Anak Pemungut Sampah Menang Ratu Cantik

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IPR - Medical Appointment.

Lately the air quality index was at a very serious level. Pada masa ni juga la saya banyak dengan kerja di tapak projek. Travel kesana dan kesini dengan motosikal untuk elak traffic jam. Saya rasa demam dan batuk yang dialami sepanjang minggu ni adalah berpunca daripada keadaan jerebu ni. Appointment pada hari ni adalah sebagai routine biasa selepas keluar wad tempohari. Doktor maklumkan kesihatan saya di tahap yang terbaik. Saya menerima prescription dan terus boleh balik.

My Eldest Son's Birthday

23 October 2016 adalah hari lahir  anak sulung kami Wan Muhammad Hakim. Kini umur beliau dah mencecah 14 tahun. Kebiasaan keluarga kami akan menyambut harijadi dengan keluar makan mengikut kehendak "Birthday Boy". Kali ini kami keluar makan di RBB Wangsa Maju. Bersebelahan restoran mamak Shabistan. Hakim memilih untuk makan Nasi Goreng Ketam, Husna memilih Kueh Tiaw Goreng Udang, Hawwari pula memilih Nasi Ayam manakala saya suka yang ala kampung iaitu Nasi Eden.

Evergreen Love Song

Suddenly my feeling covered with passionate love..

Transportation: Friction Versus Finance

Though I’ve been car-free for years, I was recently left to ponder how we make transportation decisions when my local transit authority unveiled a new plan to fill a $17 million budget hole by making a pretty major series of changes to its fare structure. Because, as the agency’s analysts mused, only 5% of its ridership used transit for errands — going out and coming back on the same transfer — they would eliminate this option, also increasing the fares and dismantling the “zone” structure so that a ride of a mile or two would be the same cost as a ride all the way across the metropolitan area.

It would, I argued — and the transit’s authority’s board strongly disagreed — put a lot of riders like me who use the transit system a few days a week (and never for commuting) in a situation where driving was preferable to riding transit. In other words, it would have a result very different from the supposed goals of the publicly-subsidized agency: putting cars back on the road.

Looking at the annual cost comparison: Transit always wins
My transportation geek friends and I debated this endlessly. A few laid out the decision in terms of annual costs — let’s say a bus pass costs $100 a month for an adult, and a family of four could get bus passes for $260, or $3,120 annually. Even a very economical car would cost $250 or more per month, plus maybe $60 or $75 per month for insurance and maybe $100 a month for gas, somewhere around $4,900 or $5,000 annually. Even supposing maintenance costs were very low or zero, transit would still win big: less than 2/3 the cost of driving.

But don’t forget “sunk costs” and the way we really make decisions
We do not, however, make decisions about transportation in this rational and simple manner. There are emotional hangups that prevent us from easily moving from one mode of transport to another; many decisions that are not as neat as “oh, that’s cheaper!”

Say you have an older model car, for which you have paid cash or finished paying off a loan, and perhaps invested a few thousand dollars in maintenance and repair. Once this expenditure has been completed, we should (theoretically) eliminate that cost from our calculations. It’s sunk cost! If your family is deciding next month whether to take transit or drive a car, we should only calculate insurance, gas, and upcoming maintenance against the cost of a monthly transit pass.

But of course you are not doing that. Why not?

Insurance is usually not purchased month-to-month, but in six-month chunks.

Even if you could decide on a monthly basis whether to activate insurance or not, you would probably keep a car insured (“just in case”).

Cars are not very liquid assets; you cannot simply sell and repurchase them like stocks and bonds.

Even if you could, cars are emotional belongings for some; we go so far as to name our cars!

We don’t make modular transportation decisions (i.e., the decision is almost never “will I drive or take transit this month?”).

Transportation decisions are made on a trip-by-trip basis
You get up in the morning and you are going to work. Even if you have no so-called “friction” in your decisions — if driving, taking transit, bicycling, and walking are all equally possible and would result in little substantial difference in time from front door to office chair — the financial component of that decision will almost always be made on an incremental cost basis. In other words, you will compare what you actually have to spend that day to drive or take the bus: gas + parking + tolls versus bus fare. In this circumstance, a trip on the bus with a few fare-paying children would usually be more expensive than driving, if you have to pay fares for outgoing and return trips.

Friction remains
There is always friction in our decisions. For transportation, friction might include the following:

Cargo (hard to lug on the bus and even harder to carry while walking)

The ability to go direct to a destination

Side trips or necessary errands

Your children’s behavior and energy level

Whether a long wait for a transfer or a late bus might add a great deal of time to an errand

Weather

The need for comfortable versus stylish footwear

I favor bicycling, and every time I advocate a bicycling lifestyle, critics wonder if I show up everywhere “all sticky and gross.” (I just don’t sweat very much. I also bike quite slow.)

More often than not, we make transportation decisions based only on the friction, and not at all on the cost.

This is why I think our local transit authority — and many public transportation pundits — have it all wrong when they’re thinking about how to change fares or services. The best entry point for transit are those low-friction trips: errands that parents take with young children, say, to story hour at the library or to lunch with a friend. Out and back, with little cargo. Sadly, most transit fare structures seem to be targeted at daily commuters and those who don’t have a choice (who either can’t afford a car or don’t drive); not at the entry-level transit-curious.

I think it’s a pity. Creating a mix of car, transit and active transportation like biking and walking can drastically reduce overall household expenses (we spend, on average, 16% of our annual income on transportation), and if it was easier to make decisions on a per-trip basis, we might be more inclined to make bigger, “modular” decisions; like selling a car or buying a monthly bus pass or a commuter bike.

