MACK (mac back!)

Mac back! Mac back! Mack! I finally got my macbook back yesterday. And since I forgot to update, got my cam back too about two weeks ago.

LOL. My mac is out out of battery though. I used it last night just to reorient myself with the contents and settings (promise... after I opened it, my comment was "I don't know how to use it anymore!". I was trying to open the Internet Explorer or Safari, I might say, but I can't figure out how. Turns out that the guys there at the service center hid my dock. Then i noticed that there were stuff inside the thrash bin so i viewed it. Gawd, black and white pictures of a what looks like a scary Indian guy popped out. All the files in the bin were dated 040901.

Then to my consternation, I realized that all my personal files were at the desktop: my cv, my pictures, my cousin's personal details, my bank statements, and more. It's disconcerting, knowing that they played around with my mac and my personal files were just there...

But still, happy that my gadgets are back.

Avoid Holiday Debt

Like any person wanting to better my financial standing, I've been reading up on MSN Money, stocks, mutual funds and how tos on saving and finances. By following links, I found Scott Bilker of DebtSmart. So far, I like all his ideas on how to handle your debt - especially if it's something that can be practiced here in Dubai. Here's one that I really like. It's practical, applicable and very timely. So my friends, read on.

DEBTSMART®: 5 Ways to Avoid Holiday Debt
by Scott Bilker

Between Thanksgiving and Christmas people are going to spend $121.4 billion using their credit cards!

The key is not to let this debt stick. Don't allow yourself to get buried by that debt or spend the next year paying off the purchases from this holiday season.
How are you going to pay for the gifts?

Credit cards of course! I'm sure many people are going to criticize me for even suggesting such an idea.

I can hear it now, "Scott, are you crazy? Don't use your credit cards, USE CASH! I thought you were the anti-credit-card guy?"

I'm not the "anti-credit-card guy," I'm the DebtSmart® guy. It's not the credit spending that's going to put you into debt. It's the "spending" itself.
If you're going to spend $1,000, then it doesn't matter what you actually use to pay that $1,000. You can use cash, credit, or gold bullion. Once it's spent, it's gone!
The key is to be smart about how you pay, and using your credit cards is very smart. There are many good reasons to use your credit card for shopping. Here are a few:

• Interest-free grace period
• Purchase protection (ability to do chargebacks)
• Building credit worthiness
• Automatic extended warranties (on some cards)
• If your cash is stolen, it's gone! If your credit card is stolen, and you report it right away, you don't lose any money (or at least a limited amount).
• You may be able to get additional discounts.
• Rewards such as rebates and other perks.

What keeps you out of trouble is that you stick to a plan. If, for example, you plan to spend $100 on a television and end up spending $200 only because you can use a credit card--you'll be heading for trouble.

Over the years I've been following a few easy steps that have helped me enjoy the holiday season without having to worry about its cost. It's my hope these suggestions can also help save you money as well.

1) Decide how much you can afford to spend.

This is clearly the most important step. Before heading to the store, you must know the total amount you can afford to spend. The total spending for all gifts.
The average amount people spend is around $1,000. That also falls right in line with the response from DebtSmart readers who participated in our survey on 10/24/01.
It's not the amount you spend that counts. It's just important to know your holiday spending limit.

When thinking about your limit, keep in mind how much you would pay if you were going to use cash. In other words, how much money can you have available to pay for this holiday's spending when the bill arrives in January?


2) Make list and stick to it.

Now that you have a dollar limit in mind, you can start to make your list. Larissa and I have been using an Excel spreadsheet to help with our list.
I created a shareware version of this spreadsheet for your use. You can get it by clicking here.

Feel free to distribute the spreadsheet to your friends and family to help them plan a holiday budget.

The spreadsheet lists everyone on our gift list. It shows the person, gift, and cost. The "Star" column indicates if the person still needs a gift. If there is a star by their name, then their gift has been purchased. Once you enter a number in the cost column, the star disappears.

Enter everyone into the worksheet. If you don't have Excel, simply create a list by hand, and estimate how much you want to spend for each person by entering a dollar figure in the "Estimate" column.

After you're done with these estimates, check the estimate total. That total should not exceed your original holiday spending limit. If it does, you'll need to go back and make some adjustments. Refer to your detailed estimate list while shopping, stick to the numbers, and you'll be sure not to go over your original holiday-spending limit.

