Catatan Diari Alan ©

It’s been a busy and tiring week so I don’t manage to update my blog at all. Even though I have a time to write a post, I feel too lazy to update because I’m out of idea what to write. Any way it’s been 2 weeks I followed “Suze Orman Show” on CNBC Life (every Saturday 5am – 6am show). This show will guide you on how to enhance your budgeting skills. Ok.. let see whether my budgeting skill getting better or worse for the next 5 months hehhe.

 

Right.... What about Credit Card? If you use your credit cards wisely on daily expenses this could be a good wealth tool. Why and how? Using credit card you gain:

1. Interest free loan

When you perform a transaction using your credit card, you will only be billed for it at the end of the month. In other words you can postpone the payment of your bills FREE from any interest only if the payment is made before the due date. Well the only the difficult is you might not know when is the issue date and end statement date. So just wait for the first bill to come then you can start your budgeting on the following month.

2. Bonus reward

Every purchase you make on your credit cards, it will earned you a bonus reward points which you can use to redeem for free products and services. Since all Malaysia Credit Card now have government tax fee… you can use your bonus reward to redeem the point for this fee.

3. Free Money Management Tool

Currently I’m using Quicken Home 2010 as money management tool to track my expenses. Disadvantage about this software is that all finance institution listed are based in USA therefore I have to key-in all transaction performed manually.

Every month, Credit Card Company will tabulate for you the total spending for the month. This will make easier for you to track your total expenditure. What I’m trying to say is this can become a Free Money Management Tool.

At the moment I use one card for petrol expenses and the other card for utility and daily expenses. I think by doing this it will make easier for budgeting. Try it and tell me if this work for you.

Remember you must always pay the outstanding balance in full amount every month. By doing this the bank does not earn a cent from you and you will get all these THREE GREAT BENEFITS mentioned above. I know it sound difficult but try your best to get out of credit card debt. Don’t be a credit card debt victim.

Before this I had always assumed charge card could be used interchangeable with credit card.. I mean the term but I was wrong huhu :-(


Credit card supplies their customer with a set amount of credit however not for Charge card. Charge card lets their customers spend what they want as long as it is PAID OFF at the end of the month. So you cannot carry a balance the way you can with a Credit Card and you don’t have a chance to accumulate interest and large balance.


What happens if you don’t pay off the balance at the end of the month? Well basically this may result in a hefty late payment fee and possibly restrict your usage of the card (Charge card) or have it cancelled entirely due to BAD RECORD.

 

My personal opinion… better get a Credit card unless you can budget your expenditure wisely and plan to fully pay off at the end of the month.  :-)

By Jane Baker

Watch out for this new online phishing scam which uses 'tab napping' to attack your computer - and your finances...

As internet users we’re all vulnerable to online scams. Unluckily for us, as soon as we become pretty good as spotting one type of attack, another more sophisticated version comes along in its place. In fact, technology company Mozilla - which developed the Firefox web browser - has recently warned against a possible threat from a new scam known as ‘tap napping’ which takes phishing one step further.

 

What is tab napping?

Tab napping is essentially a new kind of phishing scam. Until now phishing has involved sending hoax emails in an attempt to steal your usernames, passwords and bank details. Often the sender will claim to be from your bank and will ask you to verify your bank details by clicking on a link contained in the email.

The link actually directs you to a fake website which looks just like your bank's own website. Once you have typed in your login details they can be accessed by the criminals who set the fake site up.

But we’re beginning to wise up to phishing attacks like this, and many of us know we should be very wary of clicking URLs even if they appear to be in a legitimate email.

With awareness of phishing on the up, making it more difficult for scammers to succeed, tab napping could be the scam to watch out for next.

How does tab napping work?

Tab napping is more sophisticated than the phishing scams we’ve seen so far, and it no longer relies on persuading you to click on a dodgy link. Instead it targets internet users who open lots of tabs on their browser at the same time (for example, by pressing CTRL + T).

How does it work? By replacing an inactive browser tab with a fake page set up specifically to obtain your personal data - without you even realising it has happened.

Believe it or not, fraudsters can actually detect when a tab has been left inactive for a while, and spy on your browser history to find out which websites you regularly visit, and therefore which pages to fake.

So don't assume that after you have opened a new tab and visited a web page, that web page will stay the same even if you don’t return to it for a time while you use other windows and tabs. Malicious code can replace the web page you opened with a fake version which looks virtually identical to the legitimate page you originally visited.

How might tab napping work in practice?

Imagine you open the login page for your online bank account, but then you open a new tab to visit another website for a few minutes, leaving the first tab unattended. When you return to your bank’s site the login page looks exactly how you left it. What you haven’t realised is that a fake page has taken its place, so when you type in your username and password, you have inadvertently given the fraudster easy access to your account.

Even if you have already logged into your bank account before opening another tab, when you return you might find you’re being asked to login again. This may not necessarily rouse any suspicion since you might simply assume your bank has logged you out because you left your account inactive for too long. You probably won’t even think twice before logging in for a second time. But this time round you have accidently inputted your security details into a fraudster’s fake page which have been sent back to their server.

Once you have done so, you can then be easily redirected to your bank’s genuine website since you never actually logged out in the first place, giving you the impression that all is well.

How can you protect yourself against tab napping?

This is pretty scary stuff but thankfully tab napping should be relatively easy to avoid. Here are five simple ways you can prevent yourself from falling victim:

• Make sure you always check the URL in the browser address page is correct before you enter any login details. A fake tabbed page will have a different URL to the website you think you’re using.
• Always check the URL has a secure https:// address even if you don’t have tabs open on the browser.
• If the URL looks suspicious in any way, close the tab and reopen it by entering the correct URL again.
• Avoid leaving tabs open which require you to type in secure login details. Don't open any tabs while doing online banking - open new windows instead (CTL + N).

