The Comprehensive Guide to Save Money on Groceries in Malaysia

Some people love grocery shopping. Some people don’t.

I happen to belong to the first camp. I LOVE grocery shopping. It’s fun to go to the hypermarket and pick between yellow and red onions haha.

When I first started to budget, my initial research was all about how to save money on groceries before I ‘graduated’ to other topics.

There are lots of ways to save money on groceries in Malaysia. In this guide, I will share what I know. I hope you’ll find it useful for your next shopping trip. I divided this article into helpful shopping tools to have and things to do before, during and after the trip.

Shopping tools

Things that can help you save even more money.

A car/ride-sharing
 – The more you stock up on one trip, the fewer trips you have to make. This saves petrol, parking and time, as well as reduces impulse spending (less trips = less temptations each time). Some personal finance bloggers have resources you can use to make just
ONE major grocery trip a month
.

Grocery delivery services
 – If you can’t go to the stores in person. There are a few options, such as Happyfresh and Honestbee. Related:
My Happyfresh review

Fridge/Freezer
 – To stock up on perishable items

Pantry/storage space
 – To stock up on non-perishable items

Tesco/Mydin/Econsave/Giant brochures
 – to compare prices.

Cashback credit card
 – Getting one that gives you 2-5% cashback is a good idea

Calculator/phone
 – Sometimes you’re faced with two or more options and need to calculate which one is more worth it

Each one is a ‘hack’ on its own, but don’t worry too much if you don’t have some of them!

Before you go

OpenClipart-Vectors
 / Pixabay

Checklist before you make that trip.

Eat first.
 Grocery stores tend to make you hungry because they make sure you can smell their freshly-baked bread. So sly right. When you’re hungry, you buy more food and snacks

Know your staples.
 What do you/your family normally use and consume? For example, my family is proudly Nogori, so we make Masak Lemak all the time, therefore coconut milk is a staple in our household. I have a list of common Malaysian grocery staples further down this article.

Check the store brochures to find especially good deals.
 If your usual dishwashing liquid is half the price, it’s worth stocking them up because you’ll use them in the future anyway.

Make sure your fridge is empty.
 Throwing away perfectly edible food you still have at home wastes money 🙁 Eat them first.

Leave the kids.
 Unless you can’t, of course. Kids request things all the time. Then they press the bananas.

Prepare the route.
 You might have to go to two or more stores to take advantage of max savings. Preferably go to places that are nearby each other and not at opposite directions.

Bring loyalty cards
. For points bonus and extra member deals and free parking benefits if any.

Bring coupons/vouchers.
 If you have them.

At the store

Things to do at the store:

If you can,
buy ingredients, not convenience and prepackaged items
. I like to buy whole chickens and cut them myself  (RM6-8 per kilo) rather than the individual parts (double that price!).

Buy non-perishables in bulk
, especially if it’s a good deal.

For
perishables like fruits and vegetables
, buy smaller amounts of items that go bad faster (strawberries, leafy greens etc) and larger amounts of items that can keep for a while (cabbages, apples, carrots, potatoes, oranges, etc).

When paying,
check the register and the receipt
 because sometimes prices get rung up wrongly. Once my green peppers were wrongly tagged as another expensive vegetable. Thank goodness I found out at the register, because if not I would have paid RM35 for nothing.

Check the bargain bins
. I’ve scored a lot of still-good produce items from here. Soft bananas make really good banana cakes! Don’t get reduced-price fresh meat though. Any meat I found at the bargain bin always turn out to be bad.

It’s easy to be distracted at the store.
Allow yourself one ‘naughty’ purchase
, but just one.

After shopping

What to do after you get home.

Keep the perishables in the fridge.
Place the items that’ll go bad faster in front
, so you’ll see and consume it before it goes bad.

