Thursday 20 February 2014

How to save money and still enjoy life?

Everything that we do or need now cost money. Even if you need to pee in public toilet. Our cost of living increase every year but our income level does not moving in same movement. As a normal.public citizen I feel the pain of paying high amount of money just to get a decent cup of coffee with nasik lemak every morning.
So how do we continue to survive in this situation? I would like to share tips on how to save our money and still have fun😀

1. Living in moderation.
     As old Malay saying,  ''measure cloth on your own body''. For example, if you like coffee but your income does not much, you dont have to go to fancy or hipster coffee shop like Starbucks, Whisk, Expresso Labs etc...instead buy Old town white coffee 3in1, Kopi Che Nah or Kopi Kapal Api that is much more cheaper and you get good coffee too. If your company provides free drinks, utilized it well.
Another example is, if you like branded handbag, you don't have to buy authentic, but buy fake branded merchandise or no brand handbag but good design. It will not cost you as much as branded item.
Plus now in we have lots of local brand with great quality and fair price.

2. Eat Healthy
Malaysia is the top in obessity list. Why? I personally think because we eat anything we can or want anytime. Food price increase significantly every time i check. Why dont we try to eat moderately in terms of portion and fanciness. You dont need to go to a fine dining just to eat steak that later did not fulfill your empty stomach but you have to pay fortune just to try it. You can make your own steak. LEARN! You don't need to go out for lunch at fancy places like Franco, Delicious, or Hokaido shushi..make your own lunch. It's more healthier and off course your money are saved from GST or Service taxes.

3. Explore Local : Cuti-Cuti Malaysia
If you like travel and see places you can explore Malaysia. There's a lot of places for you to see and most of it are more beautiful that outside Malaysia. If you like beach you can go to Kapas Island, Mabul Island, Kapalai Island, Rawa Island or if you like city you can go to Ipoh, Penang, Johore Bahru or Malacca or maybe if you enjoy nature we have our own beautiful nature such as Royal Belum, Mount Kinabalu, Mount Tahan. The list will go on and on.. Travel locally will help you to save a lot from currency exchange loss, expensive accomodation or transport. Im not saying you should not visit other country, but im suggesting you to visit and explore our own beautiful Malaysia to fill in your hunger for exploration. Try to complete as much city or sub-city in Malaysia before you explore the world. I once heard that people say travel is like reading a book, if you never travel, means you only read page 1. If you only see outside your country means you skipped a lots of pages and your knowledge may not be valid. Think about it.

4. Grow your own vegetable
If you buy vege everyweek, why dont invest some time and money to prepare for your town-vegegarden. It will not cost you huge amount of money but the return in sweet.
I personally grow my own vege and i already tatse the sweetness return and i have stop buying vege such as ocra, pak choy and water spinach. If you live in an apartment, you can grow it like flower. You can search on youtube how to grow vege in apartment or landed house. 

5. Recycle, Repurpose & Reuse

This term no need an explanation. What you need is try to take an action. Example your old jeans. Dont throw it, you can make a new bag out of it and maybe you can try to sell it. You can also reuse empty soda bottle as your vase to grow vege. Or you can collect glass bottle, tin can and platic material then sell it to the recycle company. You not only save money but also our environtment. To make it more fun, do it with your family and you could make a lot of different to the community as well. Now with lots of state try to implement no plastic and you have to pay 20 cent for each plastic bag you need. Dont be a lazy person by paying 20 cent instead of you bring your own recycle bag.

Live in moderation will teach you to be modest and more humble. Eventually will save a lots of money with good feeling.