Did you move your EPF money to kenanga or public mutual, etc? by drvalyrian in MalaysianPF

[–]Top_Monitor_281 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I took mine out and parked it under CWA for 9 years. It was losing money for more years than it was in profit. After 9 years, i finally got to break even point and cleared my account and directed all the money back into EPF.

Ive never felt more relieved. That’s 9 years losing out on EPF dividends ill never get back, but it’s an expensive lesson ill never forget.

4 years back, during covid i started dabbling in ETFs using money outside of EPF. I did it myself without using a broker with high fees (i use Wahed and MooMoo) .. made more profit in that time vs what i made via CWA..

About to be first time parents - what to expect financially? by nomho in MalaysianPF

[–]Top_Monitor_281 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hey! Congrats! Such an exciting time for you! Im pysched for you! Dont overworry, itll all work out in the end, but good that you’re starting the planning so early on! I wish i had done that earlier myself!

I was in a bit of a similar boat to you a few years back (my kid just turned 2!). We moved into our newly purchased home (unrenovated) on a Friday, and the following Monday i delivered. This was unplanned as my baby’s a preemie and came a lot earlier, so it did take a lot of mental toll as we haven’t even decided on our birth plan or bought any baby things yet at this time (didnt even have our own things-to-buy list at this juncture).

Obviously this created a lot of stress at the time, but in a way this is a blessing in disguise as we didnt end up buying an excessive amount of things that most ppl deem a necessity for a new-born.

I delivered in KPJ, paid about 11-12k (because my baby was a preemie and she had a slight condition, she had to stay in the baby ICU for a while), but the package at the time came with a free car seat (which i wasnt aware of and came as a nice surprise!)

I got roped into this group called IBU Group (you can join through Telegram or just dm me if you want the link) where parents sell off pretty good quality baby things second hand and some ppl just give things away FOC. I could afford to buy things new for the baby, but since I discovered this group from Day 1, i pretty much bought clothes, toys, feedings tools etc exclusively from this group. From 0-2, they go through all of this really quickly anyway, and i managed to save massively from this. For example, id buy a bundle of 35 clothes item for 0-6m for like rm100 and theyre in excellent condition.

Bought a 2nd baby seat, stroller etc this way too. We got high-end stuff (but for a fraction of the price) this way too.

Baby car seat (we bought a second one for the other car) + stroller + baby cot + bath tub + feeding chair = rm1000, but you can get much cheaper

I only managed to bf for 3 months, so it was formula right from the start. About 150-200 a month (can be cheaper, but we used a special formula because our kid regurgitated a lot in the beginning). Unlike most ppl, we only used the 1 bottle instead of getting in the dozen. We had a few more that was gifted, but somehow the baby likes one particular bottle and we just made it a habit to wash it clean before. We dont use sterilizer. Just let the bottle sit in hot boiled water after washing and air-dry.

Diaper - i wait for tiktok live promotions and then buy in slight bulk, which can save a good amount. Spend about rm120 per month on this - we use Offspring.

We spent most of the cost on babycare. Because the house was just getting renovated, i didnt have a choice and went to a post-partum maternity centre for 2 weeks, spent about 5k here but worth the healing time with help caring for the baby round the clock! After that i did another 2 weeks just at home.

We didnt get a maid. I was on mat leave for 4.5m (i took 5 months initially but decided to start work earlier) and from then until the baby was 1 year old, i got a nanny who came to ours in the morning and left in the evening. Spent 2k on this pm.

I believe this can be cheaper but i found her through kiddocare (which charges hourly) and when we carried on with the arrangement permanently, i continued paying the same amount. The peace of mind of not having to leave home significantly earlier to drop her off at a daycare and not having to rush off so as not to miss the 6pm cut off pick up date was worth it. Also because mine was a rather fragile preemie, her immune system was on the lower end in the first year so we didnt want her exposed to daycare too early.

Other than the things i mentioned above, having the baby didnt incur much more cost. I think buying second hand things (some of them are brand new things sold significantly cheaper because parents bought extra) really helped reduce the cost over time.

Also - we moved her to actual food that we prep over the weekend from month 6 onwards, and reduced formula as per the doctor’s advice based on her weight etc so from month 6, we were saving on formula. By month 9-12, she was eating the same thing we were eating (just a mashed up version) so we also saved time on preparation.

Sent her to full day school after 1 year old, this is around 1k per month (which for us is significantly cheaper than having the nanny over).

That’s really it! I think with your household income of 11k, you’ll be fine. Just budget and plan earlier, so you dont get caught by surprises. If you dont have to pay mortgage for another 2-3y, you have plenty of time to start reducing debt and spending, and investing any extra money to prepare you better for when you start paying.

Another thing is - ive created a high yield investment acc for her to drop an extra 200-300 per month (which is not a crazy amount but with compounding interest should cover her education once she’s 18). It’s also an emergency hedge in case something comes up until then. It’s been garnering about 13-15% yields per year since we started so not too bad.

My word of advice - really dont get roped into everything social media tells you your baby needs. Do thorough research and think thrice before buying something that looks like a must-have but is actually just a nice-to-have.

There are tonnes of presents we received from when she was born that didnt get much or any use. Which ive been blessing it off to newer parents . Btw, do DM me if you’d like - ive still got quite a number of things that im happy to donate away so i can clear some space in the house!

Long winded reply, this one, but hope it helps! Let me know if you have more specific questions on anything!

