Fasting And Binging

It's technically my daughters first Ramadan. She's 7 and she will have to fast the whole day. Starting around lunch time is when she starts to complain. Under normal circumstances, she never asks to eat. In fact, we have to insist that she eats. During Ramadan, she wants to break her fast as soon as she feels slight hunger. Then she made a plan for break time to eat everything in sight. Of course, once she did break her fast, she didn't act according to plan.

There are two things that are at play during fasting. Hunger and satisfaction. The combination of physical and emotional need to fill the void and feeling satisfied soon after. When we're going against food, we can probably win most challenges. But how can we win against objects, when we window-shop and have a sudden urge to buy?

It's very hard when you're going against yourself without a buffer (friend, family, spouse). I am almost always the loser when I am by myself. The quick answer if you've ever find yourself digging further emotionally to find justification to buy is to quickly remove yourself from the situation. You'll soon remove yourself from the emotions you experienced and quickly gain self-control.

PS.
Happy Ramadan.

During Ramadan, I will be taking a break from this blog, though not a complete break. I will be going through all my past posts and clean up on my poor writing to my abilities. I'll see you after Eid. Salaam.

Why Showing Off Causes the Greatest Infliction

I've been always stoical of all the stuff that I do and what I've been through. This has helped me almost all of the time and I consider this as one of my strengths. In fact I boldly accepted myself as being stoic and I'm proud to be one. Oh yeah I almost forget, I'm not showing off!


There are so many ways people show off. It is done either online or offline but it doesn't matter. It still constitutes a way of flaunting that could pose a significant effect. Some examples of online flaunting are posting pictures in social media about a new luxury car, lavish vacations including food and accommodation, expensive gadgets and worst of all, a self portrait with a pile of money.

Offline examples include wearing glittering trinkets all over the body, unsolicited bragging of luxury experiences and the like.

I don't feel bitter nor happy about these people. Rather I feel compassionate about them. It must have been that they're often neglected that they want to ding for others to notice them. Too bad.

I am not against the idea of flaunting because it is human nature to share the emotions to other people. As humans we can't keep to ourselves what we feel and to interact with one another is within the norms.

What is pissing me off is when shallow details have been magnified so as to call the attention of others. Sure this is going to be ego self-boosting but most often than not self-inflicting. These are some of the downsides of outrageous flaunting that I feel compassionate about.

1. You are cocky

The message of flaunting will be clearly sent to the recipient. But how a person perceives beyond the superficial message is uncontrollable and often destructive to the sender. While you might feel happy about posting pictures of you driving a Lamborghini, others may think you are bragging what you have and not really looking into your achievement and self-worth.

2. You have less attention

Having luxury items speak for itself and don't need to be showed off. Wearing an Hermes bag on a banquet is good but having an enlarged picture of it on social media is not appropriate. Doing so will result to an ill-mannered way of calling people's attention. If you need praises and compliments, donate your bag and help other people.

3. You put yourself at risk

Flagrant showing of what you have jeopardizes your privacy and personal safety. If this is going in the wrong ears, it could possibly get you in trouble. Don't let that happen.

Conclusion

To flaunt is to flare. But not all things can be flaunted. Remember, people will like you not because of what you have but what you are. Instead of bragging about your newest acquisition, why not talk about your struggles and achievements instead?

You will never know but that could be the tipping point of other people. They can see your intrinsic qualities that could inspire them to do the same and achieve their goals in life.

Image courtesy of itricks.com

Being Rational During An Irrational State

Financial Samurai

I've turned in my resignation letter, and I've taken it back. Circumstances change quickly. I feel I've made the right decision to resign but the timing wasn't. What I'm trying to avoid is making decision in an irrational state. It's hard to know when you're being irrational, so I choose to go to the personal finance blog that I really trust, the financial samurai. The website has a useful tip of 15 things to consider before we choose to resign from our job. I'm going taking some of them off, so it will be 12 rather than 15.

1) What are you really unhappy about? 
Always the first question to ask but maybe the most hardest to answer with an honest heart. I am still trying to list the source of my unhappiness.

2) How large is your safety net?
Having a drought savings/emergency savings is essential. Prophet Yusuf a.s. had one because he knew a drought is coming. Quitting is a little bit different, because I am causing myself to face a drought of income. Do I have 12 months of savings? No. This is the easiest question to answer, and because the answer is no, I am not quitting now.

3) Calculate your monthly cash burn rate. 
I know how much I burn monthly, and I burn all my income in a month to pre-planned and some unplanned purchases. Financial samurai suggests finding that value and multiply it by 12 to 24 for an emergency of 1 to 2 years.

