On The Road Again

This sucks.

Earlier this year, I made some new year’s resolution. I told myself I will put half my salary away every month into savings, provided I don’t travel during that month. The condition is in there because I tend to spend a lot when I travel – the hotels, taxis, food, Starbucks all add up. I thought it was a fair and achievable resolution.

But dammit, I’ve been travelling every single friggin month since the start of the year. I’ve travelled more times in the past 8 months than I ever did in my entire life. And it’s already the FOURTH month of the year. That was fast. Wasn’t New Year’s Eve like yesterday?
Sure feels that way.

I only just returned from KL last week. Right now I’m in Sibu – land of the Foochows, home of the Kampuas. Next Thursday I’ll be in KL again before heading off to Phuket. That’s 4 cities in the span of 3 weeks.
Die. How to save money lah like that?


*ahem* To RT and CC, where is my commission? This cupid doesn’t work for free one, ya know? 😉

70 Replies to “On The Road Again”

  1. Hi Kenny…
    Yeah, agree with Matthew…have to start small…if u can’t do half..at least 10 or 20% first?…travelling..well..don’t know why..but u tend to think..they don’t have this in Kch..or..it’s only once in awhile..then it all adds up…
    Btw..just to tell u..u spelled FORTH MONTH..wrong..hehe..it’s Fourth…;)

  2. the way to save money is to travel on your employer’s expense account. and make sure you don’t take any evening/night flights.

  3. nvm bout those expenses as whenever u travel u gain experience on everything n anything around u…u nvr noe what gonna happen tommorow… 🙂

  4. Savings of 10% to 20% is strictly a must, if you want to save for a rainy day. Allocate a strict budget per day, if you can. For eg. Allocate a total of S$600/month as your total allowance, giving you an allowance of B$30/day. If you overspend, it means you have to make necessary cutbacks for the rest of the remaining days. If you underspend, then you can forward to the next day. At all times, your total allowed monthly allowance is S$600 which means, you only add to the balance of whatever is left at the end of the month.

  5. Why do you NEED to travel? If its business related,I can’t believe your employer doesn’t reimburse you for travel expenses.
    As for saving, its better if you start learning how to invest well in stocks, shares , bonds etc. Then you will have incentive to save as you watch your $$$ grow….. hehe.
    Substitute Starbucks with kopi-o peng at the hawker centre, stay at home at night at least 5 nights a week, don’t booze or club and you should see results.

  6. haven’t been eating kampua for so long and I’m also broke…just realised a couple of minutes ago. broke and kampua-less…so kesian my life
    u’re not alone kenny….at least u have kampua and all the delicious food back home…
    I’m not an insane person but when u’re living in sibu ur whole life and suddenly being deprived of kampua for almost a year…u’ll tend to over react when u see anythg that looks like kampua (read:ANYTHING)…oklah…babai…

  7. Maybe you could try directly debiting x % of your salary into a savings account – that way it doesn’t go straight into your normal account. Out of sight, out of mind.

  8. my food pics are better than yours =P oh about money? don’t worry i can so absolutely connect to that… i’m on the road 5 months in a year.. =_=’

  9. been readin ur blog for quite awhile ever since last yr when i just started my Uni in Aussie..ur blog always put a smile on any1 readin it.. =) am so glad tat u always update it so frequently..at least as ur reader i dont have to wait4along time for a new post of urs =)keep it up!

  10. oh well kenny… atleast u got money to spend.. im broke right now, i spent over a grand in 3 months.. i dont kno about u, but for a 16yr old like me, it seemed like alot

  11. Personally, I’d rather have a grilled salmon with light dill sauce aside a rice pilaf, and a tossed salad, with a glass of White Zinfindel…..that I make at HOME, and crash into my own queen size bed. (hint hint)
    And why do you travel so much, and stay in these “hotels”?? Like “thething” says….why aren’t you reimbursed if its business related? I know I wouldn’t if I didn’t HAVE to.