Be OK with less food variety
 as you run out of some food items. I think that expecting something different for every meal is a luxury that you can phase out (except for special occasions), especially if you’re really on a budget. You can also use tools like
Supercook
– enter your remaining ingredients and it’ll suggest some recipes you can make with what you have. My favourite frugal meal is cabbage soup with ikan bilis stock + rice.

It’s also OK not to have meat at every meal.
 Going vegetarian sometimes is good for you and easy on the budget.

Cook big batches of food.
 Turn dinner leftovers into lunch and bring it to work. It’s easy for some meals to be re-purposed into new meals, too. For example, rice becomes fried rice. Leftover chicken becomes sandwich filling. Soup becomes, err, thicker soup.

Keep a list of what you have
. I personally don’t do this because I generally know what I have, but bigger families can benefit from having a list.

We throw away an absurd amount of food.
Don’t let it go bad
, so sayang.

Go to smaller shops to stock up on perishables you need before your next big shopping trip.
 Pasar tani, pasar malam and local sundry shops are good places for these. You get to support local businesses, too.

Common staples for Malaysians

Things Malaysians buy (source: I look at people’s grocery baskets while shopping because its fascinating to peek into their lives). Tweak this list to cater to your family’s needs.

Dry stuff

Rice

Cooking oil

Sugar

Flour

Soy sauce

Instant noodles/mihun

Dried ikan bilis/shrimp

Stock cubes

Pasteurised milk

Instant coffee/ tea

Frozen stuff

Frozen vegetables

Fish

Chicken

Beef

Mutton

Butter

Others

Vegetables & Fruits

Onion/Garlic

Eggs

Canned sardines

Pasteurised milk

Tofu/Tempeh

Curry powder mix

Tumeric powder / whatever herbs and spices you usually use

Coconut milk

Mayo

Non-perishables

Toilet paper

Cleaning products

Garbage bags

Aluminium foil

Shampoo/soap/toothpaste/toothbrush

Pad/tampon (or switch to menstrual cup!)

Diapers (kids or adults)

How do you save money on groceries in Malaysia?

So what do you think of the above? Simple but doable, no?

Using the methods above saved me a lot of money over the years. Buying groceries and cooking your own food is one of the best ways to stay frugal, easily one of the best skills I picked up. Makes a great hobby and impresses the dates, too 😛

Aside from the above, do you have any other tips? Any other shopping tools to recommend? Please share them in comments!

As always, if you find this helpful, please share them to your friends and family 🙂


17 Saving Money Tips I Tried (but Ultimately Couldn’t Stick To)

*Generally* speaking, I’m pretty good with applying saving money tips in my life. I enjoy experimenting with
different ways to save money
, while being mindful in being
frugal instead of cheap
.

As a result of that constant experimentation, I’ve kind of figured out over the years:

things I’m
not
 willing to skimp on,

things that are not worth my
time
, and

things I
don’t enjoy
 doing just for the sake of saving a few cents or ringgit

That last part is somewhat important. Unless you’re still, you know, saving up your first RM1000 or something, or urgently trying to pay off your high-interest credit card or personal loan debt, then I don’t think it’s worth being… I dunno… miserable in being too obsessed in saving money. You were not born just to pay bills and die.

Having said that, the only way to figure out whether you’ll like something or not is to try it first, give it a fair chance. Therefore, here is my… ‘Things I Tried to Do to Save Money, but Gave Up’ List

#1 – Grow vegetables

All my attempts so far have died on me. Also, I understand that small-scale farming isn’t actually cheap or money-saving, if you factor in all the initial capital (seeds, pots, soil, etc) plus labour cost.

However, I’m only human. Once in a while, after seeing other people’s plant babies on Instagram, I feel the motivation to try again.

#2 – ‘No poo’

That refers to no shampoo, in case you thought of something else.

I should have known. This was something started or at least popularised by the white people I think. Some of them go literal years without shampooing.

#3 – Going vegetarian

My animal slash hunter instinct is too strong. Oh God I want a steak now.

#4 – Cut my own hair

Tried a few times. Was it shorter? Yes. Did I save money? Yes. But was it flattering? …No.

