This is a series of posts about ‘AKPK DMP Blogger’s Book Review: Tip-Tip Kewangan Untuk Rakyat Malaysia by K.C Lau’ – Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 and Part5.

Being a work from home woman who makes money online, this Bahagian 2: Tip Menjana Wang surely sparked off my interest. Making money online, woohoo!

Bahagian 2: Tip Menjana Wang (Tip #8 – #12)

Tip #8 – Menjana Pendapatan Pasif Sambil Melayari Internet. Okay, there are suggestions of setting up blogs, Squidoo lenses and HubPages to make money here!

If you are thinking of making money online, ya, the tip here gives you general ideas on how and where you can make money from online.

The tip here suits beginners who would like to make money online, but not me and other bloggers/internet marketers/affiliate marketers who are currently using the above mentioned money makers.

Tip #9 – Dapatkan Wang Tunai Daripada Barangan Terpakai Anda. Selling used stuff online at eBay and other auction websites? Opps, not for me!

Tip #10 – Jadikan Minat Anda Sebuah Mesin Menjana Wang. What’s my passion now? Blogging. Does it make me money? Oh, yes. Does it make me abundant money to pay off my debt fast or turn my vacant house in Ipoh into a homestay resort? Oh, not yet.

Let me dig into The 8-Day Internet Wonder by Edwin John, also given free by K.C.Lau to see if I can push my niche blogs to generate more money online.

Tip #11 – Tukarkan Kad Kredit Daripada Lawan Menjadi Kawan. Here you can learn how to turn your credit card into your friend rather than enemy by taking advantage of the grace period, interest-free installment plans, free gifts, rebates and reward points.

There are also tips on how to eliminate your credit card debt. K.C mentioned getting micro loans from family members/friends. Of course, when it comes to loans, there are interest charges involved.

To be honest, we did get some micro loans from family members at 10% interest rate per annum. It’s true that people are more willing to loan you money when you give them interests. And guess what? You tend to be less inferior in front of them because you pay them interests!

Tip #12 – Pelajari Peraturan-Peraturan Penting Dalam Pelaburan. Opps, about investments! I am not at this stage now, so I skipped this part here.

Go to ‘AKPK DMP Blogger’s Book Review: Tip-Tip Kewangan Untuk Rakyat Malaysia by K.C Lau’ – Part 4.

Question: My wife and I know we should have an emergency savings fund, but with one income we have nothing left to save after paying expenses.

But I’ve been thinking of a way to deal with this problem. We charge about $2,000 in monthly expenses to our credit cards, which we then pay in full each month.

My idea is this: Instead of paying off the cards every month, I’ll make only the minimum required payment and save the rest. Once I’ve accumulated a decent emergency fund, I would then begin paying down the cards. Do you think this is a good strategy? — N.G., California

Doesn’t this sound familiar to many people? It definitely sounds familiar to me.

There was once upon a time in 2007 that hubby and I were living on one income. Life was tough then because there’s so little income in hand, yet there were so many bills like car and home loan installments, term loans, and as many as 15 credit card payments waiting to be paid every month!

It’s very difficult to save for emergency fund after paying all the expenses because there was literally no money left at all!

But since hubby and I enrolled in AKPK debt management program and hubby started his full time teaching job, we have been able to save money as emergency fund.

If you are thinking of paying the minimum credit card payments and saving the rest as emergency fund until you have accumulated a decent amount of emergency fund to paying down the credit cards, well, it may/might never come true.

Financial experts say so. And I say so; I did what the reader above thought of doing and it didn’t work for me. It’s either you find extra money/income or cut down on expenses or do both if you want to save money as emergency fund.

I agree with Walter Updegrave, the author of the article of Big No-No for Building Emergency Savings that, “If you can’t save today because you have no money left after paying your expenses, how are you going to pay those expenses, plus come up with an extra $xxx a month to pay down the credit card balance you racked up to accumulate your emergency fund?”

I also concur with him that it’s more practical to spend less than you make or cut down your expenses to save money.