  12. Pssssttt…
    HSBC have the RM 1 Million lucky draw for deposits going on now. Either way, it’s good – don’t win, still enjoy service from one of the better foreign banks in M’sia, and some interest. Win, and then its a million buck in free cash.

  13. Investing in bonds, unit trusts (or mutual funds), forex etc. as thething has suggested is a very good idea to create a nest-egg for retirement, whereas my suggestion for “budgeted daily allowance” is to save for a rainy day. Also reduce your patronage to Starbucks or similar establishments, switch to kopi-tiam for 50cents/cup of coffee.

  14. wth? nm la u just 24.still young. how much can you save from starbucks a month?? i doubt its even close to RM100.money is wasted on the accom la…like ur RM81 hotel you dint even sleep in.spend money on food is worth it la.

  15. consult a professional financial adviser!!! hahaha.. doubt tat actually works. it all comes down to personal discipline. it’s good to save up but then again.. life’s short. gotta live life to its fullest. :>

  16. i agree with winterangelzzz.. it sure gives u the touch of malaysian-ness you need when you’re away from home.

  17. Time for you to try and cut down on places like Starbucks and go for the side road hawkers or places which have them food cheap. And then adding to the list would be mamak as well.
    I never really saw the need for Starbucks unless you had the cash to go with it. I know I’ve never bought anything from Starbucks before.
    Besides, alot of side road hawkers or side corner food stalls are as delicious enough.
    If you’re ever coming down to KL again (which you said you will be) then probably go to Petaling Jaya’s SS2 Makanan Selera or places within it’s proximity. You could also look around Petaling Street. Some nice places that have affordable prices and taste good as well.
    Time for you to cut down dude.

  18. That is exactly the reason why you need a bimbo blog!!
    You’ll get free cruise, free mp3 player, or maybe even free starbucks coffee!
    Go pink again honey. What’s all the blues doing around here? Go pink! Go BIMBO!!

  19. A newbie here!!! Kenny, I fully agree with some of the other comments, which is to save like 10-20% instead of 50% of your wages whenever you are not travelling. If you had kept 10% each month from the start of this year, you would have 40% of your monthly wages and a wee bit extra of interest in your bank instead of, like now, zero =P. No matter what, just enjoy life to the fullest!!! Cheers!!!

  20. damn u la kenny…i’m stuck here in melbourne…i wanna go back eat kampua also cannot….bloody hungry now…=D

  21. I guess the plate of noodles is supposed to be delicious rite? But how cm to me somehow it looks so slimy that it looks like a plate of maggots? *pukez* -_-”
    Aniwae enjoy ur Phuket trip wor~! =)

  22. Wow… guess that ONE day of being a bimbo-blog, have landed yourself with free travels to KL and Phuket huh? Everything paid for except spending money.

  23. Kenny, you are considered self-employed aren’t you? That’s why you won’t be “expensing” anything much to your “employer”. But there are employment-related costs (travel, hotel etc) and I think those should be billed to the company (for tax purposes in any case). As for your personal spending while travelling, I can see that a lot of it is for entertainment, so you need to figure out where to cut down.

  24. you rich leh…
    haiz…I am still stuck in Singapore.
    Probably can travel to n frm JB to Singapore.
    considered travel or not har?
    LoLz…

  25. the kampua makes me so hungry.. i never taste sibu’s kampua.. but i heard the food there kinda cheap compared to kch’s…

  26. I miss kampua too… I so long haven’t eat kampua and I probably won’t get the chance to eat it for another few months… argh…. the temptation!!! Damm you kenny…. T.T

  27. Slurp! The kampua looks absolutely delicious!!! U 4got to mention it’s only RM1.80!!! Eat ur heart out, wuching! That’s not even Aus$1.00!

  28. Gosh….I am getting foodsick about your Kampua of Sibu review. Missing yummy noodles in Kuching. I was to be based in NSW, Australia due to the new job offer from a local company in Kuching. Too bad I was offered pay in RM though coz I am under 3 months probation period. Only got AUD$20 daily allowance. Peanuts allowance! How to save money to survive here? We are from the same boat, kenny hehehe……

Leave a Reply to abby Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Navigation