#5 – Make grocery list before shopping

Look. Grocery shopping is one of my few pure, unadulterated joys in life. I have already cut back on other spending. Let me have this one. I need this. I love picking ingredients up on a whim.

(But of course I am mindful of the price. I’m not going to ‘accidentally’ add the
RM180 tray of Japanese strawberries
 in my cart, that’s crazy)

#6 – Make my own cleaning supplies

They look easy enough to make. But I’m just not that much of a clean freak to justify learning this skill. Still using up supplies bought last year.

#7 – Be a minimalist

I have a natural hoarding tendency which I’ve kind of accepted. It’s not that bad. The key is to live in a small-ish space so you don’t hoard too much, and declutter every so often.

#8 – Bulk cooking

As someone who has a problem with portion control, I really shouldn’t continue on with bulk cooking. The food that’s meant to last a week, only lasts for a couple of days.

“if I reduce my food portions, not only I can achieve my fitness goals faster, but also reduce my groceries bill,”

I say to myself as I go for seconds

— Suraya ringgitohringgit.com (@surayaror)
May 27, 2020

#9 – Utilising the library

In theory, borrowing books from the library is an amazing concept.

I just… never got around to going there. It’s just too out of the way.

A few years from now, I may live in a residential-commercial area with a public library in walking distance. High hopes of becoming one of those people who actually utilises public libraries.

#10 – Couponing

I really loved that TLC show, Couponing Extreme. The way they ‘game’ the system is sooooooo satisfying!

However unlike the United States, we don’t have much of a coupon culture here, do we 🙁

#11 – Buy used phones and laptops

Personally, I don’t like the idea of buying used phones and laptops.

This is not to say secondhand market is bad. It’s just I’d rather not take my chance with strangers, for both these devices.

Other devices like gaming consoles etc, ok je.

#12 – Buying certain generic brand

I don’t care what you say. The best kicap brand is Cap Kipas Udang. The best mayonnaise is Kewpie (also acceptable: Heinz). The best sardine is Ayam brand.

That said, I do enjoy experimenting with generic brands. Some of them are really good! Check out some user suggestions in the FB post below:

#13 – Reduce my rent by having housemates

Look, been there, done that. This solitude and privacy is worth the splurge.

Related:
How I rent a master bedroom in Kuala Lumpur for RM150 a month (not including bills)

#14 – Do clothes swap

I am not a clothes person, so I have no motivation to organise something like a clothes swap.

Plus much of my clothing needs are filled by occasional shopping, thrifting and getting stuff from my sisters’ shops.

Check out their shops! Uniqlo vibes, lots of mix-and-match items. Very Muslimah and capsule wardrobe friendly. You can stretch your clothing budget 😁

Regular size:
https://t.co/jFDgogj4cy

Plus size version:
https://t.co/KKcTDJyjKR

— Suraya ringgitohringgit.com (@surayaror)
September 30, 2019

#15 –  Getting ONLY free entertainment

Yeah, Youtube is free, but Spotify and Netflix run me just ~RM20 per month. I can afford that.

#16 – Donate blood

Did you know you can get a bunch of perks for regularly donating blood?

Just look at this table. Credit: this
SAYS article
.

Yet I don’t think I’ve ever donated blood. I’m not scared of it or anything. Just never really actively seek out blood donation drives, and the ones I chances upon (very rare occasions), timing tak kena.

#17 – Cook or bake time-consuming recipes

If it:

takes more than 30 minutes to prep and cook, and

I can’t leave it in the oven/slow cooker, and

I’m not in the mood to do all the work involved

Then I’m buying it, or going without.

ESPECIALLY if the food is something that is already affordable to buy, like buns and bread.

I tried baking bread before. Some people described the kneading process as therapeutic, but unfortunately that’s the opposite of what I felt.

