How Far is FAR?

On days like these, I do wonder just how far I’d go to sell my soul.

Fact:
To own a decent sized apartment (let’s not even talk about landed property) in the Valley, one needs to be prepared to put down about RM 800 a month, excluding management fees towards the mortgage. And if you don't have the capacity to own, even renting would amount to that.

Fact:
To own a decent car (Kancil), one needs to put aside about RM 300 a month for the installment, and another RM 250 or so for fuel.

Fact:
An average meal out for lunch these days cost about RM 5.00 that is if you do not have a fizzy drink along with it, but Chinese tea iced or something to that effect. Most of us have at least 1 meal a day out, which comes to RM 150.00. Multiply that by a factor of 2.5 to cover all meals, you’re spending RM 375 a month on food for yourself.

Fact:
Most of us belong to a generation of parents where the term “Retirement Planning” does not exist. This essentially means that our roles in life have reversed. We no longer wait each month for our pocket money, but we instead give out pocket money to our parents. On average, for them to live decently with no other income at their disposal (cos let’s face it – the EPF was probably used up for something else already), we’re realistically looking at RM 800 for them.

Fact:
If you’re a smoker, and you’re doing a pack a day, you’re spending RM 300.00 on smokes a month.

Fact:

As the world turns, minimum expectations of life changes - kids need to study beyond the traditional K12 in order to get ahead. A local public university degree's tuition fee cost under RM 4000. A local private university college degree cost RM 50,000. A foreign twinned university degree cos RM 100,000 in tuition. And for a full-overseas degree - it stands at RM 250,000 - excluding living expenses.

Without taking into account things like rates, electricity, astro, etc – you’re looking at a blatant fact of spending RM 2825.00 out of whatever pay it is you are drawing. On Bare Necessities. Throw in the education fund savings (which would be at least RM 1500 per each child's golden dream) - that's it you're blown for the month.

That’s really not too bad if you’re in a two-income family, or earning 5-figure salaries. But when you’re in a single-income family, and you have mouths below, above and to the side waiting to be fed, TRUST ME – life becomes a living hell.

Everyday when we open the papers, we read of the Global Economic Crisis. But seriously - we don't need world economies to go into a slump to be in a crisis. If left to one's own devices, one could do it spectacular well with a wrong turn here or there.

I suppose one can be optimistic and look for the silver lining in every cloud. And mine would be an increase of RM 150.00 disposable income a month come January's pay cheque. Recall the scene from In Pursuit of Happyness - where Will Smith's character bangs on the gates of his friend's house, asking back for the loan of $14.00. Yeah - RM 150.00 would sure eliminate that possibility of "begging".

No matter how we try to console ourselves (or how our parents try to console themselves), I guess the fact remains ~ our generation will BE the generation where dying-in-debt becomes the norm and where the middle-class is actually poorer than the lower-class.

Maybe I should quit my job, marry a native of the land (and if I do it in Melaka, we’ll get RM 1000 instantly!) open a small contracting company and live off the government.

Or maybe I should get loaded up on Speed, Ice and everything else lying under Charlie's coffee-table and just throw my existence to hell for the next year or two. It wouldn't be too bad actually, considering I'll probably shorten my life-span by decades with whatever crap that the nasty boy would contract. So that would be less of such days.

Neither of these options will give me THE bed of roses, but it sure beats the hell out of being the minority church mouse.

Like I said when I started - on days like these, I do wonder just how far I would go to sell my soul.