Well, the reality is that there is only one way to save — and that’s to spend less than you make. There are a number of ways to do that. You can go the “cut the latte” route and avoid relatively small daily expenditures that add up. You can create a budget and then go over it line by line, looking for specific areas to squeeze. You can try two techniques that I’ve advocated in the past, focusing on big-ticket items or employing strategies that can effectively fool you into being a better saver. Whatever works for you. But one way or another, you’re going to have to find a way to pare your spending.

… But I also know that borrowing to save is an oxymoronic concept that’s more likely to create problems than solve them.

I, the AKPK DMP blogger, chanced upon this interesting article, ‘Those Bloody Banks, Credit Card Companies and Bank Negara!‘ by Fahri Azzat at loyaburok.com, at The Malaysian Insider.

You may have missed this article that relates how banks and credit card companies can be so unreasonable when it comes to credit card terms. Enjoy reading!

(Source) JAN 16 — Diana Chee Vun Hsai, like many of us owned a credit card. She had two. One from Citibank Berhad, the other from HSBC Bank Berhad. On 7 September 2008, HSBC called up her to alert her about her credit card being used. When she checked her purse, she discovered both her credit cards were missing. She notified both the credit card companies of the loss of her credit cards on the same day and lodged a police report at Dang Wangi police station about it the following day. She understandably thought that was the end of the matter. She was wrong.

On 16 September 2008, Citibank told Diana Chee Vun Hsai they were billing her for the unauthorized transaction of RM 1,859.01 done on 6 September 2008. She responded through her solicitors to inform Citibank that the limit of liability for a lost credit card was RM 250.00 as provided in clauses 15.1, 15.2 and 15.3 of the Bank Negara Guidelines BNM/RH/GLO-041-01 (“the BNM Guidelines”). Citibank’s lawyers replied pointing out to her that the terms of her credit card the crux of which is as follows:

“Our client imposes a duty on the cardholder to notify the loss one (1) hour prior to the unauthorized use and to provide proof of acting in good faith and exercising reasonable care and diligence to prevent such loss or theft of unauthorized use of the card before our client can exercise its discretion whether to resolve the liability or not. Such a clause is not in contravention of the Bank Negara guidelines.” (emphasis mine)

I have emphasized that portion to demonstrate just how unreasonable banks can be; to limit your losses arising from the loss of your credit card to RM 250.00, you have to inform Citibank one hour before the unauthorized transaction takes place, which you would naturally know nothing about. Additionally, you have to prove good faith and demonstrate that you exercised reasonable care and diligence to prevent such a loss. How absurd is that! Even after you show all that that, it is still at Citibank’s discretion whether to “resolve the liability or not”. Is it any wonder the sensible man loathes banks despite yielding to them? They borrow your money, charge you a higher rate for borrowing back and offer you pittance for its use. But we shall leave this for another day.

Diana Chee rightly did not agree with the absurd reply and sued Citibank for several declarations the main ones being (i) that the BNM Guidelines issued pursuant to sections 25 and 70 the Payment Systems Act 2003 have the force of law and (ii) the term relied upon by Citibank to deduct the sum of RM 1,859.01 was illegal, void and contrary to public policy.

Justice Mohd Apandi Ali who heard the case at the outset opined that Citibank was an operator under the Payment Systems Act 2003 and therefore bound by the BNM Guidelines, which his Lordship very helpfully reproduces in its entirety for our benefit. I would strongly recommend those with credit cards to read and understand it. This would prevent credit card companies from taking advantage of your ignorance and fear of seeking legal advice. Clause 15.2 of the BNM Guidelines was referred to and is worth considering in full:

15. Liability For Lost Or Stolen Credit Card

15.2 The cardholders’ maximum liability for unauthorized transactions as a consequence of a lost or stolen credit card shall be confined to a limit specified by the issuer of the credit cards, which shall not exceed RM 250.00, provided the cardholder has not acted fraudulently or has not failed to inform the issuer of credit card as soon as reasonably practicable after having found that his credit card is lost or stolen.