Conclusion: Some Money Saving Tips Won’t Work for Me and That’s OK

It’s okay to try and fail, rather than not trying at all, yeah? At the end of the day, I’m glad I gave most of the above a shot.

If the above didn’t work for me, then what money saving tips *do* work for me? Plenty! I:

Found lots of grocery-shopping hacks. Related:
5 Things I Did To Reduce My Damn High Groceries Bill

Save money on coffee. Related:
Malaysians Share How They Save Money on Coffee

Bought lots of money (and time) saving products:
13 Money-Saving Products You Rich People Can Buy (Proceeds to Covid-19 Charities)

Explored zero waste movement. Related:
How Zero Waste Malaysia Helps Me Save Money (the Environment, A Little Bit)

And more!

That’s the deal, isn’t it. It’s too much to expect from anyone to apply ALL of the money saving tips above. But a few, and especially the ones you enjoy? Definitely 🙂

How about you? What money saving tip have you tried and decided its NOT suitable for your life? Why is it not suitable? Let me know, I’m curious, leave your say in the comments section!


The Secret to Sticking to A Budget

The secret to sticking to a budget is… to enjoy the experimentation process as you figure out which cost-saving measures work and which doesn’t.

That’s it. That’s the secret.

But of course, let me elaborate.

Why Enjoying the Process is the Secret and Restrictive Budgeting Won’t Work

For many people, budgeting is synonymous with
restrictive budgeting
. The plan is to CUT OUT as many expenses as possible, so one can save as much money as possible.

This strategy will absolutely work, but if you hate your new lifestyle, then you’re not going to save as much money as you’d hope.

Think of the last time you forced yourself to follow a restrictive budget. Have you tried to live on a super-minimal groceries budget, or rented a room with housemates, and/or saved on transportation cost by ditching your car?

Did you end up making unplanned, ‘blowout’ purchases?

If yes, you’re not alone. We buy shit we don’t plan when we accumulate stress and just want to feel better, even temporarily. No matter how strong-willed you think you are, one of those marketing effort will catch you at your weakest moment and BAM you made the order without thinking.

If you’re lucky, you made small purchases, bought small luxuries. If not, your splurges might have cancelled out your savings, or even put in you in additional debt!

Important: It’s important to be kind to yourself and not take all the blame – stress can mess with your head like that. In this sense, excessive budgeting is very similar to excessive dieting. You’ll try to restrict, but may end up binging!

Related:
Why We Can’t Stop Spending Money

It’s still worth trying out a restrictive budget

Hold on a sec, Suraya. It’s still worth trying out a restrictive budget? Didn’t you just say a restrictive budget may backfire?

Yes, it might.

BUT I’d argue that some money-saving initiatives – especially those that make the top 3 expenses: Accommodation, Food and Transportation – are still worth trying out at least once.

Why? Because you wouldn’t know how you could adapt to the new lifestyle changes
until you try it out
. This is the chance for you to figure out the edge of your comfort zone.

For example, I did the whole housemates thing. For about 3 years, I saved money on rent by living with up to 4 other people in the same apartment.

(Related:
How I rent a master bedroom in Kuala Lumpur for RM150 a month (not including bills)

I had some great times, but I also know that it wasn’t my preferred living arrangement. So once my savings account got to a comfortable level, I got my own place. From there on, I knew Accommodation is one category that I am willing to splurge on (within limits of course).

(But it’s good to know that I *can* live with housemates, if I ever have to)

(Actually the experience did come in handy lol. When my husband moved into my place, I felt okay with sharing my space, even though I’ve lived alone for years)

By trying out and experimenting with different lifestyle changes, you will uncover so many aspects of your personality that you wouldn’t know before. It may even turn into better opportunities and outcomes.

One example where my life changed for the better – in my early 20s, I tested my limits with Transportation and ditched my (family) car. While it was absolutely frustrating to use public transportation at times (I used to take the bus from Ipoh-Shah Alam every few months and it took me 8-10 hours per way!!), the new lifestyle also led me to focus on work-from-home opportunities, which turned out amazing for me!

