....finding good books for peanuts. Last Saturday at Payless Books Warehouse Sale at 3K Inn, Subang Jaya, I found these books which I will read in this order:
1. Mystic River by Dennis Lehane. I will re-watch the movie to see how well the adaptation from book to film is.
2. Postcards by E.Annie Proulx. My frustration for not finding any book by Carol Shields was redeemed by finding this one.
3. A Confederancy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole. Never heard of this book but it is "a wildly comic masterpiece" that also won the Pulitzer Prize. The most expensive of the lot because it is a hardcover.
4. Possession by A.S.Byatt. I picked it up because I read somewhere that is a favourite of Marina Mahathir's or T.Elida's.
5. Reading Lolita in Tehran. Because I'm intrigued.
6. Music for Chameleons by Truman Capote. Because I like Capote's other book "In Cold Blood".
And all these for RM31!!! I am far from maxing on that RM1000 tax-relief for purchase of books. The next sale at the same venue will be held in December. Who wants to join me?
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Tuesday, October 06, 2009
Why I Should'nt Have That Audi Yet!
In their book, You Have More Than You Think, David and Tom Gardner said that one of the most common financial mistakes people make is buying an expensive car using borrowed money. Here are some excerpts:
"...When you purchase an automobile, on average it loses 30 percent of its value one year after the purchase - and sometimes does so at the moment you roll it out of the lot....
We know you need a car. We do too. But from an investment standpoint, it's never a good idea to covet expensive automobiles, and buying it on credit. On average you'll pay 10% interest anually on the loan plus the value of the car depreciates by 30% the first year and 10% per year subsequently. In the business world, they'd call this sort of leverages transaction "dumb". We are gentler; we'll call it a mistake.
Buy transport. Buy utility. You are not your car.
Our recommendation is simply that if you can swing it, you pick an automobile that you can buy with cash, or the next best thing to do, as much in cash as you can. Remember, you are not your car. Impress your friends with your heart, your mind, those natural good looks, and your sense of humor...."
In another book, The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J. Stanley and william Danko, after 20 years of profiling the wealthy, surmise that , "the flashy millionaires glamorized by the media actually represent only a tiny minority of America's rich. Most of the truly wealthy in this country don't live in Beverly Hills or on Park Avenue -- they live next door."
The authors say that the typical wealthy individual is a businessman who has lived in the same town for all of his adult life and owns a small factory, a chain of stores or a service company. He lives next door to people with a fraction of his wealth. Their survey indicated that while the paycheck-to-paycheck crowd drives new cars, most millionaires don't. They're not wearing expensive clothes and watches and their houses are relatively modest compared to their financial status.
Note to self: Live simply.
"...When you purchase an automobile, on average it loses 30 percent of its value one year after the purchase - and sometimes does so at the moment you roll it out of the lot....
We know you need a car. We do too. But from an investment standpoint, it's never a good idea to covet expensive automobiles, and buying it on credit. On average you'll pay 10% interest anually on the loan plus the value of the car depreciates by 30% the first year and 10% per year subsequently. In the business world, they'd call this sort of leverages transaction "dumb". We are gentler; we'll call it a mistake.
Buy transport. Buy utility. You are not your car.
Our recommendation is simply that if you can swing it, you pick an automobile that you can buy with cash, or the next best thing to do, as much in cash as you can. Remember, you are not your car. Impress your friends with your heart, your mind, those natural good looks, and your sense of humor...."
In another book, The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J. Stanley and william Danko, after 20 years of profiling the wealthy, surmise that , "the flashy millionaires glamorized by the media actually represent only a tiny minority of America's rich. Most of the truly wealthy in this country don't live in Beverly Hills or on Park Avenue -- they live next door."
The authors say that the typical wealthy individual is a businessman who has lived in the same town for all of his adult life and owns a small factory, a chain of stores or a service company. He lives next door to people with a fraction of his wealth. Their survey indicated that while the paycheck-to-paycheck crowd drives new cars, most millionaires don't. They're not wearing expensive clothes and watches and their houses are relatively modest compared to their financial status.
Note to self: Live simply.
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