I was reading a 'financial freedom' book, written by a young author. It is interesting to see that at such a young age, he is able to think logical, money-sense. He is LCW(not our badminton hero, haha) who attended my first trading class 2 years ago ... yes, much earlier than my cohort-1. My cohort-1 started exactly a year ago.

Anyway, reading his simple book is to refresh what I have been reading for past few years, to brain wash myself into acheving my definition of financial freedom. I have to say such as my definition of 'financial freedom' is certainly NOT similar to majority who is dreaming of have big houses, fast and expensive cars, shop with loads of cash in hands etc etc ... FAR from that. If you have read some simple charity posts I placed, perhaps ... just maybe ... you will be amazed how 'stupid' I m when it comes to money, actually. I am not saying I am selfless ... saint person. I just prefer to stay simple and help others, rather. I do believe every religion teaches us to be good ... and sharing is caring?

 Back to the topic ... living frugally.  I am still not sure if I am frugal enough as I think I am living in 'luxury', for my standard. I could afford so many things!! So, I need to remind myself to keep my simple living and not to follow the crowd. Well, it is easier for me as I am not THE norm.

Here are few larger items I have upgraded since I came to KL mere 3 years ago.

1. TV ... yes, upgraded from my 21" Sony 20+years to flat LED.
2. PC ... bought this desktop last year, mainly for my teaching of trading purposes but carrying to 'center' each time I have meetings there.
3. Notebook ... bought last night at IT-fair(Mid Valley) so that I do not need to carry my desktop anymore .... for teaching purposes too but it took me a year to be able to afford it(less than RM2k type)
4. Handphone ... upgraded my 4yrs plus Sony-Eriksson hp to Samsung Smartphone, only to see that I am not smart enough to use it
5. Apartment ... from staying in a small mother-in-law room, to renting a house in KK ... and recently managed to buy a small apartment for simple living. It is RM160k, and that is very expensive for me.
6. Speaker ... bought a new Altec-lansing speaker to replace my old 8-yr old AL speaker.
7. Earphone ... bought a nice RM120 earphone for listening to music/songs recently.
8. Camera ... bought a Panasonic RM500(during sales) digital to replace my old Sony 10yr ones.
9. Workstation ... pampered myself with a nice, yet simple place to work from home(from Ikea) ... as I was using a simple RM100 desk for past 2 years.
10. Unifi ... upgraded recently from Stremyx for faster internet connection as I need to upload clips for my e-learning, and now for my e-meeting.
11. Clothes ... could afford to buy a few t-shirts and pants(buy during sales, please ... make sure it is 50%-70% discount and no brands needed). I used to wear(and still is) those shirts given by my uncles and brothers or those free t-shirts.
12. Shoes ... yeah, managed to buy a RM80 shoe for comfort(50% off, actually) and hope to wear it for another 3-5 years? Used to wear those RM30 china-made shoes to work. But, I m still wearing less than RM20 slipper each time I go out.

There are still few items ... but you get the picture that I have upgraded myself ... so, at times I feel I am no longer as frugal as I wish? Tho I m definitely living below my means and still working very hard ...

The only large expenses I do have is 'dinner' with family. If I m having dinner by myself, a simple RM5 mee is OK with me ... but I m willing to spend RM50 for a dinner with my wife/kids.

I am still going to office riding my second-hand kapcai which I bought for RM3k when I came back to KL here. I do hope it could last me another 5years ... and perhaps I might be afford to buy a bike of my choice(I am more a biker, I do not fancy cars, ok?). So, I m putting some saving to buy my 'dream' bike in 5 years time. Do you know it takes time to accumulate money enough to buy items you wish for? And a person like me ... I do not have many things I wanted in this world, I rather give away ...

Happy frugal week ahead. I have to go for another class to earn some money, perhaps ... to buy a new spec by year end? My current one giving me some 'head'ache.




"Ka-Ching"

We live in a greedy little world--
that teaches every little boy and girl
To earn as much as they can possibly--
then turn around and
Spend it foolishly
We've created us a credit card mess
We spend the money that we don't possess
Our religion is to go and blow it all
So it's shoppin' every Sunday at the mall

All we ever want is more
A lot more than we had before
So take me to the nearest store

[Chorus:]
Can you hear it ring
It makes you wanna sing
It's such a beautiful thing--Ka-ching!
Lots of diamond rings
The happiness it brings
You'll live like a king
With lots of money and things

When you're broke go and get a loan
Take out another mortgage on your home
Consolidate so you can afford
To go and spend some more when
you get bored

All we ever want is more
A lot more than we had before
So take me to the nearest store

[Repeat Chorus]

Let's swing
Dig deeper in your pocket
Oh, yeah, ha
Come on I know you've got it
Dig deeper in your wallet
Oh

All we ever want is more
A lot more than we had before
So take me to the nearest store

[Repeat Chorus]

Can you hear it ring
It makes you wanna sing
You'll live like a king
With lots of money and things
Ka-ching!




TEH