Related:
The Exact Steps I Use to Earn Online in Malaysia

The Jackpot: Finding that you absolutely LOVE the new lifestyle change

Never try, never know. The more things you try, the more likely it is for you to find a money-saving lifestyle that you can live with. And sometimes, if you get lucky, you’ll hit jackpot and find one that you LOVE.

Personally, my absolute favourite lifestyle change is grocery shopping, which I picked up after trying to cook all my meals from home. Every time someone post how much they hate it (for whatever reason), I get confused, because for me grocery shopping is genuinely fun. I take so much pleasure out of this ‘mundane’ activity.

I love everything about it. It lets me enjoy delicious, healthy food at a cheaper price. It satisfies my shopping mood and serves as a great outlet to seek novelty (I love checking out new food products that recently enter the market!).

Additionally, grocery shopping gives me an excuse to get out of the house (I
work from home
 so this is important!) and makes an awesome date activity (we pick out ingredients together and make an evening out of it). It even helps me exercise my creativity – I love figuring out what to make with random ingredients:

Groceries running low. Digging out back-of-the-pantry items. I found tapioca flour, and a quick online search brings me to a bomb-ass-looking gluten free pizza recipe. Score!
— Suraya ringgitohringgit.com (@surayaror)
March 24, 2020

Which sometimes come from the reduce-to-clear section (makes them even cheaper!)

Why I love the reduce-to-clear section. Dah la 50% off. They cut for you pulak tu. Tinggal masak je. I also feel good for not wasting still-edible produce
.
#reducetoclear

#groceries

#villagegrocer

#bittergourd

https://t.co/nGAbqQZCvJ

#RoRInstagram

pic.twitter.com/SM4wzBLLqK
— Suraya ringgitohringgit.com (@surayaror)
June 11, 2019

 I even look forward to grocery-shopping when I go travelling, and daydream plans like this:

Brainstorming ideas for blog articles
Doing a 12 countries in 12 months sounds fun
Not in a rushed travel way. In a rent a place for 1 month way
Live life as usual. Do grocery shopping. Do my usual work. Take day trips and bus rides to surrounding areas
Sounds nice
— Suraya ringgitohringgit.com (@surayaror)
October 4, 2019

I’ve written so much about grocery-shopping here in Ringgit Oh Ringgit as well:

5 Things I Did To Reduce My Damn High Groceries Bill
I Figured Out The Perfect System to Stop Food Waste
HappyFresh Review: 10 Tips to Save Money and Time!
The Comprehensive Guide to Save Money on Groceries in Malaysia

Finding joy while budgeting

I completely understand and acknowledge that not everyone can be in the same headspace while attempting cost-saving lifestyle changes. After all, you can’t budget your way out of poverty, so it would be tone-deaf of me to suggest to ‘just have fun with it!’ while you cut out something that provides you safety and health (rather than convenience and/or comfort).

(But I do maintain it is absolutely the government’s job to provide welfare and create jobs with living wages and ensure everyone’s health and safety is NEVER compromised, so let’s continue to make those demands until it happens)

 But if figuring out your
budgeting style
 and
attempting money challenges
 is something every adult have to do anyway to have a better financial life, then might as well enjoy the process, no? That’s my take on it anyway.

Tell me how you view budgeting – do you have a positive or negative view on it? Have you found activities that you absolutely enjoy through experimenting with different cost-saving measures?

Let me know in the comments!


SOCAR Review: 7 Tips to Get Cheap Car Rental in KL, Penang and Johor

So that happened. You sent your car to the workshop and will be carless for a few days. You have to go somewhere far and the Grab fare will be too high. You need to pick up a person (or an item) in person.

Either way, You. Need. A. Temporary. Car.

I get into one of these situations sometimes, and it’s really mafan. Usually I just bite the bullet and resign to paying high Grab fares but this time around I decided to give the car-sharing platform
SOCAR
 a try.

