TED Mystery Experiment - Part 4 The Conclusion

Andai aku jadi kaya

punya uang berjuta-juta..

Kadang mikir, enak ya punya banyak uang. Enak ya hidupnya ga perlu khawatir masalah bayar ini itu. 

Terus masuk dalam penelitian ini, jadi mikir lagi, kok bisa ya ada donatur yang sebaik itu, yang mau nyumbangin 2 juta USD (total partisipan katanya 200 orang) buat dibagi-bagi ke strangers? Sebingung itu kah ngehabisin uangnya? Ga takut apa uangnya disalahgunakan? Maksudku, mekanisme pelaporannya longgar banget, aku sih bisa-bisa aja masukin 100% uangnya buat ke tabungan ato beli saham/reksa dana. Pas pelaporan tinggal ditulis aja uangnya dipake buat apa gitu. Tanpa bukti transfer, tanpa struk, cuma modal kepercayaan. Kok bisa ya. 

But anyway, at the end of this experiment, almost all of my wishlists were granted. My savings rate increased dramatically. My emergency fund is entirely secure. During those months, I kept my spending to the bare minimum. And until now, I keep tracking all my expenses, which is good. If you ask me, how does it feel about spending 10.000 USD only in three months?  Of course, I am beyond happy... in the first month.. But then it feels ordinary. Bahkan sampai sekarang rasanya biasa aja ngetik di zenbook. Enggak kayak pas awal waktu searching di tokopedia.

My day-1 plan goes on well. It feels good to have everything under control. I feel grown-up. Wow, I am capable of managing this big money on the right things. You are doing well, tya, good job. I observed that some of the fellow participants felt guilty because it was so much to splurge. Keknya aku di sisi sebaliknya.. Ten thousand dollars is not that big if you already had it. It's not that small, but not big enough to grant your every wish. I'd say we need to be very careful on every spending before it slips out of our hands (that's why I'm on my spreadsheet since day one). Dan BAPA keknya liat kesiapan ga sih? Kalo tya ga belajar budgeting dan mencatat pengeluaran, mungkin uang TED ini bakal aku splurge kemana-mana. 

Through this experiment, I know how it feels like to have this big money. How it feels to check out my wishlist without worrying about the price. I also can feel secure with my savings, at least for the first year of residency.  Just in case if I can't get a fully-funded scholarship (me saving in the smart wayyy of kors without breaking the rules, and it's good to have a plan B). 

Money can't bring you happiness - rich people said. This experiment made me going through a more profound thinking process. I used to think, how come money can't bring you happiness? You can buy the things you want. You can pay for the best helper/assistant you need to make your life easier. It is always good to have more money. 

Money can't bring you happiness - rich people said. 

Then give us the money - we said

Send us your Paypal account *transfer USD 10.000* - the generous donors said

Within the last weeks of the experiment, I read a book called Rich Dad, Poor Dad. Until now, I used to live with the mindset of the poor dad. Study hard, work hard. Find a secure job that has a potentially safe future. I always thought that I deserve to earn a lot of money because I am serving my best to the government and society. Pemikiran ini bukannya salah sih. It's the mindset of almost everyone. Tapi peningkatan gaji tidak sebanding dengan peningkatan kebahagiaan. Dan semakin besar pendapatan, semakin besar keinginanmu. Money can only bring you happiness if you know how to be content. 

Cinta akan uang adalah akar semua kejahatan. Tapi kadang kita coba mengelabui diri sendiri. No, I love my job; I don't care about the money. But deep inside, it was the fear that keeps us wake up every morning. Kita takut. Kita khawatir. Bilangnya sih ga butuh uang, tapi selalu nunggu-nunggu kapan gajian, kapan TPP turun, kapan jasa medis turun. Padahal jujur sama diri sendiri itu penting. Kita harus mengakui dulu, iya aku insecure kalau nantinya tidak bisa hidup dengan nyaman. 

Eksperimen ini membuat aku menyadari betapa besar ketakutanku terhadap masa depan. Padahal BAPA bilang, ngapain takut tentang masalah penghidupanmu? Sampai-sampai BAPA harus kirim 'manna' dari langit, tanpa hujan angin, tanpa tanda-tanda. 

Kenapa sih masih khawatir? Heran.

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harusnya ada part 3 yang isinya tentang gimana aku menghabiskan sisa uangnya. tapiiiii sepertinya mood nulis ga muncul lagi wkwkwk. Kenapa sih campur2 bahasa? Iya awalnya pengen full english, tapi utekku ga shanggup yhaaaa, adrenalinnya kadung habis gaisss, momen sudah lewat wkwkw

TED Mystery Experiment - Part 2 First Month Spending

After I read the acceptance email and watched the video, I decided to plan how I should spend the money. Since the very first day. It was my day off anyway. Memang orangnya dasarnya suka planning aja, gatau deh nantinya bakal jalan apa enggak, asalkan sudah terprediksi mau digimanain. Alias ga bisa fokus ke yang lain, jadi mending diketik aja dulu. As long as the plan has been made, my heart is at peace. Even though at that time I wasn't really sure about this good news. It was fun to plan anyway. And it was such a pretty spreadsheet in my personal finance file~

The last requirement got me brokenhearted :"
But hey, look at how easy it was.

