Here are some types of investments that I have: mutual funds/unit trust, gold and crypto.
This article is all about investments I don’t have yet, but always been curious to try. I may or may not proceed with one or any of them in the future. It’s just to show you what I’ve done about them so far, and why I didn’t proceed with them yet.
Accelerate your personal finance knowledge with this regular feature on Ringgit Oh Ringgit – the Link Roundup! I promise you’ll find these 10 links informational 🙂
1. Share your suggestions for #belanjawan2019 – Ministry of Finance Malaysia
Wanted: your suggestions! Saw this tweet from the Ministry of Finance – decided to share here for wider reach!
Kementerian Kewangan mempelawa rakyat Malaysia untuk memberikan cadangan dalam penyediaan Belanjawan 2019 bagi 12 kategori yang terdapat di https://t.co/fkcjAjZSz0. Jangan lupa gunakan hashtag #belanjawan2019 pic.twitter.com/FTMieis3A8
— Ministry of Finance (@MOFmalaysia) August 29, 2018
The 12 categories are:
For more information, view the Belanjawan 2019 page (English version).
You can submit your suggestions on Twitter (click here to see the current #belanjawan2019 discussion on Twitter), but I suggest you submit directly at the Belanjawan 2019 main website at this page.
If you have suggestions on how the nation should spend its money, remember to give them by 30 September 2018, because YB Lim Guan Eng will present it on 2 November 2018!
Accelerate your personal finance knowledge with this regular feature on Ringgit Oh Ringgit – the Link Roundup! I promise you’ll find these 10 links informational 🙂
1. We Put Klang Valley’s Ride-Share Apps In A Head-To-Head Price Test – Vulcan Post
Surprising fact no 1: There are (at least) five active ride-sharing apps operating in the Malaysian market. Five!
They are: Grab, MyCar, MULA, EZCab and Dacsee. LOVE this article comparing the prices plus waiting times for each of them. I’m already a Grab and MyCar user – I think I’ll install EZCar too because the price looks pretty good.
Every week, I do a little mini-forum in the Ringgit Oh Ringgit FB page. Recently, I asked what people do to save money on coffee.
The answers blew me away – you people really love your coffee huh? Some of the answers were so creative and informative, I had to compile them here! Here’s what Malaysians do to save money on that cup of joe, divided into two sections, free and reduced-cost.
According to a website report, Ringgit Oh Ringgit blog is A- grade, or ‘very good’. I have As for SEO, Usability, Social and Security aspects. Only Performance aspect is not great, but that’s because my page size is big (due to the ads).
At the time of writing, Ringgit Oh Ringgit has been around for 2.5 years, more or less. Figuring out how to create a blog in the beginning was hard; I just wanted to write shit, and I didn’t know there are many other aspects I have to know and consider.
As I was adamant to generate income from this hobby, I had no choice but to learn as I go along. Here are some things I wish I knew earlier. This article is for you fellow bloggers and companies doing content marketing as a lead generation strategy.
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 these habits that make you a responsible card user, 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.
Let’s face it: Malaysia is NOT a good place for LGBT individuals to freely express themselves. But no one can choose where they’re born at, can they? Discrimination is sadly common, usually justified by religion.
If you disagree with ‘the LGBT lifestyle’, I ask for your empathy. This is not a ‘guide to be gay’ article, this is a ‘what to do when you need help’ article. Know the distinction. Don’t kick people when they’re down. No religion teaches that.
This article answers the following questions (in order):
As a finance geek, I enjoy trying out new fintech products, including ewallets. It’s fun exploring what kind of perks and cashbacks each of them offer.
There are many companies trying to enter and compete in the ewallets scene in Malaysia. Last I checked, BNM listed 31 e-money issuers. I’m sure that list will keep growing in the next few years.
In time, I think we will see a few clear winners in this ewallet race, like what happened with Alipay in China. But for now, potential customers like you and me can have fun and enjoy being courted by these companies. Some of them are pretty generous with their welcome or referral bonuses – good for us!
Here are reviews of all the ewallets in Malaysia that I’ve tried out so far, and what I like about them. I have excluded banks and crypto ewallets from this list.
Best for: Regular Lazada users
What I like about it:
Best for: Travel junkies and AirAsia users
What I like about it:
EDIT:
Received a hack from a kind commentor and want to share it with you!
