Somewhere over the rainbow…

Not Insured Yet!

We are already here for the second year, but we haven’t got our local insurances yet. I hope that I can just get any online life insurance easily, but I hate to read about insurance. It’s so bl*rdy confusing.

I really feel that we should cancel off our old premiums, which do not cover our medical here in Thailand. The life term is the only thing that works in the old premium, but for what la, if anything happens, we have to fork out our own money for hospitalization, just like what I had last time. Sendiri punya wang….

Options Express

 I’m only good at spending money but not making one. Frankly, I am too lazy to learn about investment too, and I don’t think I want to spend my money on investment either. But if you are interested in investment, check out options express for highest return option trades.

For the time being, I would prefer to have my money in the bank, or just use it. LOL! I leave all the money issue to hubby, who brings the bread and butter home. But hubby is not the type who likes investment too, so I guess he won’t find this tool useful.

More Money to Spend!

I found that school fees in Thailand are incredibly expensive. In another month, hubby will have to fork out a lot of money for their new school term which starts after mid May. Besides that, hubby has to pay for summer camp after Songkran, on top of their art class and probably another extra class soon.

I guess by the time my kids finish their high school, both hubby and I will be totally broke. LOL! Maybe they can just get online degree and it won’t be too costly. If we are staying in Malaysia, having more than 2 kids is still possible. But over here in Bangkok, it’s best to have as less kids as possible. Education is still the biggest financial concern to us!

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Monthly Allowance

 The Thai government has approved to give a monthly allowance of THB2000 to its people with income lower than THB20000. Too bad I’m not a Thai citizen, if not I would love to get that allowance too! It may not be a lot of money, but then, it’s still free money.

The economy is pretty bad now and an extra cash is always useful. If I manage to save it up to a large amount, who knows? Maybe I can get some precious metals? It seems like gold is still the best thing to buy. A lot of people are selling it off at the good price now, but too bad, all my jewelry is kept safely at the safe deposit in the bank back home.

Anyway, I prefer to keep than selling them off now…

Credit Card or Cash?

 I shop a lot in Bangkok. Firstly, the things are generally cheap, unless you prefer branded stuffs. Secondly, there are sales every now and then and it’s hard to resist the great bargains! However, we usually shop with cash as it’s not convenient to pay for our credit cards, which are issued by the banks back home. I know that we can just do internet transfer, but it is less hassle using cash. Our credit cards are only meant for emergency or expensive purchases.

Nonetheless, we have plans to get new credit cards issued locally when time comes. I will keep an eye on those Credit Card Offers and see which one suits us the best. I think we should at least get a Travel Rewards Credit Card since we fly back to Malaysia frequently, at least for our first year in Bangkok. But even if we don’t fly back often later on, the card can still be used for vacations!

Anyway, I try to use credit cards with the same mentality as paying with cash, instead of purchasing something I can’t afford. Swiping with the plastic cards without worrying about the debts is not something I have in mind. Thus, I’m not sure if I will give my kids Student Credit Cards when they are older, unless they truly understand the value of money.

How’s Biz?

  Our business has just started for a few months, and it’s progressing well but slow. I guess it’s the recession so not many companies are willing to purchase in large quantity now. As a result, we don’t keep a lot of stock, so the customers will have longer lead time if they are interested to get our products.

Yesterday, our salesman didn’t turn up for work. He didn’t answer his phone, and hubby should be worrying if he would ever turn up for work again. It’s pretty common for new employees who refuse to come to work after receiving their pay checks. Thank god he turned up to work today with a sick leave! Without this salesman, hubby is going to have a lot of communication obstacles when he meets with the customers. He can speak some Thai, but not as good as the Thai people yet. We still need a salesman to go around with hubby as a translator. Besides that, it’s not easy to train a new salesman for our products which are meant more automation industries.

As for me, I’m not a real employee in hubby’s company but just his helper and partner. If he needs any help from the website and administration, I will be there to help him out. We can’t afford to get new york it services, so the wife will have to do the jobs. LOL!

Anyway, I think this business has a prospect here because we received a few positive responses from potential customers. I just hope that they will pay on time, if they purchase our products!

Cancel My Card…

 I’m still using my credit cards issued in Malaysia, but I think I might cancel at least one Credit Card this week. Firstly, I don’t need a lot of credit cards except one for our insurance premiums, and another one for shopping. I prefer to use cash, if any! LOL! Besides that, paying for the credit cards via internet transfer comes with some charges, so I try my best not to use them now.

However, hubby might apply a Business Credit Card here, so if possible, I will just ask him to get me a supplementary card. Some times, you can get a better discount if you shop with certain credit cards here. I found that some of them offer discount up to 30% on new arrivals, so being a “wise” shopaholic, how can I not getting those credit cards? LOL!

Don’t worry ya? I will try my best not to blow my shopping budget. I don’t want to risk myself into having a bad credit, even if I’m aware that I can just apply for Bad Credit Credit Cards. If you are interested to get one, check out more details about it from Extra Credit Cards.com, ok?

Anyway, if you can afford it, pay with cash or use a debit card.

Piggy Bank

 My kids have started collecting coins when they were younger. We still have their piggy banks back home in Ipoh, but haven’t bank in the money for them for ages! They have started collecting coins here in Bangkok too, but Justin broke the ceramic piggy bank last week, and I’m yet to get him a replacement.

They may not have any gold coins now, but those coins collected will surely be a good use in the future. The children like to buy the birds and release them at the temple. So, I told them that as long as the money collected is enough for that purpose, they can do so at the temples. Let’s see how long will they take to reach that amount.

Buying Gold

My SIL likes to buy gold. She keeps gold as investment as well as wearing the gold jewelry. Her little baby wears gold too, even if she’s still very young.

I don’t let my kids wear gold jewelry because it was not safe for them back home. I’ve heard about friends being snatched or robbed off their gold necklace, so I’m quite paranoid. Thus, I don’t wear gold jewelry too, even on special occasions!

But nonetheless, I keep some gold jewelry for them in the safe deposit box. I will give them the jewelry when they are old enough to keep for themselves.

Bank Account

I still have my checking account back home in Ipoh, but I hardly use the checks. Maybe I haven’t done any major purchases such as paying for the down payment of a car or a house, so my check book is hardly being used. However, I would still prefer to have a checking account just in case I need to use the money in bigger amount.

If you are thinking about getting a checking account, check out the benefits of having checking accounts with WaMu. Most of the banks charge for their check books, but WaMu offers free checks with their personal checking accounts. Besides that, you will get free check safekeeping, and free wire transfers too to give you a peace of mind with your money. You can also easily access to your money with the Debit MasterCard at the ATM, so it should be quite convenient. On top of that, WaMu has a lot of branches in US, so if you are staying there, you might want to find out more about their services.

Some time later, I might want to open a new account here in Bangkok. It will be more convenient instead of transferring the money from Malaysia all the time.