What should you do? Think about the ways to reduce friction in your trip-by-trip decisions; perhaps buying a nice raincoat and comfortable shoes for long walks, or choosing to meet friends at destinations that are easy to travel by public transit. It’s a nice way to ease into small decisions that could add up to large financial gains.

Differences Between the Rich and the Poor

Rich Differ From The Poor

1. Rich people believe: “I create my life.” Poor people believe: “Life happens to me.”
2. Rich people play the money game to win. Poor people play the money game to not lose.
3. Rich people are committed to being rich. Poor people want to be rich.
4. Rich people think big. Poor people think small.
5. Rich people focus on opportunities. Poor people focus on obstacles.
6. Rich people admire other rich and successful people. Poor people resent rich and successful people.
7. Rich people associate with positive, successful people.Poor people associate with negative or unsuccessful people.
8. Rich people are willing to promote themselves and their value. Poor people think negatively about selling and promotion.
9. Rich people are bigger than their problems. Poor people are smaller than their problems.
10. Rich people are excellent receivers. Poor people are poor receivers.
11. Rich people choose to get paid based on results. Poor people choose to get paid based on time.
12. Rich people think “both”. Poor people think “either/or”.
13. Rich people focus on their net worth. Poor people focus on their working income.
14. Rich people manage their money well. Poor people mismanage their money well.
15. Rich people have their money work hard for them. Poor people work hard for their money.
16. Rich people act in spite of fear. Poor people let fear stop them.
17. Rich people constantly learn and grow. Poor people think they already know.

Between Millionaires and the Middle Class

1. Millionaires think long-term. The middle class thinks short-term.
2. Millionaires talk about ideas. The middle class talks about things and people.
3. Millionaires embrace change. The middle class is threatened by change.
4. Millionaires take calculated risks. The middle class is afraid to take risks.
5. Millionaires continually learn and grow. The middle class thinks learning ended with school.
6. Millionaires work for profits. The middle class works for wages.
7. Millionaires believe they must be generous. The middle class believes it can’t afford to give.
8. Millionaires have multiple sources of income. The middle class has only one or two.
9. Millionaires focus on increasing their wealth. The middle class focuses on increasing its paychecks.
10. Millionaires ask themselves empowering questions.Middle-class people ask themselves disempowering questions.

Cycling To Work

Frugality in Kuala Lumpur has just gone one level deeper. A saving of about $550 monthly, a 2 hours exercise sessions for FREE and an opportunity to explore natures within the city has just been proven recently with just ONE simple ACT ! As everything goes, there is some trade off or 'risk' too ...

Its Cycling To Work !

Publish Post

Mathew was a guy who suffers from a terrible 24.3% inflation in 2009. After he started to follow this blog, he has learned a trick or two to keep things going smoother. Today he is working as a top executive in a public company but situation hasn't changed much. He is still in middle level income group. After his 5 figures income divided by the number of people he has to support, his actual cash-at-hand per person monthly is much less than average personal income ie. $1,500.

Many staffs who worked for Mathew always complains about how tough their lives are and demand a salary increment without extra performance to the company ( while their single income is about $1,500 as well). Mathew thinks it was obvious his staffs weren't educated well enough in personal finance so he decided to role model to show a point - live frugally.

He used to drive about an hour to work, commute about 22 km and then spent about $10+ for parking fee. Now instead of doing all that, now

He cycles to work

After the decision was made, he first bought a huge term insurance to cover this temporary needs. After all, he doesn't want his teaching to his staff to affect his even more important loves to his families.

Once the insurance is approved, he started cycling to work. It wasn't easy. He first followed his driving route. It was dangerous as cars and motorbikes are cruising fast by, ignoring his existence. But the good thing about cycling . . . is that its both a pedestrian and a driver. So very soon he found a much shorter and safer path, only 12.1km instead of driving 22 km away.


It took him about one hour to cycle to work. ( Above 2.5 hours was for walking time ) So practically this doesn't affect any of his schedule at all. As a matter of fact, this improve the stability of his schedule. Even when there is an unexpected traffic jam which would cause a normal 1 hour driving to 2-3 hours, his cycling time remains the same as 1 hour.


Mathew also lost 6-8kgs since then, has a much tougher built body now. He used to pay a lot joining fitness centers etc. but never got the time to actually exercise because he is a workaholic. Now he HAS TO exercise 2 hours a day.

Mathew also started a health diet to eat more veggie and fruits even before this cycling idea. Thanks to this cycling exercise, his cycling route passed by a local market at Chow Kit ( one of the oldest and largest wet market in Kuala Lumpur ), he now manages to buy 5 star fruits for only $1, which fuel his breakfast and lunch.

There are much more indirect benefits he received since he started cycling to work. But as everything goes, there must be some Cons that comes with the Pros. Should one accident happens during his cycling commute, it would most probably cost him his life. While he was well aware of the risk, he took action to insure against that rick and he also find ways to improve his own skills and awareness to maximize his own safety.

There are quite a lot of tips and tricks he has developed since he cycles to work. If you were moved by this article and wanted to try this too . . . be warn ahead, there is some risks involved. Do spend some time to buy me a cup of coffee so I can share with you whatever those tips and tricks are so that you can minimize your risk and maximize your return / saving / investment.

	Driving	Cycling
Time	1 hour	1 hour
Petrol	$10 per day	$0
Parking	$5 - $10 per day	$0

I am just glad living frugally in a city like Kuala Lumpur has just gone one level deeper. With tons of other extra benefits and with only ONE major risk that a person who really cares can mitigate easily with skills and experience.

Have you managed to find any innovative ways to cut your expenditure or increase your saving by 25% !?