Caravan holiday in UK - part 1

Hmm.. pejam celik pejam celik dah genap setahun kami balik dari UK.. kejap sangat rasa.. betapa i sangatlah bz sejak masuk unit sekarang.. blog pun lama tak update, boleh kata every week at least 1 outstation.. in september jer dah ke KK and Miri.. nampak gaya kena sabor jela dgn nature kerja skrg ni. seb baik semua kejap2 je.. sian hubby & anak2 kena tinggal selalu huhu

Okeh meh kita straight to the point.. actually teringat hutang entry ini dengan Farra, maklumla ada org nak jalan2 makan angin sejuk tahun depan hihi.. so Farra, jgn lepaskan peluang tau pergi caravan holiday ni.. sangat2 best!.. tak caya tanya Aida..

Tips utk percutian caravan di UK:

Step 1 - Check out website The Sun – look for Holidays in the Sun promo.. normally time summerlah sbb nama pun holiday in the sun, tak jive plak kalau pergi time winter.. tapi ada juga time autumn & spring sbb time ni pun best jalan2 coz sejuk sempoi2 bahasa gittew

Step 2 - Collect token dari akhbar The Sun, harga newspaper ni 20pence gitu.. bilangan token bergantung kepada promo di website kat atas tu.. kalau tak silap, borang penyertaan either boleh print atau boleh dapatkan dari newspaper ni.. tapi awas, muka surat 3 paper ni biasanya ada gambar 18sx, besar plak tu (penuh 1 page).. geli kan? tah pape jer paper ni.. normally after beli kitorang terus koyak page tu sbb takut budak2 tertengok atau kitorang terlupa nanti pi guna buat balut pinggan (cerita benar ni hihi)

Step 3 - After token dah cukup, pilih location percutian dan dates.. akan ada a few options of places & dates given.. fill up the form

Step 4 - Submit borang yg dah lengkap beserta payment.. My experience, kitorang pergi Cornwall dulu just pay GBP9.50 per person for 5 days 4 nights.. total for 4 person is GBP38, kalau convert baru RM200 gittew.. murah kan? Actually kalau rasa mcm susah jer nak comply dengan step 1-34 boleh jer book adhoc, in which the rate is still reasonable.

Step 5 - Tunggu confirmation letter on tempat & tarikh.. kalau all fully-booked, they will refund our money, dont worry

Step 6 - Sampai masanya, buatlah persiapan yg patut utk pergi bercaravan.. since caravan yg The Sun  sediakan semua brg2 dapur termasuk dapur, oven, peti, microwave, pinggan mangkuk, sudu garpu & etc, bawa jer raw food, boleh masak for meal & tapau for jalan2.. biasanya area2 caravan ni area org putih, so agak susah nak cari makanan yg halal.. kalau vegetarian food tu insyallah ada.. tapi karang end up makan tuna jer hari2, sure bosan.. oh ya, jgn lupa sabun Taharah utk senang menyamak utensils tu before guna..

We all sempat pergi caravan holiday ni 2 times – in Cornwall & Wales.. tips utk pilih area, tgk apa tourist attraction kat situ & decide which one you like.. pls anticipate yg area2 caravan ni bukanlah bandar2 besar, normally ianya adalah kampung2 org putih, kadang2 jalan pun muat2 1 kereta jer.. 

Ingat lagi masa kitorang sesat waktu malam nak balik dari Plymouth to Cornwall, we all masuk jalan kecil yg ada rumput kering tinggi melepasi bumbung kereta.. siap terfikir lagi apa nak buat kalau tetiba ada stranger appear kat depan kereta sambil pegang kapak besar.. seram ok.. but seriously these arealah yg cantik.. kalau niat nak gi shopping & main city, buang ajelah niat nak bercaravan tu, utk shopping places kena tunggu i cerita dlm entry lain.. area2 caravan ni biasanya akan jumpa scenery biri2, poney or keldai sdg makan rumput, and pass by rumah2 or castle2 ancient made of batu2.. one of tempat cantik yg kami pergi is Minack Theatre, which is an ancient open-air theatre yg ada ukiran nama2 theatre yg pernah dimainkan di situ.. 

gambar poyo kami di Minack theatre (me & 2 frens)

So farra & sesiapa yg inginkan percutian caravan di UK, hope this tips can help you a bit! tungguuuuu for the Cornwall & Wales entry..

bijak ringgit!

