What’s God’s New Plan For AKPK Debt Management Programme Blogger?

God has to be kidding with me. Just as I was so blessed with my personal savings, rental income and increasing online income (AKPK DMP Blogger is Back to Financial Track Slowly and Steadily) , boom, my Google AdSense and paid review earnings dropped tremendously.

Yes, a sharp decline in my online income! From making around $1,000 a month to less than $300 now! Boo hoo hoo. This is totally unacceptable as it came out of no where and caught me off guard.

All of a sudden, the online assignments given by an advertising network dropped by 70% starting 3 weeks ago. And then my Google AdSense earnings began to see a decline from more than $10/day to $5 a day to, oh my God, less than $1 today!

If there still aren’t many online assignments this week, it’s for sure that I must look for a full time job to supplement my online income that falls to less than $300 or RM1,000 a month.

This RM1,000, plus hubby’s RM2,000 ++ income, is simply not enough to pay our AKPK debt repayments (RM680), auto loan (RM820), home loan installment and bank overdraft charge (RM525), flat rental (RM270), internet connection fee (RM110), utility and cell phone bills. Besides, there are still meal expenses and groceries.

A cut of 70% on my online income! Is it temporary because of the 2010 FIFA World Cup fever? I don’t know.

If the advertising network I am working for still gives out very few online assignments this week, I think I will have to start making appointments for job interviews.

God, are you showing me your new plan? If so, it has got to be a better plan than the one I am having now, okay? Have faith in You.

AKPK DMP Blogger is Back to Financial Track Slowly and Steadily.

How much has been spent on fixing the vacant house in Ipoh before it can be occupied by the tenants? Phew, RM590!

May 13th – Water and electricity departments – RM231
May 20th – Kitchen faucets and water pipes – RM70
May 27th – Fluorescent light replacements – RM119
May 28th – Leaking water tank and water pipes – RM170

Wait, RM590 is not the total yet! There are still leaking toilets and air-conditioner installation that will be done this coming Saturday or/and Sunday.

We estimate the leaking toilets (3 toilets now!) to cost between RM250 and RM400 and the air-conditioner installation between RM1,400 and RM1,550.

Since the air-conditioner can be paid in two installments, I don’t have to dig out all of my personal savings. Boohoo, there will be a dent in my personal savings!

Anyway, I think it’s worth paying for all the fixes and repairs since:

a) The house will not be left vacant to rot again;

b) There will be monthly rental of RM400 to cover some of the home loan installment or to be saved as emergency fund;

c) It’s easier to sell the house in future, either to the tenants or neighbors whose family members or relatives are interested.

As a matter of fact, a neighbor who lives two houses away came to have a look of the inside of our house when hubby and I were in the house last Saturday. He said his brother was also thinking of buying one nearby his.

Thanks to new developments around my housing area that the price for my 22 x 75 double-storey house has gone up to nearly RM150,000 these few years.

A friend who is a pro construction worker said we can sell our house in Ipoh easily if we are willing to sell it at RM135,000. Wow, it’s for sure hubby and I will sell the house and be mortgage free if there is a buyer now!

At this point of my life, I am so grateful to God for leading me and hubby back on financial track slowly and steadily.

First, being approved of the AKPK debt management program applications. Next, steady online income from me and full time teaching income from hubby. Then, having extra money to be saved as emergency fund. Later, renting out the house in Ipoh.

All this came one by one. This made me realize that, “When I am ready to make a change financially, God will help.“

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.

Tip #14 – Nikmati Pelepasan Cukai Untuk Pendidikan. Argh, TAX and INSURANCE,  I hated both! And I still hate them, even though I have tried to like them.

The tip here is about how you can use tax relief options to save money on taxes.

Tip #15 – Kurangkan Caj Perkhimatan Pendahuluan Dalam Pelaburan Unit Amanah.

You know, family members around me hate unit trusts a lot; they say they don’t make money from there.

Well, it did make me money many, many years ago when I first bought the PB Growth Fund (PBGF). More than a thousand ringgit in net profit within two years of investment!

