Tips to help newly-employed graduates to build a secure nest egg

1) Open a financial freedom account and deposit 10% of your monthly salary there every month.

2) Keep proper records of spending to monitor.

3) Set a monthly expenditure budget and compare that with the actual amount spent. There are free software in the market that can be used.

4) Buy a medical card to protect against hospitalisation and surgical cost if the cover from the employer is inadequate.

5) Create an emergency fund for rainy days; put this money in fixed deposit or money market fund. The amount should be around 3 to 6 months of monthly mandatory expenses.

6) If you really need to use the credit card, pay them in full by end-month. A credit card should be treated like a form of payment, not extra money.

Source: http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/3/28/business/3558733&sec=business