How to Reduce Your Electricity Bill

Since the increase of power rate in June 2011, we have to pay extra 7% (in average) for the monthly electricity bill. So I would like to share with you my experience on how to reduce my electricity bill:

1. Do not use electric kettle/ thermos to boil water and store hot water. Heat generating electrical appliances consume a lot of electricity. Get a good kettle with whistle, use gas to boil water and keep in vacuum flask.
2. Get air conditioner with inverter instead of traditional air conditioner. Inverter air conditioners will be higher in price and installation fees. But you can save more in the long run.
3. Do not on air conditioner all night long. Use timer function to automatic turn off during midnight.
4. Unplug the electrical appliances that are not in use. Although the power is off, electricity will still be consumed if connected to sockets.
5. Do not put your DVD player or TV on standby mode if you are not using them. Switch off instead.
6. Use energy saving bulbs.
7. Turn off lights and fans when you're not in the room.
8. If you're using desktop, turn off whenever you're not using it.

I've tried the electricity saver that claims to save 20% of electricity. However, it does not really help to reduce my electricity bills after I've installed it for a few months. I feel that good habits and use of green electrical products are more effective in reducing electricity bills. By practising what I listed out above, I managed to save 15 ~ 20% from my electricity bill monthly.

Fabulous FD from MBSB

MBSB, a subsidiary of EPF is currently having promotion for its Fixed Deposit & Al-Mudharabah General Investment Account (AMGIA) from 1st October to 31st December 2012.

The interest rate offered is currently the highest among all financial institution which is up to 4.75% p.a. Individuals aged 18 years and above can sign up with minimum deposit of RM 1000. Existing Cashrich (Savings) Account Holders with minimum balance of RM 1000 will get to enjoy additional 0.05% interest p.a.

Months	Individual FD (%)	AMGIA Profit Sharing Ratio	AMGIA Profit (%)
6	3.80	58.46	3.80
9	3.90	60.00	3.90
12	4.05	62.31	4.05
15	4.10	63.08	4.10
18	4.15	63.85	4.15
24	4.25	65.38	4.25
36	4.30	66.15	4.30
48	4.35	66.92	4.35
60	4.70	72.31	4.70

The FD tenure periods vs interest rates are shown in above table. To get the additional 0.05% interest p.a., you need to have a Savings account known as Cashrich with minimum RM 1000 balance. This Savings account offers high interest rate of 2.68% p.a. and account holder with RM 1000 balance will be eligible for the monthly and mega draw.

However, please take note that products of MBSB are not protected by PIDM.

CCRIS Part I

Have you ever got rejected by bank when you applied for a credit card? Did you wonder why your application for Credit Card was unsuccessful although your income fulfilled the minimum requirement and you provided all the necessary documents?

Other than your pay slips and EPF statements, the bank also checked CCRIS during approval process. CCRIS stands for Central Credit Reference Information System. It is a computerized database system contains credit information on about 9 million borrowers in Malaysia. If you have a hire purchase, personal loan, mortgage or credit card, then your information will certainly be found in CCRIS.

CCRIS is maintained by the Credit Bureau under Bank Negara Malaysia. The Credit Bureau collects credit information on borrowers from lending financial institutions and synthesises the information into credit reports via CCRIS. These credit reports that contain up-to-date and accurate information on prospective borrowers enable the financial institutions to make assessments and decisions on credit applications.

So are we able to get our own credit report from CCRIS? Yes, if you're staying in Klang Valley, Pulau Pinang, Johor Bahru, Kuala Terengganu, Kota Kinabalu and Kuching, you can just go to the Bank Negara office to request for the credit report. In Part II, I'll share about how to interpret the report.

How to merge subtitle in MKV?

Do you have any difficulty on playing MKV movie with your blu-ray player which has no subtitle?
If yes, maybe you can refer to my solution below.

Many of the blu-ray player has USB features which supports MKV, AVI, TS playback file format.
Especially MKV movie format that supports on DTS and AC3 that has 5.1 channel surround mode.
But many of the MKV movie do not has subtitles along together.
Now you can use "mkvmerge GUI" to combine language subtitle ".srt" into the MKV file. 
Maybe you will think of "will it takes long time" to process the merger? 
The answer would be merger of subtitles into mkv won't takes long time. Normally i spent around 4~5min to merge the subtitle into movie file.