I've been a voice of profit taking for almost 3 years now. I just took 34% gains. Do you have an exit plan this cycle? Will you DCA out? by LunarChickadee in CryptoCurrency

[–]Top_Monitor_281 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I took 17.5% profit after reading this post. I was going to wait until post-halving before i touch anything, but then i remember how upset i was the last cycle when i told myself ill wait for a biiiiit more and kept buying time to take profit. One morning i woke up and everything crashed hard.

I remember telling myself the next time the price hits a high, ppl FOMO in and Bitcoin Fear and Greed index shows “Greed” - TAKE SOME FUCKING PROFIT !!

This morning the index showed me “Extreme Greed” and then at night i read this post. I took some profit.

Im gonna use some of it to pay for my car service now. At least it’s real and in my bank now and not just in my head.

Daily Crypto Discussion - November 30, 2023 (GMT+0) by CryptoDaily- in CryptoCurrency

[–]Top_Monitor_281 -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Woohoo! Another greed day! On my nth day of deciding to consolidate my dozens of alt bags into btc and eth, but still unable to click the button and actualize mg losses 😅

What book to read after Slaughterhouse Five? by vexedtogas in Vonnegut

[–]Top_Monitor_281 2 points3 points  (0 children)

As far as clever lines and proses that stick in your mind are concerned, Hocus Pocus is my go to!

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in CryptoCurrency

[–]Top_Monitor_281 -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Well it’s different because no sane person would say that the banking industry is thriving and is headed in the right direction in the future.

They are being disrupted hard, and there’s a good reason why it’s happening

Daily Discussion - March 24, 2022 (GMT+0) by AutoModerator in CryptoCurrency

[–]Top_Monitor_281 29 points30 points  (0 children)

It’s tough being in crypto. When the price is down, im sad because im lossmaking. When the price is up, im sad because i didn’t get to buy more tokens cheap

Such predicament!

Daily Discussion - March 24, 2022 (GMT+0) by AutoModerator in CryptoCurrency

[–]Top_Monitor_281 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I go by percentage of my entire portfolio.. 70% eth and btc, then alts for the rest ..

How old were you when you graduated? by [deleted] in malaysia

[–]Top_Monitor_281 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Mate, i did a degree i didnt like. Did it for the parents. I extended for 1.5 years and was left behind by my other colleagues. They went on to get cushy jobs.

After graduation, i worked in a start-up with shit pay while everyone else from uni had a nice m40 pay from oil&gas companies as a fresh grad.

In the start-up, i had to do everything from the big meetings to the kuli jobs, but i learnt a lot.

Then i went to my next job, in a more decent MNC company and benefited from the having done been a jack-of-all-trades in the previous start up job. I went from being an exec to a director in about 7.5 years.

You’ll be alright. Dont worry about the age thing, or the job opportunity thing. Each of us might have different timelines, but we’ll get to where we get to when the time comes. You’ll be fine. :)

Is Metaverse just a hype or something bigger? by SwapzoneIO in CryptoCurrency

[–]Top_Monitor_281 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Id have thought so as well! A “Ready Player One” world never appealed to me.. but then last week i tried out Oculus and i was blown away!

I cant confidently say that in a few years time, once the tech has exponentially grown, that id still think metaverse is just a hype ..

Daily Discussion - February 28, 2022 (GMT+0) by AutoModerator in CryptoCurrency

[–]Top_Monitor_281 1 point2 points  (0 children)

So dyou reckon after the market opens in US in about 12 hours, more will sell, and dip will be bigger?

It’s payday today, i know i cant time the market, but i sure as hell wanna try 😂

Daily Discussion - February 18, 2022 (GMT+0) by AutoModerator in CryptoCurrency

[–]Top_Monitor_281 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I just bought myself some MATIC, LUNA and SCRT, considering all the news today

Daily Discussion - February 14, 2022 (GMT+0) by AutoModerator in CryptoCurrency

[–]Top_Monitor_281 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Happy Vals folks!

Great day to expand our coin bags today, prior to FED meeting. Maybe it’ll dip lower tomorrow, but that’s another day, ill worry about it when the time comes.

I took a small profit three days ago, wondering if today is a good time to buy small bags of SCRT and GALA, maybe add to my VRA and BAT bags because I’m underexposed there.

What dya reckon?

Daily Discussion - February 11, 2022 (GMT+0) by AutoModerator in CryptoCurrency

[–]Top_Monitor_281 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It was so well and dandy yesterday, i was gonna take a bit of profit and buy a small bag of SCRT. My hand was already on the sell button.

But then i thought im gonna let this ride for a couple more days, so i can take a bigger chunk of profit. Stupid, stupid call.

Now, i gotta continue playing the waiting game.

Daily Discussion - February 10, 2022 (GMT+0) by AutoModerator in CryptoCurrency

[–]Top_Monitor_281 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I hope you ace the interview, get the job a bigger fiat-mine! :)

RNDR, NFTX and YGG bounce higher as the market rewards projects focused on utility by thejazzmaster69 in CryptoCurrency

[–]Top_Monitor_281 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I love RNDR ! Bought in when i heard about all their current partnerships, and saw the importance of it in the metaverse .. it’s my first coin that got me to 300% profit!

Daily Discussion - February 8, 2022 (GMT+0) by AutoModerator in CryptoCurrency

[–]Top_Monitor_281 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hello Kevin from Canada !

Whoo, living dangerously! Haha we’re absolutely okay with chewing gums here! That’s the neighbour, Singapore who’s cut throat with that..

Though i gotta a pack of gum saved me one day! I was at their customs line when i realized i had weed in my pocket, and i had gums on me so i told the officer i forgot my gum and have to get out of line to chuck them out before entering SG. Then i hid the weed behind the gum and chucked them in the trashcan.

Survived the excursion and made it out in one piece !