Am really really tired. This is hardly an inspired sort of blog entry. Have managed to complete renovations and moved house. One day. Mad rush but we got everything over and out of the boxes. Have managed to find places to stash most things and boys are thrilled with the cardboard boxes. They want to keep them to make their own life-size Wall-E.
We even managed to get a tenant ! All on the same day ! Admittedly it is somewhat lower than what we were hoping to get. But the offer did come in very fast. Wroks out to 2.6 % instead of the roughly slightly over 3% returns we were aimming for. It's a balance I suppose because if we say no, and hold out for a higher rent, we really can't be sure how long it will take to get that better offer. There are all these permutations and combinations to consider. Lower rent, we don't give any furniture. Higher rent, we give some. Even higher, we give all. Depends on length of tenancy they want etc. Shorter tenancies seem to be more popular. Then we have to deal with soft stuff like the various agents and their advice ( often conflicting, if I may add - some say market is dismal, others point out property should be worth more because of its location - but as Rich Dad used to say, these are all merely opinions. The final fact is what you get. ), the different personalities of the tenants that come, and of course, us, the potential landlords.
Makes me miss my safe steady dividend stocks. Went nibbling last week for a few stocks. And gold has shot up suddenly ! Will hold for a while more. May rise further now that the promises of a new president have lost a bit of their initial shine.
Now have to go sort out some minor annoyances. My washing machine has gone on strike after the move. My phone line isn't working. and I have no gas to cook with. Last night, we couldn't find Baby's diapers. She's not happy with the move. Poor little thing has hit her terrible twos slightly early. Not happy with everything. Has 4 teeth coming out at once and can't get enough words to express exactly what she thinks of the world around her.
Ah well.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Hello Again
Ah well. I guess there's always a little bit in all of us that feels we have to blab something of bits if our lives to the world, hoping someone will notice out there. So here I am again. Why else would things like Facebook and MySpace be so popular. Admittedly, I haven't gone there yet. I've been told by some of my friends that other friends are on and waiting for me to go on. But I'm still just a bit worried about putting all my particulars out where everyone can see. I guess those who do matter to me , I already keep regular contact with, either by emails or in person.
Have had a very quiet 3 weeks from the rental front. We've had ZERO viewings. I mean, last round, nobody wanted the flat, or wasn't willing to pay what we asked for, or asked for many things to be done, but at least they came to look. Now, nothing. nobody. Zilch. Not even a phone call. I guess things must really be bad. Job-wise, I've been lucky, and we're relatively shielded from all this. I mean, people still get sick. Maybe they postpone the tummy tucks and botox, but by and large, the real illnesses are still out there.
I've finally got round to ibanking. I was getting tired of suddenly missing money and not knowing why and what had been deducted. It's fanstatic !! I should have done it years ago. Would have saved me tonnes of time queueing up at the ATM to check my account. I can now see where my money is going immediately with just a few clicks.
We've just had Chinese New Year. The Ox came earlier this year, which is just as well, cos the Rat wasn't a great year at all. Maybe the Ox will be a better year for everyone. We lost $20 rather unfortunately . I was wondering why some of the notes looked a bit snipped at the edges. Got my answer today. Number Two has been cutting open his red packets instead of just peeling the sticky envelopes open, and in the process, snipped off bits of his money as well. Poor kid looked quite sad when he got scolded by his father. I mean, it wasn't really his fault. He cuts open his packets of potato chips. Anyway, he would have preferred a packet of chips instead of money. He hasn't figured out what those little bits of paper mean. Guess I'll have to go down to the bank and see if maybe they will be sympathetic and replace the notes. Sigh.
Just bought 2 new beds for the boys and spent a small fortune on Transformer bedsheets and a set of Winnie The Pooh ones for their sister. What a rip-off !
