Finally, it hit us, this sentence "PRICE INCREASE" will be the hot topic anywhere in Malaysia. Fuel price jack up and the upcoming price increase for electricity, whether you like it or not, life must goes on.

In my previous 2 posts, I wrote Can your hard earn money keep up with inflation?, the 3.0% inflation that I mentioned in the post is outdated. The new inflation is estimate to rose to 5% or 6% due to fuel price increased. If we can't avoid inflation, then we can take opportunities from the advantage of it, to keep up with the inflation. Foremost, you may need to revise your lifestyle and start budgeting. I always think that the word "budget" is punishment for those who are poor, like I need to think twice before spending and budgeting seemed like a waste of time. After practising it for months, I discovered that budgeting can keep me focused on the goals I want to achieve and that's why I need it. I personally think it's a smart move NOT putting yourself on credit that you couldn't afford - "Spending without Budgeting". You can know more about how do I manage my money here.

I mentioned in my previous post that I would recommend a book. This is the book -> The Automatic Millionaire. All of us know this "Pay OURSELF first" before you pay others, but how many of us are doing that? When you received your paycheck, do you pay yourself first? through this book, you will discover ways never considered.

Here's the sum up, The Automatic Millionaire one-step plan to live and finish rich is to save money. If you are looking for a get rich quick book, you can avoid this one. To practice the concept in this book, required self-discipline and time. Basically the concept of this book is pay yourself first, and try to make it at least the first 10% of your gross income. This powerful concept and the magic of compounding is irresitable for everyone to follow if you want to finish rich.

Do you want to get up at the middle of the night and say this:- 

Ouch 1: I'm approaching retirement and I have no savings? 
Ouch 2: I tried very hard and no matter what I do, I can't seem to make enough money to cover my expenses and save some money. 
Ouch 3: I wish I could quit this miserable job, but I have no choice, I got bills to pay.

Money is not enough, do you blame money? Money is never the problem, you are the master of your Money. It's just our lack of understanding of money and how we manage our financial planning that cause us lose sleep at night.

You know what the things should do, but simply don't do it - Pay Yourself First!. Making excuses and blaming others, your parent for instead for not teaching us about money are over. If you want to continue to lose sleep at night, it's your choice and it's not because you are born poor, it's just lack of understanding. The great things about this book is that it does not ask you to save big, if you can, that's good, but most people are not in that position, which is why this book will show you how little savings can add up quickly. Saving is something found in your everyday life by the way you live and the choices you make. I am sure you have heard of this "Sikit Sikit Lama Lama Jadi Bukit (Malay translated in English as "from little to grows into mountain")" or this "Rome was not built in a day" and neither will your bank account.

There are hundreds of ways to save money, encouraged yourself that it is never too late to start saving, regardless of your age. Follow your own pace and I always put this quotes with me all the time "I cannot go back and make a new start, but I can start now and make a brand new ending."

Cheers~

Have you played this game before? I have long heard about the existence of the board game but I had never play them before. I got the Egames 101 & 202 (you can see the screenshot here) from a friend and started playing it few month ago. Egames 101 & 102 really allowed me to experiment different scenarios dealing with money in a virtual environment, apart from getting to experiment safely, it also teaches me the fundamentals of money. Since it's computer games, you don't have a hard time getting others interested in playing the boardgames, you can actually played against computers.

If you are in the midst of getting started to get money working for you and aren't good in saving, you can get some clue from the games how to start off using different strategies at your choice. If you are new to stock option, you can actually get some basic fundamental concepts of trading stocks from the gameplay. Isn't that interesting?

Let's take a brief look into the game, in version 101, you can choose small deal(under $5000) or big deal(above $5000), while in version 202, it's either cash flow or capital gain. When I first started, I would always go for cash flow as I wanted to enter the rat race as soon as possible, but given that you may not have a lot of money at the beginning, I would look for capital gains, so that I can afford a bigger deals, given that majority of capital gains are stock purchases, you may either lose money in your investment or earn from there (you gonna take the risk). If you don't do that and play it safe, you may go round and round before you run across a deal that you can afford. Therefore, you need to have cash on hand, pretty much like real life, if you don't have money, even a good opportunity comes, you may not have chance to grab. If you don't start out with decent amount of cash on hand, you may not win the game fast or you may not achieve your financial goals soon.

Lastly, the game has taught use that no matter you are soldier, teacher or a rich doctor. You can win the game (financial independent) starting anywhere. It's not how much you earn that make the different, it's how you manage your money that make the different. A great learning environment that is good to apply some of those principles in your own life. Enjoy !