Dollar Value Dropping

A bit of explanation on the dollar value..and why we should put some of our savings in gold.

Hyperinflation

Ever heard of the word hyperinflation? It's a condition in which prices increase rapidly as a currency loses its value.

The most recent occurence of hyperinflation is in Zimbabwe. Hyperinflation in Zimbabwe began in the early 2000s, shortly after Zimbabwe's confiscation of white-owned farmland and its repudiation of debts to the International Monetary Fund, and persisted through to 2009. Figures from November 2008 estimated Zimbabwe's annual inflation rate at 89.7 sextillion (1021) percent. In April 2009, Zimbabwe abandoned printing of the Zimbabwean dollar, and the South African rand and US dollar became the standard currencies for exchange. The government does not intend to reintroduce the currency until 2010.

If you read in wikipedia, The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe issued a ZWD 10,000,000 note in January 2008, roughly equivalent of 4 US dollars. Zimbabwe's inflation soared to a record high of 26,470.8 percent as the economy contracted by 6 percent, the central bank said.


In April 2008 the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe issued a ZWD 50,000,000 note, which was then worth approximately 1.20 US dollars. In May 2008 the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe issued bank notes or rather "bearer cheques" to the value of ZWD 100 million and ZWD 250 million. Meanwhile inflation had surged to an estimated 165,000 percent with some unconfirmed reports putting the figure as high at 400,000 percent. Ten days later, new notes with a value of ZWD 500 million (then equivalent to about USD 2) were issued.

By the beginning of July 2008, official figures put the inflation rate at 355,000 percent and with some independent estimates as high as 8,500,000 percent. By July 4, 2008 at 5.00pm, a bottle of beer cost $100 billion Zimbabwean dollars, but an hour later, the price had gone up to $150 billion; the Los Angeles Times further reported on July 15, 2008 that the printing presses were running out of paper to print the money, and it was feared that because of human rights concerns, Germany would cut off the supply of paper and the software license for creating designs for even higher denominations of currency. On July 16, the official inflation rate was reported by Zimbabwe's central bank as 2.2 million percent.

"Hi...thanks for the tip.."

Can you just imagine living in a such terrible financial crisis?
No wonder the price of gold is shooting up nowadays.

Quote Of The Day

"One of the causes of this financial crisis is that most people do not know good financial advice from bad financial advice. Most people cannot tell a good investment from a bad one. Most people go to school so they can get a good job, work hard, pay taxes, buy a house, save money, and turn over any extra money to a financial planner - or an expert like Bernie Madoff."
-Robert Kiyosaki

How To Make A Million

Extract from "Personal Money" (November 2009):

At 18, and attracted by the lifestyles of celebrities, Internet milionaire Irfan Khairi planned to achieve his first million by 30. But he achieved it five years ahead of schedule in 2002, starting with a capital of RM500 and fiery passion, determination and thirst for self-improvement.

Write To Your Bank For Interest Rate Reduction

For those of you who have a mortgage loan applied during the all time high interest rate, it may be worthwhile to write to your bank right now. Ask your bank to reduce the rate since the BLR is very low at the moment. If the rate is lowered, you can save on your monthly payment.

Remember, a dollar save is a dollar earned.

Letter from IRB

Setelah agak lama menunggu, dapat jugak surat dari LHDN; memberitahu cukai yang terlebih bayar akan dipulangkan kepada yang empunya diri.. dapat la duit raya sikit :)

When Money Is Not Your Servant...

According to an Italian proverb, "When money is not your servant, it becomes your master." Failure to handle money properly can cause all sorts of headaches. To what degree money can enhance our lives depends more on how we intelligently use the money we have than on how much we earn.

Two powerful ways to handle money: both are equally effective. The first powerful way is to spend less than you earn. The second powerful way is to earn more than you spend. That's all there to the money game. Use only one of these powerful principles, and you will have handled money successfully.

Handling the small expenditures is just as important as handling the large ones. Benjamin Franklin cautioned, "Beware of little expenses: a small leak will sink a great ship."

..taken from a book "101 really Important Things You Already Know, But Keep Forgetting".

Pengurusan Kewangan Peribadi Dalam "The Pursuit Of Happyness"

Salah satu filem motivasi yang elok ditonton adalah "The Pursuit Of Happyness". Filem ini mengambil latar kota San Francisco pada tahun 1981. Watak si ayah iaitu Chris Gardner dilakonkan oleh Will Smith. Ditontonkan sepanjang filem ini bagaimana sang ayah yang berjuang untuk kebahagiaan hidup dia dan anaknya.

Walaupun mengalami kesukaran menjual 'bone-density scanners', Chris tetap tidak berputus asa. Namun satu demi satu ujian mendatang dalam hidupnya. Kekasihnya, Linda bertindak meninggalkan Chris dan anak tunggal mereka dek tak tahan tekanan kesusahan hidup di kota. Kemudian Chris pula diusir dari apartmen karena bayaran sewa yang tertunggak. Tanpa tempat tinggal, dia dan anaknya harus hidup berpindah-randah dan tidur di merata tempat di sekitar bandar kediaman mereka (stesen subway, tandas awam, tempat tumpangan gereja etc.)

Di penghujung filem, diceritakan yang Chris akhirnya berjaya menjadi jutawan dan menggenggam kebahagian hidup bersama anak lelakinya Christopher.

