The Secret by Rhonda Byrne

I have been waiting for a long time to buy this book. I saw this book (with its nice cover) in Abu Dhabi and Kuala Lumpur. But I never try to flip through the pages. In fact, at first, I thought this is a novel. Actually this is a book that I categorized as motivational and inspiring, kind of books that I love to read.

‘The Secret’ tell us the secret of life. How to be happy and successful in life by changing our thought. It sounds so easy, but only the true believers in this book can get the message.

It’s like when you are in real trouble, the best thing you need to do is to change your thought and focus on the good things. And the universe will conspire to solve your problem. Is it that simple?

When you are broke, think that you have more than enough. You live in abundance. And the money will come to you in many unexpected ways.

When you want something, think that you already have it. You can feel it, you can touch it. And you will send the signal to the Universe, and the Universe will send the thing that you want real soon.

These concepts can be hard to grasp. Especially for those who always live in misery and trouble.

I do believe in what the author said. Now, I realized that I already practice few tips which I read in books. Now it is the time to grasp new ideas and concept, and strengthen the one that I already know.

The Secret to Money

“Whatever the mind…can conceive it can achieve”

- W. Clement Stone (1902-2002)

I grew up on, “ You have to work hard for money”. So I replaced that with, “ Money comes easily and frequently”. Now in the beginning it feels like a lie, right? There is a part of your brain that will say, “Oh you liar, it’s hard.” So you have to know it’s this little tennis match that will go on for a while.

- Loral Langemeier, Financial Strategist, Speaker and Personal and Corporate Coach

“The good news is that the moment you decide that what you know is more important than what you have been taught to believe, you will have shifted gears in your quest for abundance. Success comes from within, not from without”

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Secret Summaries

- To attract money, focus on wealth. It is impossible to bring more money into your life when you focus on the lack of it.

- It is helpful to use your imagination and make-believe you already have the money you want. Play games of having wealth and you will feel better about money; as you feel better about it, more will flow into your life.

- Feeling happy now is the fastest way to bring money into your life.

- Make it your intention to look at everything you like and say to yourself, “ I can afford that. I can buy that.” You will shift your thinking and begin to feel better about money.

- Give money in order to bring more of it into your life. When you are generous with money and feel good about sharing it, you are saying, “I have plenty”.

- Visualize checks in the mail.

- Tip the balance of your thoughts to wealth. Think wealt

KPF: Who can become a member?

This post is specifically to answer Father Sez. Thank you for visiting my blog and leave comment.

Koperasi Permodalan Felda Membership

From the website, http://www.felda.net.my/kpf/soalanlazim.asp , it is stated that;

1.	Siapakah yang layak menjadi anggota?
		Peneroka-peneroka Felda, isteri dan anak-anak mereka yang warganegara Malaysia dan berusia tidak kurang daripada 18 tahun dan berkelakuan baik
		Koperasi-koperasi peneroka Felda
		Kakitangan-kakitangan Felda yang sedang bertugas dan isteri
		Kakitangan-kakitangan Felda yang sudah bersara yang warganegara Malaysia dan sudah menjadi ahli Koperasi sebelum bersara
		Koperasi-koperasi kakitangan Felda

In general, KPF is open to who are working directly with FELDA. This 'exclusivity' gives lots of advantages to Peneroka and their family. A single solid advice to the children of Peneroka, please put your money in this cooperation and you will not regret. KPF has a strong track record with average dividend between 13% to 14% a year. I cannot guarantee future performance, but oil palm trading is heading a bright prospect.

This may leave you with disappointment, FatherSez. No worry. Everyone has his share of opportunity and you have been doing well so far. I enjoy reading your stories about family, goat farm, and your money management advices.

How to Become Member?

Contact your local Pejabat Felda and ask for membership form. Send the form by yourself or through Pejabat Felda with RM5 membership fee. This may take few months to get approval. Once you have the registration number, you can start to place your investment.

Or go to KPF office;

	Pejabat Koperasi Permodalan Felda (KPF)
	Bangunan Blok J,
	Anjung Felda, Jalan Maktab,
	54000 Kuala Lumpur.

I have been to KPF office last 3 weeks. It was empty except for an officer who will be more than happy to keep him busy with your inquiries. I feel like going to the bank and somebody is waiting to entertain me. No noise, no interruption, just me and him talking about serious business. Haha..

Back at base, Mountain of Oil, Turkmenistan

Yeahh...I am at the base now after 2 weeks of night shift at Burren's rig. I was rigging down yesterday whe I just finished my night shift. Which means I havent sleep for 24 hours. hehe...

I just want to have an easy day today and feel like blogging again. I realised that the economy is not so good at the moment. The SLB share dropped from almost USD100 at th end of 2007, to USD74.86 today. maybe this s a good time to buy more stocks for those who has spare cash. The SLB stock price, I believe will get better soon.

The same story goes to US Dollar. Dollar gets weaker day after day. Today, the exchange rate (from xe.com) is USD1 = RM3.23. Since my salary is in USD, I think it is not a good time to transfer my money to my Maybank account in Malaysia. I can easily lose money as the USD gets weaker. This effect will be of great significant when I transfer a large sum of money. So I will wait for USD to get stronger, but I do not know when. Well, after back of envelope calculation, I think it is not worthy to transfer the money now, and lose few hundred Ringgit, eventhough it is good if I can dump my money in unit trust at the earliest opportunity that I have. I think I will transfer the money when USD1 is equaivalent to RM 3.30 or more. we will see later.

