Quick post towards the end of Apr08

I haven't been keeping up with one of my goals for 2008, that is to post at least articles per week on this blog. There are many things to talk about, like the inflation rate has just hit 4% today, the level of mortgage stress is at a record high and how the fixing our interest rate is working out for us.

Things on the family front and work front have been extremely busy. My wife is about half way through carrying our second child, and project deadlines are looming at work!

Hopefully, I will get back to regular posting sooner than later. However, if any one wishes to do any guest posts, drop me an email via tehn.yit.chin@gmail.com

CoPF #147 - Q1 financial advice edition

Carnival of Personal Finance #147 is up at MoneyNing. Many great articles, some of the ones that caught my eye were...

• Wide Open Wallet - The pawn shop are thriving. This article gave a scary thought of pawning items that are financed. I guess when folks are desperate, crazy things are done to get money.
• You might as well burning $5! - The $37 Latte. This a great article on keep track of you finances.
• On Financial Success - Can we afford college? A good range of tips on how to go about getting a university/college fund ready for your kids.

My recent article on you are only worth at market value was also included. Many thanks to MonyNing. Happy reading!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you enjoy this post, you may also enjoy the following post:

CoPF #146 - Online Broker Tip edition

Did Earth Hour 2008 really work?

Well, Earth Hour 2008 came and went last weekend. I even wrote an article about it. Unfortunately, I was not able to participate in it as our 2 year old was caught the croup a few days previously and needed some attention.

How did it go for you? Even though I was not able to participate in it, it has made me more aware of the my usage of electricity. This also goes for the other resources such as water, gas and food. So Earth Hour wasn't just one hour for me, it is going to be an effort for me to apply it to my day-to-day living.

The one thing that got me beat is the amount of energy used to increased the profile of the event, to create the infrastructure to support the event and to celebrate the event.

Earth Hour's blog has figures quoting a reduction of 264MWatts in Toronto, Canada but it hosted huge public music/party for the event. It also has figures about Bangkok, Thailand saving 73.34MWatts.

I can't help but think that if we all just stayed at home and turned off the lights, it would have been an even more significant savings. A cynical person would think that many people got into the spirit of Earth Hour because it is the in-thing to do for the environment. Think about it, imagine the public music event in Toronto, what kind of infrastructure is necessary to support it, and the energy consumption of that infrastructure.

Am I just a bit too cynical about this type of events?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you enjoy this post, you may also enjoy the following post:

Earth hour 2008

CoPF #146 - Online Broker Tip edition

The 146th edition of the Carnival of Personal Finance is up over at Stock Trading To Go. I was fortunate enough for my post on revisiting my superannuation to be included among the many fine articles.

A selection of the articles are:

Dreaming of Ferraris - Personal Benefit of Savings
Blunt Money - The high cost of inertia
The personal financier - How to make sure that this is your dream home: 7 Practical tips
Smart Easy Money - If you build it, they will come
Mommy gets paid - Friends and Money

These are only a small selection of the many articles being hosted. Go and check them out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you enjoy this post, you may also enjoy the following post:

To be sure at the CoPF, to be sure...

You are only worth at market value

Back in 2002, my wife and I went into semi-retirement. Well, more really like putting our working lives on hold and recharging our personal life. Since graduated from university in 1992, I have never had an extended period of holiday or even a time to reflect on my life and where I want to head towards.

At the start of 2002, I told my boss that I am resigning my position, I told my family that I am selling the house going traveling around Australia in a caravan. Their reaction was a bit of disbelief and telling us that we are quite mad.

So we sold the house in Feb 2002, paid all our debts and put any remainder into a term deposit.

We reached Brisbane after six months of a traveling up the east coast of Australia from Melbourne. I started to look for a job and ended up with an offer of a job that I thought would paid a bit more. They offer me $45K, and I rejected their offer. That is one of the biggest mistake that I have ever made!

I rejected their offer because I believe that I am worth more than the offer, and my mistake is that assumption. The reality of what I am worth is that I am only worth as much as the job market is willing to pay for my services.

