Budget Update: October 2018

Budget Update: October 2018

I spent RM21,407 in October 2018. It sounds like a lot (it is), but almost three-quarters of that was a gift to my parents. I’m sponsoring their umrah trip.

When I was growing up, I heard how my parents – then newlyweds and financially struggling – saved a portion of their salaries every month. They told me the bottom of their car had a hole in it, and they didn’t even buy a bed until much later and simply slept on a thin mattress on the floor. They saved aggressively so my dad could afford to send his mom, my late grandmother, to hajj.

My parents have already completed the hajj, but they constantly talk about going back to Mecca so sponsoring their trip has always been in my bucket list. In October 2018, I transferred over RM15,580 so both of them could go for their umrah next year, in January 2019, under Tabung Haji. My mom was so touched, she cried. I feel happy knowing that my money can give them this kind of happiness.

What do you save up for your parents? Is there something you know for sure they’ll appreciate?

Yay of the Month:

• Excluding the umrah package gift to my parents, I spent RM5827 in October 2018. That includes RM1251 I spent for professional book coaching and editing, RM1200 for rent, RM190 to renew my business registration, RM600 for braces instalment and other odds and ends.
• My investment portfolio is highly risky – maybe around 80% of my investment money is in crypto. I know I should have re-allocated them sooner, but been dragging my ass. In October 2018, I finally got around to it.
• Allocated some money for P2P lending. I use Funding Society for the auto-invest feature. If none of the borrowers default on their loan, I should get about 12.4% ROI. If you want to try it, use this link so both of us can get RM50.
• I also put in some more money in gold, via HelloGold – click here to download the app or insert the promo code ‘SURA024F’ to get RM5 discount if you buy RM50 worth of gold. ProTip: use Boost to avoid RM1.20 transaction fee – Enter my invite code sur8oko and get RM5 cashback after first payment or RM10 purchase. Find Boost App in Playstore (Android) or Appstore (iOS)).
• Not only that, I’m also in the process to take a bigger ASB loan (I took RM50k loan last time. Now I’m planning to take another RM150k to max it out). Aside from these, I also checked out a property for investment, but don’t think I’ll put money there kot.
• Read 2 books: Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World by Adam Grant and Comedy Hotel by Guy Bellamy. The former inspired me to increase my productivity and output, while the latter is a fun black comedy fiction, a book I picked up for RM2.50 at a charity drive.
• I love my Spotify ‘family’. To save money, I got five other people to join my ‘family’ plan. Each of us pays only RM44.80 annually, or just RM3.73 per month! Related: 3 Ways to Get Cheaper Spotify Premium in Malaysia
• My BigPay contactless card arrived! I like promoting this card, it gave me awesome exchange rates when I took it to my Japan trip last month (what I bought). Get extra RM10 credit if you use my referral code INLALP7ZLE (I get RM10 too!). To download the app, find BigPay in PlayStore (Android) or Appstore (iOS)
• Went to Aquaria KLCC and got cheaper tix via 11thStreet 🙂
• Attended InvestSmart event and got a free 1-hour financial planning session with a licensed financial advisor. I thought it was funny when the financial planner assigned to me shared how her family pooled some money to mine some cryptocurrencies lol. I know, anecdotally, that there is a lot of crypto miners in Malaysia. Wonder how many of them do it small-scale, within family units or among friends.
• Applied for a job that I really, really want. I hope I get it!

Nay of the Month:

• My bed broke, I had to buy a new one. Found a sturdy one at IKEA for RM449. That’ll be the last time I buy RM99 double beds from Lazada – it lasted me just 3 months! Yea yea I know I should have spent more for quality in the first place.
• Didn’t realise my business expired. When I renewed it, I had to pay a RM30 fine 🙁
• I lost my wallet seed for WAVES and ZCoin, so I can’t access those wallets 🙁 That’s around $500 lost, at current rates 🙁 🙁
• Kinda pissed at the cancellation of Island Music Festival – I really wanted to go! Oh well, at least I’m not contributing tourism money to Terengganu #alwayslookatthebrightside
• Bought 2 pairs of shoes. Not particularly in love with both of them. The search for the perfect, comfortable, high-quality pair continues. Thanks everyone who gave me suggestions for good brands! I’ll be checking out their sales!

 

View this post on Instagram

 

#financialconfession – I’m super stingy with footwear. The last 4 pairs of black flats/slip-ons I bought were all low-quality ones ranging RM15-RM30 . Predictably, they were uncomfortable to wear. Even if they were comfortable, they didn’t last very long.. . Finally bit the bullet and bought a higher-quality pair. This one was RM85. Please please please last me at least a year 🙏🙏 . Do you have shoes that lasts for years? What brands are they? I want to keep an eye on their sales! . #helpneeded #blackshoes #comfortableshoes

A post shared by Suraya (@surayaror) on Oct 28, 2018 at 11:42pm PDT

Things to Look Forward to:

• I’ll be one of the speakers at WordCamp KL! It’s the annual conference organised by Wordpress volunteers for the Wordpress community. The Ringgit Oh Ringgit blog runs on Wordpress and I absolutely love the learning process – the skills I learned along the way made me so much employable. My talk is about using SEO for online content creation, so bloggers reading this, do come! The event is on 17 November 2018, and you can get your tickets here 🙂
• Giving away an Apple Watch Series 3 to the best-quality answer for VISA x AKPK’s Treat Your Money Right Campaign! Have you joined? All you have to do is give me your best money-saving tip. More info in this link.
• Finishing my book project, a compilation of personal finance stories 10 authors, including myself. My story is a fictional story about how Malaysia looks like if we implement universal basic income. More information coming soon!

Well, that was my October 2018 update. How was your expenses in October? What’s good or not so good about it?

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