Have had a very quiet 3 weeks from the rental front. We've had ZERO viewings. I mean, last round, nobody wanted the flat, or wasn't willing to pay what we asked for, or asked for many things to be done, but at least they came to look. Now, nothing. nobody. Zilch. Not even a phone call. I guess things must really be bad. Job-wise, I've been lucky, and we're relatively shielded from all this. I mean, people still get sick. Maybe they postpone the tummy tucks and botox, but by and large, the real illnesses are still out there.
I've finally got round to ibanking. I was getting tired of suddenly missing money and not knowing why and what had been deducted. It's fanstatic !! I should have done it years ago. Would have saved me tonnes of time queueing up at the ATM to check my account. I can now see where my money is going immediately with just a few clicks.
We've just had Chinese New Year. The Ox came earlier this year, which is just as well, cos the Rat wasn't a great year at all. Maybe the Ox will be a better year for everyone. We lost $20 rather unfortunately . I was wondering why some of the notes looked a bit snipped at the edges. Got my answer today. Number Two has been cutting open his red packets instead of just peeling the sticky envelopes open, and in the process, snipped off bits of his money as well. Poor kid looked quite sad when he got scolded by his father. I mean, it wasn't really his fault. He cuts open his packets of potato chips. Anyway, he would have preferred a packet of chips instead of money. He hasn't figured out what those little bits of paper mean. Guess I'll have to go down to the bank and see if maybe they will be sympathetic and replace the notes. Sigh.
Just bought 2 new beds for the boys and spent a small fortune on Transformer bedsheets and a set of Winnie The Pooh ones for their sister. What a rip-off !
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Long Break
Oh dear. It has been a rather long time since I last wrote. Thank you, the nice people that have popped by and even added links. I'm touched. Truth is, I've been really rather busy in real life.
First kid has started official school and is now part of the education ratrace. Not that it's bothering him and he's thoroughly enjoying himself. He now gets pocket money to spend and so far, has bought himself something to keep his wallet clipped to his shorts, fish and chips and a notebook. Has also been taught that more coins doesn't mean more money so he stops spending just to exchange those paper dollars we're giving him to get coins !
Second kid now not pleased cos he has to go to kindergarten by himself cos his brother isn't around anymore. Not seeing it each other so much hasn't stopped them from fighting though. Also been labelled illiterate at age 5, so have to start spending time reading with him.
Baby is still constipated !!
Have been overseeing new home renovations, and hopefully will be able to move soon.
Oh, and then will start the whole process of trying to get current home rented out ! Again. In a horrible-r market. Oh well. At least my other passive rental income is finally coming in passively !!
I'm afraid I wouldn't be around very often. I will still be able to see comments that pop up. And I'm still on email. I've decided not to kill the blog cos there are still some posts I thought would be nice to keep.
Anyway, After a while, one realises there isn't that much to know to get on the path of being rich. Basically, have a plan. Get started. Review if things don't look so great. Repeat what's working. And keep repeating till you get there !
Good luck !
First kid has started official school and is now part of the education ratrace. Not that it's bothering him and he's thoroughly enjoying himself. He now gets pocket money to spend and so far, has bought himself something to keep his wallet clipped to his shorts, fish and chips and a notebook. Has also been taught that more coins doesn't mean more money so he stops spending just to exchange those paper dollars we're giving him to get coins !
Second kid now not pleased cos he has to go to kindergarten by himself cos his brother isn't around anymore. Not seeing it each other so much hasn't stopped them from fighting though. Also been labelled illiterate at age 5, so have to start spending time reading with him.
Baby is still constipated !!
Have been overseeing new home renovations, and hopefully will be able to move soon.
Oh, and then will start the whole process of trying to get current home rented out ! Again. In a horrible-r market. Oh well. At least my other passive rental income is finally coming in passively !!
I'm afraid I wouldn't be around very often. I will still be able to see comments that pop up. And I'm still on email. I've decided not to kill the blog cos there are still some posts I thought would be nice to keep.
Anyway, After a while, one realises there isn't that much to know to get on the path of being rich. Basically, have a plan. Get started. Review if things don't look so great. Repeat what's working. And keep repeating till you get there !
