How To Cope With Rising Inflation
The Malaysian Government announced an increase in petrol and diesel prices as well as electricity tariff yesterday at 40.6% (from RM1.92 per litre to RM2.70), 63.3%, (from RM1.58 per litre to RM2.58) and 20% for homes (above 400 kw) and 26% for business users respectively. The increase created shockwaves throughout the country and many petrol stations saw hundreds, if not thousands, of vehicles queuing up to have their tanks filled prior to the price increase at midnight. I was one of the motorists and I had no choice as both my cars incidentally were at the "empty" level yesterday evening. Still, the decision to queue up for not less than 30 minutes per car saved me at least RM45 in total, which can buy us 2 1/2 packs of milk powder or 1 1/2 packs of diapers for our 2 daughters.
This post is not about the merits of the price increase or fault finding. Prices of everyday goods have increased globally and governments around the world are cracking their heads trying to find a balance between income, subsidies and expenditure. It’s a matter of which government is more prudent financially. This post is about what you can do to cope with the rising inflation , where many are finding it hard to make ends meet. In many ways, these are also some of the methods that I employ.
Income
1. Be thankful with the job that you have. At least you have an income. Continue to find ways to increase your worth as an employee so that if and when appraisal comes about, your chances of getting an increment are higher.
2. Consider part-time income . How about blogging or making money online? I have a couple of sites and they supplement my income. All I need to do is to invest 1 to 3 hours a day. Do remember, however, that there are many things to learn about making money online and money does not drop down from the sky.
3. Create opportunities or look out for opportunities of income. Do not fall into dubious scams or get-rick-quick schemes. Anything that promises quick money must be treated as a scam until proven innocent .
4. Save money . That goes without saying. Any amount, however small, will eventually form into a bigger amount as months go by. Make it a habit to put aside a portion of your income into savings.
5. Invest . When faced with an economic recession, cash is king. Keep your cash in safe investment instruments such as fixed deposits or bonds. If you have surplus cash, buy fundamentally-sound shares and stocks when they are at a low price and keep them aside until the economy improves. Trading on margins are risky unless you know what you are doing.
6. Spread out your investments to decrease your risk. Choose between bank deposits, bonds, unit trusts, shares and stocks, property, insurance and other forms of investments.
7. Maximise your tax rebates and deductions . Find out and understand about the various tax breaks given by the government and utilise them smartly.
Expenditure
1. Cut down on unnecessary expenses . Before you purchase something, consider whether it is a necessity or a want. The latter is usually a luxury. For example, buy a basic phone instead of buying the latest phone which costs you twice the amount. Whilst you need to make phone calls, you don’t need to take photos that often or listen to music.
2. Consider doing housework without the help of a foreign maid . Many families are able to do so and with a little bit of effort, you would be able to adapt to life without a foreign maid. The cost of hiring and maintaining a foreign maid is high and sometimes, you are not aware of the hidden costs such as wasteful use of detergents, water, electricity etc.
3. Use public transport if it does not hinder your work performance and the costs of using public transportation is cheaper than maintaining a vehicle.
4. Use a vehicle which is more fuel efficient or which the government gives incentives. Find out which vehicles score high on fuel efficiency and low maintenance. It does not matter what other’s think about the type of vehicle you are travelling on. At the end of the day, they are not giving you anything to make your life better.
5. If you are driving, plan your trips to reduce unnecessary travelling time and mileage. This saves fuel and time.
6. If possible, travel during off-peak hours where chances of a traffic jam are lower. When you are stuck in a traffic jam, you are burning fuel unnecessarily. For those of you living in areas where peak-hour surcharges are applicable, try to travel during off-peak hours.
7. Experiment between travelling on a highway with toll payable as against an alternative toll-free route to see whether you actually save on fuel vis a vis the toll payable. Sometimes, the amount of toll payable might be cheaper than the loss in fuel due to an alternative route which is congested with traffic or requires more acceleration and deceleration.
8. Drive sensibly . Hitting the accelarator hard consumes more fuel compared to gradual acceleration. Keep at a constant speed of 90km/h which many car experts say is the optimum speed especially where fuel consumption is concerned.