You will need the software of mkvtoolnix application as below,

official web: http://www.bunkus.org/videotools/mkvtoolnix/downloads.html#windows

1. You must attach the subtitle ".srt" together with your MKV movie clip. (please rename your subtitle file name to be same as your MKV file).

2. Open "mkvmerge GUI" application.

3. Click "add" for searching the MKV file that you wish to merge the subsititle.

 

4. After you add-in the MKV movie clip from directory that you've choosen, it will display as above picture.

5. Click "add" again to look for the subtitle ".srt" that is same directory as MKV file.

6. After you've add-in the substitle, you can select the language format that you've added-in.

7. Then you may click "Start muxing" for processing the merger.

8. Processing merging of subtitle just spend around 3mins. It is quick!

9. Please make sure after combine, it show "Everything went fine". Mean no mistake happen during processing.

JustOne Current Account & JustOne Savings Account

This is a post in response to my earlier post about Current Account. Standard Chartered Bank has recently come up with a new type of 2-in-1 account known as JustOne Current Account and JustOne Savings Account. What is so special about this account?

JustOne Current Account:

• *Unlimited Free Withdrawals from MEPS and HOUSe ATMs.
• *Free Interbank GIRO Fund Transfers via Standard Chartered Online Banking and ATMs in Malaysia.
• Free Debit Card.
• Optional Cheque Book.

JustOne Savings Account:

• Enjoy high base interest of 1% p.a. for any balance amount.
• *Get additional bonus interest of 1% p.a. on any balance amount in this savings account.
• Access only via secured Online Banking and over the counter

To be entitled for the benefits marked in asterisks (*), account holder needs to deposit a minimum of RM 1500 in a single transaction into JustOne Current Account every month. The Free IBG is really attractive to me as I have a few cards from different banks like OCBC Titanium Card, UOB One Card and Maybankard 2. I'm using Maybank2u for the transfer, each IBG I will be charged RM 2. So I need to pay RM 4 each month just to settle my credit cards.

Free IBGs, unlimited free ATM withdrawals, free Debit Card, all these really sound too good to be true. So I went to the nearest SCB branch to enquire about this account. I got a confirmation from the customer service that we do not need to pay RM 8 for the annual fees of Debit Card and all the stated benefits. 

So I straight away signed up for the account and I was given a MEPS DDA (Direct Debit Authorization) Form to directly bank in RM 1500 from other bank to JustOne Current Account monthly. There is no charge incurred for that. I spent around 30 mins for the whole process and the Debit Card was given to me on the spot. 

This account is really very convenient, can save you a lot of time and money if you have credit cards, mortgage, hire purchase or loans from different banks. I strongly recommend JustOne Current Account as you do not have to rush to banks to settle payments anymore or being over charged for online IBG transaction and yet you can enjoy 2% interest p.a. for your money in JustOne Savings Account.

Tesco Clubcard

The first Tesco in Malaysia was opened in Puchong in Year 2001 when I was still studying in university. For the first few years, Tesco was collaborating with BonusLink for customer loyalty program. Then Tesco came up with its own Tesco Clubcard to replace BonusLink.

With the Clubcard, you will receive 1 point for every RM2 spent, each point is equivalent to value of RM 0.01. So the actual rebate you will get is 0.5%. Once you have accumulated 150 or more Clubcard Points, they will be converted into Clubcard Cash Vouchers.

Every quarter, Tesco will post out Clubcard Statement, Product Coupons and Clubcard Cash Vouchers after you have collected a minimum of 150 Clubcard Points within each collection period. Clubcard Cash Vouchers are cash rewards that you can use to pay at the counter while Product Coupons are extra discounts to help you save more for shopping in Tesco, eg. you can save RM 0.50 when you buy 1 loaf of bread in Tesco.

Nowadays, you can even get IT gadgets, smartphones, computers, electrical appliances with low prices and zero percent installment. For certain promotional items, you can get 2X Clubcard Points in addition to the discounts. I like to shop in Tesco because on weekends I can enjoy 8% cash rebate by using Maybankard 2 AMEX and on weekdays I can enjoy 5.5% cash rebate by using OCBC Titanium Card.

If you are not still not a Clubcard member, hurry up to your nearby Tesco to sign up Clubcard for free. Then you can start using your Clubcard immediately to begin collecting your Clubcard Points!