Dari sudut pengurusan kewangan peribadi, ada beberapa pengajaran yang boleh kita ambil dari filem ini. Antaranya :

1. Jangan laburkan semua wang anda dalam satu pelaburan sahaja. Chris Gardner melaburkan semua wang simpanannya pada perniagaan 'bone-density scanners'. Akhirnya dia mengalami masalah disebabkan produk tersebut begitu sukar untuk dijual.

2. Jangan putus asa dan sentiasa fokus pada matlamat hidup. Chris tidak pernah berputus asa. Dia mengambil keputusan apa yang dia ingin buat dan terus lakukannya.

3. Motivasi dan sikap. Chris punya motivasi yang tinggi. Dia tahu dia punya anak yang perlu diberi makan. Dia tahu dia tak boleh gagal dan dia sentiasa bersikap positif.

4. Berkorban untuk jangka masa terdekat demi kejayaan di masa hadapan. Dalam "The Pursuit of Happyness" ditunjukkan bahawa Chris telah berjaga sepanjang malam untuk membaiki mesin scanner tulang dan juga belajar. Dia sanggup korbankan masa tidur demi memastikan semua urusannya selesai. Begitu jugalah dalam kehidupan kita. Berbelanja kurang dari pendapatan, melangsaikan hutang, menabung, semua itu adalah pengorbanan jangka masa pendek demi kejayaan di masa hadapan.

5. Jangan sesekali fikir kita tak mampu lakukan sesuatu. Dalam salah satu scene filem ini, Chris memberitahu anaknya dia tak akan jadi pemain bola keranjang berjaya. Setelah berfikir sejenak, dia memandang pada anaknya dan berkata, "Jangan sesekali biarkan sesiapa memberitahu yang kau tak boleh lakukan sesuatu.."

Jika kita sudah tetapkan dalam minda kita tak boleh lakukan sesuatu, maka kebarangkalian untuk kita dapat melakukannya adalah rendah. Tapi jika kita percaya pada kebolehan kita, peluang untuk berjaya adalah tinggi.

“Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.”
-W. Clement Stone

“You got a dream, you gotta protect it. People can’t do something themselves, they wanna tell you that you can’t do it. If you want somethin', go get it. Period.”

How Much is A Tin Of Glucolin?

About a couple of months back, it was about RM8++.

Now, it cost me RM10.90 (at Giant).

What is happening to our beloved country?

No wonder so many people leaving for a better opportunity elsewhere.


Related comments taken from CheDet.com :

"But the Government is still talking about 5%-7% inflation. This is quite meaningless to lower and middle-income people who must pay 40% more for petrol and 100% more for rice. Other necessities too have increased in price by well over 5%-7%. Stopping price control in the belief that the market will determine prices is imprudent."

"One of the reasons why Malaysia's inflation rates had remained low compared to other developing countries and even some developed countries is the control over prices of essential goods. Without control there will always be profiteering. And profiteering will result in a high rate of inflation."

"Today wage earners in particular are suffering. Wages have not increased to compensate for increased cost of living. While chasing prices with increases in wages can cause a wage/price spiral, but judicious increases to cushion off the rising costs would reduce the impact of inflation on the lower income people."

8 Ways To Cut Your Transportation Expenses

Article by Azizi Ali

Service the car regularly

Make it a point to send the car for service regularly. While you may think it is expensive, it is actually cheaper to do so in the long run. Firstly, your car will burn less fuel. A badly tuned engine will burn more fuel than one that is well maintained. This will cost you money. Next, you reduce the chances of the car breaking down while driving. I don't know about you but the thought of the car breaking down in the middle of the night in a dark deserted road just about kills me. Thirdly, you also reduce the chances of being involved in an accident due to poor maintenance.

And if you still think servicing the car is still expensive, try having an accident.

Drive slower

You will also reduce the fuel burn by driving slower. If you are used to driving at 110 km/hr, you will save some 20 percent of fuel just by slowing down to 80 km/hr. That means the fuel will last longer and you will refill less often. End result - you save money.

Do not carry unnecessary cargo

Obviously, the heavier the car, the more fuel will be needed to move the car. Carrying unnecessary cargo therefore will just cost you money. So, remove all items that do not belong in the car and keep them where it does not cost you money. The store room should be about right.

Ensure correct wheel pressure

Under inflated tyres can increase the fuel consumption by 10 percent or more. They also wear out more quickly and are more dangerous in emergency situations. So always ensure that your tyres are having the correct pressure by checking them weekly.

Always check the map before driving to a new destination

Always, always check the map before driving to any new destination or any place that you are unsure of. What you want to do is to get to your destination the most straight forward way, if not the quickest. This way, you avoid getting lost and driving around in circles. Because if you do get lost, driving around town in circles will just cost you money. Not to mention of the irritation and rising temperatures.

Car pool

Car pooling will not reduce your fuel bill directly. But it will more than subsidize the cost. If you take in more than one passenger, you may even make money in the process! This is not counting the fun of having company to entertain you yet.

Shutdown the engine when not moving

Do not start the engine until you are ready to move. Further, do not leave the engine running when the car is not moving or when you are waiting for someone.

Use the public transport

And finally, to save even more, you can always take the public transport. Especially when going to a spot well known for traffic jams - Jalan Sultan Ismail for example - take the LRT instead. You'll arrive there faster, fresher and less hassled.