About 66% of Malaysian households earn less than RM5,000 a month and the rising cost of living in Malaysia certainly does not make things any easier for them. How do they cope? How can you cope? Two families earning RM3,000 and RM5,000 share their smart spending tips.
Roshanizar Ali, a 41-year-old clerk at SK Taman Megah and her husband have five children aged between 4 and 12 years old and together they take home a joint income of RM3,000.
Together, they live in the Kelana Jaya Customs Department quarters and this has helped them save some money on housing rental. However, there is an allowance deduction on this so it is not free.
“My average household expenditure for groceries including non-perishables as well as fresh produce is about RM600.
“Out of this, I spend between RM300 and RM350 for dry goods and non-perishables such as sugar, flour, detergent and rice.
“As for fresh produce, my expenditure is RM150 for two weeks’ worth of food, bringing it to about RM300 per month,” said Roshanizar.
The school clerk said the first thing they do when they get their pay cheques is keep aside between RM100 to RM300 per month for emergencies like illness in the family or to go back to their hometowns.
“Then I will pay off the car loan, any bank loans, the household utility bills, fuel, tuition fees for the children, babysitter fees and other bills like mobile phone bills.
“After doing the rounds at all the supermarkets and hypermarkets in the area, I have found that the cheapest place for me to buy dry goods and non-perishables is Speed Mart,” she said.
“At home, I prepare breakfast and lunch for my family in the mornings. I’m at work by 7.15am each morning and by the time I return home it’s about 6.15pm.
“My children also go to SK Taman Megah so they travel with me. My husband only returns about 8pm after his job as a customs officer in a factory.
“Before he returns I will cook dinner – I will usually cook rice in the mornings to save on time. For dinner, I will cook a vegetable dish and either a fish or chicken dish.
“I will never cook chicken and fish together. We only go out to eat about once a month, we can’t afford to do it more often than that.
“I do feel the pinch from the increase in the cost of fuel prices as I drive a car. But in order to save, my husband rides a motorcycle,” said Roshanizar.
Roshanizar’s budgeting tips are:
- Use your salary to pay for the necessities first such as loans and bills
- Share information of good buys with friends
- If you find things on offer, buy enough to last your family for the following month
- For Hari Raya clothes, don’t wait until it’s actually Raya time to buy. This way, you spread out your spending over the year.
Retiree SL Ho, 60, and his retired wife and are dependent on their 26-year-old daughter in Wangsa Maju with a household take home salary of RM3,000.
To save, Ho said they eat sandwiches every day and they invested in a bread maker because they realised that bread prices were on a hike but the quality was stagnant.
“We decided to take matters into our own hands and make our own bread. The cost of baking the bread and the sandwich fillings come to less than RM10 each day for the four of us. When it comes to groceries, I buy it either from Tesco or Aeon Big. I tend to buy house brands or generic brands because they cost much less than recognised brand names, There’s quite a sizeable difference in price,” said Ho.
For example, he said this Chinese New Year, a piece of golden pomfret cost him half the price at Aeon Big compared to the wet market.
“I think the quality is up to par, given the big price difference.
“Another thing which I have found is the use of credit cards from banks which offer cash rebates.
“I have a credit card where the bank offers me a cash rebate for purchases I make on it. I also get cash vouchers from hypermarkets and this is also a form of savings for me,” he said.
“I go to the hypermarket about once a week and each time I spend between RM150 and RM200. On average, I spend about RM1,000 on food products and non-perishable household items for the month.
“We save money in other ways as well. I think very carefully about driving to other parts of KL, as petrol costs me RM0.25 per km in my car,” he said.
