PMR results out on Thursday 22 December 2011

Hope all the 2011 PMR candidates do well. Their results will be out on Thursday, available from schools after 10am. Or via SMS. News is from The Star: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/12/19/nation/20111219163600&sec=nation

How to entertain children and get your magazine fix

Other than getting a discount member card for MPH and Popular, we're trying to save some cost for books by joining the local library. The one we frequent is Penang Georgetown branch, with Children's Library too. Even though most of the books are not super new like in bookstore, but they are fairly new enough for school going children. Of course if the children are younger I wouldn't be thinking of using library books. You know, sometimes quite difficult to control young children rubbing their eyes or nose after fiddling with used books. So when the children are younger I buy them new books for them to read. However now that they are older, and after finding out the library actually have quite a lot of choice for children, I bring them there to increase their knowledge.

They enjoy going and also playing there. I get my magazine fix there to save myself a lot of $. Even though the magazine selection is not the newest, but there are some copies of fashion and finance magazines to feast my eyes on. There are also lots of books but need to scout them out rack by rack on stuff that you're interested. There's local magazines as well as foreign English magazines. If you're not after the freebies that comes with the magazine, this is a alternative option for just reading and contents. One can read newspapers at the library too.

For those who like to purchase books or magazines, there's also the tax deduction limited to RM1000 but need to remember to keep the receipts. AND must keep the receipts and tax filing for a good 7 years in your record. My occasional splurge is books for the children, as we get tax deduction and they can increase their knowledge via books too.

Speaking of tax deduction for books and magazines, it reminded me that 2011 is coming to a close soon and we will need to start filing taxes for 2011 in a couple of months. Time to start getting those receipts in order.

Since I only want some entertainment and do not mind the advertisement nature, I also read the free Pearl magazine given by Jusco to Jusco card members and Pop Club magazine given by Popular to Popular card members.

Geronimo Stilton cartoon on NTV7 at 11:30am!

Photo taken of our own Geronimo book

Imagine our surprise when we saw Geronimo Stilton cartoon on NTV7 today! Good thing it's in English! It's a coincidence, and we manage to only the last 10 minutes of it. Will be watching out again for it tomorrow.

The Geronimo Stilton book we own is purchased at the Popular Mega Bookfair at Straits Quay. And it's at 25% discount. Wouldn't be buying such an expensive book if not for the discount.

Update 16 December 2011: Geronimo cartoon is still on at 11:30am. Kids were laughing away while watching. Wonder if it's a daily affair for the school holidays? The Star's program guide has disappointed me a few times so not going to trust it.

Update 21 December 2011: Geronimo is not on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday.

Update 6 January 2012: After the school holidays, I think they are only showing Geronimo cartoon on Saturdays at 11:30am.

Pemberian Baucar Buku 1Malaysia (BB1M)

Refer to this from Treasury website for details on the RM200 book voucher. The vouchers will be distributed by the schools/colleges/universities. All the bookstores are encouraged to participate and they can claim back via BSN. However I wonder which are the bookstores that actually will participate though. The vouchers are valid from 1 January through 31 March 2012.

This link has FAQ on the BB1M and also FAQ on the BR1M. Check it for eligibility:
http://www.treasury.gov.my/pdf/bajet/FAQs_BELANJAWAN_2012.pdf

Update: Looks like major bookstores like Popular and MPH accept the BB1M vouchers. MPH just advertised they are giving RM5 book voucher for every RM100 nett purchase.

Massimo sandwich loaf with wheat germ

The new bread in town. There's been quite some hype with this new brand called Massimo. We found it at Tesco and bought small pack to try. The children loved it! Usually they don't like the bread crust but for this one, they ate everything. So we got a big pack next. The small pack costs RM2.50 and the big pack is RM3.50. 

Celebration

When it comes to special events like concerts, graduations, weddings, festivities like Christmas and Chinese New Year and even birthdays. Every seller wants a piece of the celebration pie. Unknowingly, some parents' spending for children tend to go overboard, and we didn't realize it until we do a tally of our spending.

Especially for the school holidays, I find it getting harder and harder to hold our budget together. It is easier during the usual school days when the activities are fixed and we stay at home most of the time. Little princess spend a good 6 hours at school with at least 30 minutes on the road travelling back and from home.  Little prince spend about 5 hours at school or slightly more if he goes early. But with more free hours during the holiday, we're finding it easier to succumb to our wants. It does take a lot of willpower to hold back from spending more. Suddenly there is a need to have breakfast at McDonalds' or KFC. Dinner or lunch out seem more delicious than what we cook. If we go for short trip, everything's about convenience, and that comes at a price. No wonder the King didn't want to travel so much with the family. In fact, eating out is really expensive, one adder is the service tax that had been increased from 5% to 6% effective 1 January 2011. All these fancy places you see are all charging for the nice furnishings and comfortable ambient. Even going grocery shopping to hypermarkets like Tesco and Giant, we tend to spend more liberally to enjoy some special foods during school holidays.

Something I can still be insistant on, is not spending on things I don't deem as important. Such as for children's concert, we were requested to look for dresses, shoes, hair accessories. I don't mind paying a little for the occasion but do not ask me to go scouting all over the place for something that might not even be used in the occasion.       

Spare school shoes

We should not be buying things just because they are cheap or on sale. But we do see a need for a pair of spare school shoes for the children, especially we have experienced so many weekend activities for the SJK (C)'s. So this promotion comes in handy and the quality is not too shabby either. Other than school shoes, there's also school uniforms on offer at Tesco. They've marked down their prices for this weekend to compete with Giant.

Photo from: http://www.tesco.com.my/