Revise the list yearly and make a printout. Carry that printout around starting in September just in case you find something on sale that will make a great holiday gift.


3) Contact your creditors for better deals.

This is the best time of the year to make your credit card banks beg for your business! Many people feel at the mercy of their banks, but that's not the case. The banks are at our mercy.

Give each bank a call and let them know that they're going to have to give you a deal or you won't use their card this year. Tell them you want 0% for 6 months on purchases or else you'll use another card that will give you that deal. See what happens; you have nothing to lose and you know the rest of this beaten cliché.
I find that 50% of the time, I'm able to strike a deal with one of my credit card banks. If they don't, then I simply use another card!

Give them a call right now!


4) Take advantage of department store card incentives and then transfer the balances.

Again, I hear people saying I'm crazy for using a high-rate department store card! And again, I say that you just need to be smart about doing it.
Every year I get offers from many department stores for discounts if I use their card--discounts that are 10%, 15%, or more!

I do use these discounts. However, I make sure I transfer my balance from the high-rate department store card to a lower-rate credit card before any interest is charged. This way I can take advantage of the discounts plus get low-cost financing.


5) Pay off the card in full when the bill arrives (if possible).

Ideally, you should pay off all credit card charges, in full, when the bills arrive. If you stick to your plan, then you'd have spent within the holiday-spending limit.
This limit should be based on how much money you'll have when the bills arrive. So, in theory, it will be easy to pay everything off right away. Of course, this doesn't always happen, for many reasons.

That's why it's important to use a credit card that's going to give you a few months with no interest on purchases. This way, if something does delay your ability to pay in full right away, you can have a little time, at no additional cost, to pay off those charges.

Is it worth all the work?

Yes, indeed! Say you spend 3 hours of your time juggling all the transactions, doing the balance transfers, and calling your banks. Most likely you're going to save at least $60 by being DebtSmart. So that's $20 per hour!
Is it worth $20 per hour?

I think so.

Scott Bilker is the founder of DebtSmart.com and the author of Talk Your Way Out of Credit Card Debt, Credit Card and Debt Management, and How to be more Credit Card and Debt Smart. Receive The 5-Year Loan Amortization and Analysis Worksheet at no cost when you subscribe to the FREE DebtSmart Email Newsletter today!

Crab mentality

Heard an interesting theory last night about the origin of the crab mentality of some people, as explained by a professor based in Sharjah, while we were at a children's bday party.

He says with absolute certainty that people does this, as well as gossip monger, because they are simply jealous of other people's success. If he/she spreads the story of a guy having an affair -- even though it's true -- then he is jealous of that guy; he wants the same thing himself. The same applies when he tries to bring other people down maybe by thrashing cvs of his fellow countrymen when they come looking for work. He's afraid that those new people will be better than him, earn more than him and eventually meet the success that he did not find.

According to him, people come to Dubai in search of a better life - the easiest parameter being a good job that pays well. But when they get here, they get stuck in the service industry which pays low. They become bitter and they lash out at their fellow countrymen.

He saw this in Dubai but not in Oman. He has lived for about a decade in each country. In Oman, the life was better. People got good salaries and enjoyed a good life. Communities developed that offered support to its members. It's also present in Dubai, but it is not the prevalent way of life. The bitterness seeps out and reflects in the way he treats his fellows.

It's a sad caricature of life here. But it's also hard to dispute.

We, ourselves, are in a community that support each other. We try to support not only our members but we cannot help everyone, though we try to as much as we can. Last night our community celebrated the first birthday party of our friends' child. We saw that couple develop from friends, to lovers, to parents. It's great, being in a foreign land and having what is like a foster family around you.

I just hope good will is a virus that you can bottle and spread like a virus, more potent than ebola or as easily transferred as the common cold. That instead of stopping a neighbor from being all that he can be, you will be the first to help him up. That instead of envying what he has, you pray that he will get more. It would be lovely if we live in a world like that. Utopian dream, but still, we can dream.

Lucky draw

wow. my luck in raffles must be changing... i actully won something - a 100dhs gift voucher at a jewelry shop. hehe. it's not much, but i used to NOT win ANYthing.

look for my name: UAE Exchange Money Majilis

it's a refreshing change after all the mishap i've been having with my techie stuff.