His Lordship then opined quite rightly, “This ‘one hour prior to reporting of the loss card’ clause, to my mind is not only unreasonable and ridiculous but it is contrary to the provisions of cl. 15.2 of the Bank Negara Guidelines. In fact, the RM 250 is the maximum liability of the cardholder in such circumstances, and that the onus of proving fraud or unreasonable delay to report loss of the card is upon the issuer of the credit card”. So in this case, the Judge ruled that it was Citibank that had to prove any alleged fraud or unreasonable delay on the part of Diana Chee before they can deny her the limitation of liability.

This is my favourite part:

“The cardholder has complied with the said terms of reporting and confirming the loss of the credit card. The respondent cannot have the discretion, despite having it so written in the agreement, to circumvent the Bank Negara guidelines, with a view to limit its liability.”

There you have it. Citibank despite knowing the BNM Guidelines defiantly made terms of agreements for their credit cards that not only infringed the BNM Guidelines but was designed with the purpose of limiting its own liability. This you can appreciate could translate into increased profits for them.

The Judge then rightly goes on to point out that breaching the BNM Guidelines is an offence punishable under section 57 of the Payment Systems Act 2003 which prescribes a fine not exceeding RM 500,000.00. If the credit card company continues to offend it then it will be additionally liable to a fine not exceeding RM 1,000.00 for everyday that the offence continues. His Lordship states that, “the issuer of the credit card is also liable to have its approval revoked by Bank Negara if the issuer has failed to comply with any of the Guidelines issued by Bank Negara”. So clearly, the BNM Guidelines is an offence and if your credit card of bank is in breach of it, you should lodge a complaint with Bank Negara.

But it is not just the credit cards that are ripping us off. An interesting paper written by Kalavathy Maruthavanar titled “Internet Banking — A Boon or A Bane? A Study on the Legal Issues Relating to Internet Banking in Malaysia” (Developments in Malaysian Law: Selected Essays, Sharifah Suhanah Sy. Ahmad, UM 2007) suggests that our local banks are in flagrantly in breach of the BNM guidelines for internet banking as contained in the “Minimum Guidelines on the Provisions of Internet Banking Services by Licensed Banking Institutions” (referred to after this as the BNM Internet Banking Guidelines), which were issued pursuant to section 119 and section 126 of the Banking and Financial Institutions Act 1989 (“BAFIA”), and remains in force by virtue of section 77(4) of the Payment Systems Act 2003.

Kalavathy focuses her attention on four areas but I will focus only on two which I feel relevant here:

The first area is the Standard Form of Contract (“SFC”) between the bank and the user. Here she points out that the SFC generally forces the customer to agree to indemnify the bank for all and any loss arising from using internet banking regardless of whether they are at fault or responsible for the fault. She also points out that banks commonly exclude liability for negligence and for “any technical, hardware or software failure of any kind”. Basically the customer will have to bear the loss no matter what happens even when the bank is responsible.

Kalavathy points out that such clauses are in violation of Part 5, Clause 1.2(iii) of the BNM Internet Banking Guidelines which provides as follows:

“The customer know their rights and liabilities and are fully aware that they are responsible for their own actions. The contractual arrangements for liability arising from unauthorized or fraudulent transactions have been laid out to the customers. The arrangements should provide for sharing of risks between the banking institution and the customers. However, customers should not bear any loss arising from system failures.”

She also points out the relevance of the BNM Guidelines On Consumer Protection On Electronic Fund Transfers where Clause 17(1)(a) and (b) provides that:

A customer shall not be liable for loss -

(a) not attributable to or not contributed by the customer;

(b) caused by the fraudulent or negligent conduct of officers or agents appointed by, the -

(i) financial institution;

(ii) companies and other financial institutions involved in networking arrangements within this country; or

(iii) merchants who are linked to the card system.

So it appears we have local banks clearly in breach of the numerous BNM Guidelines issued.

