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Orginally posted by tamilkuravan

yes. they have. but barely to see them through.
My father, who works in retired life as a vet. doc. making house calls earns aroiund Rs. 2000 a month. He is 64 and travels in a scooter to treat cows. He has a house which my youunger bought for him and hence he does not need to pay for rent.
My mother (age 64) recently had brain tumor and had a pacemaker installed and so she canot do much work but just lives on.
TK

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~ Morning rain

Here is my story.

My mother is 75 and my father is 86. My father is fiercely independant. He is not going to like to be dependant on me to drive him around in Canada. Plus I sometimes have to travel for job. So bringing them here may not be a good idea. My mother had a stroke two yrs ago. I knew that my mother's biggest worry is how she is going to manage after my father because he is 10 yrs older and her mother and siblings had a long life. So when she was recovering from stroke and was depressed, i made a promise to her that I will take care of her financially if she needs it. I also told her, i may be able to take care of her physically in canada but i have 4 sisters and brother and with their help and finances coming from me, I will take care of her. At this point my father is not willing to take any financial help from us as he has his money and gets some pension. Since, he is refusing any financial help from us, I gift some amounts twice a yr on her birthday and on her wedding anniversery. My very strict instructions to her are not to collect this money and spend on grandkid's presents etc. but to spend on herself. Now I take practical gifts for her e.g. I taught her to make tea with teabags and took 6-7 months supply of teabags. I also took 6-7 month's dryfruit supplies on my last visit. I try to visit them once in 1and1/2 yrs max 2 yrs. I was speaking to my mom every week though she has moved and now waiting for her phone connection.

I thought through the questions of TK and these were the steps we could try to come out of the situation. At the outset, we should know that the life is full of ups and downs. We are currently in a trough right now, and as they say in the stock market(Technical Analysis), we should be getting to ride the wave and go to the top. As they say buy stocks, just before the prices are going to pick up, and sell before it peaks and starts falling. We should learn to live like what we are doing currently and when we hit good times, and we maintain the same life style we will be a winner in a life. I rarely come across people who are happy in Canada, and they are complaining about their job, the taxes, the winter or lack of high paying jobs.

These are the rules I'm following now after running up a LOC of $18,000.

First rule is that we should believe in ourself that we will come out of it and this is a short term in our life called the roller coaster ride. Everybody including people in business, win some time and loose some time and hence nobody is perfect and nobody will be able to have a straight line in life. If somebody wanted a straight line life they should have finished their B.Sc or B.Com, taken up a job in the nationalized bank in India and not apply for any promotion and continue as a regular staff. As we are aspiring for something more in life, we are here and going through this struggle.

Second rule, we should cut out and surrender most of our Plastic Cards and keep a couple for emergencies under lock and key at home. Use one with a low limit for our daily transactions and that too for emergencies. Try to pay cash for transactions, and if possible to avoid the GST/PST on the cash transaction. This way you would have the direct impact on your wallet size/bank account balance and hence you would restrict your spending.Always consolidate your credit card balances and transfer from your LOC as it would be of significantly lower interest rate.

Third rule, the first priority for us is our childrens education and do not touch your CCTB and it should go into the RESP for the childrens future.

Fourth rule, upon receipt of the salary for the week send $50(per week) or $100 (per bi-weekly) to your folks home. Believe me they will not spend it all, and they will deposit it into the Post Office savings account under Senior Citizen and you will get your money back later in life.Hence all our budgeting for the month will be lower by $200, and we will live to learn by that. I think we can forgo a few pizzas, beers and a CD/DVD for money to be sent home.

Fifth rule, Disconnect your mobile phone. If somebody has to reach you they will find you when it is required.Have basic telephone and use long distance to India through Reliance on the prepaid basis. Use speaker phone if possible so that the whole family can speak, as many times same questions are repeated on both the sides to each other. You would gain atleast 30% time on the speaker phone.

