On money and March !7

So today is March 17' 2012. Satu hari yg tanpa liat agenda gua sekalipun, ga bakal gua lupa apa yg perlu gua kerjain hari ini. 

Firstly : tiap taon ini hari ulang taon Fabio Suhartini, officially my housemates for a total of close to 8 years. Somebody's joining the 30 club :) 

Secondly : gua kerja hari ini. It was not my original schedule, tapi gua tukeran sama temen laen buat kerja har ini, since my original schedule was on my cousin's wedding date. 

Thirdly : Though bukan gua yg jalan2, tapi somehow gua hafal mati kl ini tanggal Gill & Raimond fly for their 2nd honeymoon :P ahhahaha :P emang gua kaypoh :P... Speaking of which: seriously Gill gua beneran tiba2 merinding  kira kira 3 second setelah baca SMS loe yg bilang : oh udah dapet bomb ! Puji Tuhan, kita terbang same day :P .... gilaa !! gua bingung napa gua yg merinding :P ahhahah ... 

erm...karena Tuhan baek seh intinya :P ehhehe 

Fourthly : ...... udah ga ada lagi :P hahahah :) yah 3 event di atas itu aja menurut gua udah cukup bikin gua ga bakal lupa kl hari ini is March 17' 2012. 

And now on money issue. 

Nope, not that I'm in urgent need of Toto / 4D to fall upon me ....heheheh :) 

Kl look back, ngomong kasarnya waktu pertama kali dateng ke SG, itu pertama kalinya kita harus ngatur finances & expenses kita tanpa pengawasan orang tua kita kan ? Pertama kali gua landed in SG (26 Juni 2000), tangan gua pegang 4K. Dan 4K itu buat idup gua selama 5 bulan termasuk bayar uang sekolah. How do I / or any other of my friend who came and bring almost same amount of money, can survive 4K for all those months, sampe hari ini gua masih cukup amazed :P 

At one point of time wkt kita masih di NUS, gua pernah kengintip stranger's Singaporean account balance yang jalan tinggalin mesin DBS ATM tanpa ngecheck lagi balancenya udah di refresh atau belon. Then I saw, balance dia sekitar 54K. When I share that to NUS peers, kita sempet bilang : gilaaa !! kapan gua bisa liat balance segitu di account gua yah ? 

Fast forward to my graduation, gua kerja di starhub. Awalnya gua temp staff, jadi gaji gua masih SGD 9 / hour and 1.5 X for OT.  Di masa2 itu gua bisa dapet SGD 2K - 2.5K a month lah. Terus gua convert ke perm staff. Gitu convert, langsung my starting pay drop ke cuman 1500 en masih potong cpf. Dulu segitu cukup gara2 sewa rumah gua yg 280 (the cheapest), terus 325, terus the most expensive 380. How good those days can be :P 

Anyway, 3 bulan setelah SGD 1500/ bulan, gua quit. Terus waktu gua masuk ct, gua cukup kaget (walaupun ng-expect jg) kl di ct gua dapetin apa yg emang udah jadi rumor starting paynya banking : 2500. Ada lebih dikit lagi seh benernya..

Kasarnya gua ngitung kl 1500 aja gua bisa idup, dengan gaji 2.5 K berarti minimal 1000 harus masuk savings, and so that's what I did. Di taon 2004 gua kerja, dengan cepat dan semangatnya gua ngumpulin 10K. Yay !! Terus come 2005, dimana cpf gua naek percentagenya en I don't know what happen actually, point is : gua mulai slack sama my savings plan. I didn't do my allocation. Gua just live happily dengan duit yg masuk en keluar ( off course ga gua abisin ) tapi gua jg ga ngitung berapa yg gua harus save. Gua spend aja sesuka gua :P 

Somewhere down the road, I can't remember when, gua berasa ketemplak with my financial condition, especially knowing that my pay is not high, but it's not low either, but my savings is not fantastic at all. So mulailah gua bekerja giat lagi bangun my savings. En my the time gua decide to save again, gua kerjain dengan sedikit tangan besi. Ga kurang minimal 50 % dari my take home pay harus masuk savings. Thank God it has been going well ever since. 

But not every road a rosy path. My savings journey too. Kadang, or mostly, gua definitely cross my savings line and spend a lil bit extraz. From food, clothes, shoes, u noe ... whatever extra, whatever so me :P 

Till this year. Recently. I love food and it's obvious. And my best food lists have grown from the hawker centre to whatever in town, orchard, city and restaurants behind my office.

And, it has taken a toll into my finance growth, or so I think. lt has made me crave for the better share the town can offer, not the simplicity of what the neighborhood kopitiam can offer. 

So in view of that, I've have arranged a list of my better culinary, wallet friendly, acceptable in tummy food list, and force my self to do the maths before I throw another $$ into the bowl of Pasta / ramen. Coz it got me thinking of how much $$ I could have saved should I cut down my appetite. 

And my friend, knowing the cause of my action makes the food taste good :) Even though it's not the best Pasta or ramen in town. 

Coz when it comes to money, one got to know when to stop wanting & wasting more. 

Oh, just for the last record, this is my spending allocation : 

10 % tithes

50 - 60 % to savings

30 % monthly expenditures

juz my 2 cents :P 

bombie {=^o^=} 

Back in randomness

After couple of weeks of silent ... saya KEMBALI !!!! Holaaaa !!!! 