The second area concerns the privacy aspect of internet banking. The BNM Internet Banking Guidelines approach is laudable. Clause 4.1 stresses that, “Bank Negara Malaysia considers the privacy of consumer personal information to be an important element of public trust and confidence in the Malaysian banking system”. Clause 4.4 places the responsibility of providing privacy protections in the online environment on the banks. They have to stipulate their Privacy Policy Statement on their websites and ensure that it conforms to conditions contained in clause 4.7. — BNM Internet Banking Guidelines at clauses 4.8 — 4.17 requires the banks to set up a Customer Support Service to handle queries and complaints, and oversee all internal controls.

Kalavathy then discovers that notwithstanding those guidelines, many banks Privacy Policy Statement do not comply with them because:

(i) most of those statements permit dissemination of information to the whole bank’s group and related companies;

(ii) some of those sites contain cookies that track your activities on the internet;

(iii) a customer will not be protected if they click on a third party link from the bank’s website;

(iv) information collected for promotions and contests can be used for marketing.

So even if the Privacy Policy Statement meets with the legal requirements, they do not necessarily do so with its spirit.

Both these developments indicate that though there are many good and noble BNM Guidelines out there, it suffers from the usual lack of enforcement. Bank Negara has to realize that it is no use coming up with all these noble Guidelines without backing it up with regular and consistent supervision and enforcement, more so with banks because they are so wealthy and powerful. Bank Negara has to realize that as consumers with little ability to negotiate terms with a bank, so it is all the more important that information is provided to us directly. This way we can point out and take those banks to task when they treat us as connedsumers instead of consumers, or better yet, living and breathing human beings — not just a financial statistic.

This is sensible and logical. That is probably why Bank Negara does not do it. Kalavathy reports, “The BNM Guidelines are issued by Bank Negara solely to domestic banks. These guidelines are not avaiable to the public and it has been questionable if a lay person can enforce any Bank Negara guideline in a court of law”.

As explained above, the position has moved on since then and BNM Guidelines now have the force of law.

The question now is will Bank Negara publicize all those fine and noble sounding guidelines for public education and awareness.

If they do not, that would raise the further question of, why not?

* This article is the personal opinion of the writer or publication. The Malaysian Insider does not endorse the view unless specified.

You have a debt problem, but it’s not serious enough to get you into AKPK debt management program yet? Lucky you! If you don’t want to resort to enrolling in AKPK’s DMP or declaring bankruptcy in future, then make sure you start managing your personal debt now.

Here is Raymond Roy Tiruchelvam’s article on How to Manage Personal Debt.

THE “easier said than done” phrase latches on to this topic like ants to sugar. While getting into debt is made easier today with the many innovative marketing plans undertaken by financial institutions, getting out of if, leaves much to be pondered.

For those who do not see the light at the end of the tunnel, Bank Negara has introduced AKPK or Credit Counselling and Debt Management Agency. I am assuming a single source of funds being financial institutions, and not “ah-longs” and other unconventional sources.

There is actually one step to be undertaken prior to managing your debt, which is managing your cash flow. It does not mean that if one is a millionaire, there is no need for debt management … well perhaps there is no need, since the ability to source for debt is high, but everyone will need to manage their cash flow, let it be millionaires or paupers.

Let’s look at some steps that we can take to ensure that we are able to manage our personal debts so that we do not go into the “PN4” or “PN17” status (which for companies implies a financially distressed state).

Let’s start with liquid debts, credit card and car loans. For the former, never follow the minimum payment requirement of the bank, which is 5% of outstanding sum. The reality is that it does not diminish in 20 months (5% X 20 months = 100%) – which is the general misconception.

Instead, spread the payment over a reasonable payable period. For example, if you purchase a personal computer for RM1,500 perhaps, you want to make a RM300 monthly payment over 5 months, rather than pay RM75 in the first month, then RM71 for the second month and so on (assuming one follows the minimum 5% payment, excluding interest charge).

As a matter of fact, if one were to purely pay the 5% minimum payment, do you know that it will take 50 years for the sum to trickle down to RM100. And mind you, even with that, the debt won’t be fully settled.