4) Calculate your passive income streams. 
It's possibly to be unemployed but still produce income if we have passive income streams. Passive income are income that are not produced by our main source of income. Usually it is described as income produced without doing anything. I don't like that description because there's always a certain amount of work that goes into an income. Whether it's renting properties or even royalties. There is an amount of work that goes into it.

5) List out all the things you plan to do. 
I have so many things I want to do during my temporary unemployment. Finishing up on my books. Maybe my unhappiness is due to the fact that I don't have time to do the things that I wish to do on the side...

6) Think about others. 
An unexpected whammy. My wife is pregnant with my third child.

7) Will a sabbatical do the trick? 
I'm considering asking for a sabbatical to get the kinks out of my system. I'll have to ask the human resource department for this.

8) How open is the Bank of Mom and Dad? 
I've been a burden long enough, no need to add more years into my account.

9) Are you willing to work at McDonald’s? 
It's better to be underemployed rather than unemployed. During the toughest time, Prophet Yusuf alayhi-salaam still had years of production even if they were poor. Because losing 100% of income will be one of the most difficult thing to live by.

10) Do you have something else lined up?
Yes, I do. Not final, but it's something.

11) Take your time to quit. 
I had a bonus coming and I turned in a resignation letter. A dumb thing to do, which made the cancellation justified.

12) Talk to as many people who’ve quit as possible. 
Any one quit their job recently?

Personal Finance for Recent H.S. Grads / Current College Students

Earlier this year I created a LiveBinder for recent high school graduates and college students. My goal was to give students a financial resource they could rely on as they transitioned into the adult world. 

I carefully selected resources that students could trust, primarily from government and non-profit organizations. I did not want to overwhelm students with too many resources, while also covering the financial decisions they are making at that stage in their lives. 

I was honored LiveBinders named my resource a 2014 Top10 LiveBinder. Please feel free to share my LiveBinder Personal Finance for Recent HS Grads / Current College Students with young adults. 

By the way, if you're an educator, you may find this LiveBinder I created specifically for colleagues particularly helpful.

Best Computer for Doctors

See the original post here

Your a medical professional. Your slammed with an influx of new patients and strict HIPAA guidelines. There’s a stack of patients’ charts and hours of dictation left to do. Now your medical group added new goals to meet by quarter end. How will you balance all it all? How can you adapt to a computerized medical field?

The answer is simple:

Get the right computer, learn the basics, and succeed.

The problem is finding the right computer. 

There once was a time that having someone who knew computers in your family was rare, now their as common as Marvel superhero movies. You end up listening to that 14 year old nephew of yours, and you buy buy that $2100 dollar Alienware laptop or that $1900 dollar MacBook Pro. Now you have no idea how it works and your IT department can’t get the programs you need to run on it.

Now your stuck with an expensive brick that will now be demoted to watching Netfilx and YouTube videos.  

Lets avoid the expensive mistake. Keep these two rules in mind:

Rule 1: You computer should be compatible with your medical group’s network.

This is simple to find out. If your medical group uses Microsoft Office, Exchange for your email server(you can ask your IT department), and the rest of the employee’s have Windows XP, 7 or 8 running on their desktops. Then you should use Windows as your main operating system.

Macs are nice, and yes, you can buy Office and Outlooks for a Mac. Macs are expensive though —which is nothing new— but the biggest issue is having them serviced. Your medical group’s IT department will have almost an endless supply of people who know how to fix windows. Which means if your computer breaks, someone will be able to trouble shoot it. If you have a Mac? Then Billy the I-still-have-a-holier-than-thou-IT-mentality network troll will be the only guy to help you. 

Trust me, most of the medical software out there is designed to run on Windows. You could access your medical groups’s programs on a Mac using a local virtual box, dual booting, or using VMWare or Citrix. The problem is now you’ll either have to configure virtual box yourself or be at the mercy of a wireless network. 

Rule 2: Go with a Solid State Hard Drive

I can go into major detail why solid state hard drives are 100x better than traditional hard drives; however, I believe this video will say enough (its 3 minutes long, but its worth the time)

I recently decided to buy a 500GB Samsung 840 EVO for my laptop. I installed Windows 7 Professional and decided to see this speed first hand. 15 seconds later, Windows was up and ready to go. 

Also, using a SSD will make applications load faster like Photoshop, EMR/EHR programs and radiology viewers. 

One of the reasons Macs are so much faster is because their hard drives are SSD not HDD. Now, an SSD will be more expensive than a traditional one, but benefits outweigh the cost.

