MONEY MASTER

I've got a forwarded email which talk about the current fuel situation. This guy really go all the way to calculate the exact price for petrol. It is another version of the calculation, at least different from my calculation. The email content is as below:- We know the international rates are above the USD 130/barrel. We understand the fact that the fuel prices are increasing worldwide and we also know that major scientist are still contradicting on why this phenomenon is happening. Some blame Bush and his plunders around the world and some blame climate change and there are others which say petroleum 'wells' are getting scarce. Again we go back to numbers to be more straight fwd 1 barrel = 159 liters x RM2.70/liter = RM 429 or USD 134 On 1 hand, we are paying the full cost of 1 barrel of crude oil with RM2.70 per liter but on the other hand the crude oil only produces 46% of fuel. Msia sells crude oil per barrel at USD130 buys back Fuel per barrel at USD134. And not forget...

While I was doing some rough calculation, I was wondering whether our Govt really did subsidize us RM0.30 per litre? When the crude oil price was about USD138 per litre, world market price was about USD178. And according to 2nd Finance Minister Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop (sources http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v3/bm/news_business.php?id=339088 ), Malaysia should adjust the price to RM3.15 with 30cents subsidy, which means the market price is RM3.45. Do some simple calculation 3.45/178 = 0.01938 0.01938 * 154.50 = RM3.oo per litre (USD 154.50 = world market price at the time fuel price increase in Malaysia - 5th June 2008) Crude oil price on the 5th June 2008 is USD135 USD154.50 - USD 135 = USD 19.40 USD 19.40 = RM 61.89 (if USD exchange rate with RM is 3.19) RM61.89 / 158.987 = 0.39 (1 barrel = 158.987 Litre source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barrel#Oil_barrel ) RM3 - RM0.39 = Rm2.61 Rm2.70 - RM2.61 - RM0.09 RM3 is the extra that we pay if we go according to world market price, so ...

The recent hike in petrol price put me in a difficult situation. First, I need to top up additional RM30-60 monthly for petrol. Then to be on the safe side, I should increase my food expenses to about RM20-30 also. That comes to about RM100 in total. Then it comes to my mind that if I were to change my lifestyle, will my previous financial goal or target achievable? Well, yes and no. Yes in the sense that if I totally change my lifestyle to no entertainment, no yum char session, no this and no that, then I have 90% confident that my current budget still ok. No, if and only if my forecast is not so good, meaning everything will increase exponentially. Nevertheless, the decision is for me to change my lifestyle so that every thing that I planned out early this year will remain status quo. At the same time, will try to see whether I can get additional income from other source. A lot of us have complaining since petrol price hike. But, my suggestion still is to change our lifestyle before...

Just now, I read about MALAYsian dilemma that my brother wrote. In fact, I find that what he wrote was actually true. The Malaysian dilemma is definitely POVERTY . Realistic speaking, currently there is only one way that Malaysia, as a whole nation will go, which is NOWHERE . I keep asking myself, "Am I being a bit pessimist about the outlook on the economy in Malaysia?" I do not think so. Just yesterday after the announcement of petrol hike, we can really see how desperate Malaysian to go fill their tanks with petrol. Jam everywhere near petrol station, even at area where I am staying. This morning, there were even protest in Ipoh and KL. If I remember correctly, this has never happened in Malaysia before. The recent raise is the steepest, I believe. And more is to come. News circulated that the Govt want to let the price to float according to world price. But, after having a deep thought, I realized it might be a good thing to let the fuel price float according to the mark...

When I was busy at the production, the Malaysian Prime Minister suddenly announced an increase of petrol price to about 50% . The increase come as a surprise to me and most of my colleagues. Most of the people anticipating increase about 100%, but not so soon. As soon as I got the news from a colleague, I quickly settle everything in the line and quickly leave office and go for a short pit-stop at one of the station. It's definitely a bad day for me as I only know about the news after office hour which could mean one thing, jam at all the petrol station. I guess it correctly but I do not care anymore. I just cut queue and manage to get everything done by a while. The bad thing about the pit stop is that I manage to that I did not manage to refuel full tank using my credit card. Another thing is that I bring very few cash, thus I can refuel RM24, which will translate into about RM10 savings. It is still ok for me. I'm posting not because of what I have gone through. I believe w...