As for car loan, do not take a hire purchase (HP) contract for more than 5 years. What would a car costing RM80,000 be valued at after 2½ years? Depending on the type of car, continental or eastern, a 5-year HP term will value it at RM40,000 (assuming a simplicity straight line depreciation, 100% hire purchase financing, excluding interest with zero value at the end of the payment term).

Assuming one needed cash, don’t you think it’s easier to find a buyer at RM40,000 compared to if you were to take a 9-year car loan whereby you will need to find a buyer at RM62,222 (remaining loan balance after 2 years for a 9-year HP plan).

Naturally, one would say if not for the 9-year term, he or she will not be able to afford the vehicle … but that’s exactly the point. If you can’t afford it, then don’t buy it!

Next comes personal loan. Firstly, it baffles me that banks are giving out “clean” loans today, meaning non-collateralised, non-guaranteed loans as personal loans to almost everybody with a monthly pay slip. If you are unable to pay, there is little recourse, as compared to hire-purchase loan, where you may have the option of selling the car. Hence, unless you are sure of the purpose and that the usage of the funds will return a cash flow, do not indulge in one.

Using electronic means via Internet banking and online payment systems is a good way to manage your cash flow. Today many banks have this facility that allows you to also format standing instructions to promptly pay a fixed sum on a particular date towards debt settlement. This will help you ensure that priorities take precedence. Therefore, it’s only the balance cash after settling debts that will be available for disposal.

What will be the comfortable debt to income ratio? Zero is preferable, otherwise a 25% maximum limit of disposable income is recommended. For example, if you had bought the RM80,000 car mentioned earlier, on a 5-year term; assuming a simplified zero interest scheme, you would be paying RM1,333 monthly installment.

Therefore following the 25% debt to income ratio, you should be earning a minimum of RM5,333 per annum. This is after tax and EPF, therefore gross monthly salary should be about RM6,200. So after reading this, do you think you have overspent on your car? There is no under-spending by the way, since the ratio is only an indicator, and I am sure you would probably want to also invest in a housing loan.

You can also increase your capacity to loan, by simply borrowing money to invest where the returns are higher than the cost of funds.

If you can find one an avenue that guarantees this position, then do inform me, I too am curious!

Raymond Roy Tiruchelvam is a former senior manager – economics and investment analysis at an oil and gas outfit.

If you think that you do not see the light at the end of the tunnel, then attend AKPK’s briefing to see if you need a debt management plan to help you get out of debt.

Having been in a free debt management program since October 2008, I must say that reading news, articles or success stories of cutting up credit cards, paying off debts and living cash-or-debit-card-only lifestyle is very inspiring.

The success stories of getting rid of debts motivate me to keep on paying down my credit card debts through the debt management plan and most important of all, they give me hope that I can be debt free one day.

I want to be like Russell and Kathy Hildebrandt who successfully pay off $100,000 debt with DMP or Lisa Brough who was forced into a debt-free life:

Lisa Brough was forced into a debt-free life by medical disaster.

Her husband has Huntington’s disease, a degenerative brain disorder, and has been unable to work since 1999. The couple, who have three children, saw their finances suffer as a result. They ended up with $50,000 worth of credit card debt as Brough worked two jobs and still struggled to pay the bills and the high property taxes on their home in Westchester County, N.Y.

“I said to myself, ‘I can’t do this anymore,’ ” she recalled. “He was going downhill, and I had to figure out a way to get out of this. I couldn’t count on tomorrow because I didn’t know what tomorrow would bring.”

In 2005, she took drastic measures. She decided to sell her $350,000 home, pay off all the family’s debt, and move to lower-cost Cary, N.C., where she was able to buy a house for $164,000 house in cash.

Since then it’s been cash and debit cards only for Brough, 50, who has no debt of any kind.

My reasons of getting into knee deep debts were more or less the same as theirs. However, their ways, means or methods of getting out of debts may or may not the same as mine.

By reading and utilizing their tips on how to eliminate the debts and save money, I hope I can be free of credit card debts through the debt management programme in a few years’ time.

