Money! Money! Money!

To all non-ABBA people, do not worry because this posting is not about that infamous song. But it is about what concern me right now.

I don't want to sound proud and neither I want to be naive, but I really, really miss those days when money was never an issue to me. Don't get me wrong and trust me I don't come from a wealthy family. And thank God for that!

It was long time ago (sorry, I'm exaggerating again). Although I made a few hundreds below RM2,000 but I led a great life. I had enough to eat, save and spend and still managed to send a big portion of my salary home. And thank to Allah, I always have money in my pocket/wallet as well as in my savings account.

Fast forward to present time, I'm now earning almost triple of what I got in six years ago plus the monthly living allowance (in pound sterling) for another 10 months. Income-wise, I am much better off now. Alhamdulillah.

But, what puzzle me is the feeling that I'm currently have i.e. I don't have enough. I repeat, I don't have enough, money of course.

Before you accuse me of materialistic or ungrateful, allow me to explain.

I still have enough to eat, save, spend and send home although the amount is much smaller in percentage-wise. Plus I managed to maintain the monthly deductions for my Graha Residen and Neo. But my Maybank al-wadiah account is not as "fancy" as it used to be in the first two or three years of my employment.

In addition, I also experienced a number of leakages (not the embarrassing joke by those irritating YBs in our august house!).

First, it was a couple of close friends who disappeared after obtaining loans from me. Then, gone hundreds of ringgit for traffic summons. Plus a couple of bucks here and there for petty (and of course unproductive) expenses. And now, I'm about to fork up a few thousands for a mishap that happened to one of my beloved ones. O God... am I being tested?

Hmmm... wait a minute. Have I pay out enough zakat, haven't I?