But then two or three years ago, I bought this PB China Pacific Equity Fund (PBCPEF) at RM0.25 per unit during its 21-day initial offer period. I invested RM1,000 at that time and guess what it’s of RM500 or RM600’s worth now!

A tip learned from K.C is that Public Mutual only charges 0.25% service fee on its bond funds. Ha, I thought every mutual fund agency/company charges 6.5% service fee. Just checked that the PB China Pacific Equity Fund I invested in charges 0.36%.

If you have already accumulated enough emergency fund and there is still money in hand, you can actually invest in unit trusts. Just that you need to do research a bit or get help from a trust fund agent/financial planner.

Tip #16 – Uruskan Gadai Janji Anda. I did my home mortgage refinance a few years ago before I was deeply in debt. Guess what happened to the RM30,000 bank overdraft facility given by bank? Wuahaha, all used up!

Since enrolling in AKPK’s debt management plan, I have been able to save some money. Of course, the amount is still not enough to be called an emergency fund yet.

Once I have enough emergency fund and pay off some personal debts owed to family members/friends, I will start tackling my home loan and bank overdraft.

Tip #17 – Tingkatkan Gaya Hidup Anda Sambil Mengurangkan Perbelanjaan. Oh, tips on cutting down daily/monthly expenses! Love the tips here.

K.C., thanks to the free shows/movies websites! Maybe you can add one more online TV shows website www.Watch-Series.com. This is where I watch my favorite CSI, CSI: Miami, CSI: NY, NCIS, The Criminal Minds, Grey’s Anatomy, Lie to Me, … for free.

Done with Bahagian 3 – Menjimat Wang. If you are looking for saving money tips to help cut down your spending/expenses, tips in this part are very useful.

Whether you have no debt, a little debt or a heap of debt, the tips help. Even if you are already in AKPK like me, the money saving tips still work for you.

Go to ‘AKPK DMP Blogger’s Book Review: Tip-Tip Kewangan Untuk Rakyat Malaysia by K.C Lau’ – Part 3.

30-Day Challenge of Tracking Every Dollar & Cent – Day 1 – RM32.60, Day 2 – RM31.10, Day 3 – RM41.25, Day 4 – RM341.60.

After having breakfast with my younger sister and her hubby this morning, I went to school with hubby to help him print out the mid term exam papers and notices.

As last night’s dinner and this morning’s breakfast were kind of heavy for me, I decided to skip lunch and dinner.

Tired now. Maybe I should go to bed early.

Tomorrow, remember to deposit May’s rental to the landlord! After paying RM270 for rental, it’s going to be a few weeks before I pay for my AKPK debt management program repayment, hubby’s AKPK dmp repayment, bank overdraft interest charge, home loan interest charge, car loan installment, Streamyx bill and other utility bills.

Breakfast – RM24.30 (breakfast with sister and her hubby)
Lunch – RM7.50
Toile Rolls – RM15.90
Total Spent: RM47.70

This is a series of posts about Turning The Vacant House In Ipoh Into A Home Stay Guest House? – Part 1, Part 2.

I told hubby about the idea of turning our vacant home in Ipoh into a homestay guest house a few days ago. Surprisingly, he thought it’s a good idea!

Instead of leaving the house empty, it’s better to turn it into a guest house to bring in some cash to pay the monthly home loan installment.

I told my younger sister who was here having her trip with her family last night and she agreed that it’s a good idea and that hubby and I should have it set up within two months.

Within two months? No way. Hubby and I can only start having the house painted with a new coat in December when hubby’s year end school holidays starts.

Besides, with our current paltry savings, there is no way we can have the house turned into a homestay guest house in two months’ time. Painting, installing air-conditioners and heaters and buying home appliances and bedroom beddings require a sum of money.

Cleaning and painting the house will be the very first thing we have to do in December. Once it’s done, everything will fall into the right place.