sempena tahun baru, macam2 plan bijak ringgit dalam kepala, especially lepas baca entry blog farra.. thanks farra for reminding ;)

since balik dari UK, me & hubby tak menyempat nak savings.. sbbnya nak allocate duit utk banyak perkara.. duit savings pon dah susut dek perkara2 tersebut.. dan dek kerana extra spending semasa di luar negara sama hehehe.. yerlah, peluang ke sana bukannya senang nak dapat, so apa salahnya berbelanja lebih sedikit kan?

so, mulai bulan jan 2011 ini, me and hubby dah sepakat nak menabung kembali.. hubby dah mula berjinak2 dengan unit trust Public Mutual.. alhamdulillah hubby dah setuju utk enrol dgn agent kami Tapai.. for a start, hubby setuju utk withdraw KWSP dulu utk beli dana Public Ittikal, while me continue monthly commitment (using cash) dan keluarkan KWSP in batches.. and yg bestnye, siapa yg introduce member baru akan dapat commission, which is i la tu ;) hehehe

so, this will be my monthly commitment for 2011. sikit2 lama2 jadi bukit (hopefully :) ;

+ Tabung Haji
+ Public Mutual
+ Zakat Kelantan

+ MAKNA

+ SSPN

+ Insurance

Buat masa ni, SSPN belum ada action, tak sempat nak gi buka akaun budak2.. Insurance pon masih dok study.. Yang ada sekarang hanyalah Takaful Sihat (utk myself), potongan rm22 jer sebulan.. ni just cover insurance and tiada savings.. at least kalau warded, dapatla rm150/hari allowance, and it covers critical illnesses.. ambil insurance without savings sebab ramai financial planner tak advice ambil skim insurance yg ada savings, better ambil yg purely insurance sbb nak avoid hidden charges.. 'i follow' jer coz i pun tak tahu sgt reason disebaliknya hihi..

Alhamdulillah, sekarang ni kami hanya savings dan invest di bank/dana yg shariah compliance sahaja utk ketenangan hati dan minda.. selain guna CIMB Islamic for gaji, akaun emergency kami adalah Bank Islam, while fixed savings pergi ke Tabung Haji.. Zakat kami potong gaji siap2 utk mengelakkan potongan PCB.. i tak rela duit pergi ke cukai, lebih afdhal ke zakat kan?

So, siapa2 yg belum bertindak, cepat2lah membuat financial plan u ols.. we all punya ni biasa2 jer, at least ada la juga kan daripada takde langsung kan kan? :)

Europe trip preparation ~ edisi tertunda

Haih.. lama sungguh nak ada chance nak update pasal Europe vacation ni.. sampaikan dah 2 bulan kat Malaysia pun masih tak menyempat.. sebelum lupa lebih banyak, betterlah jot something about that trip, at least for my own keepsake.. kan?

Our preparation starts with booking for cheap flights, trains and accomodation.. at first nak start dengan pilih country mana nak pergi dulu, but then since we had tight budget and time, haruslah pilih mana yg murah and fit our time. So, after days and days of scouting, we opted for Venice (Italy), Brussels (Belgium), Paris (France) and of course, Disneyland Paris! In terms of tempat mana nak visit, biasanya bila sampai kat town tu, dapatkan peta & pamplet baru kitorang decide nak pergi mana. sebabnya, tak cukup masa nak plan - planner sibuk mentelaah oke..

In terms of transportations, here's what we took and the cost incurred:

• Coventry to London ~ train (local) - 16pound
• London to Venice ~ flight (Ryanair) - 63pound
• Venice to Brussels ~ flight (Ryanair) - 65pound
• Brussels to Paris ~ train (Eurostar) - 72pound
• Paris to London ~ train (Eurostar) - 125pound
• London to Coventry ~ train (local) - 16pound

In terms of accomodation, here's the cost incurred:

• Venice - Hotel Piave - 125pound (2 nights)
• Brussles - apartment - 250pound (3 nights)
• Paris - Hotel des Olympiades - 160pound (2 nights)
• Paris Disneyland - 280pound (2 nights + 3days all park tickets)

In overall, kami habis dalam 1200pound for travelling and accomodation, which is equivalent to RM6k. altogether dengan souvenir, makan2 luar, groceries, tiket2 metro, habisla in total dalam 2000pound, equivalent to RM10k. Murah kan utk vacation 10hari?

