My Brother the Financial Planner

My brother's exams are finally over so now I can blog in peace..meaning that I dont get somebody behind me screaming in frustration at the amount of work he had to revise. How he did? Well...I've always thought this boy could have done better but he always seem to average out to be good enough to stay in his current express stream and that's it. I dont want him to fall into the trap of just aiming to pass because in this society, everyone is competing with each other and I want him to get a job where it provides him with a comfortable living. But that could prove difficult because there will always be someone better than him and the employers wont want to hire people who can only give them minimal results. Im not trying to pressure him but this is reality. He may not be able to see it right now, but years down the road later, I just want him to make good of his life.

Seriously, I dont like to be a nag but my nagging at him to study study study...and do his homework even to the extent of making him stay up late to compensate for the time he slept earlier in the late evening and night is not because I want to torture him emotionally. He would be very grouchy and throwing temper but I dont care so long as he does his homework and the teacher doesnt scream at him in the morning for not doing the work. I mean, what kind of reason he would give? That he slept? What does it show him to be?

I left secondary school years ago so although I try my best to recall by going through his textbooks and the answer keys, there are just some things that I cant really help because some questions are just pain in the ass. I would ask him to listen to the teachers on how to do the questions which he struggled to do the night before. There are two more years to go before he sits for his O level and I hope he does well in them to get into a good course in poly. I wont be much help academically during his poly years but I will make sure he wont abandon his studies if it's going to get difficult.

Speaking of being difficult, I have never been the sort of sister who shower him with money and materialistic goods but I do care for him. He always accuses me of not listening to him, which is 50% true, but then again the other 50% is not worth listening to either. It's called selective listening...heh. He also thinks Im too uptight with the family in terms of finance that nowadays, my mum and brother will 'pakat' or gang up on not telling me if they buy things that will make me angry like recently, they bought a tub of Swensens ice cream. They only took it out to eat when it was almost finishing and they were smiling to each other in guilt. Then whenever he goes out with my mum's money to buy groceries or food, I always demand my mum to ask back for the money or ask him to give her back the change not because I think that he will spend it all if not taken back.

I dont know where he picks up the habit from but now that fella is a financial planner in which he has this uncanny ability to plan his money. My mum doesnt always take back the coins but he will take them, save it and then change it to notes by asking me to deposit the coins and withdraw the next day. Then whatever he has collected including those loose change that my mother doesnt claim like for example, maybe she will take 6 dollars out of the change of 8 dollars, so he gets to keep the 2 dollars. Can you imagine he will get a tidy sum whenever he goes out to buy things and change the money?

He said he has to do that method of saving because Im too stingy with my money and it's very unlikely I will spend money on him. So he has to find other means of getting money, besides the miserable amount of money I give him every month after payday. Of course my reaction is, 'it's still money what!' and also 'hey, I buy for you food at times u know!' and he will go like..well..food only?!

Honestly, it's getting a bit more difficult dealing with a teenager like him because they will try to argue with you and whatever you say will not make much sense to them. But eventually he will listen, as if being forced at gunpoint, when I give him the silent treatment coz I cant be bothered to talk anymore if he doesnt want to listen. I will reason out with him and then he will keep quiet but seriously, I dont know if he's even paying attention.

I've said this a few times but there are moments when I feel like Im not giving him enough. So far he has been resourceful and currently adopts a 'I dont care about what others think about me' attitude...heh..but I dont mean that in a bad way. He doesnt care about shirt brands and he's happy to get a decent shirt for 3 over dollars which he will buy himself from a hypermarket. And uhm, sometimes I do worry when he gets too much into this 'cheapskate' mode like for example, he gets very contented buying cheap bargains like over the weekend, he went to a Carrefour warehouse sales and was so happy to get a $2 headphone and a $2 disposable camera. I was against him buying the disposable camera because I used it before and it didnt work well...and this being a $2 product, I dont expect it work at all. But he was stubborn, he wanted it so he bought it and in the end, became frustrated when it didnt work. I have tried telling him many times whenever he goes out his own, DO NOT BUY UNNECESSARILY even when it's cheap because it's gonna be a waste of money.

Oh yah, he has also picked up another habit which is uhm...very similar to mine. He collects freebies like sugar packets or creamers but he goes one step further by getting cups like a McCafe latte cup or starbucks mini cup used to hold creamers or sugar which he will ask the person nicely if he can take it. He said that if they dont give, it's okay. Then when he gets home, he gets very excited and tells my mum..'Ma! I have sugar sticks for you!! So you can use it to make your tea!'

Have I created a monster or what? Or rather..a freebo..which my ex classmates used to call me. I've talked about my brother before and I do express regret sometimes that I am not able to treat him like how other people treat their younger siblings such as buying for them things to make them happy. It's not that I dont believe in pampering him, circumstances forced me to be in this tight position. But over the time, I dont blame the same circumstance that I am in because it has made me wiser. I also learn from other people and indirectly, they guide me through life.

You will never believe me when I say that I used to spend money carelessly and I was also pampered in the way I travel like I would never take a long bus journey and would rather change transport in between even if I had to pay more. Now I dont mind walking a bit further to save on transport costs and besides, walking is also a form of exercise especially if I sit in the office for long hours. I do this on a daily basis when I go to work. Walking long distance is no big deal to me and I dont suffer from aches in the knees or ankles where else in the past, I used to suffer from swollen ankles because of my heavy weight. The swell has gone away but my feet still looks big although that's a different story.

Now the only ache I have is my right arm maybe because when I carry heavy grocery bags, I used to emphasize more on my right arm like hanging them on my elbow and making little use of my left arm. I hope the problem will go away soon because I dont know how long my left arm will be fine. And I hate the feeling of being in pain especially if it makes things difficult for me.

Okay off to bed for me. Another day of coursework later...sigh...well at least Im not in office and answering the questions of lazy people on the phone who cant be bothered to read the letters we sent out to them. Yup, more on that later on my next post...what to do, I love to complain..haha..