MySurvey

I've signed up for MySurvey for around 5 years and had successfully claimed a few vouchers. MySurvey is a website owned by Lightspeed Research, one of the world's leading online market research companies. It collects information about people's preferences for products, services, and marketing programs (such as TV advertisements).

If you like to do survey and get rewards, I strongly recommend you to sign up as a member. Of course, you can't get rich or extra income by doing surveys online as the number of survey is very limited. One week, you can only get one or two surveys, each successful survey will earn you 50 ~ 150 points depending on the length of the survey.

You can claim RM10 voucher with 250 points. Vouchers redeemable are KFC/ Pizza Hut/Ayamas Gift Voucher, McDonalds Voucher, JUSCO Gift Voucher, Parkson Gift Voucher, Isetan Voucher, MPH Bookstores Voucher and Rixty Card.

If you refer a friend to sign up for MySurvey, you can get 50 points. You can refer up to 5 friends every week. If you are interested to sign up as member, please email me your Name & email address so that I can forward you the invitation. Thank you for your support!

Surface RT Spec Comparison

After reviewing the features of Microsoft's Surface tablet in previous post, now let's compare the spec of Surface with Apple's new iPad and Samsung's Galaxy Tab 2.

	Surface RT (32GB, no Touch Cover)	Apple iPad (32GB, Wi-Fi only)	Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1
Price	RM 1499	RM 1799	RM 1499
Dimension (HWD)	274.6 * 172 * 9.4 mm	241.3 * 185.7 * 9.4 mm	256.7 * 175.3 * 9.7 mm
Weight	680.4 g	662.2 g	581 g
OS	Windows RT	Apple iOS	Android 4.0
Processor	Nvidia Tegra T30	Apple A5X Dual-Core	1GHz Dual-Core
Memory	2GB	1GB	1GB
Storage Capacity	32GB	32GB	16GB
Screen Size	10.6 inches	9.7 inches	10.1 inches
Screen Resolution	1366 * 768	2048 * 1536	1280 * 800
Bluetooth	Bluetooth 4.0	Bluetooth 4.0	Bluetooth 3.0
Camera	Front – 720p Rear – 720p	Front – VGA Rear – 1080p	Front – VGA Rear – 3MP
Integrated Sensors	Ambient light sensor Accelerometer Gyroscope Compasss	Ambient light sensor Accelerometer Gyroscope Compasss	Ambient light sensor Accelerometer Compasss
Key Ports	Full-size USB 2.0 Micro SDXC card slot Headset jack HD video out port Cover port	30-pin dock connector port Headphone jack	Full-size USB 2.0 Headphone jack
Battery	31.5 Wh	42.5 Wh	25.87 Wh

The estimated pricing of Surface RT is very attractive as compared to the two competitors' similar models. By adding a Touch Cover for RM300, you can use the Surface like a notebook to view and edit your word documents, presentation slides or excel worksheets with Office RT. Let's wait and see when Surface tablet is officially launched in Malaysia.

Microsoft Surface Tablet

Microsoft will unveil its first tablet, the Surface, on October 26. The Surface will be available in two versions, the Windows RT Surface and the Windows 8 Pro Surface. Both versions come with 10.6" display, with RT having a 1366x768 HD screen while the Pro has a Clear type Full HD (1920 x 1080) screen with 16:9 widescreen.

The Surface RT is powered by ARM based NVDIA Tegra 3 quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM, 720p HD rear and front facing cameras. The Surface is made with VaporMg™ magnesium casing and comes with integrated kickstand. By connecting a 3mm Touch Cover to the tablet with a single magnetic click, you can turn the Surface into a small notebook.There are five choices of Touch Covers that are different from typical keyboards. The Surface keypads provide a smoother typing experience thanks to their touch-based surface.

The tablet comes in 32GB, 64GB and 128GB (Surface Pro) options. However, you are able to expand the memory using external memory sticks thanks to microSD card slot. In addition to the Cover port and micro SDXC card slot, the tablet has headphone jack, USB 2.0 port and a HD video-out port. The Surface will only be able to go online using a short-range Wi-Fi connection, without 3G nor LTE connection option. Preorder is available in 8 selected countries. Click here to view the Surface preorder price and accessories.

Popular Bookstore Sales

This October, Popular bookstore has launched a 70% discount (70% for Popular card members, 50% for non-members) for over 100000 Chinese books. The books are distributed across all the branches nationwide. So you might be able to find different titles in different branches.