And in conclusion, we preferred train than flight kalau travel cross country. Sebabnya, flight ni tak reliable, suka sangat delay. Then kena pergi awal utk check in. Then, nak kena go through immigration bagai. Sangat2 tak best especially bila beg kena selongkar, adoila.. tapi train ni biasanya lagi mahal la, sebab train lagi best dari flight. boleh makan suka hati, seat pon luas. nak buat bising pon takde hal. and location main train station dekat tgh2 town, mcm KL Sentral.. easy peasy sgtlah nak pergi..

In terms of luggage, we brought 2 hand luggages and 2 backpack. Here's the list of things we put sumbat in the bags:

• rice cooker (3pots)
• mini kettle (sgt mini, nnt i tunjuk gambar)
• extension
• europe adapter (sbb europe tak guna 3-pin plug)
• food (beras, spaghetti, maggi, maggi goreng, perencah nasi goreng, dried spaghetti sauce, 3 in 1, sugar, chicken cubes, bilis cubes, sardine, tuna, and many more hehehe)
• baju utk 7 hari
• pampers & toiletries
• sejadah
• quran/yassin
• kompas kiblat 
• socks & sweaters
• tupperware and botol air
• botol susu
• dictionary (we brought french only)

apa lagi ek? rasanya yg paling penting itu jer. and mmg sangat2 berguna semua gadjet yg dibawa.. dlm back pack kitorang taruk brg2 yg handy nak ambik, macam sweater, baju persalinan budak2, sejadah, roti, and all the tickets..bab food, kami sgt2 take note sbb selalu org ingat senang nak cari. memangla halal food tu boleh cari, tapi it takes some time to get familiarize with tempat org. kat UK, memang senang gile cari halal food. but in Italy for instance, dengan org dia tak cakap English, susah woo nak communicate. label barang2 pon semua in allien language. nak pilih cheese mana yg bleh makan pon susah sbb diorang tak guna label V (for suitable for vegetarian) mcm kat UK. Since makanan dah banyak bawa sendiri, everytime we arrive at our hotel/apartment, we ols just pergi beli telur, susu and roti. dat's it!

altogether, the trip took 10 exhausting memorable days! sangat2 berbaloi & i like! budak2 pon sampai sekarang masih terasa keseronokannya, especially si kakak sbb boleh pakai gown and ambik gambar dengan princesses! mama pon jeles oke :P

Since ni nak citer pasal preparation jer, all the details will be story later.. gambar also later lah.. chalos dulu!

the hobby-less me

i just figured out that i'm hobbyless, which makes me feels (and looks) pathetic.. while lots of my friends love reading since they were really2 young (like Aida and Aini), i'm not.. let's look for some list:

cooking - not 100%. i love cooking (and eating!) but only for daily chores
watching tv/movies - not 100%..
gardening - no..
travelling - not yet (but i started to like it, but it's expensive)..
exercise - no (hahahaha!)..
outdoor activities/games - NO (see that big no?hahaha)..
shopping - cannot afford (is this a hobby anyway?)..
scrapbooking - no (i like it but it's expensive, again)..
baking - no (bcoz baking means eating more)
etc etc...

see, i'm pathetic! (sigh).. btw, is it OK for not having a hobby? or should i have one? my own definition of hobby is that it should not be costly and it must be fun to have, not burdening.. i think i want to have some hobbies, at least i wanna try..

and now i'm considering recycling, sewing and gardening as my new hobbies.. and the reason i'm choosing these three are because all can save money, and i want to be friendly to the environment.. one more thing, i want to consider spending quality time with my family as a hobby, can i? i found not all people/parents like to spend their time with their families, so i think this can be my hobby too, at least to my own definition :) (hehehe)

carboot-ing day

today is saturday and saturday means weekend, which means carboot day to me! i like carboot and i don't mind buying second hand things as long as they're clean and good. but i'm not yet a carboot-lover as i don't mind not going to carboot. but if i did go, i'm surely excited with the outcome! :)

and today, we went to Dunchurch's carboot (if i'm not mistaken), a bit far from the usual one. it was huge, with lots and lots of local carbooters. we went a bit late, hoping to get the last minute bargain, which means much much lower prices. and luckily, we did grab some things for really really cheap price. plus, kind carbooters gave 2 brand new big teddies to Aisya & Faris, although i only pay 50pence for what i bought from them. summary of what i've got today:

claire's hair clips and scrunchies - 1.00
toys (fishing toy, puzzle, 3 superheroes, block letters, dinasour) - 2.70
power ranges school bag - 0.50
brand new sauce pot - 4.00
crystal-glass tableware (2 serving bowls, 1 cake plate, 4 small bowls) - 3.00
men's jacket - 1.00
kids' clothes (Next & Baby Gap) - 1.00
food savers (1 Tupperware & 8 others) - 1.50
Diadora shoes - 0.50
NY yankees cap - 0.50
bob the builder water bottle - 0.10
parking - 1.00

total = 16.80pound, which is equivalent to RM84 + priceless satisfaction!

