Budget Update: April 2017

Budget Update: April 2017

My heart is so full. April wasn’t great financially (spent>earned), but interestingly I didn’t stress about money at all. The old Suraya would have been majorly annoyed but this new Suraya just went ‘eh’ and moved on.

One of the best things that happened this month was receiving invaluable career advice from some people I’d consider mentors. Here’s a shoutout for Bobby Ong and Aaron Tang, two of the best people I know. Thanks to their advice, I became better at negotiating and received a fair compensation for my services. 200% increase is a lot; must treat them eat buffet one of these days haha 🙂

The best people are people who give. A book I’m reading now, Give and Take: Why Helping Others Drives Our Success by Adam Grant is full of these examples. People are generally divided into three: the givers (people who give without expecting anything in return), the matchers (people who give if it can help them somehow) and the takers (people whose default is to take without offering anything in return). The givers are the most successful and have the best reputation. Most people are matchers. Takers might win the sprint but they will lose the marathon.

Givers aren’t motivated by money, fame or success. They just get it because they are pleasant to work with, known for their integrity and make it a point to just help people for the sake of helping, so people just naturally help them in return. One line particularly stuck out: the 5-minute rule. If a favour takes less than 5 minutes to do, just do it.

Great advice, no? 🙂

Yay of the month:

• I guess I have a career in fintech now 🙂 Thank you everyone who rooted for me. Sayang korang <3
• Added more money in my PRS account. It’s doing pretty well, I’m happy.
• Thanks to sudden gains in the cryptocurrencies world, I’ve achieved my goal of having six-digit net worth before turning 29 (not including EPF balance). Not quite as impressive as DividendMagic’s RM380k net worth at 28 years old, but I’m happy nonetheless. Next stop – complete financial independence by 35! I want to be one of those people who can afford to just live off their passive incomes without relying on active incomes. A girl can dream 🙂
• Interviewed by Charles from Kopi and Property about bitcoin! Thank youuu. If you guys like properties, make sure to check his website!
• A pair off gym pants died. Found a Uniqlo pair that was originally RM79.90 but marked down to RM39.90. It was beeped RM19.90 by the cashier. He laughed, I laughed, all is well <3
• I was quite obsessed with buying in bulk this month and reaped the benefits. Happy Fresh had an additional Tesco discount, which I took advantage of. I saved at least 50% by purchasing cat food in bulk! And because I also stocked up on milk and other grocery items, I also go grocery shopping less, saving time and money by reducing impromptu purchases and transportation costs.
• Read 2.5 books. Aimed for at least one book per week, but it’s a start. I like to reflect on the books I read, sometimes on this blog, sometimes on Ringgit Oh Ringgit Facebook page, sometimes on Instagram and Twitter (both @surayaror). Find me at all these channels if you like to hear random book musings 🙂
• Finally learned about REITs from a Bursa Malaysia workshop. Click on link to read that.

Nay of the month:

• My back hurts. I need a proper massage or a trip to the chiropractor or something. It’s messing with my exercise schedule, which in turn stresses me out because I can’t sweat out my frustrations. Then when I stress, I binge-eat. I can see how this can go downhill really fast, so dammit I need to do something about this, fast.
• Fighting my inner demons. I’ve always wanted an iPhone, but can’t justify the price point even after the recent discounts. It’s not that I can’t afford it, I can, so the only thing stopping me is myself. Maybe in a couple of years after my new-ish phone dies. Maybe. I’ve been saying maybe for the last 10 years or so.
• Procrastinating on paying my taxes. Due date for me is June 30th, but I’m aware I’m wasting time thinking/worrying about it. Idk, I just don’t feel like giving money to the government early… :/
• Met greedy repairmen in action. I had some electrical problems and was quoted RM300 for under-the-table services – they said my place needed major-ish wiring work. It turns out that it was a simple lightbulb issue and solved in like, 5 minutes by the landlord’s repairman. Sometimes, I just really want to support blue-collar workers but when things like this happen, my faith in humanity dwindles a notch.

Things to Look Forward to:

• May is my birthday month, I’m turning 29 🙂 I have a (local) trip planned, super excited about that!
• Spending my RM100 Ikea gift card, which I accidentally won from CIMB. Lol, I spent it 🙂 Got shelves and other home items. Slowly, my rented apartment is becoming a home. I still don’t have a bed frame, but that can wait.
• ONE OF MY CATS PLAY FETCH. I love it, it’s the cutest thing ever, but I can’t wait to train him to not bug me with this at 5 freaking AM in the morning. Lemon, I need my sleep. Please let me sleep.
• Attend more local events, try new things and make new friends. I did this in April and enjoyed it immensely so will do my best to continue.

Have a good May, you guys. I’m planning a post on financial and investment jargons soon, to explain what is ROI, hedge, technical analysis and things like that. If any terms you came across confused you, let me know in the comments and I’ll add it in. #shouldhavelearnedthisinschool

To read about my past monthly budget update, click here. Graphs are taken from my expense-tracking app Money Lover (review).