There is another promotion ongoing for only 3 branches in Seberang Perai, Penang, namely Megamal Pinang, Sunway Carnival Mall and Jusco Seberang Prai City. If you purchase RM30 and above, you can get a RM5 promotion voucher that is only redeemable at the above mentioned branches. This promotion is ending soon. So hurry up to grab some books from these branches!

If you have RHB Credit/Debit cards, you can buy RM30 gift vouchers with RM20 on Fridays. Then you can use the gift vouchers to pay for the books and get the promotion voucher. This is how you can get additional discount.


Updated 19/10/12:
In order to celebrate the 5th anniversary for Popular Sunway Pyramid, Popular Bookstore is organizing a series of events and promotions starting from today!

Kad Diskaun Siswa 1Malaysia (KADS1M)

The Ministry of Domestic Trade, Cooperative and Consumerism had launched a type of discount card called  Kad Diskaun Siswa 1Malaysia (KADS1M) for university/college students with the objective to reduce the expenses of the students.

The discount card will be distributed to students who fulfill the following criteria for FREE:

• Pursuing a long term course with duration of more than 1 year (certificate, diploma, degree and above);
• Full time course;
• Must be Malaysian

The students need not apply for the discount card as it will be distributed automatically through the university/college administration department. The discount card is valid as long as the student has not graduated from the university/college.

There's a long list of companies who give discount to students with Kad Diskaun Siswa 1Malaysia (KADS1M). You can view the complete list here.

Update 18/10/12

Up to October, 927397 cards had been distributed. After receiving positive feedback, the ministry has considered extending this card to include Malaysian university students studying overseas as well as part-time university students to help students reduce their daily cost of living.


Update 23/10/12

University students who have KADS1M can now participate in the Save & Win Bonanza organized by Bank Rakyat. The campaign ends on 30 November 2012.

To participate in the campaign, you need to fulfill below requirements:

• local public or private university student who holds KADS1M.
• deposit minimum RM100 into Bank Rakyat's Akaun Simpanan-i or open new Bank Rakyat's Akaun Simpanan-i with same minimum deposit amount.
• still pursuing studies in university at the time of lucky draw.
• not a family member of Bank Rakyat's staff.

Weekly RM100 Cash Back with Citibank

Wondering which credit cards to use for shopping and dining for this weekend? If you own Citibank credit card, you might want to consider it. Why? Because Citibank is giving out 30% cash back from 13 October to 7 December 2012!

Citibank is giving out total RM1000000 cash back throughout the campaign period. There will be 8 weekly cycles, each starts from Saturday and ends on the following Friday, total weekly cash back is capped at RM125000. One principal cardmember can get maximum RM100 cash back per week on a first-come, first-served basis.

So how do we get the cash back?

1. This promotion is open to all citibank credit cards. All you need to do is to enrol by filling up the form here. You only need to enrol once to participate throughout the campaign period.
2. Then from every Saturday, you need to spend minimum RM100 in single receipt each on groceries, dining and anything else, within that week.

"Groceries" transactions must be made at Giant, Cold Storage, Mercato, Jasons Food Hall, Aeon, Tesco, Carrefour, Mydin, Econsave, The Store/Pacific, Village Grocer, Jaya Grocer, Billion, NSK, Servay, 99 Speedmart and Everrise in Malaysia. 

"Dining" includes transactions made at merchants categorized under "Dining" or "Food & Beverages" as per selected Merchant Category Codes (MCC). 

"Anything" means any qualifying retail transactions.

Own a Perodua with zero downpayment

Perodua just launched a promotion from 1st October 2012 to 31st March 2013 for university students & fresh graduates.

So what is so special about this promotion?

1. Monthly instalments as low as RM299 
2. 50% discount for 2 years service maintenance, basic service package only
3. FREE RM20000 Personal Accident coverage 
4. FREE driving lessons (RM1000 value)
5. Full loan is available (0 downpayment)

Who is eligible to apply & what documents are required?

Undergraduates

1. IC or license
2. Certified student card
3. Parent as guarantor (father or mother), net income must be more than RM2000

i. guarantor needs to submit IC & license

ii.3 months' pay slips

iii. 3 months' bank statements

Fresh graduates

1. IC or license
2. Certificate (Diploma or Degree)
3. Offer letter

Above is the table for loan amount vs monthly loan repayment for loan tenure of 9 years.