 

Thanks to Yahoo: Finance –> Click here <-

Do you prefer do shopping online or regular stores?
Well I prefer shopping online but sometimes have to go to the regular stores still.

 

With online shopping you can do it 24/7 no limit in term of times. You can shop whenever and wherever you want. There have a time when am dying to buy iPod touch at 1am. Too late to go to the Mac Store by that time and too lazy to go out on the next day. So I just go to Mac Store website... choose the model I want, click here and there, check-out, key-in card details and that’s done.. I received my iPod touch after 24hours.

 

Have you try free sample product via online? When I was in UK few years ago I used to register this website (sorry I forget the name of that website) where you will received free sample product e.g. shower gel, deodorant, perfume and many more. Sometimes if you’re lucky you can get a discount voucher or promo code if you buy online.

 

Now, online shopping sometimes could be a bad idea.. Why? If you only have a Credit Card then sometimes you can over budget and increase your debt with the bank which is bad… bad idea. So for those who is shopaholics be careful hehhee. Ohhh you must check whether the website you go for online shopping is secured website otherwise you will be in trouble. Hackers could steel your card details.

 

Of cause there are pros and cons with shopping online and I find shopping online is an excellent way to shop but only for a certain items.

Happy Shopping :-)

 

 

Tired to search cheap/promo flights ticket from one site to another? Well try this http://malaysia.travel.yahoo.com/flights/

 

There have few airlines listed there e.g. Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia, Firefly, Jetstar Airways, Tiger Airways, Emirates, Japan Airlines International, Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific Airways, Thai Airways International and many more. So it not just Low-Cost airlines okehhh.

 

Recently I have had purchase flight ticket back to Penang via this website. Yes it is promising and I won’t say it a spam because it will direct to that particular airlines website once you’ve choose the option.

Yeahhhh lagi balik kampung di musim perayaan. Kali nie Christmas. To all my friends who celebrate x-mas, "Wishing you all the joys of the season. Wish you and your family a Merry Chritmas!" and others Happy Holiday :-)

Semestinyer kalau musim perayaan, kena pastikan memilih waktu yang sesuai untuk balik kampung jika tidak ermmmm berjam-jam lah nanti memandu. Memandangkan Adik in dah balik Penang aku pun malas lah nak balik Penang drive sorang2. Jadi aku balik naik AirAsia ajer lah :-) Silap aku jugak sebab tak booked awal-awal, kalau tak ... boleh naik MAS or at least ticket yang lebih murah (sob sob).

Thanks to Eddie ... susah - susah ajer antar aku ke LCCT kelmarin (Friday). Depart dari LCCT lebih kurang jam 1.30pm dan sampai PEN lebih kurang jam 1.35pm (Bagus... takder delays).

Erm.. Kelmarin kitaorang takder activitiy sangat sebab mama pun tak berapa sihat.. So kitaorang dinner dekat RasaMas... Ohh harinie banyak nyerrr activities nak buat mama cakap. Aper ehhh? First breakfast dulu.. mama buat Nasi Lemak (sedapppp). Then kitaorang pergi Jusco Seberang Perai ... pergi ke MaxStyle sebab mama nak potong rambut.. ehhhh wahh aku nie pun gunting rambut dekat mamak ajer hehheh. Lepas tue tengok wayang citer Avatar.

Tapi malang nyer mama tak boleh duduk lama sangat dalam cinema. Katanyer jantung nyer sakit sebab bunyi kuat sangat.. So adik in dengan Makcu ajer yang sambung tengok Avatar. Aku ngan mama gie lunch dengan Nandos. OOoooo oooo sesi makan dah bersambung. Ada starter dan main course (Luper dah apa nama menu tueh) Yang masti lepas makan aku pun dah tak larat nak jalan.. Ngantuk siottt.

Kitaorang jalan2 lagi dalam Jusco tue sementara tunggu adik in & makcu. erm.. gie Optical 88 beli aku punyer contact lenses. Sambung jalan2 lagi.. lepas penat jalan kitaorang ingat nak gie Starbucks tapi ramai orang la pulak so end-up kitaorang pergi ke Secret Recipe. Mama order French Fries & Banana Split.. aku order Mocca Latte ajer. Tak nak makan lagi.. nanti susah pulak nak diet :-(

Time tengah makan tue mama ada tanya nak tukar kereta tak?? Amek Forte. Ermm... fuhhh memang teruja jugak nak tukar kereta tapiiiiii bila fikir2 balik.. Not now or not year 2010. By end of 2010 aku punyer credit card debt mesti nak clear kan. Nanti year 2011 cuma nak pakai 1 ajer credit card (salah satu daripada azam 2010) :-)

Okeh.. after I’ve key-in some details into the site.. print out the receipt.. I went to Alamanda (Optical 88) to collect my Bausch & Lomb – High Definition Vision lenses. They gave 3 pair free trial lenses Yippie!. Well now life is all about HD moments.

 

Spherical aberration occurs when light rays from the centre & periphery of pupil cannot focus simultaneously on retina, resulting in blurred images. So, with this HD optics design it will reduce spherical aberration and give a clearer vision by improving image quality. Well whatever it is i will test it tomorrow :-)

 

 

Any of you interested to try the Free Trial lenses ? go to http://www.myhdmoments.com/my