Beat Your Breast Now, If You Didn't Buy Gold Earlier!

Want to Save Money, make money actually, buy gold then! The price of gold has gone bonkers.
If you had bought 100g of gold in the second week of February 2009 at let's say Rm10,578.00 (Rm105.78 / g), today you would be laughing all the way to the bank because, your 100g of gold would be worth Rm13,280.00 (Rm132.80 / g). A return on your investment of 25.54% over a period of just over 9 months.
Even if you had the gold-sense to buy 100g of gold as late as in the middle of November 2009 at Rm12,313.00 (Rm123.13 /g), today you would wear a broad smile on your face because, it would be now worth Rm13,280. A return of 7.85% over a period of just 13 days!
Just a word of caution, I am not a gold-investment-expert. I just noticed that the price of gold has gone up like crazy! I shall not be liable in any way should you choose to buy gold now and the price of gold takes a tumble real soon. I really do not think this would be the case, but just in case, I do not want to be held liable for you personal investment choice.

Paying Off Your Credit Cards Faster

Some of us just can't cut up our credit cards because we are unable to pay off our credit card debts.

Let me share with you a strategy I learned somewhere sometime back. Let's say I owe Bank A Rm10,000 and Bank B Rm2,000. If I pay the minimum payment of 5% I would be paying Bank A Rm500 and Bank B Rm100.

If I had Rm1,000 to pay these two credit cards. Most people would either pay Bank A Rm900 and Bank B Rm100; or even bank A Rm700 and Bank B Rm300. These are not the wisest moves.

The better strategy would be to pay Bank A Rm500 and Bank B Rm500. Generally all banks charge 1.5% per month on your credit card balances. So, the interest you would save is same whether you pay Bank A or Bank B, but in the long run, it would be better to pay Bank B. Why? You would get out of debt faster because after you have settled your debts with Bank B, you could apply from Bank B to do a Balance Transfer to Bank A.

In a Balance Transfer, Bank B takes over your debts to Bank A. For business considerations, Bank B will charge you monthly rates as low as 0.5% over a period of six (6), which is way below the normal rates of 1.5%. Imagine how much you would save in interests.

And if you can discipline yourself, you can "swing" between Bank A and Bank B once every six (6) months. Imagine how much in credit interests you would save! This is easier said than done. You need to be disciplined and you have to time it and refine the "technique". However, I assure you that it is worth your while!

Time To Cut Up Your Credit Cards!

Time to cut up my credit cards!!! Time to tell my MP he had better fight 4 me on this (or else... he knows what to expect come the next GE ) Rm50 /credit card Service Tax! If you have 21 credit cards like some of us, you end up paying the M'sian Govt Rm1,050.00 service tax /year! Remember you still have to pay annual subscription fees! The average Platinum Mastercard Annual fee is Rm250. Multiply that by 21, it comes to a whopping Rm5,250.00. This is humungous!

Is Your Money Really Safe in the Bank?

Further to my earlier post on June 4, 2009 entitled, The Amount of US dollars in Circulation is Skyrocketing. How Does that Affect you and me? I refer you to what Robert Kiyosaki recently posted in his Conspiracy of the Rich Bulletin:

Is Your Money Really Safe in the Bank?
Seems that even financial gurus are hurting in this economic downturn. Suze Orman recently teamed up with the FDIC in an endorsement campaign engineered to assure you that your money is safe in US banks. But as Robert says in his latest Conspiracy of the Rich bulletin, while your money might be physically safe in the bank – you could still be losing. "Suze claims that no one has lost money deposited in a bank that was insured by the FDIC. That may be true, but how do you define losing money? The true picture is that the Fed is printing trillions of dollars. This means you may not be losing your dollars, but your dollars are being diluted with trillions in counterfeit money. Parking your dollars in an insured bank causes them to lose purchasing power as commodities such as gold and oil are going up in price. "
– Excerpt from Robert’s Conspiracy of the Rich Bulletin


Think about it, this is the biggest Theft of the Nations. Is keeping cash really that safe now? What with the looming hyper-inflation and the apparent ongoing collapse of the world financial system? Thinking of depositing your hard-earn cash in the safe-and-secure bank, think again!

