Money Management Archives - Ringgit Oh Ringgit

How to Avoid Polygamy in Malaysia: Add it in The Taklik

Posted by Suraya - 11 Comments

You already know that Islam allows a Muslim man to take up to four wives simultaneously in a practice called polygamy.

You may not know that Islam also allows wives the right to refuse husbands permission to marry more than one wife by adding it in the taklik.

This is a completely accurate, yet not that well-known piece of information.

In this age where the polygamy privilege is routinely being abused by irresponsible husbands – causing the wives severe financial and emotional distress – I hope to share widely the rights that women already have under Islamic laws, which she can exercise for her own protection.

19 ^th
August

[SPONSORED] Verify Touch ‘n Go eWallet & 3 More 5-Minute Security Hacks

Posted by Suraya - 4 Comments

Let’s be frank here – ewallet and digital security is not the sexiest of topic to talk about. Therefore, let’s appreciate Touch ‘n Go eWallet not caring to be ‘sexy’ and choosing to feature it anyway in their educational video series, Cashless Confidentials.

In this article, we have brainstormed and came up with 4 actions you can do in 5 minutes that will significantly reduce your risk of losing money from scammers and hackers. It’s fast – you can do everything during lunch break. If you’re busy now, bookmark this article so you can pull it out later.

Note: If you consider yourself a Millennial or Gen Z, what you’re about to read below might sound like common-sense digital security practices.

However, keep in mind that they can be completely alien to your parents and grandparents, who are more susceptible to digital-based scams. I need you to read this so YOU can help them navigate this topic okay.

#1 – Activate Touch ‘n Go eWallet Money-back Guarantee Policy

26 ^th
June

(At Least) 17 Money Calculations You’ll Make In Your Life

Posted by Suraya - 2 Comments

Throughout your personal finance journey, you’ll inevitably do some money calculations.

For some people, this thought stresses them – their immediate reaction is ‘I don’t want to do it! I’m not good with numbers!’

I blame high school maths. I think it made many people think that these money calculations are harder than they actually are.

I’ve compiled here some money calculations. Go through them, and tell me – how many are *actually* hard for you to do?

1. Home Loan Calculator. You do this calculation when you’re starting to shop around for a property, to find out the estimated mortgage / home loan repayments per month that you’ll have to make.

10 ^th
June

17 Things to Include in Your Money Journal

Posted by Suraya - 2 Comments

Those who know me in person know that I never go anywhere without my notebook, which also acts as my de facto money journal.

My notebook is my primary organisational tool, my productivity hack. It’s how I keep track of my life, including my financial life. I jot down everything* in there. The way I see it, what doesn’t get written, gets forgotten.

(*Except for my passwords. I use a password manager for that. Security first kids)

View this post on Instagram

Anyone else get really happy when it’s time to break open a new #notebook?? . I got a bunch of these Scripta Notes #journals during #bigbadwolfbooksale for RM12 each. They hold up really well for 7 months of heavy use, such a good buy 😍 . In the last notebook, I stuck stickers received from events. You can see #peatix, #wordpress, #projectgutenberg and #centrair there. I think I’ll continue this tradition 😊

A post shared by Suraya Zainudin (@surayaror) on Oct 11, 2018 at 6:00pm PDT

Here’s a list of financial-related information that you can include in your money journal.

#1 – Your monthly income

08 ^th
May

The Real Answer to ‘How Much Should I Spend On A Car?’

Posted by Suraya - 8 Comments

How much should I spend on a car? I’ve thought about this question many, many times.

The answer is simple: whatever is the amount, I should make sure that I can afford it. Like every other purchase.

But it’s also not that simple, because if it is, how come 1 out of 4 bankruptcies in Malaysia is due to car loans?

If you’ve been wondering how much you should spend on a car and avoid it being repossessed by the bank, here are some answers. Thanks to all contributions from the RoR audience!

#1 – How many % of monthly salary to go towards car payment?