The success stories of others also make me realize that it is possible to survive and thrive without depending on credit cards!

Tell me you can still keep your calm after seeing the outstanding balance of your credit card as of today and in March is RM6,300 and RM6,400 respectively.

I think any reasonable mind will go mad or freaked out after seeing no noticeable decrease in credit card balance despite being in a debt management program, right?

This morning, I thought of doing a spreadsheet for all my credit card accounts. When comparing the figure of March and November statements of a bank, I was shocked to see RM6,300 and RM6,400.

How could it be? I had already been in AKPK debt management plan for one year, so logically, the amount owed should have dropped to less than RM6,000, right?

Ya, I was mad and freaked out. I knew it’s because of the late payment charges that showed up almost every month for the last few months.

I remember my Ipoh credit counsellor had told me before that there’s nothing to worry about the late payment fees. They would not show up anymore once the banks had everything updated.

I also thought the banks would remove the late charges from their record sooner or later, so I didn’t call or write to the banks. But after giving them so many months to get updated, the late charges still showed up in the statements.

Enough! Too much! So I gave AKPK Ipoh branch a call. As usual, the ever helpful Ms Lina answered the phone.

I told her about banks (except Public Bank) which still had the late charges printed on the monthly statements. After listening attentively to my complaint, Lina assured me not to worry about the late payment fees.

According to her, banks would stick to only collecting the agreed amount of outstanding balance plus interest charges. I hope the banks really do so.

To know the latest correct amount of each of my credit card, Ms Lina even gave me every bank’s phone number and name of person who is in charge of AKPK cases.

I did call one of the banks and raised my concern regarding the late payment charges. Again, I was reassured that there’s nothing to worry about the late fees.

Am I considered lucky to be able to escape from the new RM50 service tax a year on every principal credit card and charge card since I am now in AKPK debt management programme? So is hubby

Imagine how much annual service tax hubby and I had to pay if we still had the 15 credit cards!! 15 principal credit cards from 6 banks. Phew, it’s RM750!

According to financial analysts, it is predicted that at least 30% of the holders of 11 million cards in circulation who have more than one card will have to pay RM100 every year.

You know, the applications for new credit cards dropped by 80% following the Government’s announcement of the service tax starting 2010.

Don’t you think this new imposition is good to those who are thinking of applying credit cards? It scares them off and thus they carry no credit cards. No credit cards mean no credit card debts, right?

When there are no credit card debts, people will have no reason to turn to non-performing loans, short-term loans, personal loans, debt consolidation loans, AKPK debt management programs, or bankruptcy easily.

It’s also good to those of you who have stacks of credit cards; you are forced to reduce the number of cards you own. Having fewer credit cards means you have to cut down on spending, retail purchases and impulse buying.

Also, you get to learn to use cash and debit cards. As a credit-card-debt woman who is in AKPK’s debt management plan, I must say that I love using cash and debit card now.

I have had two debit cards, Public Bank Visa debit card and Tune Money Visa debit card. Both cards are not used for retail purchases. Noop. They are only used for collecting PayPal money from my online income.

Since PayPal has now allowed Malaysians to link their PayPal accounts to their Malaysian banks or overseas banks operating in Malaysia, I think I can totally stop using and renewing my Tune Money Visa debit card.

As for the Public Bank Visa debit card, I will keep on using as a backup for PayPal fund withdrawals.

Speaking of reasons why I enrolled in AKPK debt management program (DMP), I have cited quite a few reasons whenever I mention my AKPK DMP.

I am sure they are of the same reasons given by others who were or are in debt management plans.

Let me share with you top 10 reasons why people with credit card and personal debts, including myself, have turned to debt management programmes to pay off the debt.

May the reasons stated below help you make up your mind whether a debt management program is the right debt relief option for you.

1. You have tried out self repayment plan but it doesn’t help much to decrease your debt balance. I did try out self credit card debt reduction from April 2007 to August 2008 and managed to bring down my credit card debt from RM63,809 to RM40,344. But since then, the amount of debt balance didn’t decrease much.

