Money Matters Again!

Money matters. Have you ever been in need of cash, short of cash, owing people cash, people owing you cash, you bank almost going dry, spent too much until you realized that you shouldn't, being afraid of not being able to pay your rent? I know I have. The world seems to revolve around money these days doesn't it? And some people say money isn't everything. Well in my opinion, if money affects your future and your life, it is everything.

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Being a student, sometimes studying away from home ain't that fun. Think about paying rent and paying for your food. Some might say that that's not a problem for them but I'm no rich kid. I'm currently paying everything myself. Yes, all my expenses including my fees i bear it myself. Why you say I do that? It's very simple. It's because I don't want to be a burden to anybody else no more. You know you get the feeling whenever someone helps you out and you gotta pay them back sometime in the future. So, if I do everything myself then I don't have that feeling of repaying anybody back. It all seems too negative the way I say this out but I hope you get my point. There's still some kindness debts I'm hanging on too. Right now, I'm counting on graduating first. Get a job. Get a whole lotta cash. And I guess everything will roll smoothly from there onwards.

The cost of a higher level student's life (based on an estimated amount):

Meals: RM15/day (if you have 3 meals per day)
Transport: RM5/day
Rent and utilities: +/- RM300/month
Reload cards: RM30/month
Miscellaneous: RM20/month

So that will total up to RM950 per month. Which will come up to RM11,400 per year! Now if you include an estimated full course fees of RM4000 per year. That will bring up the total to RM15,400! Talk about spending money!

Government loans? Perbadanan Tabung Pendidikan Tinggi Nasional (PTPTN)? Which gives you a loan of RM10,000 for 2 years. I guess that covers up pretty much of the course fees but what are you gonna eat after that? Maybe have a FULL COURSE TWO YEAR DIET PROGRAM? Now that's crap!

So I say, if you're not the person who saves much, you're pretty much dead by now. Good luck and keep yourself alive!

Check out our country's economy statistics:

The Department of Statistics Malaysia says, "The index for Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages for the month of March 2009 compared to the same month in 2008 showed a high percentage change of 8.8 per cent, while the index for Non-Food increased by 1.0 per cent. For the period of January to March 2009, the index for Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages as well as Non-Food registered an increase of 9.2 per cent and 1.1 per cent respectively. Compared to the previous month, the index for Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages decreased by 0.5 per cent while the index for Non-Food remained unchanged at 107.8 (Table 1)."

Table 1 : CONSUMER PRICE INDEX FOR MAIN GROUPS, MALAYSIA (2005=100)

Group	Wt.	Index					% Change
		Mar. 2008	Feb. 2009	Mar 2009	Jan-Mar. 2008	Jan-Mar. 2009	Mar. 09 / Feb. 09	Mar. 09 / Mar. 08	Jan-Mar. 2009/08
TOTAL	100.0	107.9	111.9	111.7	107.8	111.8	-0.2	3.5	3.7
Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages	31.4	110.6	120.9	120.3	110.5	120.7	-0.5	8.8	9.2
Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco	1.9	120.2	130.1	130.2	120.2	130.2	0.1	8.3	8.3
Clothing and Footwear	3.1	96.6	96.7	96.0	97.0	96.2	-0.7	-0.6	-0.8
Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels	21.4	103.9	105.5	105.4	103.7	105.4	-0.1	1.4	1.6
Furnishings, Household Equip. & Routine Household Maintenance	4.3	103.5	108.2	108.2	103.3	108.1	0.0	4.5	4.6
Health	1.4	105.1	107.8	107.8	105.0	107.7	0.0	2.6	2.6
Transport	15.9	114.3	111.9	111.9	114.3	111.9	0.0	-2.1	-2.1
Communication	5.1	97.0	96.5	96.4	97.0	96.5	-0.1	-0.6	-0.5
Recreation Services & Culture	4.6	103.4	104.5	104.4	103.4	104.4	-0.1	1.0	1.0
Education	1.9	105.5	108.0	108.1	105.2	108.0	0.1	2.5	2.7
Restaurants and Hotels	3.0	112.9	117.4	117.6	112.5	117.4	0.2	4.2	4.4
Miscellaneous Goods & Services	6.0	106.4	110.0	110.2	105.9	109.5	0.2	3.6	3.4
Non-Food	68.6	106.7	107.8	107.8	106.6	107.7	0.0	1.0	1.1
Durable Goods	8.0	98.8	99.9	100.0	98.5	99.5	0.1	1.2	1.0
Semi-Durable Goods	4.3	98.0	98.6	98.0	98.2	98.2	-0.6	0.0	0.0
Non-Durable Goods	40.6	112.3	117.5	116.9	112.2	117.3	-0.5	4.1	4.5
Services	47.1	106.4	110.3	110.3	106.2	110.2	0.0	3.7	3.8

Source from Department of Statistics Malaysia.

Now that's food for thought. No more Mickey-Ds and Burger King. Till next time, spend wisely peeps!