5 Things Newlyweds Should Do With All That Wedding Loot

Bismillahi walhamdulillah...

Did some reading while waiting for boss to revert back emails... Enjoy! =)
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Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/sherylnancenash/2012/06/12/5-things-newlyweds-should-do-with-all-that-wedding-loot/

The big day was perfect, the honeymoon was better still. You came home to a truckload of gifts and envelopes stuffed with money. The big question — what to do with all that cash? Tempting as it may be to go on a shopping spree for all manner of madness, instead, make the most of an opportunity to lay the foundation for a strong financial future together.

Fund your “life happens” account

Nobody likes to plan on things going wrong, such as your car’s transmission going out or your pet swallowing a golf ball, but you need to have some cash in safe, short term savings to cover these types of emergencies, because it isn’t a matter of if they will happen, it is only a matter of when. If you don’t have anything in savings and an emergency does come up, you won’t have any choice but to use a credit card. Your ultimate goal is to have at least 3-6 months of your monthly non-discretionary spending in an account separate from your checking account. If you are not starting out with this, consider setting aside a portion of your wedding cash to start or add to your “life happens” account, advises Steve Repak, a certified financial planner and author of Dollars & Uncommon Sense: Basic Training For Your Money.
Quite simply, give yourself the gift of “peace of mind,” says Lynn Ballou, managing partner of Ballou Plum Wealth Advisors.

Pay some bills

Money worries can kill a romance in a hot minute. Take advantage of the opportunity to kiss goodbye some of your troubles. Pay off all wedding expenses – you want the wedding to be a happy memory, not one of overwhelming debt that hangs over you for years, says Gail Cunningham, a spokesperson for the National Foundation for Credit Counseling. She also recommends paying off, or down ,all credit card debt each of you brought into the marriage – and at the very least, bring all past-due accounts current. “This will cut down on arguments about money,” says Cunningham.
You might think too, about designating some of the money for monthly student loan payments.

Invest in your home

If you own your home, consider using your cash to cover major or minor maintenance to make sure no bigger (and more expensive) problems arise down the road. In addition, these capital improvements can create equity. If you are still stuck with a high-interest mortgage, it may be worthwhile to look at refinancing and use the cash to help with those costs. If you rent and hope to own someday, the wedding cash is ideal to save toward the down payment. Couples might also find they need certain items for their new home, and can use the cash toward those. Just exercise caution – and keep to a budget, cautions Kevin Gallegos, a vice president with Freedom Financial Network.

Save for the future

Save for retirement. If you two don’t already have an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) or Roth IRA established, think about starting one, says Matt Armstrong, a financial planner with Savant Capital Management and also a newlywed. “You can also set your IRA up to systematically pull cash out of your checking account every month to help grow your retirement nest egg. For those couples with an existing IRA, fund it with up to $5,000 in 2012, if you are less than 50 years old, and an extra $1,000 “catch up” if you are 50 or older. Income requirements do apply. Also, don’t forget to update your beneficiary information.”

Enjoy a little fun

Says Repak, “I think it is okay, after you put some money into savings and pay down your debt, to take some of your wedding cash and spend it any way you want. Extremes seldom work and I have found that couples who have balance in their lives are happier. Spend, spend, spend will lead to poverty while save, save, save can lead to resentment. Be responsible with most of your wedding cash, but do set aside a small portion to spend on things you both like or things you both like to do.”
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Berguna buat saya yang memang nak blaja financial management.
Moga Allah berkahi, ameen.

Ramadhan Dua Zaman

by The Zikr

Ramadhan...

Satu nasib tak serupa
Peluangnya sama natijah berbeza

Ramadhan mereka gembira cemerlang
Mukmin berjasa diawal zaman
 

Ramadhan kami malam terbuang
Muslim berdosa di akhir zaman

Mereka gembira kerana kedatangan mu
Kami gembira dengan pemergian mu
Malam mereka meriah disimbah nur al quran

Tapi malam kami muram bertemukan mu

Mereka berlumba mengejar makrifat

Tapi kami lesu diburu nafsu
Hati mereka bercahaya digilap takwa
Jiwa kami gelap didera dosa

Takbir mereka takbir kemenangan
Hadiah mujahadah sebulan ramadhan
Takbir kami lesu tak bermaya
Tanda kalah lemah tak berdaya
Puasa sekadar lapar dan dahaga 

"Allahu Rabbi, sekali lagi dipertemukan dengan Ramadhan Mu,

Syukur padaMu, moga kegembiraan ini desertai amal soleh yang istoqomah,

Ameen"

Lamunan Dinihari

Bismillahi walhamdulillah...

Assalamualaikum wbt.

Sudah bersawang blog ini kutinggalkn sejak mula bekerja lewat 2010.kini sudah pertengahan 2012, bererti sudah hampir 1 thn setengah aku meninggalkn alam universiti yg sgt byk mengajar aku erti hidup sebenar... argh, yada yada again.

Tak tahu bagaimana caranya, tapi ini kukira peluangku untuk mengucapkn tahniah dan syabas kepada sahabat-sahabat yang telah berjaya 'mempublish' buku tulisan sendiri. Baarakallahu fiekum... Semoga Allah terus memberikn kekuatan kepada kaluan untuk terus berkarya dalam membangun peradaban ummat, ameen.