SSPN (Budget 2013)

Five months ago, I posted Skim Simpanan Pendidikan Nasional (SSPN-i) and shared about how you could get yearly RM3000 tax relief from your income tax. Under Budget 2013, the tax relief for SSPN-i is revised to RM6000 yearly. This new tax relief will be enforced starting Tax Assessment Year 2012.

Who is eligible for the RM6000 tax relief?

1. Parents or guardians whose children are under 29 years old.
2. Depositors who open personal accounts are NOT entitled for this.

How is the tax relief counted?

1. It is counted by net saving on that particular year. If you deposit RM6000 and draw RM1000 in the same year, the amount entitled for tax relief will be RM5000 only.
2. If you deposit RM6000 on 31st December 2012, the tax relief is still eligible for Tax Assessment Year 2012.

What is the divident for SSPN-i? The divident for current year will be announced in the following year. Below is the table for the historical divident of SSPN-i.

Year	Divident (%)
2004	3
2005	4
2006	4
2007	4
2008	4
2009	2.5
2010	3.25
2011	3.7
2012	4.25

Currently, there is an ongoing promotion for SSPN-i from Bank Islam and PTPTN, started from 23 September to 23 December 2012. New or existing SSPN-i depositors could win up to RM100000 by depositing/open new account with RM100 through Bank Islam. The deposited amount must be maintained in 30 days until the end of the promotion to be eligible for the contest.

Go open a SSPN-i for your children or deposit through Bank Islam today to enjoy the tax relief and stand a chance to win RM100000!

PTPTN (Budget 2013)

Budget 2013 has given big discounts to those who took PTPTN education loan and also revised the tax relief for SSPN account depositors.

For PTPTN loan education, there are two types of discounts:

1. 20% discount for one time settlement of PTPTN education loan from 1st October 2012 to 30th September 2013 only.
2. 10% discount for 12-month continuous repayment according to payment schedule or 1 time advance payment of equivalent amount, starting from 1st October 2012.

Let's see how much a person can save if he previously took a full loan (RM80000). The loan interest is 3% pa, that person graduated for 3 years and did not pay a single cent, so the total loan amount with interest is RM87200. After the person heard about Budget 2013, he decided to settle the loan with assistance from his family and relatives, so he got a discount of 20%, which is RM17440. So he actually needed to pay back only RM69760 for the education loan of RM80000.

If that person unable to settle the loan, he can still choose to pay according to the payment schedule. Let's say the monthly payment is RM500, so 1 year the repayment amount is RM6000. 10% discount which is RM600 will be given on the total repayment and adjusted in the loan account. In this case, the effective interest rate is dropped from 3% to 2%.

I'll share about the SSPN tax relief in my next post. Stay tune!

e-Application & e-Services by TNB

Earlier this year, TNB has started to provide e-Services whereby TNB customers can view monthly bills, settle bills, view detailed account information and track monthly consumption all via online.

Now, you can even apply for electricity supply through e-Application. Application form can be completed online and you can track your application status online. You still need to present at TNB customer centre to sign the contract but the counter-processing time is already reduced significantly.

e-Application is open to residential (individual) customers, TNB registered electrical contractors & housing developers.

Current Account

20 years back, when Internet banking still did not exist in Malaysia, Current Account was meant for businessmen only. Back then, the public could not simply apply for the account without an introducer. The current account has zero interest for the money kept inside the account and yet account will be charged monthly maintenance fee. As a current account holder, you are allowed to use cheques as a way to make payments. 

Now, Current Account has become an account for almost everyone. No introducer is required, zero monthly maintenance fee and you can even get high interest to keep your money inside.

I find that it is very convenient for working people like me as well to make use of the checking facility. Why?

1. When I want to pay for credit card statement near the due date, the Cash Deposit Machines (CDM) are either always lined up or broken down. On the other hand, the Cheque Deposit Machines (CQM) are always up and running.
2. When I insert notes into the CDM, everytime it will reject a few pieces and I have to retry a few times. The CQM would not reject your cheque.
3. It's a lot more safer to carry a cheque book around instead of carrying a pile of cash in my pocket.

I'll share more on the Current Accounts offered by major banks in Malaysia in my next post. See you!