Frugal

There are several sides of me when it comes to money.

When I first started working, my spend on a monthly basis would be far more than my income, far far more. I was constantly indebted to the banks. And my typical attitude to that was "Hey, I am young, I can work so long as I am breathing". I remember my mum used to be really upset with me and constantly nag me to save save and save.

Fast forward ... I was lucky at work. My initial years saw me through yearly promotions and so my income levels increased. Still, I was struggling to make sure my income could keep up with my spend. But still, I did not feel afraid or worried, I just carried on.

Then one day, I just woke up and found myself really really afraid of my financial standing. I'd also taken a fancy on Robert Kiyosaki and his Rich Dad Poor Dad book really changed my perspective towards my life and financial standing.

I took a proactive step towards making myself better, financially wise. I took up a CFP course. It is not something that I do not know, it's just the fact that I needed some directions, some guide.

Fast forward again, I have since completed my CFP. For each module, I have set out to do something that relates to it. As a result, I have bought an additional insurance policy, I have made some adjustments when paying my taxes, I have taken a more proactive stance with my investments and I have also done my estate planning. The ultimate is for me to have my retirement planning on track. This, I am still working on.

Nowadays, I have taken an additional step and make a note for each of my spend on a daily basis. It has helped me think twice, thrice about my spend before actually spending it. I am happy to say that I have more peace of mind where money is concern, but the occasional worry still creeps up.

Some people ask me why I am so obsessed with money. There was this night many many years ago where I had tried to sleep, but could not ... because I was worried how I was going to make the money to pay for my rental (+ my house mates's share, since she was always broke). I was so worried, that I was perspiring, really. And it was a horrible feeling. I had decided that I was not going to feel like that again.

Here I am then, counting and budgeting. Not easy, but definitely worth the effort.

I am teacher

Yesterday Ryan surprised me with the following ....

"Mummy, you see, I am teacher"
He proudly pointed to his book and asked "What shape is this?"
He was attempting to "teach" me circles, squares, rectangles, triangles etc. but he stopped at "triangle" ... he asked "Mummy what is this?"

Haha ... so the "teacher" needs to be "taught" also!

He has progressed well .... his imaginary play has finally started.

Buildings and such

Yesterday Ryan built this and proudly showed it off. This to him, is a car building. The building can be mobile and moved around. Now, wouldn't that be a great idea when we are experiencing land limitation? We could just move the buildings that are old or which are in places where the jam is crazy!





This one he says is a water fountain where the cold water and the hot water will come out and flow all the way down.








This is the entire city which Ryan built. Oops, I do not know how to turn it around, but you get the idea. He is very proud of his creations and he does not hesitate to show them off every chance he has.

Now, I wonder why my creativity is so cacat. I cannot even begin to picture the possible "buildings" they are!

4 things about me

Yesterday, WSL sent a mail with the above header and I thought it was interesting enough to have it here.

4 jobs I've had in my life
1. Consumer Planning and Insights Head
2. DM Head of Banking X-sell & Segments
3. Business Intelligence Manager
4. Project Director

4 places I have Lived
1. Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan
2. Lukut, Negeri Sembilan
3. Petaling Jaya, Selangor
4. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

** The above could have been collapsed into 2, but I wanted to fulfill this "4" - hehe

4 four places I've been to on vacation
1. Hong Kong
2. Cambodia
3. Italy
4. France

4 favorite Foods
1. Chocolates
2. Wan Tan Mee
3. Yee Mee Soup
4. Bread

4 places I would rather be right now
... I am at home now, so there are no other places I would rather be.
If I am at work, then I would rather be ....
1. By Ryan's side
2. Somewhere else where I can use my Financial Planning skills
3. Sipping my mocha while watching people stroll by
4. Somewhere my boss cannot find me!


There, this was supposed to help us understand a little more of each other.
I only have 2 answers similar to WSL, it is no wonder then she is always stressing we are different. = ) But it is good to know that although we are all different in our ways, we can all still be good friends.

Have a good weekend.

Bye Bye Gymboree

Last Sunday was the last Gymboree class that Ryan attended. There were 54 classes in total. When he first started, he was in Level 4. He left Gymboree in Level 7.

It has been an enriching experience for Ryan and also to us, more for me actually. Ryan first listened & followed to instructions when he was not even 2 years old. By the time he left last week, he was able to respond, share, take turns and co-operate most times. There are also times when he decides to be a little rebelious.

However, there was a disappointment with 2 things at Gymboree:
1) They maintain a pool of teachers who were fairly good when we started. Lately, they changed them because they had gone back to school. And so a guy took over the class and you can see an immediate drop in response from the kids. The mothers in the class started conversations amongst themselves! We all ignored him!

2) We had bought the sessions to be completed within 2007. However, we could not and had to carry forward 9 sessions. We had asked for an extension for a month and asked if we could do this without any charges. We were denied flatly! Outright! I was pissed. I mean, how can anyone dealing with children be so rigid? How can we be sure that the kids are healthy all through the year? Surely some degree of flexibility will not cause the business to go bust??

Nevertheless, we paid for the additional 9 classes. We were constantly asked if we would continue with more classes etc. Each time I will refuse them. On my last day, they had asked again. This time I mentioned that I will not come back again, neither will I recommend anyone to Gymboree.

Really, for development wise, why not! But to Gymboree with the current management? Maybe not. Teachers' standard dropped, and management is so rigid. Definitely not somewhere I would continue nor to start again.

Funny phrases

The following phrases came in the last week:

1) Ryan was playing his gun (I did not buy this, a friend did) and his daddy said "What a nice machine gun you have (actually it is not a machine gun, hubby was just chidding him)!"

