Money matters

Sunday 22 February 2009

Well a few things lately prompted me to think about money in a different way. Now, for those who might not know me well enough, I've always been very thrifty with money, largely due to my upbringing. Every cent is accounted for, and I almost never spend needlessly.


Anyways, I see one of my friend spending money on something he is passionate about and I look at how I'm still so thrifty even though I'm now earning money. It's the deep-seated mindset to save, save, save!

I'm not saying that is wrong and we should all go out and splurge our money and empty our accounts. Needless to say, saving is important, but the question I find myself asking is, if I save all the time, do I actually live?

One of the reason i said this is because, looking at the money I recieved from ang pao's it hasn't changed much but to me it's such a small amount now (uncles, aunties, HINT HINT lol). Back in the days when I was still in primary/secondary school, that was a huge amount. And where did it go? Straight into the bank. I did't use any of it (ok maybe just an itsy bitsy amount) to you know, splurge on myself a bit.

Now, looking at the amount I accumulated, it seems insignificant. How much joy would that amount of money could brought to me when I was a kid? Who knows. Well, I'll never know lol
Now it is but a small amount sitting in my Maybank account.

Thus, I see that just saving all the time is not a good thing. Even now, spending a little extra on myself takes so much consideration and deliberation. That's why I hope to be a bit impulsive on spending, to give myself some instant satisfaction of spending money. Money kept in bank all the time.. it's like not having money at all. Worse, it gets eaten away by inflation. Like my poor ang pao savings lol


Save save save... sometimes need to spend also lar. As long as it makes you happy a bit, make your short time on Earth a better, spend a bit lar.




That said, it's not prudent to spend all. I mean, look at the prices of houses and cars. And then, consider your children's education, especially if you live in Malaysia and want to send your children overseas (whihc I think is worth it, for the exposure). And then, think about your retirement. Wah laoeh... such a huge sum of money. If we spend what we earn every month, how can we ever do that?






Another thought. I'm becoming more and more selfish. I used to think, when I was younger, about giving so much and so much to charity. Now, if you read my post, it's all about spending money on myself. Lol. Gah i want to be a child once again.


Note to self: Go donate some money this year.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

lol.. hmmm.. i still spend money on food, that i think i should really try. that one, no need to think, unless it really is a big figure. haha!

Esther said...

you can start by donating to your poor student friend here back in malaysia! hahahaha.

well, giving to the charity does not only constitute money. time and sweat also can mar.

you can prolly set aside a certain amount to save for rainy days and a certain amount to splurge on stuff/travelling.

nylus said...

yea... spend on food.. lol

u want to spend money??? somebody here needs another external harddisk :)

Jun Xue said...

LOL such friends i have.. lol!

Hmm true true. Thanks for the advice esther.. I ought to donate some of my time and energy.

And yea.. I ought to set an amount to splurge.. i think currently I'm over ambitious with the amount I want to save.

Joanne said...

okay can u forward to ur dad the hint :D i need ang pau man!! mine only added up to barely 180 pounds this year. bahhhhhh.

and ITS ALL YOUR FAULT MY MUM SCOLDS ME FOR OVERSPENDING. she always says LOOK AT JUN XUE SUCH A NICE SON, NEVER SPEND MONEY....

ma hai.... :D

Jun Xue said...

Hhahaha... my angpao.. i think don't reach 100 pounds also. T__________T

Nvm, at least i spent some whilst I was in malaysia.

HAHAHHAHAHAH So cham. Sorry lar hhaha I was really frugal back then. Still am, but spending more already. HAhhahaha! aiya you're on scholarship what....

O.o LOL do you even know what ma hai means!?

Anonymous said...

ehh saving?? whos the one who shops in timberland ar?? :p

Anonymous said...

You talk about money, money, money, let me intepret a post seen in one of Chinese web site to share with you. Pardon me for the intepretation may be poorly done.

The differences between the Rich and the Poor


1、The rich always being enterprising, the poor like to work for soemone;


2、 Th rich has passion for investment, the poor doesn't;

3、 The rich works along the trend, the poor depend on the result to work;
4、 The rich is action orientated, the poor indecisive;
5、 The rich is more generous,The poor is pettish;
6、Th erich realizes there is alway a price to paid for the sucess, the poor hopes for the windfall;

7、 The rich is possitive, the poor being negative;

8、 The rich does not satisfies with what he has, has ambitious to make money, the poor satisfied with what he has;
9、 There is no "Impossible" in the rich's dictionary, poor is filled with impossible;

10、The rich is thrifty in his life, the poor very generous, but alway broke;

11、The rich fond of his works, happily working, the poor likes to be relaxed, off days, feeling miserable about his work;

12、The rich likes to collaborate with other, the poor dislike cooperation, for fear of being taken advantage;

13、The rich realizes wealth is being slowly accumulated; the poor hopes for a windfall (may be strikes 4 ekor something like that)

14、The rich is far sighted, not calculative of present loses; the poor is short sighted, always calculative of minor losess.

15、The rich is contigent, enthusiastic, full of energy, the poor self centered, miserable, feels like in the end of the world;

16、The rich treasures his time, always feels time is insufficient for him to create his wealth; the poor always feels that he has abundant of time to spend, feeling bored.
17、The rich has "Die Hard" attitude; never feel defeated; the poor will give up once encounter temporary defeat, many poor hasn't start to do anything already feeling defeated in the first place;


18、The rish does not feel himself is rich, he always compares with the richer; the poor feel helfty rich when he has a bit of money, becoming arrogant;


19、The rich rely on himself, he knows the wealth may just goes in no time, he treasures the wealth come by hardworks and manages the potential risks well; the poor feels the wealth may come in like a windfall, never bother to address the risks.

Anonymous said...

Now that you have money, i remember that i bought you Chicken & Chips once upon a time. So, i think you owe me 132.58 pounds. You know where i live right? Cash PLEASE!!

Love Always

Jun Xue said...

Candy: LOL in the end i didn't buy anything also lol.. thay's why... think think think at last didnt' spend


Anonymous:wah that is a lot of advice, but the rich is not neccessarily happy =)

Hariz: Wah.. the chicken made of gold meH!? LOL

Anonymous said...

savings is essential but u won noe wat will happen tomorrow...mayb "touch wood" 2mr u might not b on this earth alr...so,enjoy while u can!save+spend!the balance btw the 2 u nd 2 consider urself la...

Anonymous said...

Wah 100 pounds.. mine only approx RM200 leh. How i wish to change the currency to pounds as well. T___T

And yes spend some money lah not just save all the time. Strongly recommend you to spend on food lol

Anonymous said...

I am reading this article second time today, you have to be more careful with content leakers. If I will fount it again I will send you a link

 
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