without CONTROL, you could end up in deep shit when it comes to finances and by then you have no choice but to CONTROL in the end. the only difference is that CONTROL now is a matter of sacrificing a bit here and there but CONTROL later when you're in financial trouble would mean sacrificing A LOT of things.

if you look at troubled relationships, many of them have problems stem from $$$ matters. $$$ issue creeps in, blame game may appear together. it is really important for couples to learn how to budget, monitor and spend wisely.

yaya, having a girlfren is really like having a car, every month the expenses is like installment.. the only difference is that what we get last is love, not item or car...
My advice is not to get a girlfren if really cant afford la, this thing nice to see but hard to swallow

Haha...nice idea. But what if comes to year end where everyone is paying car insurance, maintenance, Chinese New Year, and the balance of the money is not sufficient to cover the expenses? So is better to have an ATM card just in case you not free to withdraw the money.

I did that too, by extracting RM300 per month, but sometimes overuse due to some unavoidable issues like house warming, friends wedding, this and that...

But anyway, nice idea Really need to discipline and good planning and budget is the essential to manage a good finance.

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY TO ALL!!

This post has been edited by viper: Feb 14 2008, 08:42 AM

Discipline is very important in "Paying Yourself". If you allow yourself to spent some of your intended savings, you will break the rule time and again....

So, for me, if there was some unexpected expenses coming out, I will try to cut off some expenses here and there.
When I specified the amount to save, lets say RM1k/month...if i am able to save more than that, i will do so, but the minimum has to be RM1k, so at the end of the day, u will have more savings. It is oso useful in times when the unexpected expenses pops out

It is good to see so many forumer are "Paying Themselves" now

Gonna start Paying myself too..

But now only start paying off CC first.. Target 3 months i can throw the card away.

Guys, this my expense for each month, need advice here:

House (Rent) RM350.00
Electricity RM80.00
Water RM10.00
Internet+Phone+Astro RM200.00
Nursery RM180.00
Food RM300.00
Prepaid RM60.00
Household (food+vegie+meat etc.) RM400.00
Cars maintenance+petrol RM500.00
Parent RM150.00
Insurance RM200.00
ASB RM200.00
Aeon RM180.00
Unit Trust RM100.00

Total is RM2,910

My family (my wife and I) total net income is RM3,000. Car installment already cut from the salary including loans and etc. Car maintenance and petrol is high because I traveling a lot. The problem here some time, I need to travel for my work, so my petrol expense will be higher than usual. I can claim but usually take 2 months.

My expense is really tight. If some time need to balik kampung, my expenses will surely exceed, need to take out saving. Don't know where else to cut.

Greetings, I would like to ask a question here .. how come most of you guys will only contribute a small amount to your parents as pocket money .. just a thought. No hard feelings ..
Is it important for us to focus on ourself 1st .. then our parents ?

Thanks.

that really depends la some parents are still working so still not depending on kids to survive,

or some parents have sufficient pension money to survive the remaining life then wouldn't ask their kids for money also.