---

I love Macs, but they are not the best tools in an enterprise/medical environment. They fill a specific niche and that niche isn’t the medical field. If you are willing to drop $1400 MacBook, you could buy a HP EliteBook Revolve 810 which has the same specs and doubles as a tablet.

There you have it. Finally some clear advice for a busy professional. 

The Rat Race

Happiness, Exit To Your Right...

In the past three years, I've been working in 4 different places, climbing the social ladder. One job after another was more "respectable" than the previous one, paying more. There's a price that I've been paying. My happiness. I have been miserable and it's about to pop like a nuclear pimple.

When I first jumped in the corporate world, I took a personality test. It reported that I was unambitious. It's probably true, I do not really care about climbing up the corporate ladder, working hard for the things I have little or no ambitions for.

I handed my resignation from my respectable job and will be needing a source of income. I'm calm but a little clouded in my head, so everyone else around me is panicking, my parents and wife. I have a plan, but some plans succeed, some fail. I put my trust where trust is best handed to.

Maybe readers of this blog experienced something similar?

So by mercy from Allah , [O Muhammad], you were lenient with them. And if you had been rude [in speech] and harsh in heart, they would have disbanded from about you. So pardon them and ask forgiveness for them and consult them in the matter. And when you have decided, then rely upon Allah . Indeed, Allah loves those who rely [upon Him].

3. Surat 'Āli `Imrān (Family of Imran); 159

Managing Expectations; Personal Quarterly Earning Reports

Managing Expectations, Calvin's Way.

Life is much easier when the pressure is off your shoulders. You hear it in sport commentaries when the underdog will have a go since they don't have the must-win expectation tagged to the favorites. So, what's best when you set your budget? Under-promise. Over-deliver.

There are two personal financial statements in the quarterly personal finance report :
1. Balance Sheet which will show your net worth, whether you're increasing in wealth or becoming poorer;
2. Income Statement which is your realized monthly budget.

Companies have quarterly financial reports to release, and we should too. Our earnings announcements should be in the months of March, June, September and December where we take a picture of our financial condition for the quarter and reassess our goals. After every release comes expectation of how the company (you) position itself for the next quarter. Personal finance is pretty predictable in normal circumstances; we will get your income bi-weekly or monthly. If we set our annual goals and break it down quarterly, we should at least quarterly fulfill what is expected of ourselves. But, take a step further by outperforming on a quarterly basis in cutting our cost/expenses and constantly increasing our net worth. We should have high expectations of ourselves to perform better if things are going well economically.

Can we meet our own target performance? If we can, then it was expected. If we under-perform, investor (your) confidence lessens. If we over-deliver, it's good. Management (you) get a bonus of becoming richer due to good performance.

The awesome thing is, this can be a family event like how companies have conference calls. We can hold an earnings announcement and conference calls as a family. Children should very much know whether their parents are in debt, since debt is passed down to children.

Are you an able manager to push yourself and your family to prosperity? Of course you are, if not then who else? I guess the one expectation that you can't manage is your own. Personal finance is a must-win game.

Training Your Wealth Accumulation Muscle

Image from abqjournal.com

Spend less than earned. Accumulating wealth is easier said than done. Accumulating snow and turning it into a snowman however, never felt that difficult. We start with a handful then roll it on the ground until it gets really big. It turns out that the method to building a snowman, called the snowball method, is the most effective way to pay off debt. I am proposing that it can also be an effective way to build our wealth accumulation muscle.

The snowball method can be similarly applied to how we build wealth. We start with small wins that gets us immediately hooked to the challenge to better the previous win. It keeps going and rolling until we reach the big win.

Let's play a game!

You'd like to save $2000, that is your created imaginary debt. Split your debt unequally in amounts that you need to pay off and prepare envelopes for payments to the debt. The maximum split is 5, but let's say you have split it up into 4 different debts of $100, $400, $700 and $800 totaling to $2000. Search "average credit card interest rate" on Google, you'll have an average number for all those debts, in this article's case it's 15.6 percent.  

Now, you might be asking why maximum split of 5? Because we'll be using Bankrate's minimum payment calculator and it gives the maximum of 5. The rule is you need to pay all the cards monthly, so if you're focusing on one card with the lowest balance, you'll need to pay the other cards at minimum. Enter the debt amount, interest rate and minimum payment percentage to get your minimum amount. 

Can we fix our finances? Yes!

Can we pay off our debt? Yes!

Can we build wealth? Yes, we can!