01 ^st
April

All the Financial Tools I Use for My Own Money Management (Malaysia-Specific)

Posted by Suraya - 10 Comments

The other day I was listing out all the financial tools that I personally use for money management in my notebook, and the list got kinda long.

That got me thinking – all of you must have your own money management system, right? Even if it’s in your head, even if it’s messy. You know, more or less, that the money in account X is for daily use and the money in account Y is earmarked for, say, retirement.

I did that list because (1) it’s good to know exactly what I have and what I use it for and (2) I don’t want to accidentally forgot about an account, which happens more often than you’d think (that’s why there’s over RM5.77 billion in unclaimed money???).

So here you go – an article compiling all the financial tools I use for my own money management. Please don’t @ me if any of them sucks for you – they’re just the best option for my situation right now – I’m not loyal to any of them and happy to switch to better solutions as and when it suits me. Also please don’t take anything here as investment advice.

The financial tools are arranged in this order:

Bank account
Credit cards
Debit cards
Pre-loaded/Loyalty cards
E-wallets
International money transfers/payments
Investment
Retirement
Insurance
Estate-planning
Accounting
Budgeting app
Other accounts with money inside it

Just to maintain some sort of neutrality, this article itself is free of referral links, but related articles and embedded social media posts may include links.

18 ^th
February

How to Avoid Islamic Inheritance Laws in Malaysia

Posted by Suraya - 9 Comments

There are many things I love about Islam. But the default faraid laws or Islamic inheritance laws is not one of it. Islamic inheritance laws stipulate that male relatives shall receive at least twice the amount of female relatives (of equal standing). The determinant factor is literally… genitals.

Islamic Inheritance Laws is Not Fairly Implemented and That Sucks

28 ^th
November

All The Annual Expenses I Have to Make Every Year

Posted by Suraya - 11 Comments

You’re familiar with monthly expenses. The biggest chunks are usually Accommodation+Transportation+Food. Plus Loan Repayments for some people.

How about annual expenses? Are you already familiar with yours? These are the payments that you make only once a year, or once every few years.

01 ^st
August

[SPONSORED] 4 Lesser-Known Tips to Get The Best Credit Card in Malaysia (For You)

Posted by Suraya - 2 Comments

EDIT: This is a sponsored post for BBazaar Malaysia, but they have since exited the Malaysian market. Took out all their links, but the content itself is evergreen

Choosing the best credit card in Malaysia is like choosing dates on Tinder. Sometimes, you accidentally ignore the good cards (fast left swipes). Sometimes, the cards themselves beg for your attention (superlikes). And sometimes, the cards you want are not available to you (they didn’t swipe right for you..).

It can be a frustrating search process. You thought you have a lot of choices, but why is none of them suitable? But eventually you’ll find that perfect match for you, and you’ll never imagine life without them. Amirite, Tinder couples reading this?

Tinder analogy aside, credit cards really are great financial tools. I use them to earn points, shop (online and offline), make instalments on larger purchases and top up e-wallets (usually for the discounts).

If you can practice habits that make you a responsible card user – like paying off all bills in full at the end of the month and not treating it as ‘free money’ – I’d recommend you to get one. They can help you build a good DSR score, too – good if you’re planning to buy a house in the future.

Here are some lesser-known tips I can offer you.

Tip #1 – Always start with the process of elimination

23 ^rd
July

How Expense Tracking Looks Like (As Someone Who Doesn’t ‘Budget’)

Posted by Suraya - 16 Comments

If you’re a regular reader here at Ringgit Oh Ringgit, you know that I share my monthly expenses every. single. month.

The reason why I prefer expense tracking rather than budgeting is simple: it just works ridiculously well for me. All I have to do is record all my expenses and suddenly my financial life is just better, more organised, data-driven.

I don’t have to stress about keeping my expenses in one particular category under a certain amount, because I know that as long as it averages out okay in the bigger picture, I’m good.

(Example: Buying groceries in bulk will increase my groceries expenses in that month but lower them in subsequent months.)

This article is how about how it works.