2. You are so deeply in financial crisis that you need to get rid of your debt before any legal proceeding such as being sued for bankruptcy starts. Although I was able to bring down my credit card debt through self debt reduction plan, I still decided to turn to AKPK debt management program.

Why? Well, I couldn’t bear with the late payment fees and over-limit charges imposed by banks anymore; the amount of late payment fees and over the limit charges was so much that it made my efforts of paying down my credit card debt a waste of my hard-earned money.

3. You don’t want to be disturbed by irritating and harassing phone calls from debt collection agencies. Ask anyone who has been behind their payments or has missed a few credit card payments, they will tell you how stressful and depressing it is when it comes to handling calls from banks and collection agencies, and also piles of notices and warning letters.

4. You would like to lower the interest rates on your outstanding balances so that you are able to save money. From 18% interest rates to 6% or 7% interest rates, I must say that it’s a huge saving.

5. You don’t want to pay extra charges due to late payment. One day in August 2008, I told hubby that I had had enough of paying the never-ending late payment and over-limit fees charged by banks that brought us to nowhere, but increasing credit card debt!

6. When your budget is too tight, a debt management plan allows you to lower your monthly payment. Due to economy downturn, hubby’s meager income and my decreasing online income made us opt for lower payments for our credit cards.

Previously hubby and I had to pay more than RM2,500 for the credit card minimum payments. But with AKPK’s debt repayment plans, we are allowed to pay much much lower payments to our creditors. My DMP is RM320 per month while hubby’s DMP is RM360.

7. You have no idea about managing your own debt at all and you need proper guidance.

8. You have multiple bills and you can’t manage them efficiently.

9. You find that you need a professional credit counselor to assist you to work out a budget based on your income and commitment.

10. Your credit score is in a bad shape and there is a need for you to rebuild it through a proper debt management program.

Are you burdened with too much credit card debt that you are thinking of applying for Malaysia’s AKPK debt management programme (DMP)? But, you are also worried whether AKPK, the credit counseling and debt management agency set up by the Central Bank of Malaysia, is a scam or not, right?

I understand. Been there and done that.

To thoroughly convince yourself to enroll in the debt management plan, read as many success stories of AKPK as possible. There are more success stories of AKPK or AKPK bloggers now if compared to last August when I submitted my application form.

Before you read others’ experience using debt management program, read the FIRST AKPK success story; it’s my bumpy journey from submitting the application form to being approved of the debt repayment plan.

And here is another success story that I would like to share with you. CEO, a man who is under RM200,000 credit card debt, has successfully applied for the AKPK debt management program recently.

He left a long comment at my credit card debt blog on August 1st, thanking me for sharing my credit card debt reduction and AKPK application process with others.

You don’t have to hop over to my credit card debt blog to read his comment. I have decided to copy and paste the entire comment on this debt management program blog for easy reading.

First of all, A BIG THANK TO YOU FOR THIS BLOG. You are not only a woman of courage to reveal all that detail, but you have helped me tremendously.

I just got out from the AKPK office, and they proposed to reduce my monthly commitment from nearly RM10,000 to just RM2,000 per month.

I got into a heavy credit card debt 5 years ago when a friend asked me to join him in a business. Trusting him, I quit my job, funded the business with my credit cards, supported HIM with a supplementary credit card which he took only 1 month to swipe up RM20k, and lastly he just ran away, leaving me to pay everything.

Finally, the economy hit my career, and this month I had to accept a drastic paycut. It scared me at first, but I decided that maybe there was a silver lining.

I found your blog. I read and re-read it until 3 am.

I thought — maybe, if I go to AKPK, and they reduce my monthly repayment, I can actually start seeing some SURPLUS from my smaller income. Better to have a small income but with extra money, than having a big income but nothing to show for it. Of course, with my previous 5-figure salary, AKPK would just kick me out, but now I had the advantage of the situation.