i'm surely gonna miss this weekly event after going back to Malaysia. what i admired the most is that these carbooters really took good care of their clothes and things. especially the toys and books! maybe because they have high purchasing power, which means they can buy things at really2 cheap price with their pound income.. plus, they get a lot of new gifts every year during christmas. so, they dont bother to give away their things at cheap prices. some just sell for fun!

i doubt this will happen in Malaysia. with RM wages, we can't buy so many things, and can rarely do shopping, especially for branded things.. and even if we did, we will wear and use them until worn or broken. and i think, even if we have the chance to re-sell our things, we might opt to donate to those in needs rather than selling it..

i think i will enjoy my carboot-ing weekends while i am here.. :P

Personal Financial Planning - Part 2

sambungan dari part 1 yg dah lama di post.. the same typical excuse, malas & kunun2 banyak keje.. hehe.. tetiba terbaca pasal credit card usage dekat one of the blog i read this morning.. so here i'd like to share my tips.. Alhamdulillah i'm practising it so far:

(+) use CC wisely, dont let it use you
> do not misuse, i use it coz i dont prefer bringing cash (malas beratur kat atm). plus bleh dapat points!
(+) take advantage of interest free period
> pay immediately after swiping it. i never wait for the bills. u know how much u've used, so just pay ok.. i usually use maybank sbb senang nak bayar online..
(+) watch out for annual fees
> if your CC have annual fees & you are a good payer, call them and ask for a waiver. they'll put u on reccomendation (maybank did this)
(+) don't spend more than what you can afford
> know your pocket size ok?
(+) practice RM0 CC balance
> or at least put it to the very minimum.. ingat, jgn menyumbang kepada riba k?

Temptation

I used to have that irresistible habit once (like Yati's in her latest post) when Aisya was still a small baby. Who on earth could withstand the temptation of baby's beautiful gowns and skirt? Plus if it's on Sale! After a while, hubby & I ended with too many clothes for Aisya, and some of them have hardly been worn, maybe once or twice. We finally figured out the bad side of being hooked to the habit to our financial track. Then we decided to buy only necessary things during our outings by listing all the needs before going out. Sometimes we ended buying lesser that we planned, especially on clothes and food. Plus now I'm really careful when picking up groceries or raw food at the market, because I hate throwing food into the dustbin because of expired or left uncooked in the fridge for too long. It's really a waste!

BUT

Sometimes the excitement of Mega Sale cannot hold us back from spending BIG, especially on shoes & clothes. But for food, we still manage not to get attached to expensive dining, enough for delicious food at reasonable price. Cannot afford yet maaa. We rarely (or maybe never until we get too rich) spend money on expensive things, but normally we'll try to look for branded things at a good bargain during Mega Sale. Saje laa nak merasa kan? Our priority would go for the price 1st, followed by the quality the brand (except for my shoes, quality & brand will be the 2nd priority - he he). That's why before buying or trying an outfit, we'll check the price tag 1st. It might looks clumsy to some people, but hey, we're the one who's paying ok & not to be hypocrite here. So, as for this year's Mega Sale, I think I want to score BIG as not to miss this once-in-a-year chance! Done with the Part 1 of my retail therapy last weekend - =P Shall proceed with Hari Raya shopping next weekend!.. isk tak sabarnye..

Personal Financial Planning - Post #1

last khamis & jumaat dapat peluang pergi seminar anjuran GHR, very lucky to be selected and paling best sbb FOC.. hehe.. the 1st day is about Islamic Financial Market while the 2nd day is about Personal Financial Planning.. hubby & me are actually in the midst of discussing about our financial plan and the seminar is just perfect for us.. so, i'll share some of the learning here.. mungkin meaningful to those who haven't start a plan yet.. =)

They are 4 ways to create savings:
[1] Pay yourself first - allocate at least 10% of our monthly income (or joint monthly income for married couple) for savings
[2] Your future in a peanut can - simpan duit2 sen tu dalam tabung, make it a habit!
[3] Spend your way to wealth - invest! invest! invest!
[4] The right way to use supermarket coupons - kalau dpt kupon rm30, bila dah guna, simpan balik duit the same amount as savings..

I'll write more later on the subject.. kene sambung keje plaks.. huhu