Ryan - "No la, this is a power gun, not machine gun. See, I got power, I can shoot you!" Ok, so I know it is a little violent, but it was really funny.

2) I was feeding him his dinner yesterday and then when he refused, I said that I was sad.

Ryan - "No, no, don't be sad. I buy you lollipop ok?" I never did this ... don't know where he learnt it from.

3) 2 days ago, Ryan's kinddy had a farewell party for one of the teachers. I asked him about it when he came back.

Ryan - "yes, school got party for Ryan."
Me - "Huh? School got party for Ryan, why?"
Ryan - "Yes, because Ryan got no party, so the school give party to Ryan"

I am not sure why he was expecting a party, but his logic was that because he does not have it, therefore the school got him one!

4) On Wednesday night, I was in the car with Ryan when he spoke to my mum. He was telling her that he had shouted to the nanny's husband because he was angry.

Mum - "Why you shouted at uncle? Po Po told you cannot shout at people ma. Must say sorry ok?"
Ryan - "NO! Ryan not sorry!"

*Doink* He actually knows what it means!!

Looking forward to another week of development.

My apologies

If there ever was an award for the most horrible mum, I am sure I would have earned it.
I mean, I love Ryan very very much, he is my life and motivation. However, there are times when I really feel like smacking him really hard.

This morning I took him out to 1-Utama and then we had a look around and also to see if there was a great deal in FCUK. Turns out, there was not much that was exciting. I am not sure if it was because Ryan was constantly running around or because it was really not very exciting.

By the end of 3 hours, I was ready to smack him, really. Even in the car, whenever he starts to moan and whine, I will be screaming at him to keep quiet.

His reply "Why you talk so loudly??" Then I do not know whether to laugh or to continue to be angry.

What ever it is, I know sometimes I can lose my cool and be all agitated and annoyed. But after the day ends, or when he is asleep (like now), I will feel really sorry for losing my temper.

So, here is to Ryan - mummy is sorry mummy lost her cool. Will try to be a better mum when you wake up ok?

Sigh ... life as a mum is real hard.

What is your number?

If you go around town, you will see that Prudential has launched this campaign called "What is your retirement number?" ... or something along this line.

It is a fairly catchy question since I am sure everyone will also want to know their number. But not many people want to get involved in the process of discovering their numbers and so, many will approach their future with apprehension.

I am one of those people who constantly think about money - how to get more of it, how do I ensure my kid has enough of it for the basics in life, what do I do to make sure that I not only retire with the money I need, but also to be able to pass it on to my grandchildren etc. ... constantly, I think about these type of questions.

One of my biggest fear is that I need to depend on someone else when I retire. I am sure that is not a nice feeling and I really do not want to come to that situation. I want to approach life with anticipation, not apprehension.

And so, I have taken proactive steps to know what my number is. I have taken some baby steps, not quite ready to take mummy steps though. Nonetheless, I have began my search to finding out my number when I reach 55 years old, or maybe younger, if possible.

And so my friends, what is your number?

Argh!!! Not enough time!!!

There is a Chinese saying that goes "Broad eyes, narrow stomach". This means that we generally order or cook more than we can eat ... meaning that we are greedy.

Fortunately this does not happen to me food wise. Unfortunately, it happens to me in 2 main areas of my life - buying books and activities carried out in a day.

Reading has been a hobby of mine since the day I knew my ABCs. But it recently grew into a major problem for me because I am running out of space on my shelves. And so I am constantly cleaning and arranging and still, I do not have sufficient space.

What to do?? I bought some storage boxes from Ikea to store them ... and yet, I still have NO SPACE. It did not help that Ryan's books are also adding to the shelves. I love to read, hubby does not. But I would want to encourage Ryan from young and so, all these books that I had bought for him. To date, I am happy that Ryan is picking up on this good habit - another reason why the books need to keep coming!

The other problem I have is the activities I think I can do in a day. Someone wrote about the limited number of hours we have in a day and I began to think about my day. Every morning when I wake up, I already have a list in my head about what I need to do on that day. I usually get most of it done, and so I am ok. However, I have this bad habit about trying to push myself to do more and then I end up agitated and stressed out.

Example is that I think I can come home to cook for the family, clean the dishes, clean Ryan, feed Ryan, hang the clothes, iron them, tidy the sitting room, read to Ryan, put Ryan to sleep, plan for Ryan's food the next day, clean Ryan's bottles .... and then finally go through the letters - all this done between 8pm - 11pm. After that I will attempt to watch some TV (while clearing my old files) and then some reading before bed - when I am doing these things, I do not feel that it is a lot. But when I collapsed in bed and I reflect - sh**! I have done so much!!

And so recently, I started to only do things that matter for the night and leave others till tomorrow. It really irks me when I know I am going to bed with some things not done, but I think it is better than stressing me out totally.

Sigh, so many things to do, so little time.

March 8th 2008

On March 8th 2008, history was created in Malaysia through the 12th General Elections. Besides it being my first time to vote, it also is the first time since 1969 in Malaysian history that the Barisan Nasional failed to acquire its required 2/3 majority to rule the country.

Another thing ... 5 states fell to the Opposition. This has never happened before. Kelantan (as previous), Kedah, Penang, Perak and Selangor went to the Opposition and clearly the voice of the people has been loud and strong.

Some of those who were defeated were expected while some of them were a shocker. I am still in shock with the results of it all. I am also proud to say that Malaysians have come together for a common cause - to have the Government hear us, loud and clear.

I am curious to know how the marker will react to this news tomorrow. I am also curious to see how the Government will be formed. I am also curious how the next 4-5 years will shape up.

Whatever it is, this change should be a good thing for the democracy of the country. We have a renewed hope for our children.