Good luck !
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
sense and sensibilty
Things are back to normal. Kids all back at school, Baby back with mother-in-law and I'm back at work. We've also just collected the keys to our new flat. There isn't any electricity yet though so the boys had fun going round with torchlights. Now we have to decide how much we want to spend on renovating, and what we want to do.
I was watching a show on money advice recently. ( Was waiting for Desperate Housewives to start). Cute title - called Sense and Sensibility. They were featuring people who had recently lost money in the stock amrket. Normal people who didn't mean to take any risks, and weren't trying to be greedy. One was very worried and wondering what to do next. She was advised to invest in safer bonds for now. Others were advised to move cautiously into the market. Some experts said now is a good time to buy since stocks are selling at near their net asset values. Others said that there's more downside to come.
Not particularly useful advice, I thought.
There as one young mother who was retrenched, but fortunately had started a small side business as a hobby selling facial products. She said though her income had dropped by half, she was glad that she still had a back-up to fall back on, and is now spending her time building that up. Another talked about how her last retrenchment during the precious downturn turned out to be a blessing in disguise. She went back to her first love - baking - and made cakes and biscuits to sell. Slowly, that built up into a small business, and today, she teaches other woman to bake, so that they have a source of income. I thought that was so much more positive and inspiring.
I've been trying to read Rich dad's Retire Young , Retire Rich. Admittedly some of the stuff he talks about is still kind of over my head. But I thought I'd share two things I've picked up so far.
(1) Invest for Cashflow, not capital gains. If you can get immediate positive cashflow from an investment that puts money into your pocket, it doesn't matter whether there is capital appreciation or not. Capital appreciation is a bonus. And a potential hope tomorrow. Cashflow is real, and today. I can see some truth in that. I've got a mixture of stuff in my portfolio, as a result of reading too many different books with too many different opinions. But I have found that those I bought for growth have obviously crashed rather miserably. Those I bought for dividends have crashed too, but not as badly. And they are still paying decent dividends, so my income from that section is still coming in. He buys properties though.
(2) The leverage of generosity. He says if you want money, you first have to give money. Rich Dad taught him that if you want to make money, you must first find a business that can help as many people as posible in the cheapest most efficient way. Only then will your business grow. He pointed out that Ford found a way to may cheaper cars to help more people travel faster. The ultra-rich target companies soon died. And handphones and computers became more and more accessible to people, and so the companies grew. ( A side point, I recently read that big American car companies are doing very badly because they have forgotten this concept and are making expensive inefficient cars).
I also interpreted it differently. I remember an analogy once when someone said that in order to receive, I must first open my hand and let go of what I'm clinging tightly to. I believe that if we are prepared to let go of the power money has over us and use it for the greater good of others, God will allow us to channels of money, and He would be prepared to bless us along the way as well, whether monetary or otherwise. Richard Foster, in his book Money, Sex and Power, talks about how ultimately, people are the most important to God. We can't take our money with us when we eventually leave . So what we need to do today, is to use the useless money to build up treasure in heaven - ie use our money to help others.
My two-cents for this week.
I was watching a show on money advice recently. ( Was waiting for Desperate Housewives to start). Cute title - called Sense and Sensibility. They were featuring people who had recently lost money in the stock amrket. Normal people who didn't mean to take any risks, and weren't trying to be greedy. One was very worried and wondering what to do next. She was advised to invest in safer bonds for now. Others were advised to move cautiously into the market. Some experts said now is a good time to buy since stocks are selling at near their net asset values. Others said that there's more downside to come.
Not particularly useful advice, I thought.
There as one young mother who was retrenched, but fortunately had started a small side business as a hobby selling facial products. She said though her income had dropped by half, she was glad that she still had a back-up to fall back on, and is now spending her time building that up. Another talked about how her last retrenchment during the precious downturn turned out to be a blessing in disguise. She went back to her first love - baking - and made cakes and biscuits to sell. Slowly, that built up into a small business, and today, she teaches other woman to bake, so that they have a source of income. I thought that was so much more positive and inspiring.