Sixth rule, cut your internet and go in for cheap dial up as we spend most of the time in the office and we spend our time on the computer only on the week end. Hence why pay for a service for 30 days when you use it only for 8 days only.

Seventh rule, resist impulse purchases. The best way to do that is by not taking your children shopping. Buy your stuff based on a list(requirement) and not by the package. Always do shopping for the opposite weather. Buy winter stuff in summer and summer stuff in winter as they will be on sale.Now (one more month) to buy winter clothing and boots for the next winter.Buy stuff for the week only and not for the month.

Eighth rule, do not buy a bigger pack just because it is cheaper per unit weight. If you do not use on the first day you will never use and it'll become stale and it will end up in the garbage.

Ninth rule, if you can take the public transport or use the taxi do it. These are cheaper alternative than to use your car. Buy a car based on need on not on social status. I've personally seen JRD TATA drive a Maruti 800 in Mumbai when he could have owned a Gold Plated Rolls Royce.

Tenth rule, VERY CONTROVERSIAL(BUT THESE ARE MY PERSONAL THOUGHTS), if you are not planning to be at a place for more than 3 to 4 years do not buy a house/condo. It will be cheaper to rent a place than to buy a place. Your appreciation on property would happen if you live in a place for more than 5 years.

As I could not convert to a self employed person, these are my rules for myself, and I consider myself a layman in this field. There are many more smart and financial gurus in CD who can give us a better feed back.

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Speech by Thomas Friedman of The New York Times....

"When we were young kids growing up in America, we were told to eat our
vegetables at dinner and not leave them. Mothers said, 'think of the
starving children in India and finish the dinner.' And now I tell my
children: 'Finish your maths homework. Think of the children in India
who would make you starve, if you don't.'"

Dear Sankaracharya!
Thanks for the tips. excellent ones. I have thought of many myself but now see that most of us think alike. The first thing that i did after leaving my wife and daughter is cut the plastic card and never eat takeout.
But Sankaracharya, you were the last person that i ever thought would be in debt ( and that too $18 K loc is not a small amout). How did this happen to you? I thought that you atleast must be living from pay cheque to paycheque but 18 K is too much. For me l was living comfortably living pay cheque to pay cheque until i invested in shares and that was my roller coaster drive down.
I will try to put Sankaracharya's tips into action ASAP.
Thanks for sharing your views.
Other CD members please share your thoughts too.....
TK
Sidenote: I have been lucky enough to be paid in cash

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I am a Gents and not a Ladies.

Thanks a TON,

TK & Sankaracharya ,

The 10 commandments of expenses.



Manasvi.

I have not availed of LOC even though they offered me one. I also ensure that I only spend that amount on my credit card which I can pay off before the due date so that I don't have to pay interest.

I have cut down on my entertainment here. Have not seen a single movie here nor gone to a restaurant for eating except when friends have invited me. I even do not rent DVDs/CDs. To a large extent, it is forced upon me due to the low income I have here.

Most of the things that I have bought here have been bought from garage sales except for my computer & digital camera. I do not have a mobile phone here. Try & pay off your debt even though it means having to use your CCTB (I differ with you, Shankaracharya on this). I have used this amount to transfer money to my parents so that they can pay off the loans I had taken in India to come here. The same can be done here so that your debt gets paid off earlier.

I generally keep only 2 credit cards. Something which I used to do in India also. Regarding car, buy it on need only. I used public transit for almost a year & bought a car only because my uncle staying in the US insisted & gave me the money to buy a car.

Cut down on your expenses. Do not cut down on your food but we can cut down on movies, beer, coke, eating out (it is one of the major expenses here), etc.

That is why many Indians are able to survive here whereas many white people are not.

Rgds.

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Let's make India a better place !

The last few postings have excellent pointers on how to be frugal and try to better our lives. However, it has digressed from the original post. Would the moderators be able to separate these postings into a new thread so we all can pitch in more thoughts to these postings about financial "sense and sensibilities"?

Thanks

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Dimple2001