As appeared on Yahoo! Finance

Top 10 Money Drains

Thursday, August 16, 2007provided by

It's easy to fritter away money on daily expenses. If you fall into these money traps, learn to avoid them and pocket the savings.

1.	Coffee	6.	Car washes
2.	Cigarettes	7.	Weekday lunches out
3.	Alcohol	8.	Vending machines snacks
4.	Bottled water	9.	Interest charges on credit cards
5.	Manicures	10.	Unused memberships

1. Coffee -- According to the National Coffee Association, the average price for brewed coffee is $1.38. There are roughly 260 weekdays per year, so buying one coffee every weekday morning costs almost $360 per year.

2. Cigarettes -- The Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids reports that the average price for a pack of cigarettes in the United States is $4.54. Pack-a-day smokers fork out $1,660 a year. Weekend smoker? Buying a pack once a week adds up, too: $236.

3. Alcohol -- Drink prices vary based on the location. But assuming an average of $5 per beer including tip, buying two beers per day adds up to $3,650 per year. Figure twice that for two mixed drinks a day at the local bar. That's not chump change.

4. Bottled water from convenience stores -- A 20-ounce bottle of Aquafina bottled water costs about $1. One bottle of water per day costs $365 per year. It costs the environment plenty, too.

5. Manicures -- The Day Spa Magazine Price Survey of 2004 found that the average cost of a manicure is $20.53. A weekly manicure sets you back about $1,068 per year.

6. Car washes -- The average cost for a basic auto detailing package is $58, according to Costhelper.com. The tab for getting your car detailed every two months: $348 per year.

7. Weekday lunches out -- $9 will generally cover a decent lunch most work days. If you buy rather than pack a lunch five days a week for one year, you shell out about $2,350 a year.

8. Vending machines snacks -- The average vending machine snack costs $1. Buy a pack of cookies every afternoon at work and pay $260 per year.

9. Interest charges on credit card bills -- According to a survey released at the end of May 2007, the median amount of credit card debt carried by Americans is $6,600. Rate tables on Bankrate.com indicate that fixed interest rates on a standard card average 13.44 percent. Making the minimum payment each month, it will take 250 months (almost 21 years) to pay off the debt and cost $4,868 in interest. Ouch!

10. Unused memberships -- Costhelper.com reports that the monthly service fee at gyms averages between $35 and $40. At $40 per month, an unused gym membership runs $480 per year.

Copyrighted, Bankrate.com. All rights reserved.

Time is Money

Time is our best ally in investment. So, start now to save regularly. To illustrate the important of start early, let consider these situations.







Case 1

Aminah starts a regular saving at age 25. She plans to have RM1 million a retirement (age 55). Thus she has 30 years to achieve her goal. Let us assume that the dividend is 10% per year. To achieve her goal, Aminah need to save RM481 per month. Note that at retirement, she earns RM8366.79 monthly till the day she dies.

Case 2

Meanwhile, Abu has a similar goal. But he starts his regular saving 5 years later, at age 30. He only has 20 years to achieve the same goal. As a result, he needs to save RM725 monthly, which is RM244 more than Aishah.

Case 3

Zack is the worst. He starts at age 35. He needs to save RM1236per month to be as rich as Aminah and Abu at retirement. 1o years late means Zack has to pay extra RM755 compared to Aishah.

So, the best advice is to start early. Start saving when I receive my first paycheck.

How to Save?

Saving - Put My Faith in It, but How to Do It?

Pay Myself First: The key to successfully saving plan is to pay myself first. I need to make it a habit to set aside some money for me first. The bills and other people should wait! Most people are paying themselves last. And by the time they finish paying others (utilities companies, friends, cable TV company, etc), they only have few cents left for themselves. Thus, I need to

Save 10% of My Paycheck: I should save at least 10% of my paycheck every month. I need to do this the first moment my money is in the bank. Then If I am comfortable, I will increase the percentage and find ways to reduce my expenses.

Make Lump Sum Investment Occasionally: Some employee receive a great treat towards the end of the year. Bonuses, Incentives and simply Hari Raya Angpau can be used to expand my saving size. I need to remember the more money I save, the more dramatic my saving will grow.

Live Below My Means (LBMM): Live below my own means does not mean to lead a stingy, misery life. I just need to be frugal and be careful on my purchases. On the Internet, there are lots of tips on how to live below my means. Apart from a well controlled cash flow, LBMM can instill a noble character, not to show off with my wealth.

Discipline and Commitment: After all, I need to committed to what I write. Always to imagine the end result that I want and stay in focus.

Introduction

Money is an essential part of daily life. Yet, we have been taught almost nothing about it. Since childhood, we believed money is to be spent, as an exchange for good or service. We think money means prosperity and easy life.

But the thing that we do not know is money can grow. Money can depreciate in value. Risk is part of money and need to be managed properly. Thus, I have started a quest to understand money better. Money can be either a good and obedient servant, or the worst master.
I wish I can start to write down the knowledge of money. A wise man once said

''Knowledge is like a wild animal that you hunt. If you not tie the animal (write it down), it will run away''

I hope this effort will benefit me the most. Good luck to me on my journey.