I have already started collecting photos of nice homestay guest houses’ color schemes and interior arrangements to avoid hasty decisions at the end of the year.

I am going to come up with a long list of household appliances, kitchen utilities, and bedroom and bathroom accessories pretty soon.

I have stopped recording and tracking my daily spending for a while. Once again. Again and again. On and off. Start then stop. Sigh, when will I ever stick to recording and tracking where my money goes to, keeping to my budget and reducing daily expenses to save more money?

Fine! I accept the fact that I have failed many times, but I am not ready to call it quit. I want to try again. Yup, I am going to start tracking my spending again! Wuahaha!

Okay, let me see if setting up a 30-Day Challenge of Tracking Every Dollar and Cent works to push me into recording my daily expenses and stretching every dollar and cent I have!

So, today is Day 1 of my 30-Day Challenge. What have I spent on and how much?

Breakfast – RM2.20
A Pack of Corn Caps – RM5.90
Lunch & Dinner – RM8
Cold Drink – RM1.40
Fruits – RM2.80
Vegetable – RM1
A Few Packs of Biscuits – RM11.30
Total Spent: RM32.60

* Fixed payments like car loan installment (RM400), bank overdraft interest charge (RM200), home loan interest charge (RM375), hubby’s AKPK debt repayment (RM360) and my AKPK debt management plan repayment (RM320) are excluded.

How’s my savings going on? Well, sehr gut or very good. From RM1,500 when I mentioned it in December’s blog post, Thank God for AKPK Debt Management Program, Steady Income and Good Health, to RM3,000 now.

An increase of RM1,500 in two months! Amazing, right? This has got to do with a sudden increase in the number of online tasks in January. This doesn’t always happen though I hope it will.

Has my hubby found out my personal saving? Well, I am pretty sure he knows I am stashing away money. Just that he doesn’t know the exact amount.

I still need RM500 to reach my RM3,500 saving goal. I am thinking of transferring RM500 from hubby’s bonus and Ang Pao to my saving so that it hits RM3,500.

Speaking of hubby’s bonus, both of us are a bit disappointed with his half month’s bonus. We thought he could get a one-month bonus as said/mentioned by the principal when he was interviewing hubby.

Anyway, hubby only started his work in July 2009, so it’s actually fair to get half month’s bonus, right? Oh, not to forget that hubby got a RM200 salary raise starting January 2010!

Besides, there is still Ang Pao or money gift. According to hubby’s colleagues, it’s going to be given out on Friday, that’s tomorrow! Hopefully it’s between RM500 and RM1,000.

Be grateful, you AKPK DMP blogger! Count your blessings, please! Do you know that you and your hubby:

1. are now both in AKPK free debt management program that helps you pay down credit card debt with lower monthly repayments of RM320 and RM360 respectively;

2. have a dual income between RM4,600 and RM5,000 every month;

3. have an emergency fund of RM3,000 in the saving account;

4. have money to pay auto and home loan installments, utility bills and flat rental in time;

5. have extra money to spend on clothes and personal supplies;

6. are healthy and strong;

7. …

Thank You God for what I am and will be having. Wuahaha!

I used to think losing a house to foreclosure is a financial relief. Well, I was wrong! It is a relief only if there’s NO “deficiency judgment” or difference between what you owed on your mortgage and what the bank sold it for at auction.

There was once upon a time when my credit card debt was so unbearable that I did think of giving up my house. Fortunately, I didn’t. I got help from AKPK free debt management program to help put my financial back on track again.

Are you thinking of putting your home on a short sale or have you already lost your home to a foreclosure? If so, read You Lost Your House – But You Still Have to Pay. You’ll think twice.

(CNNMoney.com) — As terrible as it is to lose your house to foreclosure, at least it’s a relief to put your biggest financial headache behind you, right?

Wrong.

Former homeowners may still be on the hook if there’s a difference between what they owed on their mortgage and what the bank could sell it for at auction. And these “deficiency judgments” are ticking time bombs that can explode years after borrowers lose their homes.