And let me tell you. It solved my problem so well, and saved me so much money, that I decided to do not just a SOCAR review but also
include tips to make the cost even CHEAPER for you
. What can I say – I am a personal finance blogger 😀

Here are my 7 tips you can use to get the most value for money out of your SOCAR car rental:

#1 – Pick the cheaper car model

According to the SOCAR website, they have 21 car models to choose from, from compact cars to luxury cars. To save money, choose the cheaper models. Some options which cost between RM8-RM15 per hour include:

Perodua Axia

Proton Iriz

Kia Picanto

Perodua Myvi

Perodua Bezza

Honda City

Toyota Vios

Perodua Alza (Weekday)

Honda BR-V (Weekday)

Don’t worry about the price now, you haven’t seen Tip #2-7 yet. Also,
 weekday rates are cheaper than weekends
, so pick that if you have the choice. For more info about car models and SOCAR car pricing, please click
here
.

You can get the cars from various SOCAR zones in Selangor, Penang and Johor. There are more zones than you think! This is a snapshot of SOCAR zones in Petaling Jaya area alone. It’s easy to look for SOCAR zones from the
SOCAR app
 too.

If the car you want is not available at a SOCAR zone nearby you, you can also request to get it delivered to you (!! new feature called #SOCAR2YOU) (I think T&C applies)

#2 –  Use SOCAR coupons!

Now THIS makes the cost way cheaper than it is. Let me share with you the actual cost of my trips.

Trip 1 (Weekday – 6.5 hours): Total fee RM60.68.
I paid RM41.12.
The same trip would have cost me ~RM70 in Grab fare

Trip 2 (Weekday – 12 hours): Total fee RM84.80.
I paid RM69.90.
The same trip would have cost me ~RM180 in Grab fare

Trip 3 (Weekend – 10.5 hours): Total fee RM97.01.
I paid RM73.10.
The same trip would have cost me ~RM150 in Grab fare

Did I mention the price INCLUDES petrol cost?

SOCAR coupons are so easy to get – just download
 right from the
SOCAR app
 (see pic below), or check their social media (
SOCAR Instagram
)
. Last I check, at least 5 different SOCAR coupons were available, including discounts for school holiday, for nighttime usage and more.

#3 – Use my referral code to get 4 hours free on first booking!

I’m quite upset I missed this, but no reason why you can’t make use of it. First-time SOCAR users can get 4 hours free by registering with the referral code ‘QWGLNG’ or click this link:
https://go.socar.my/Ju9fEaTVQ1

Note: It didn’t specify WHAT car. So I assume you can redeem it for ANY car 😀

(The BMW 330e car model costs RM48 per hour on the weekend. Just sayin’)

(They also have various Mini Coopers car models)

Edit: Reader Arif confirmed that BMW and Mini Cooper models are excluded from this 🙁 Still, 4 hours free is 4 hours free.

#4 – Link it to your Grab ewallet

To pay for your SOCAR car reservations, you can either link your
SOCAR app
 to credit/debit card, or to Grab ewallet.

Pick Grab ewallet. Two reasons:

You can earn Grab points
 – redeem that for Grab rides, or whatever

You can top up your Grab ewallet with credit cards and get your
cashback/collect points
 there too
(I use my Maybank Amex for 5% weekend cashback)
 no longer available

Using SOCAR a few times gained me enough Grab reward points to redeem a RM15 Grab ride cash voucher 😀

#5 – Earn SOCAR points

SOCAR has their own points system too! Use this hack if you’re going to use SOCAR a few times (not one-off).

You can earn SOCAR points by filling up the car you’re renting. This option is only available
if the car doesn’t come with a petrol card
. I don’t know how common the petrol card is – all the cars I used so far doesn’t come with one.

If you can fill up the car to full tank, do it – you get 10% bonus. Filling up RM30 in petrol will give you 33 SOCAR points, which is pretty much equal to RM33 and immediately redeemable for next usage.