When the money finally arrived, in the first week, I bought my dream laptop, Zenbook! I have always wanted this laptop forever. My old laptops were cheap (yea I'm cheap, can't afford good things :"). And this pandemic thing made me realize how vital high-quality gadgets are. I actually want to buy this at the local store, but after searching almost everywhere (gajugasih lebay, cuma ke 2 toko terbesar), no one sells it here. So I bought it online. And the best thing is, it comes in lilac :D

After the laptop came, finally I told Ariel bout this good news. Iyaa, I used to keep the good news for myself and try to be lowkey. I also told him not to tell anyone yet because I like to decide on my own, at least for now. 

Next is the tithe and some donation. Idk it comes naturally, maybe because I'm getting used to it. 

Then the tax. I'm a good citizen dan civil servant. I paid my tax. Paying tax is adult lyfe wkwkw. 

I also bought the essential, my skincare for the next few months. 

Then comes the dilemma. I love the idea of an integrated second brain that I can access with any of my gadgets. I tried notability, but it only available on iOS. They said goodnotes is better, but I can't afford any other purchase. So I tried free OneNote. Of course, it has many pros and cons, but it fits me with my android phone, iPad, and zenbook. Bolehlahh.

Okay, then should I buy a brand new Samsung galaxy tab s6 lite? Or should I buy a pen tablet and notetaking with my zenbook? Or should I sell my -used to papa's but now it's mine- iPad pro 12.9" 2017, then buy iPad mini? But the rumor said that the iPad mini 6 is still underdevelopment. It means i have to wait for maybe a year. On these purchases, I found myself spending wasting so much time researching what I should buy. Is it better to buy it from Shopee or Tokopedia? Should I buy this or that? Is it better and cheaper to buy from this or that seller? Finally, after a profound moment of thinking, I chose to maximize what I already have now. So the subsequent purchases I made were iPad accessories. Goes to #tya-digital-notetaking-2021. But anyway, now I know how it feels to check out my shopping carts without worrying about the price.

I also play it smart, kids. Because I can't save this money, I used this money for my daily expenses to keep most of my salary.

Sooo, it was how I spend the money in the first month. One down, two more to go.

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sebenarnya ada part 3 dan 4.. tapi mood menulis lagi hilang berbulan-bulan ini... wkwkwk

TED Mystery Experiment - part 1

 #MysteryExperiment 

Disclaimer: Papa kalau baca ini, tolong jangan ember dulu. Tell them when this is officially over, okay. Thx. 

God know one of my biggest insecurity is finance. I am afraid that someday I don't have enough. As a medical doctor and civil servant working in a public hospital, I know I shouldn't be worry. I've got everything I need now. But residency years to come made me think about my savings all over again. Is it enough? Belum lagi stresnya nanti pas PPDS, jadi pasti butuh hidup dengan nyaman.

The Residency system in Indonesia is university-based. Residents won't get paid; instead, we pay our tuition. Can I survive only with my salary? Can I live with my saving now? Apa harus tya gadai SK PNS buat modal sekolah? Thanks to many financial gurus on the internet nowadays, I learned a lot. How to budgeting, an emergency fund, compound interest, stocks market, and other fun things. 

Budgeting was not easy at all! On January 31th 2021, I decided to sit down and do my budget. It suddenly gave me a headache because it revealed all my 'bocor halus'. It made me upset with my younger-careless self. Why you wasting so much money mannnnnnnn hhdhagahbfdhgfgggwghhh! You should've spent it wisely!! 

Dasar young dumb and broke.

Bzzzzzzzztt *ceritanya ala-ala rewind*

- Back in December 2020, I read about this research on Twitter. It is a multinational study, and they wanted participants from Indonesia too. Because I am into research things, it was fun to join. It is the TED Foundation. I mean the famous TED Talks on Youtube. It felt good to help the other researchers too. It was a 20-ish minutes survey. I submitted my application and forgot about it then.- 

The thread I was referring to
Gimana ga bergelitik jiwa peneliti tya
kalo ajakannya kek begini.
It's gonna be fun and exciting.

*okay back to the future*

A week later (in early February), I received an email from TED talks. It was stated that I had been chosen to be the participant in their research of human nature. Cool, I thought. Maybe another SurveyMonkey to fill in. 

After I opened the link and watched the video. Wait wait, what??? We were told to spend ten thousand USD in three months? Is it a prank? Is it a scam? Is it legit? But it is Chris Anderson himself, founder of TED Foundation, and I got nothing to lose. The terms and conditions were easy to follow. The paper works too was easy. Even setting up a new verified PayPal account was not as complicated as I thought. Thanks to BNI Mobile Banking. 

After waiting for several weeks and doubting it several times, on February 27th, I opened my email. Then my PayPal account. 

It's LEGIT mannnnnnn! TED Mystery Experiment bukan kaleng-kaleng. Eh kalem dulu tapi soalnya masih jaga UGD. Okay tenang tenang, stick to the plan yaa..

Click on the Label "TED Mystery Experiement" for the next parts!