Last Monday, I braved myself to go to AKPK. It was the hardest thing to do, to be SEEN walking into debt counseling. I have appeared in the media before, television, magazines and newspapers. Didn’t know where to hide my face. I arrived at 11.45, and was put immediately into the intro class.

I was surprised to see quite a few “corporate people” in the class, dressed in their office attire. I don’t know if they were as ‘embarrassed’ as I was to be there. I sat down for 1 1/2 hours, after which I immediately went to Bank Negara to collect my credit report.

I made the earliest possible appointment to see a credit counselor. In the meantime, I went to each bank and collected any missing statements.

I went to see the counselor this morning. She was polite, comforting and never did anything to make you feel small. She said she would try to negotiate it down to RM1,800 a month for the first 2 years then RM2,200+ thereafter. I said never mind, let’s make it RM2,000 flat. I’m sure by the time the economy rebounds, I will be able to afford the RM2,000 easily.

She even guided me to fill up the application form properly (to fill the correct figures so the application can be approved easier). In short, she was there to help, and I mean REALLY help.

I got close to RM300k at first, but over the years, paying slowly, I have managed to bring everything down to under RM200k (which makes your RM60k something to smile about, actually!).

I have been earning 5-figures every month from my salary, yet I never get to taste my own money. My children have to settle for cheap clothings like poor kids.

Every month, I pay pay pay pay… I try to keep myself motivated, but it is tiring to wake up every morning, thinking to yourself, “I am running every day, only to stand still.”

She asked for the first payment of RM2,000 to be deposited, which I will do next week as the banks are closed today. From there, processing will take approximately one month.

She says no need to pay the creditors, if they call I just need to tell them I have submitted an AKPK application and fax the deposit slip if necessary.

Fortunately I am not yet under any legal problems, and most of my loans are still current. If you are thinking about doing it, do it now. It is important to take action at THIS stage before the banks start harassing you.

I do not really care that I will not be able to get any new loans until the 10 years are up. I am selling my house and just live with the car. Maybe not now, but when the economy goes back up, and my salary climbs back to normal, I should be able to save up for a couple of years, and pay for a new budget-priced apartment in cash. The important thing is I will now have a positive income and room to breathe, and I HAVE YOU TO THANK.

God bless you. Please keep up the good work.

Congratulations on getting your very first credit card! It’s my hope that you can use your credit card wisely to avoid getting into deep credit card debt and having to resort to debt consolidation, debt management program, debt settlement plan or bankruptcy.

If I had been careful when it came to using credit cards, I wouldn’t have gotten myself into deep credit card debt and enrolled in a free debt management program known as AKPK debt management program to help me lower my monthly payments from more than RM1,500 to RM320, reduce interest rates from 18% to 6% or 7%, waive late payments and over-limit charges.

Credit cards, when used in moderation, could be helpful in managing your finances. But splurging through the use of credit cards is almost financial suicide.

To prevent you from acquiring credit card debt that leads you to financial death, let me share with you how you can manage the way you use your credit card.

1. Prioritize Your NEEDS Before Your WANTS. Buying big ticket items that you don’t really need might give you that instant gratification that impulsive buyers are addicted to. But that temporary high would eventually turn to long-term down feeling due to your high-interest added credit card debt.

Imagine after 15 months of owning the 42″ Plasma TV, you are still paying down the amount owed, its interest charges and interest on the owed interest charges! So depressing!

2. Never Go Over Your Credit Limit. In order to be able to manage your credit card payment, never go overboard when it comes to your credit limit. If it’s possible, just use about two-thirds of your limit.

3. Keep the Statement of Your Credit Card Account. For easy reference in future, keep a record of all your credit card transactions.

Always spend some time comparing the list of your purchase for the month with the statement to prevent being charged inaccurately. If your list and the statement of account do not match, report this to your bank.

Self-control is still the best way to prevent getting piled up debt. I have been there before and I tell you, it’s no fun having accumulated debt.

You know how suffocated and stressful I was before I signed up with a free debt management program? My piled up debt was actually caused by late payment fees, over-limit charges and miscellaneous fee charges.