A Little of Everything

Is the fuel price hike and economy slow down hampering your traveling plans? Well, if you really think you deserve a holiday, locally or an oversea one, then you shouldn’t give up treating yourself good.

Be a smart traveler - look at cost-cutting traveling options rather than the usual traveling mode.

• Take some time to search online for the best air fare or accommodation deals. Book your air tickets in advance during special promotions or travel fair. That can sometimes save up to 50% from the usual travel fare.

• Choose pedestrian-friendly traveling destinations, where public transport is easily accessible, or where attractions are located within walking distance.

• Forget about major chain hotels like Hilton, and go for smaller budget hotels. That definitely will save you a huge amount of cash.

• Go to destinations where our currency stretches. For us in Malaysia, we will still find that visiting places like Bali, Bangkok and Angkor Wat very much affordable choices.

• If you are traveling with your family and with kids around, why not pay for an apartment that comes with a kitchen? Enjoy the fun of cooking while save huge amount of money by buying food from local stores or supermarkets. This will prevent you from using up your cash fast and constantly puling out your credit card at diners.

• If an oversea holiday is totally out of your budget, well, make it a Visit Malaysia Year for you. Visit attractions closer to home and that you have not been before. After all, holiday is not all about shopping or sight seeing. Taking some time off for yourself to regain a peace of mind is something worth doing, too.

Are you happy with where you are or what you are doing right now?

No, this is not about whether you are at home trying to clear up a pile of dirty laundry, or hanging out in the department store for a shopping spree at this moment. I’m referring to your job or career.

While many people truly love what they are doing and making a living out of it, a whole lot more people hated their jobs for various reasons – underpaid, long working hours, pressure from boss, stressful deadlines, etc. But I believe there are many out there also asked this question - “Am I in the right career?”

Then one will start to contemplate … “Should I make a career change?”

Well, making a big career change it not easy, especially if you are the bread winner of your family, and have mortgage and loans to pay off. Before taking that big step, may be you should ask yourself more questions.

• What are you good at? Your skills and talents are not necessarily related to your academic qualifications.
• What do you find most enjoy doing and will give you a sense of satisfaction and achievement?
• What kind of job allows you to apply those skills and talents?
• How much does that kind of job pay? Will you take a job that pays less than your current one?
• Would the salary of the new job be able to support your current standard of living? Or are you going to lower your standard of living?

So, do seriously consider these aspects before making that career-switching decision.

In my school days, I learned in school, at tuition centers or at home, trying to pass, if not excel, all my school examinations. After obtaining my relevant academic qualifications, I started my working life which also involved lots of learning - acquiring knowledge and skills to perform my job well, and forming and building relationship with co-workers and clients.

One has a lot to learn in a marriage, too. When one lives in with new family members who have totally different ways of living, eating, watching TV, doing house chores, etc, one can’t help but to learn to be more considerate and accommodating. I’ve come to know when I should speak and when I should shut up to avoid disputes in the family.

Now, as a housewife who work on writing assignments on a freelance basis, I am in need to learn more about ways to make money, either through online channels or offline resources. So far, I have explored make money opportunities through blogging, primarily through writing paid posts. There are other variety of ways to make money at home with a laptop, and I’m in the process of picking up knowledge in this area.

So, learning - including learning to make money - is a never ending process. One will only cease to learn when one’s heartbeat stops.