Sebentar tadi baru mengambil kad jemputan dari printer. Baru sahja melipat n menulis nama di atas beberapa keping kad tersebut. Perasaannya bercampur baur... sambil memasang n memperdengar ayatul muhafazah, saya bermuhasabah sendiri.

Mungkin orang lain melipat kad jemputan dengan senyum manis,
Saya hanya memikirkan diri sendiri,
Jika orang lain menghitung hari bahagia denga gembira,
Entah mengapa saya menghadapinya dengan banyak menangis,
Memikirkan tanggungjawab n amanah yg makin bertambah...

Jika sebelum ini saya hanya punya ibu, ayah n adik abang untuk dikasihi,
Yang telah saya kenali n sayangi sejak lahir,
Namun nanti akan hadir pula makhluk yang begitu asing,
Dengan hanya satu lafaz saya wajib mencintainya n menaatinya,
Aneh bukan?...

Jangan salah faham,
Saya tidak sekali-kali menyesali pemilihan ini,
Harta, pendidikan, rupa dan keturunan bukan faktor utama,
Kerana jika semua itu yg menjadi ukuran,
Saya akan lalai, leka n alpa,
Saya tahu iman saya,
Saya faham benar diri saya,
Biarlah tidak sempurna sekalipun di mata manusia,
Kerana di mata Allah,
Dia sempurna untuk saya,
Kerna dia Allah datangkan di sela2 doa solat malam saya...

Astaghfirullahal azhim...
Moga Allah memperbaiki iman saya,
Moga Allah memperbaiki imannya,
Janganlah bisikan-bisikan syaitan n nafsu,
Merosakkan benih-benih taqwa yang dibaja.

Bukan untuk sesiapa atau apa-apa,
Sekadar bingkisan peringatan untuk diri sendiri,
Dalam persiapan menuju hari
Menjadi 'orang baru'...

Rasa Bertuhan

Kalau manusia mengenali Tuhannya
Hancur luluh hatinya lembutlah jiwanya
Tak sempat mengingati perkara yang lain
Hati n jiwanya semata-mata terpaku
Dengan Tuhannya

Jika manusia mengenali kehebatan
Keagungan Tuhannya kecutlah perutnya
Kalau manusia sentiasa sedar pendengaran
Penglihatan dan pengetahuannya

Tuhan tidak pernah lekang dari manusia
Nescaya manusia ini tawaduk merendah diri
Di bumi Tuhannya

Jika manusia rasa bertuhan hidup di hatinya
Matilah angan-angan
Takut pun datang menerpa dihatinya
Manusia akan sibuk dengan dirinya
Tak sempat memikirkan diri orang lain
Takut dan bimbang tak sempat mengumpat

Aduh! kalau Tuhan sentiasa di hati
Perasaan berTuhan mencengkam di hati
Mengenang pula nikmat
Nikmat Tuhan yang banyak
Bertambah perasaan cinta dan takut
Cinta kerana nikmat dan kasih sayangnya
Takut kalau nikmat ditarik semula
Kalau terbuat dosa akan diazabnya

Begitulah kalau seseorang hamba mengenali Tuhannya
Hatinya sangat sibuk dengan Tuhan
Dunia dan nikmatnya tidak mempengaruhinya
Sekalipun dunia di tangannya


Adapted from Mawaddah's Nasyid "Rasa Bertuhan"

One Meaningful Day...

Today, I had lunch with my colleagues at a restaurant quite far away from our office. One of them is an Indian girl who is quite modern and free to discuss about anything. She sat in front of me during the lunch and while waiting for the food to come, we chat chat chat until she touched on one interesting topic…

“Hey, Yati. I wonder how long your hair is?”

Upon hearing that question, I just smiled. I looked at her for a while, moved my head slightly towards her and whispered, “It’s a secret…” and burst out of laughter.

She had a long sighed and said, “Oh, come on! It’s just the length and I’ve seen my Malay friends hair. They even told me about it”. The Malay colleagues who sat beside us just looked at me, waiting for an explaination.

“Well, if I tell you about my hair, then what’s the purpose of me wearing this tudung?…”

“Alaa, there’s no difference right? U’re still covering it. Not exposing it. I’m confused…”

“No, for me if I tell you, it’s just like exposing everything. It’s my pride and dignity. I can’t let you see it”. “I know you are curious about everything but it’s a really long debate if I really want to explain everything. I’ll tell you slowly someday, but If you are curious about something, maybe you can read something about Islam in the internet if you want to…”

Then the topic stopped there. After a while… Wargh, I realized I’ve made a really grave mistake. I shouldn’t have asked her to find the answer herself. She might be just curious, but it may also leads her to Hidayah…who knows, right?

Now I realize something. Ever since I immersed myself in my profession, I’ve had less time studying hadith and fiqh. I forgot that the people around me is also the target of dakwah.I forgot the way to dakwah to a Non-Muslim. I’ve forgotten the answers to all these simple questions and yet ……

Oh, Allah. Please guide me to the right path …Thank you Allah for making me realize something about myself. My true mistake...so that I can change for the better...

Alhamdulillah...