9. Keep tyre pressure checked and maintain your vehicle regularly . A healthy and happy vehicle consumes less fuel and has a longer lifespan.
10. Switch off the lights in vacant rooms . Use energy saver lighting where possible. When buying electrical products, choose one which is energy-efficient. Use a fan rather than an air-conditioner.
11. Don’t waste water . Use a front loading washing machine rather than a top loading as the former uses less water (using less water does not necessarily mean less clean clothes). Use showers rather than long baths or buckets and ladles when washing up.
12. Treat eating out as a luxury or reduce dining at fancy restaurants . You need to eat but there is no need to eat in fancy restaurants which charge exorbitantly. Why pay RM9.90 for a plate of fried rice in an air-conditioned restaurant when you can have the same (and possibly more delicious) at a less fancy eatery for RM5.00? Why drink an expensive cup of coffee at RM8.00 when you can have one for RM2.00 or less in a coffeeshop? It’s still food and drink which you need but don’t require any luxury to it.
13. Ditto 12 - don’t buy overpriced food when you can have something close for a fraction of the price. Eating from a loaf of wholewheat High 5 or Gardenia bread costing RM3.00 is cheaper than a wholewheat loaf from a boutique bakery. Little savings count. Buy a tub of ice cream for RM5.99 compared to an imported smaller tub which costs RM20.00 or more. It will still melt in your mouth and give you a short while of pleasure.
14. Recycle . Sell your unwanted stuffs. Even old newspapers and empty tin cans fetch a price. Hold a jumble sale. Not only will you earn some money, you are doing yourself a favour cleaning up your home / office.
15. Don’t be embarassed using hand-me-downs . For those with young infants, hand-me-downs (eg. clothing, baby strollers, beds, toys, etc.) help to save a lot of money. Afterall, babies and toddlers grow up fast and it would be wasteful to buy everything new.
16. In my opinion, there is negligible difference between a more well-known brand of infant formula compared to a lesser known brand though there is a big difference in pricing. Compared the ingredients of an expensive brand and a cheaper brand. Bear in mind that the difference is usually in fractions of miligrammes. Do you seriously think it would make such a big impact on your child’s intelligence and what-nots if you don’t buy the expensive infant formula?
17. Know your price before you purchase . Compare the prices of the essentials between different shopping outlets. Scan the papers for discounts and sales of the essential items you buy. Don’t purchase hastily.
Okay…that’s all for now. It’s way past lunch time and I need to find some grub. In the meantime, why don’t you share some anti-inflation tips here with other readers by leaving a comment? I would be glad if you do.
Updated :
1) Most people are depressed and angry enough with the rising inflation and this post is not a rant about what could or should be done. So, in the interest of readers who want to know how to cope with rising inflation, I will have to delete comments which do not contribute to this post by way of anti-inflation tips .
2) If you have written similar tips on your blog, leave the url to your post in the comment section and I will place it here on this post.
Other Tips
- How to Save Petrol by The Obnoxious 5xMom
- Frugal Living Guide for Malaysians (with a touch of humour) by ShadowFox
- What Can We Do Without Petrol by Jarod
comments
6 Responses to “How To Cope With Rising Inflation”
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The recent increase of petrol has really shocked some or most of the rakyat. People are worry on how to manage their expenditure. People are more worry if the new system going to be implement in August.
oOYuen : Yes I know. How will you be managing your expenditure? Care to share?
[...] has just written an excellent article on how to cope with rising inflation. He should add planting vegetables to the [...]
whenever possible for short trips, I use a motor-bike now. it is more convenient and cheaper and no need to waste fuel idling because of no parking space. air con too consumes a lot of fuel. whenever possible, I switch it off now. uncomfortable of coz but it adds up over time.
I’d like to add that in view of the rising cost of milk powder for babies, that’s even better reason to breastfeed. Baby gets nutrients that no milk formula can provide and parents get to save some moolah. Of course, the financial aspect of breastfeeding is secondary to the benefits it provides the baby la. So breastfeed as long as possible. Just my dua sen worth.
Dear Pablo,
Just came around for a look-see.
Good tips, especially the one on making side income via blogging… These are simple, yet sensible suggestions that will go a long way to keep our costs down.
Rgds