Living Wisely In This Era

A lot of people are declared bankrupt lately. The main reason for this bankruptcy notice is due to huge defaults on bank loans used for the purchase of expensive homes and cars, without the security of a reliable resource.

What is a reliable resource?

In this era, a job does not necessarily guarantee a reliable resource. A reliable resource may come from your salary, your business or for some, investments with regulated returns. However, the most important basis for this is the foundation of savings.

It is sad that studies found that a lot of people do not have savings these days. There are so many "must-have" items, including that iPhone that may be priced at more than one month of your salary. Do you really need it?

As a Buddhist, I have a different view of finance. For me, there are a few rules to live by, which makes me more comfortable than many people. I would like to share this here so that whoever chances upon this blog post may find it useful:

a. Do not have debts

The only debt that I have now is my car loan. I do not owe the banks for things that I cannot afford. I can afford the car, not just the deposit when I bought it, but with the safety net of being able to pay up my loan with cash if anything happens that I no longer have a stable income. My car is not an expensive one, it is an affordable one within my own means. If you cannot afford it, just do not buy it. If you need it, find something that you can afford as a tool instead of something you can barely afford as a luxury.

b. Spend on the necessities I have always been trying to find ways to save money especially on food. Lately I have taken up the task of making my own lunch in the morning (which is why you see a lot of my vegetarian food recipe, they are all steamed foods early in the morning that requires only 5 minutes of preparation) and managed to save at least 60% on lunch costs. For example, if I go out for lunch, one plate of rice with 2 vegetables and a glass of drink is RM5.00. But bringing my own lunch costs only RM2.00, maybe even lesser.

c. Choose a good one so that you need not buy many

There is always the one argument about price when we buy things. Some will always look for a cheap one, but probably the quality lasts for a few months. Some will look for an expensive one, but the quality will last for years.

Whatever your choice, choose one that is not going to be trendy. Classic designs can last for a long time, and it will still be ever-green for 10 years if it is also complemented with good quality and care. Take good care of your things and they can last for a long time. Some items that I will buy slightly better quality (some items may last for perhaps 10 years) like shoes (I do not have many shoes), clothes, bags and phones.

d. Savings

Some people save up and then splurge them on the things that they like, and then start saving again. I have always been one to wonder whether I will be alive the next moment. Hence, I stashed up some money enough for my funeral in fixed deposit (I don't want to bother anyone with my funeral expenses, you know they can be pretty expensive even if all you wanted is a cremation). FD is not something that you can move around easily in your finances, so that makes the savings pretty safe. Some motivation gurus will teach you to pay yourself first, but of course my advise is always plan so that you pay up your external debts first because they may charge interests on your loans.

Once you pay up your loans, you can have extra money for savings. We assume that you have a fixed income. Each month, you allocated X amount for the loan, now that the loan is paid up, you have the X amount extra. Do not use it unnecessarily. Keep it into your savings, and pretend that you have not finished your loan. If needed, open another savings account in a different bank. Each month, transfer the X amount into that bank and do not look at it anymore. If you keep RM500 each month, within 12 months you would have saved RM6,000. You can always change it into an FD account for better dividends.

I am not a financial wizard, so I am not the type to go on high risk investments. FD is good enough for me, just to lock the amount to prevent overspending. If you are not afraid of financial risks, you can always try something more risky. But those are not for me, not even those insurance type. Because my intention is only to lock the amount, not to blow them up into bigger amount. The locking is so that I am able to also have enough freedom to take it out in case I decided on something that will need the money (for example my desire to open a senior home with an Amituofo chanting hall in the future).

e. Be contented

The biggest disease of our era is discontent. Everyone just wanted more, but not too willing to work for it. Everyone wants to be in the receiving end, and the more there is, the more will be asked.

It is not healthy. Do you really need it? Or is it just a want?

What do you use your phone for? Calling and messaging is the basics. Some of us may need the camera to take photos for work use. Other than that? Social media and games. What else do you know how to do besides holding on to the phone? What is happening to your life?

Sometimes I wish to use the old Nokia phones. But my work demanded something more. My boyfriend had been generous enough to provide me with the good phones, and I'm really happy enough with them as they are functioning perfectly. I do not need any powerbank because I disabled all the social media apps notifications. As far as I know, nobody dies because of not playing games or visiting the social media on the phones. I know that I'll be safe.

BONUS: Charity

There is this magical thing about Charity. Money is only useful if it is being used for the benefit of many instead of just one person. The value goes up when your money is being used by many people. Let's say you have RM100, if you use it on 100 people, it makes 101 people happy, hence it is more valuable than using that RM100 solely on yourself and only you, yourself is happy. Why 101? The 100 people who benefited from your charity AND yourself. You will be happy too, you will not be deprived of happiness by helping others. This is the first magic.

The second magic about Charity is that if you are willing to give to others in their times of need, you will also be helped when you need it yourself. There is no need to worry about lacking if you are a generous person, because this is a blessing that will always be there for the generous one. If you are in dire need for money and you have always been generous in the past, automatically someone will present you the exact amount that you need when you need it. This is the magic of karma, the magical blessings of charity.

So, the above are the guidelines that had changed my life forever. I am easily contented, my needs are little, but my happiness is abundant. I shall keep it this way, to save myself from worries. The lesser the desire, the happier one is. Burdens are heavy, and I only have one. I am a lot luckier than most. I share this here, because I hope that you too, will be able to benefit from it. If you may, understand that how much wealth we have in this life is pre-determined by what you have invested in your past life. Do not need to stress about earning money, you will get it if you are destined to have based on your past life karma.

Amituofo.