It can even happen to people who got their bank to approve them selling their home for less than it is worth.

Vanessa Corey, for example, short sold her Fredericksburg, Va., home in April 2008. She and her husband built the house in 2004, but setbacks, both personal (divorce) and professional (housing bust), made it impossible for the real estate agent to keep her home. So she negotiated the short sale and thought that was the end of it.

“My understanding was that the deficiency was negotiated away,” she said. “Then, last November, I got a letter from a lawyer telling me I owed my lender $65,000. I had to declare bankruptcy. There was no way I could pay it.”

Where the foreclosure plague is spreading

Many homeowners are now in the same boat. And not just those who took out bigger loans than they could afford or who did so called “liar loans” where they didn’t have to verify their income.

Because of falling home prices, borrowers who always paid their mortgage but who have run into unforeseen circumstances — like unemployment or a job transfer — can no longer sell their homes for what they owe. As a result, they are being forced to short sell or foreclose and are getting caught up in deficiency judgments.

“After the banks foreclose, it’s very common now to have large deficiencies with houses not worth the balances owed,” said Don Lampe, a North Carolina real estate attorney.

Lenders mostly declined comment. Although Corey’s lender, BB&T did indicate it was pursuing more deficiency judgments.

“They follow the rise and fall of foreclosures,” said the spokeswoman, who would not discuss Corey’s account.

Can they come after you?

Whether banks can and will pursue deficiency judgments depends on many factors, including what state the borrower lives in and whether there’s a second mortgage or other liens. But if borrowers ignore the possibility of deficiencies, it could haunt them.

“Once they have a judgment, they can pursue you anywhere,” said Richard Zaretsky, a board-certified real estate attorney in West Palm Beach, Fla. “They can ask for financial records, have your wages garnished and, if you fail to respond, a judge can put you in jail.”

In the case of foreclosure, lenders can pursue deficiencies in more than 30 states, including Florida, New York and Texas, according to the U.S. Foreclosure Network, an organization of mortgage law firms.

Some states, such as California, are “non-recourse” and don’t allow deficiency judgments. But, even there, if the original loan was refinanced, some or all of it may be subject to claims.

Check the foreclosure rate in your state

Deficiency judgments on short sales and deeds-in-lieu can happen in many more places. In these cases, extinguishing the debt is often a matter of negotiating with the bank.

But even when lenders are willing, many borrowers may not be aware that they have to ask for release. So, if you are pursuing a short sale, be sure your attorney asks the bank to release you from any further obligation.

“People shouldn’t have a false sense of security that a deficiency judgment may not be later sought,” Zaretsky said.

He expects many will be filed over the next few years, based on the fact that banks have sold many of these accounts to collection agencies and other third parties, at discount.

“The parties who bought those notes wouldn’t have paid money for them unless they had the intention of acting,” Zaretsky said.

Ticking time bomb

What can be scary is that the judgments don’t have to be obtained immediately. Lenders or collection agencies may wait until debtors have recovered financially before they swoop in. In Florida, the bank can wait up to five years to file. Once the court grants a judgment, the lender has 20 years there to collect, with interest.

It doesn’t have to be a large amount of debt for a lender or collection agency to come after borrowers. Richard Varno and his wife short sold their Nashville home back in 2004 after he lost his job.

It wasn’t until 2008, when the second lien holder asked him for $25,000, that he realized he still was liable.

“I told them, ‘Hey, you guys released the title,’” he said. “As far as I know, I’m off the hook.”

He wasn’t. Releasing title does not necessarily end the debt. It’s complicated because of variations in state law, but, generally, a mortgage has two parts: a pledge of collateral, represented by the home, and a promise to pay off the loan.

Lenders may release property liens in order to facilitate short sales without releasing borrowers from their obligations to pay under the promissory notes. The secured debt can convert to an unsecured one after the sale.

Zaretsky had one client who was so relieved to have arranged a short sale that he signed every paper his real estate agent shoved at him, even a confession that clearly stated he still owed the debt.