I've been trying to read Rich dad's Retire Young , Retire Rich. Admittedly some of the stuff he talks about is still kind of over my head. But I thought I'd share two things I've picked up so far.
(1) Invest for Cashflow, not capital gains. If you can get immediate positive cashflow from an investment that puts money into your pocket, it doesn't matter whether there is capital appreciation or not. Capital appreciation is a bonus. And a potential hope tomorrow. Cashflow is real, and today. I can see some truth in that. I've got a mixture of stuff in my portfolio, as a result of reading too many different books with too many different opinions. But I have found that those I bought for growth have obviously crashed rather miserably. Those I bought for dividends have crashed too, but not as badly. And they are still paying decent dividends, so my income from that section is still coming in. He buys properties though.
(2) The leverage of generosity. He says if you want money, you first have to give money. Rich Dad taught him that if you want to make money, you must first find a business that can help as many people as posible in the cheapest most efficient way. Only then will your business grow. He pointed out that Ford found a way to may cheaper cars to help more people travel faster. The ultra-rich target companies soon died. And handphones and computers became more and more accessible to people, and so the companies grew. ( A side point, I recently read that big American car companies are doing very badly because they have forgotten this concept and are making expensive inefficient cars).
I also interpreted it differently. I remember an analogy once when someone said that in order to receive, I must first open my hand and let go of what I'm clinging tightly to. I believe that if we are prepared to let go of the power money has over us and use it for the greater good of others, God will allow us to channels of money, and He would be prepared to bless us along the way as well, whether monetary or otherwise. Richard Foster, in his book Money, Sex and Power, talks about how ultimately, people are the most important to God. We can't take our money with us when we eventually leave . So what we need to do today, is to use the useless money to build up treasure in heaven - ie use our money to help others.
My two-cents for this week.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
School Concert
Oh, I just realised I forgot to talk about the school concert ! Nowadays, even 6-year-olds have graduation ceremonies. In big auditoriums, no less. With the hats and scrolls and everything.
But that's where the similarity ends. The little ones just don't seem to appreciate the seriousness of the event. One kid twacked another over the head with his scroll and made her cry. Another one was left out when the curtain closed cos he was standing too far forward and almost fell off the stage. Several were concentrating on just waving at their parents.
All in all, I thought the event went rather well. I was a bit suspicious when I heard my son and a few of his friends had been selected to do a special dance that had been added in at the last minute. After I saw the dance, I understood. While the other kids were doing dances to Grease, and fancy Chinese and Indian dances, my son and friends were doing something that vaguely looked like they were running around and fighting. The teacher had to sheepishly admit that they wanted everyone to have a chance to take part, but this particular group of boys just couldn't dance, no matter how hard they tried. So they had to come up with something at the last minute just for them.
Not that my son and his friends were grateful. They just insisted on taking off their costumes the minute the dance was over. But it was so nice of the teachers anyway !
But that's where the similarity ends. The little ones just don't seem to appreciate the seriousness of the event. One kid twacked another over the head with his scroll and made her cry. Another one was left out when the curtain closed cos he was standing too far forward and almost fell off the stage. Several were concentrating on just waving at their parents.
All in all, I thought the event went rather well. I was a bit suspicious when I heard my son and a few of his friends had been selected to do a special dance that had been added in at the last minute. After I saw the dance, I understood. While the other kids were doing dances to Grease, and fancy Chinese and Indian dances, my son and friends were doing something that vaguely looked like they were running around and fighting. The teacher had to sheepishly admit that they wanted everyone to have a chance to take part, but this particular group of boys just couldn't dance, no matter how hard they tried. So they had to come up with something at the last minute just for them.
Not that my son and his friends were grateful. They just insisted on taking off their costumes the minute the dance was over. But it was so nice of the teachers anyway !
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