Anybody can think of any other alternatives?
Robert Kiyosaki recommends investing in precious metals like gold and silver.

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All the best in our common quest of preservation and creation of our financial well-being.

The Amount of US dollars in Circulation is Skyrocketing. How Does that Affect you and me?

An Idea That Could Cut Your Laser Printing Costs By Half

Did you know that some of your photocopier machines can be converted into document centres or you could even rent your a document centre for practically nothing if you have reasonable printing volume. Talk to your photocopier machine supplier. He may be able to enlighten you on how to go about with this conversion and whether it would cost you anything.

Your laser printer cartridge can probably print about 2000 copies before running out of toner. At Rm250 each cartridge, the per copy printing cost is about 12.5 sen.

Most reconditioned copier machine suppliers within the Klang Valley would charge anything between 3 - 5 sen for each sheet printed, in order to maintain the photocopier machine and to supply all the consumables other than the paper. Some suppliers just take a refundable deposit and don't even charge a monthly rental.

Imagine how much printing costs you would save with this change and besides that as an added bonus, you now have an A3-size laser printer in the form of your photocopier machine.

How to Cut your Grocery Bills.

Have you noticed how your grocery bills have gone up significantly within the past month? Some of the ways one can reduce the cost of groceries are as follows:

Make a shopping list beforehand. Get to the store, pick only what you need, pay and leave immediately.

Buy generic products. We tend to go for branded stuff but you have to pay more for them. There is no evidence that generic brands are of poorer quality. Many branded products simply have fancier packaging and labels -- the ingredients are the same as generic products.

Eat out less often. Food and beverages are a whole lot more expensive when you are away from home. So try to avoid being hungry and thirsty when you are out, have a drink and something light before leaving home, or take along a packed lunch or a few snacks with you.

Don’t overeat. Practise eating a smaller portion than you used to: eat till you feel three- quarters full and stop eating after that. The good side effect of this is that you would be trimmer and healthier.

Do Balance Transfers

Did you know that if you had a Rm20,000 credit card balance and faithfully paid only the minimum 5% of balance owing (subject to a minimum of Rm50.00 per month when the 5% figure goes below Rm50 a month), it would take you 106 months to settle the debt? You would also have ended up paying about Rm8,170 in interests!

However, should you do a Balance Transfer (with a 0.25% interest charged per month), to another competing bank and settle the debt over a maximum period of 18 months, you would only have to pay a fixed monthly installment of Rm1,137.70 and incur an interest of only about Rm478.40.

Convert Your Car Into NGV (Natural Gas Vehicle)

With the petrol cost now at Rm2.70 per litre, it makes sense to convert your car into an NGV vehicle!

The cost savings can be tremendous: The extreme case is my Naza Ria. On petrol, it costs about 50 sen/km but on CNG (Compressed Natural Gas), it costs only 9.5 sen/km. A whopping 80% savings!

CNG-converted Naza Ria

Naza Ria Engine CompartmentNaza Ria Gas Tank (Cover Opened)Naza Ria Gas Tank Cover Naza Ria CNG Level Indicator & Petrol-CNG Toggle Switch on Dashboard

To run my trusty Proton Wira 1.5GL on petrol, it costs 23 sen/km but on CNG, it costs only 5.5 sen/km!

CNG-converted Proton WiraProton Wira Engine CompartmentProton Wira Gas TankProton Wira CNG Level Indicator & Petrol-CNG Toggle Switch on Dashboard

Get your calculators out and calculate how much you would save! Scream at the BN government to install more CNG (usually wrongly called NGV) stations throughout the country. You really don't know what you're missing! My NGV conversion which costed me Rm5,200 and Rm4,200 respectively last year, was well worth every sen of it.