#6 – Use SETEL app to get cashback on petrol

If not mistaken, you can only fill up SOCAR cars from Petronas petrol station ONLY. That’s totally cool, because you can also use the SETEL app – Petronas’s ewallet – to earn cashback and points!

Use my SETEL referral code ‘8ebtv’ or click this link to download the app:
https://111.setel.my/ref/8ebtv
. At time of writing, that referral gets you RM5 if you purchase RM30 worth of fuel. You also get 3 x 10% cashback for minimum RM90 worth of petrol (so… RM30 per fill-up, 3 times, get back RM9).

You can also link the
SETEL app
 with your Mesra card, if you have one. Can earn 3 points for every litre of fuel.

(Use your cashback or petrol credit card to make the petrol purchase too – earn cashback/reward points there).

 #7 – Reload your Touch n Go card with credit card

While petrol is included in the fare price, tolls are not, so you need to have a Touch n Go card ready. And yes, you
can
 reload your Touch n Go card with credit card 😀 I’ve been doing it for years.

Another tngo card lifehack – top up at places yang accept credit card. Can earn points/cashback also. I use my Maybank Amex and get 5% weekend cashback
https://t.co/bubqM7d6Tn

— Suraya Zainudin (@surayaror)
November 4, 2019

Places to reload Touch n Go card with credit card include:

Touch n Go Self-Service Kiosk – Nu Sentral

Touch n Go Self-Service Kiosk – Customer Experience Centre (Tower 2A), Avenue 5, Bangsar South

Highway – Subang Toll Plaza

Highway – Ebor North Toll Plaza (Lebuhraya Utara-Selatan)

But sometimes you can find places to do Touch n Go reload with credit card at pretty random locations too. For example, the Jaya Grocer at Main Place, USJ21 Subang provides this service. Go figure.

Know other locations? Share in the comments section!

(If you’re concerned about reload fee – just get the MYNews-branded Touch n Go cards. Reloads there are free and you go there to buy oden anyway).

Final SOCAR Review + Verdict – A Good and Cheap Car Rental Option?

YES.

I would give
SOCAR
 a 4.5 out of 5 stars. Saved me a lot of money and time, and the app’s UI/UX is pretty cool and more intuitive than I thought. Love how I can layer discounts and cashbacks and points-collection too. Much-appreciated service especially for someone carless like me!

The only reason I’m taking out 0.5 stars is because they don’t seem to be good at answering angry customers on social media, the ones who get their accounts blocked for whatever reason.

(can’t help to wonder what they did that got them blocked from using the platform again tho)

Have you used SOCAR before? Share with us your reviews in the comments section 😀

Related: Another service which helped me a lot, as someone who doesn’t have a car –
grocery delivery service

Related:
The Real Answer to ‘How Much Should I Spend On A Car
‘


How to Spend Less Money on Clothes in 5 Mindful Steps

Many of the spend less money on clothes-type tips out there are fairly predictable:

Buy them on sale/off the sales rack

Get cashback on purchases – use
cashback credit card
 and/or
Shopback.my

Buy from thrift shops

Pick quality over quantity so they last longer – RM100 top worn 100 times is better than a RM10 top worn once

All the above tips are good, but one advice in particular is surprisingly helpful in a very unexpected way:

Spend less money on clothes by knowing what you have in your wardrobe

Know what you have in your wardrobe
.

Advocates say that this hack will help you re-understand your fashion style and make you more conscious of your future purchases. Apparently,
we only wear 20% of our wardrobe
.
Why would I want to pay for the remaining 80% if I don’t wear them?

Therefore, in theory, you can already save up to 80% of your clothing spending if this tip is applied well.

Implementing this tip in practice so you spend less money on clothes requires 5 steps. Here they are:

Step 1: KonMari your wardrobe

KonMari, the Japanese decluttering expert and author of ‘The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up’ and ‘Spark Joy’ is a big inspiration here. The ‘Spark Joy’ methodology is simple – if an item no longer gives you happiness, get it out of your life.