You can combine the BigPay card with the Public Bank Quantum credit card to earn 5% cashback. How:
– top up the amount in BigPay debit card with the credit card
– use like normal, anywhere Mastercard is accepted!
– PROTIP: reload on Monday to get ADDITIONAL 5% cashback. One time only, and need to sms Public Bank. Go check Public bank for details of this particular promo
ALSO! This is a great card to buy stuff from overseas (that’s not priced in RM). You’re charged XE.com rates, which is amazing! Cards from normal banks NEVER give that kind of rates
Best for: Fave users (for non-users, it’s like Groupon but no minimum number of buyers to unlock deals)
What I like about it:
Best for: Buy discounted vouchers!
What I like about it:
Those are the ones I’ve tried so far, but there are more ewallets coming in!
I’ve used Touch N Go cards, sure, but I haven’t downloaded their app. But I will after they revamp their app – CIMB has a major stake in TnG, and last I heard TnG have a joint venture with Ant Financials (the company behind Alipay). So let’s see what they’ll offer when they finally revamp it.
EDIT: I downloaded the Touch N Go app. A bit underwhelming – can’t even register and top up my cards. Waiting for future updates.
To be fair, I already use GrabPay for Grab rides, but not the version they’re planning in (near?) future, the version where you can use it to make in-store payments and maybe even offer insurance and micro-lending. GrabPay partnered with Maybank kot. I have high hopes.
EDIT: I regularly top up money in GrabPay using credit card (to get credit card cashback + points), and use that to pay for my Grab rides. Earning higher Grab Reward Points this way, which I can redeem for Grab rides.
I don’t use WeChat, but I know it’s insanely popular among Chinese users (and young Malay kids for some reason). Hong Leong Bank partnered with WeChat Pay so I’ll be following the news for this development.
EDIT: I downloaded WeChat during the Money Packet promo, where they gave out between RM3.88-RM88.88 randomly. Didn’t manage to get anything. Their server crashed, probably because many Malaysians tried to get the money too lol
If you’ve tried any of these ewallets (Source: FintechNews Malaysia), I’d love to hear your reviews. Are they good? Worth trying out?
Any other ewallets in Malaysia that should be in this list?
I have two thought processes here about this topic: ewallets for cashless society and ewallets as credit card replacement/competition
I know there are lots of talk about ewallets being integral towards a cashless society.
Cashless is good, sure. However I’m still a big fan of using cash for payments though. Something about physically handing cash makes me sayang it more, so I am more mindful when I spend.
My personal rule is to use cash unless there are financial incentives to using digital payment methods. If it doesn’t give me discounts, cashback or loyalty points, I will keep on using cash. I don’t care about QR codes, tap and pay systems or whatever other fancy things – they’re secondary to its money-saving ability.
What I regularly do before I want to buy something is check:
Now with these ewallets, I feel like I have my work cut out for me – I would check them too in case there are discounts there.
This is not even including future ewallets that’s going to enter the market. When TnG, GrapPay and WeChat Pay comes… hooo boy.
What’s your take on this whole ewallets thing? What do YOU use?
Accelerate your personal finance knowledge with this new regular feature on Ringgit Oh Ringgit – the Link Roundup! I promise you’ll find these 10 articles informational 🙂
1. Consumer Reports Tested 73 Sunscreens, and This Formula Got a Perfect Score – Byrdie
You already know how important it is to wear sunscreen, but not all of them are created equal. Some formulas give next-to-nothing protection even if applied – a big money waster, if you ask me. The honour for the perfect sunscreen formula apparently goes to a product called Anthelios Clear Skin Dry Touch Sunscreen, produced by the company La Roche Posay. It costs $20 for 50ml, so I don’t think I’ll get it (even if it’s available in Malaysia).
BUT there are near-perfect formulas that are a lot more affordable! Anyone know where I can get these in Malaysia? Share in the comments section!
This is a commentary post on GE14. Not about who won – although I am elated about that – but about things that was suddenly unearthed after the results came in. Wherever possible, I added a personal finance element (gotta keep to the theme of this website), but some of them are just musings about what we just experienced.
Special thanks to post-GE14 TwitterJaya. I wouldn’t have been able to give these observations if not for them. Where possible, I’ve added the link to the original poster.
