On Counting (the uncountable) Blessings Part 4: A bigger place for a growing family

..continued from previous post..

4. In other news, Fariz bought another house! Yes, I told-ya :p. Marbella won't be ready until at least another year. We thought we could wait that long and continue to live in our frugal teeny-weeny little crib. but...hello? where do I put my baby? When we learnt that we're expecting a boy, the little one was still the size of a papaya but I was already making mental notes on how to decorate his room. Because every baby must have a nursery right? Ok don't answer that. It's a rhetorical question ;p 

So yes, Fariz agreed we need a bigger place for our growing tummy family and hence the move. I shall write a separate post about moving and our new abode, hopefully. It's nothing grand, but for now read about it first on The StarProperty here, if you haven't : 

Extra! Extra! Read all about it! Fariz Helmi is in the news :p

Faizul Ridzuan, renowned author of 'WTF! 23 Properties by 30' shared our story on his facebook wall. Fariz is glad that he pointed that this story illustrates the power of delaying gratification. It is probably the single biggest personal finance lesson that he has been trying to 'drill' into me and make me understand.

             

..to be continued. Click on for next post.

                                                                           

On Counting (the uncountable) Blessings Part 3: FAS Capital our little 'baby'

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3. On a similar note, (as if it isn't obvious already) Fariz has a passion for property. Talk to him for a few minutes and you'll find yourself suddenly asking 'how do I buy a house'? what kind of house? where? when? You can see the way his face lits up as he begins to go on and on about why you should or shouldn't invest in this property or that, here and not there etc. 

Putting cash in the bank is good, but the return is pretty low. Like it or not, money makes money so you got to spend money first to make money grow. You can buy gold, invest in shares, unit trusts, insurances (and even designer handbags ;p), but according to Fariz, property is the best. You need to speak to Fariz to know why. It's a loooong story ;p.

Out of this passion, we took the plunge and came up with FAS Capital, a property management business with a personal touch.  We created a facebook page for FAScap and I remember how excited we got as we watch our number of 'likers' grow slowly and steadily. FAScap is like our 'baby'. This year we saw our 'baby' grew bigger and stronger. Our portfolio expanded, our service got better and we have more satisfied tenants and clients interested to talk to us than ever. All of which means a little more side income for our family, Alhamdullilah. 


I now understand that the joy of owning and running your own business (albeit so small) is a real high. It's empowering. Working on our own goals, working for ourselves, doing what we love (and hopefully one day able to quit our day job), it's the ultimate dream. 

To find out more about what we do, or if you just wana have a chat about anything property, contact us! 

(p.s: Sayang! you better thank me for this free advertisement! LOL)

                                                                         ...to be continued. Click on next post.

On Counting (the uncountable) Blessings Part 2: Ooops I think I married a nerdie

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2. Fariz completed another master's degree and graduated from University of Malaya. This time it's all about real estate and property management. This is his second master's within the span of two years (I wrote about the first one here: The Rainbow After Rain) and I couldn't be any happier that I'm blessed with a super hardworking and smart husband. 

Ok so maybe to some of you real estate isn't exactly ROCKET SCIENCE but it is still a lot of hard work. For him because he had to juggle his day job while being a part-time student (and a husband to a very unreasonably clingy wife too). For me because I had to give up friday nights fun and weekend outings. So his graduation day was not only a day of accomplishment, but also a day of liberation!  

Proud moment :)

Hey better watch your steps there honey!

One day, daddy will be at your graduation baby. Hopefully it'll be in London or Harvard :p

..to be continued. Click on next post.

On Counting (the uncountable) Blessings Part 1: A spanking-new house

So, apart from the new member in our family, what else happened since January? 

p.s: This is going to be a long-ass update, so I'm going to separate them into different post. Go get your mugs of coffee ready and join me ;p

1. We bought a new house. This is not our first but it was a big purchase so we were quite anxious about throwing in a big chunk of cash and getting the loan approved. If you remember, previously Fariz and I lived in what is euphemistically called a 'starter home' (read about it here : A home in the making). But I've had enough of living frugally, so I told Fariz it's time to move up the lifestyle ladder. 

The thing is, Fariz is a firm believer in putting of gratification till later. He is all about 'investments'. He is all about work hard now, enjoy later. His motto is: save now and spend later (or rather, spend never pfftt..). 

A case in point, he could put up with living in an incredibly humble flat so that we can buy an above-than-average house a few years later. I don't know how he managed to make me agree to this whole 'delayed gratification' concept, but I'm glad that all the so called 'investing and saving' pays off well now and finally, we're upgrading to a much better home.

Nah. Here, meet Marbella. Our love at first sight. 

This is the show house, obviously. *wipes drool*
If you want to buy this unit, it's 2 freaking million ringgit. You know, just in case anyone has that much moolah ;p

I'll probably write more about ours when it's ready :)

...to be continued. Click on next post..

Wildan: The boy in Heaven

Hi,


It's been way too long that I had to stare and think for a bit which email did I use to sign into my blogspot. Honestly, I wanted to stop writing all together, I mean it's been on its last leg for so so many months anyway. and who reads blogs anymore these days? We just don't have the patience to read long posts anymore, do we?  


But my biggest fan (and probably my one and only fan) Fariz, said he misses reading my blog (which is all about him anyway) and wants me to write more! Awww..really? I read some old posts and wonder if it was really me who wrote them. I was so cheesy, like a silly fifteen year-old schoolgirl ;p

Anyway, we know nine months since January is a very long time, hell it’s the time it takes to birth a baby! 


So first and foremost, here.. meet Baby Wildan Danial who has just arrived from heaven :)

Healthy and perfect. I'm so proud of you, my womb! hahaha

The first couple of weeks was incredibly....for the lack of a better word, INCREDIBLE. It felt like the longest few weeks I ever had. I was overwhelmed by the fact that we finally have a baby to call ours, our own. I was happy and I was sad. When we were alone I was alternating between smiles and tears. I felt relief, thankful, sore, anxious, tired, scared, doubtful, terrified, guilty, angry (read: breastfeeding), I felt everything. Baby blues are no joke. 


But don't worry, today as I am writing this, Baby Will is just 2 weeks shy from his second month birthday and it's safe to say that I (and baby) have survived this long with my sanity still intact. *wipes sweat*


Other than being nocturnal, Baby Will is cool. He hardly fusses except for obvious reasons. and even when he get's a bit cranky at times, he is still too cute to stay angry at. hmm..but oh well...I guess, God made all babies cute so that we wont throw them out the window ;p

On a similar note, Fariz has been amazing too. I couldn't thank him enough for being utterly patient and calm throughout the crazy rollercoaster ride. I think he makes a better dad than I, a mom. Sometimes when Baby Will cries, I cry too and super daddy had to carry baby in one arm and hold and sooth me in the other. Talk about multitasking. 

Anyway, I could go on to write a whole new book about this tiny bub and our little adventures with this newbie. but I'll save that for another day.


and for other related updates, I shall see you in the next post!