You may be the the most talented engineer in the country that is worth $150K, but if the hiring companies can only pay $50K, that is all you are worth.

What do you do if you think you are worth more? Well, the following may be worth attempting.

1. Wait for the job market to evolve. The job market may change so that your position is worth more, but are you able to wait that long?
2. Move to another city where the job market is willing to pay more. Many people do this, think of how many country folks come to the city for the bigger salary.
3. Switch profession. If a different job market pays more, consider switching. However, the time it takes to reach the equivalent career level may take a few more years, and then the job market may change again!

We finally returned to our working lives when our travels brought us to Adelaide and I got a position to work in Singapore for three months. My wife enjoyed it very much, and I enjoyed the food very much as well ;-)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you enjoy this post, you may also enjoy the following post:

What questions would you ask in a job interview?
How has the soaring dollar affected you?

The rules of buying

My pair of shoes are just about to die, it was then that I realised that the last time I bought some shoes was back in 2003! I haven't even bought a pair of cheap sandals for the beach since 2003.

There are quite a few reasons why that is, but I believe that the main is that I purchase high quality and robust shoes.The last three pair of shoes that I bought were Birkenstock shoes. These shoes are build to last! These shoes are not the cheapest nor are they the most expensive. However, I believe is spending that little bit more to ensure that I get good value for money.

Applying this concept to other products, such as kitchen appliances, clothing and other house hold items, have allow us to not purchase many high price. However, with many of the electrical products emerging from China and India, their quality are questionable.

So my rules are

1. Buy the best that you can afford. Everyone has a budget on what they can afford, so buy the best that you afford. Some of the best quality products are not even the more expensive products.
   
2. Know what makes it a good quality product. For example, a good pair of shoes that last a long time has real leather uppers and eyelets that doesn't cut the laces. For high price items, I would spend a few weeks researching on the product. The car that we purchased, we spend six months researching it.
   
3. Dare to be different. Not purchasing the same product as everybody else allows you to choose from a larger range of products, however do the research on why the popular products are popular. They might actually be of good quality.
4. Talk to the experts. The majority of the items that we purchased, we have no idea on what qualities we should be focusing on? Is the fit of a shoe, or how breathable the upper that is the most important. I have no idea, so I talk to a few of our friends whom have worn Birkenstocks before.
5. Make sure that it has a good support system. If the product does need to be repaired, it is supported by a good warranty return system with a quick repair time. Is the warranty period reasonable?

What are some your rules when it comes to buying?

Photo credit: sundeip arora
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you enjoy this post, you may also enjoy the following post:

Staying with the one car

The economics of using Bunnings

Earth Hour 2008

Earth Hour began in 31 March 2007 in the Australian city of Sydney at 8pm to 9pm. The idea is for as many people as possible to stop using electricity for one hour, such as turning off their lights or switch their appliances at the power point, for one hour.

The effect was startling. For that one hour, it reduced the power consumption in the City of Sydney by 10.2%! That is only in one city. In 2008, Earth Hour is going global!

29 March 2008 8pm - 9pm is Earth Hour 2008.

Earth Hour 2007 showed us the following.

1. It shows how much energy is being wasted. The majority of the time, we just leave a light switch on because we can't be bother to switch it off. Just switch off when you are not using it. I usually leave my computer on at work when I leave my desk at the end of the day. I need to make a conscious effort to switch it off when I leave, especially over the weekends.
   
2. Stand-by power is really wasteful. Stand-by power is when the appliances are still be left on when you 'switch it off'. For example, when you switch off the TV, it is still being powered up. The TV is still powered up to do things like being able to be switched on via the remote control, or remember its last settings. To really switch it off, flick the switch at the power point.
3. Wasting energy is also wasting money. If you like wasting energy, then you must like throwing money into the bin as well. The effect to your wallet is just the same. Don't do it!

Please consider support this. You don't really have to register to join in. Just switch off the power on the 29 March 2008 at 8pm, and consider doing it every week. It will make a difference.

Earth Hour is supported by WWF, (no, not the wrestling guys, these are the panda guys!).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you enjoy this post, you may also enjoy the following post:
How to keep cool in a heat wave