“He had no idea what he was doing,” said Zaretsky. “All the lender had to do was go to court to convert the confession into a deficiency judgment.”

Lenders are also very inconsistent. One of Zaretsky’s short-sale clients was ready, willing and able to pay, but the bank did not even ask; another lender always reserves the right to pursue the deficiency.

Strategic defaults

Sometimes lenders go after borrowers walking away from their homes if they have other assets, according to Florida real estate attorney Larry Tolchinsky.

“Banks are pulling credit reports to see if it’s a strategic default,” he said. “If you’re behind on all your other payments, you’re okay. But if you’re not, they’ll come after you.”

If borrowers have any doubts about their risks, they should seek legal advice. Or, at least, call non-profit organizations such as NeighborWorks for advice. According to Doug Robinson, a NeighborWorks spokesman, its counselors always try to negotiate away deficiencies when they facilitate short sales or deeds-in-lieu.

“We don’t favor any short-sale contracts that leave any deficiency that can be pursued,” he said.

Robinson himself knows what can happen. He paid off a deficiency after his own New Jersey house went through foreclosure 11 years ago.

Hubby’s full time teaching income has been increased from RM1,500 to almost RM2,000 after EFP and SOCSO deduction.

With hubby’s RM2,000 net income, together with my online income of RM2,500 (my income is between RM2,500 and RM3,000), I must say that I don’t have to worry much like I did last time when hubby didn’t have a fixed full time job.

After paying the AKPK debt repayments of mine and hubby’s RM680, auto instalment RM820, home loan instalment plus bank overdraft interest charge RM530, utility bills plus Internet connection and cell phone fees RM270, and food and grocery expenses RM800, there is still about RM1,400 left in hand to be save as emergency fund.

Of course, the amount of RM4,500 only started to appear on the 28th of October! Prior to that, hubby’s income was still RM1,500.

Though there should be RM1,400 left to be saved in the savings every month, we still haven’t got the chance to own the full amount of RM1,400 and save it in the account. Why?

Well, there had been a few unexpected expenses that sucked the extra money and personal savings away. Eye specialist fee, bifocals, vitamins, supplements, wedding gifts and funeral money gifts, …

Ask the Chinese Malaysians that you know, how many wedding dinners they have attended and how much they have spent on gifts and money gifts for wedding from the month of September till now?

And how many more wedding receptions and dinners they are going to attend and the estimation of wedding money gifts they are going to fork out this December?

Ask too if they have ever received two or three wedding invitations which are/were held on the same day?

These few months are peak season for wedding! Wedding is the bride and bridegroom’s business, why do they have to make the whole world busy and waste money?

I will never forget a wedding dinner that I attended Kuala Lumpur more than 10 years ago. It started at 9 p.m, two hours late!

I waited for two hours! I should say I wasted two hours waiting for the dinner to start. You know, it’s only a not-so-close colleague’s wedding.

Yes, from what I have written, I am sure you can figure that I hate attending wedding dinners. And also birthday parties.

I am now at the stage of life where I want to spend my time doing the stuff I like. I no longer want to use my time to do other people’s stuff or stuff that make others happy because I give them face but in the actual fact I hate it.

Of course, there are exceptions. I will still attend family members’ wedding dinners and birthday parties. I mean those who are really really close and those whom I like.

So, when do hubby and I really get the chance to own the amount of RM1,400 and save it as emergency fund in the saving account?

Hubby got his first pay check today! Happy and relieved.

I am relieved because the money came in time to pay some overdue utility bills that must be paid within these few days.

Hubby’s net income is RM1,500 for the time being. His RM1,500, plus my online income and tuition fee of RM2,500 is equal to RM4,000.

Tomorrow hubby will bank in my AKPK debt management program repayment and his AKPK DMP repayment.

Finally the car can be sent for service tomorrow after putting off the service for more than 3 months!

The following day, I will bank in car and home loan installments. The car and home loan installments are actually 2 months behind. It’s my hope that we are able to bring them current as soon as possible.