On Li Ka-Shing's advice

 

I came across this article a long while back, and it set me reflecting.

Li Ka-Shing teaches you how to buy a car & house in 5 years

He gives you advice on how to divide your salary into proportions:

• 30% goes to living expenses
• 20% goes to "making friends"
• 15% goes to learning
• 10% goes to vacations
• 25% goes to investments

The last net salary from my library job was around $245, the equivalent of 22.5 hours of work. If I were to look at the two weeks that this period covered, I did spend:

• 30% on living expenses (i.e. food)
• 5% on miscellaneous expenses (i.e. passport photos for my OPT application)

The rest of the money went into my bank account for savings and future expenses.

I don't know where Li Ka-Shing gets his budget for other kinds of expenses. The article says to "try to buy minimal clothes and shoes," but I don't think that applies to international students from the tropics who suddenly find themselves caught in the US polar vortex.


Anyway, looking at my expenses for this schoolyear, I see that:

• 63% went to tuition and school fees
• 18% went to room and board (of which 1% was food expense)
• 8% went to health insurance (!!!)
• 6% went to personal expense (OPT application, movie tickets, etc)
• 4% went to travel expense (bookings for this summer)
• 1% went to textbooks

And that makes 100% of my expenses for SY 2013-14 so far.

I'm amazed at how much I spent on health insurance. If only I could reimburse any "unused, unclaimed" portion in some way.

From phdcomics.com (I'm not a PHD, but I can definitely relate!)

Evolution of an MBA

Brought to you by Wharton Follies 2011

So here's a video to break my blog's text monotony! Of course, it has to be MBA-related. 

Comments:
Ooh, Case in Point - our textbook for case interviews.
Au Bon Pain for group meeting snacks? Check. Those group meetings could take hours.
MBAs love costume parties.
Professional attire? Yup, you learn to leave a suit and shoes in your locker.
Jaunts to exotic destinations are not for money-saving me.
Eating out of the bin? Ugh, no.


Seriously, the changes you absorb as you go through the MBA wringer - all that business jargon of ROI, tax returns, marketing promotions and Lean operations suddenly make sense; networking in professional attire while drinking cocktails becomes part of your routine; negotiating and debating with teammates are learned skills, etc - won't necessarily make a superstar out of you once you graduate, and it's important to remember that. (MBAs have this reputation of being know-it-alls, especially MBAs from particular elite schools.)

Don't even think of lying on your MBA application...

Or your MBA degree might just be taken away from you when you think you're this big and successful hotshot.

Don't be like this guy:
Stanford Takes Away an MBA Degree

Re that guy: changing grades on his law school transcript to make his parents happy? Really?! Give me a break. Begs the question of whether more stringent grading in American schools should be practiced so that students really put in the hard work of earning their grades, don't get misplaced confidence due to over-inflated A's and A-'s, and be used to the idea that not getting A's and A-'s is okay.

I tell you, it's too easy to get an A in the US educational system that grades don't really serve as a benchmark of academic performance anymore. A B in the MBA program is already something to be ashamed of. And that's, what, a 3 on a 4-point scale (which, on the Philippine university scale, is an 80 out of 100)? Whatever happened to C's, D's and F's?

Hah. Just wanted to say that first-year MBA students are intense when it comes to grades. Especially in the first semester of the program.

CEOs when they were MBA students

I was going through No Debt MBA's entries yesterday, and found a link to this interesting article.

Fortune 100 CEOs: When They Were MBA Students

And just like No Debt MBA, I found inspiration in Pepsi CEO Indra Nooyi:

Nooyi recalled how she was virtually broke in her first year as an MBA student. “Those were very tough times.,” she said.  “At the end of the month, if I saved $5. I thought I had died and gone to heaven. I was totally and complete broke. I had no money to buy clothes. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I worked the front desk of Hadley Hall from midnight to 5 a.m. at $3.35 an hour, the minimum wage. That money was the grocery money for the week.”

I read a case on Indra Nooyi last quarter, and her story is a definite must-read. She chose the night shift because it paid an extra 50 cents an hour. She didn't have the money to buy a well-made suit so she bought one from a discount store, and wore orange snow boots to an interview (and got rejected). A professor advised her to wear a sari for the next interview (BCG), saying, "if they can't accept you in a sari, it's their loss, not yours." She got the job.

One quote of hers that strikes me: "I am so secure in myself, I don't have to be American to play in the corporate life."

(Reference: International management: managing across borders and cultures. H. Deresky. 8th ed.)

10 weeks 'til graduation

Random thoughts today:

> Monday morning, and it's our spring break!! Break started last Friday for me.

> Met an MBA alum on my way to the library. He's an international student who's switching jobs after not-even-a-year. He's going to join a startup after working at a small financial consulting firm. He says he "likes small companies." I wished him good luck!

> It's break, yes, but I am working in the library. It's nice, however, to be working in the library -- getting paid and getting fed (lots of extra food from dissertation camp) -- when most students are away.

> Must remember to get my new I-20 from the International office and mail my OPT application today!

> Need packaging tape to mail a textbook rental back. Ebay in the US is a blessing. There's stuff there that's cheaper than Amazon, Walmart or the dollar store.

> Spending more than I usually do on food with friends, and stuff like ski pants. Trading money for (affordable more-value-for-your-money) memories.

> I need a US driver's license!!! Aaaahhhhhh. Parallel parking, I'll beat you today!

> Double points for Bing Rewards today! Followed it up with Swagbucks! (for more info, follow this link.) I think I've earned around $50 so far with these two sites. Not bad!

> Wondering what to eat for mid-afternoon "lunch."

> Can't wait to know how much my tax refund will be; my tax appointment's next week.

> Wonder what ever happened to No Debt MBA? She stopped writing on her blog since she started her internship. I had been reading it before I came to the US back in 2012. Did she accumulate debt during her second year? Hmm.

> Yes, I'm graduating soon, and I'm feeling lazy, like the stereotypical second-year MBA. Cannot wait to start earning again!