Been sick for couple of days, which turns to weeks. Thank God it's getting milder now since gua dengan kencengnya hajar semua obat obatan yg selalu either end up with word D (Decongestant) or Forte !! Intinya dosis yg tinggi en kenceng dah !! 

Now that I'm back, gw mo kupas 2012 gw so far. Kesannya banyak bener yg bisa gua bahas en as if 2012 udah mo berakhir...padahal masih di first term :P 

Anyway : mari kita mulai with verse of the year !! 

What do you wish to get for your verse of the year ? Kl gua bisa milih, gua milih dapet yg model Phil 4: 13, or those full of direction, meaningful, comforting verse. 

And for all that, here's one I got. One that I didn't even wish to share with other people for the implication of the verse is, for me, strong. 

Jeremiah 17: 14: 

Heal me Lord and I will be healed,  save me, and I will be saved, for You are the one I praise. 

Easy to remember. It's a song. A BCS Hymn that we, the Y2K TLG generation grew so close to our hearts. But when you receive such verse in the beginning of the year, every part of me wanted to re-draw a new verse. And I even try my best to go into denial that the verse is not for me.

Kl gua boleh pilih : gua mo ayat Dachan : Is anything too hard for God ?  

Why ? Coz I feel for Jeremiah 17: 14 to take place in my life, somebody, anybody close to me, or even me, need to fall sick first for the verse to be effective. 

Karena itulah selesai bagi2 ayat, Jenita David & Nchep pada tuker tukeran en tanya tanya versenya apa. Sementara gua, I keep it close to my bag. It's too heavy to accept such thing in the beginning of a year, esp in the beginning of the year where nothing in the world is predicted to be better. 

And where am I now on this March 13 ? Where has 2012 brought for me so far ? 

It has brought me passed a period of yet another matchmaking drama in my family, a mixed of joy and disappointment in office, some good karaoke catching up with Taiwan group, some session of breezy boozy full of music and crazy dancing while we're high with colleagues, some great make over of make up and hair by bubblybrush, and some hard work tough time in office. 

It has also brought me passed 3 passing away wakes : my colleague's grandmom, my boss's mom & Darwin's father. 

And, tanpa sadar dalam 3 minggu terakhir Jeremiah 17 : 14 has finally arrived in my life. Started with my mom yg masuk rumah sakit on Feb 18, coz batuk dia berdarah. Waktu parah2nya dia sempet dicurigain kanker / tumor, bringing me, my dad, my aunts some sleepless night. Thank God she is alright now. 

Selesai my mom session, gantian gua fell sick on March 1. It made me feel helpless. Gua yg lagi seneng senengnya jogging, jadi ga bisa jogging coz of this. En gara2 gua sakit banyak banget hal yg kebengkalai be it in office or gereja. 

On this same period, my grandmom baru aja discharge from Rumah Sakit today. She fell down di toilet, benjol kepalanya, masuk rumah sakit dicurigain light stroke, sempet ga bisa gerak and ga kenalin siapapun plus saying one or few things yg sempet bikin kita lemes denger kabarnya. And once again, she is now alright. 

And after semua fight gua sama batuk and sore throat gua resulting in nothing less than SGD 150 spent in less than 2 weeks just for medication (seriously considering Dachan's move to invest in medical company's stock now), I am, thank God better now. 

Udah gua liat dari 2011 that 2012 might not be easy.

But if anything, 2012 has brought me passed this assurance, hope, and full reliance in His faithful promise that I am never alone. It has showered me with peace when thunderstorms plays in my heart & mind. It has brought me back to obedience at His feet. It has made me look forward to Israel, and it has made me look further passed what the eyes can see, to the unseen things of what faith in the living God can do. 

It has made me, a me I never knew of. A me I'm not familiar of. A me He meant to create, when He created me in my mother's womb. 

Philippians 4:13: melissa bombie version :  I can do things. But I only can do all things, if and only if Christ strengthen me. 

Stay pretty peeps :) Stay healthy, stay happy, stay joyful, stay gorgeous !! 

and most importantly : Stay hopeful, faithful, and full of loves :) 

bombie {=^o^=}

Not friendly really !!

Can somebody teach me how to enter to a new line when u're posting in ur blogspot via ur Iphone with this new features that's suppposedly make things easier, but seriously it went the other way around for me ? Really truly super unfriendly !! Why don't you just keep things simple the way it was dimana postingan gw ga bakal keluar jd satu blok paragraf penuh instead of kepisah pisah? Changes....they are not always for the better my fren ! Trust me.... A very disgruntled user

March-ing In

March!! Welcome !! I welcome u with my MC!! That's good... At least I have time to dish out all the negativities and out with enthusiasm !! Becoz I've foreseen that u will be on tough month Not necessarily the one I look forward the most Busy, hectic, mad, crazeee month But u know what: I stand by 1 fact that I'm reminded the most I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength Klise I know! Whatever though! I know the statement is true, coz I've walked that before !! And no no no.... Don't tell me that this time it's differrent! Becoz my God... He was, He is, and He will still be the same !!! AMEN !! And... Marchhh U are my birthday month after all!! So yeah...How can I hate u right? Come on March !! With Christ... I will handle you :) I will love you ;) bombie Marching in