So I went through my entire wardrobe. If an item no longer makes me happy, they are donated, re-purposed or thrown away. I got rid of:

Clothes that don’t fit well

Clothes with tears (the ones I can’t be bothered to mend)

‘In-case’ clothes that never get worn (ie my old jackets and coats)

Clothes in styles that I no longer like

Clothes that are obviously ‘unfashionable’

Well-loved but worn out clothes that are past their due dates

Step 2: List down all the clothes I own

After I got rid of what I don’t want, I re-assessed what I choose to keep. I now own:

Tops

2 x turtlenecks

2 x long-sleeve tops

1 x sleeveless collared shirt

6 x three-quarter tops (casual)

6 x normal sleeve tops (casual)

5 x work-appropriate tops

5 x t-shirts

2 x black spaghetti tops

3 x tank tops

3 x black tops

1 x black cardigan

1 x sleeveless fun top

Total
: 37 tops. Might have missed some (counted this on laundry day), so rounding this up to 40.

Bottoms

4 x skirts

3 x jeans

1 x trackpants

2 x fitness leggings

Total
: 10 bottoms.

Footwear

1 x nice sandals

1 x sports shoes

2 x flip flops

1 x closed-toe heels

1 x open-toe heels

2 x black flats

3 x socks

Total
: 8 pairs of shoes (not counting socks). Except for flip-flops, everything is black.

Accessories/Others

2 x baju kurung

1 x dress

4 x scarves

5 x pyjamas/night dresses

2 x sports bra

Underwear

Box of earrings, necklaces, bangles, etc

All in all, I have less than 100 clothing items I think (not counting underwear la). I have no idea if the above is considered too small a wardrobe or just nice, but it’s enough for me.

Step 3: Decide on a style

The next step is to build my wardrobe back from what I already own, and this requires thinking about my preferred way to dress, aka my style.

What’s your clothing style? Decide on it, and don’t stray.

For me, I really like minimalist fashion: clean, classic, Parisian chic. Earth and natural tones. I also like the smart casual style, they are easy to dress up and down. Practical-ish fashion, I guess.

Step 4: Know what I shouldn’t buy any more

Looking at my list, I see that I have quite a lot of casual, long sleeve tops. So I shouldn’t get any more of those. Ditto on black tops and spaghetti straps. Ditto on sleepwear.

About half of what I own is black/navy/grey.  I don’t need to add on to that.

This step is important because when I go window-shop, I am naturally drawn to some these colours/styles and tend to buy them, even though it’s similar to what I already own. So now I know I have more than enough.
Not buying saves money.

Step 5: Only look for pieces that’ll work with what I already have

I’m at this step now and actively paying more attention to new styles, prints and colours when I go window-shopping. I’d love to get:

Tops in these colours: moss green, beige, dark red, brown

Printed skirts and pants

Cardigans and things that can be layered with what I have

White sneakers or print loafers for more casual days

Am considering a printed bag too – it’ll go well with the majority of my plain outfits

Ultimately, I’d love for each of the items can be paired with different things for different looks. Easy to mix-and-match

So I guess my strategy now is to keep an eye out for the items I want. If I chance on a good sale –
and it better be a good deal or I won’t buy it
 – then only I’ll consider it.

When I do need to buy, I have a huge preference for Uniqlo, secondhand shops, and from my sisters’ shops,
Marquise Collection
 and
Malaysia Plus Size
. Everything is easy to mix and match.

How do you spend less money on clothes in Malaysia?

Fashion-forward people, what are other tricks and tips you picked up? What advice can you give me – someone who merely wants to stop being called ‘Auntie’? What type of fabric is long-lasting, easy to care for, and looks good?

Also, what’s your rule of thumb when it comes to prices? I have a preference for under-RM30 tops and under-RM100 bottoms, but thinking of paying more attention to quality this time around.

You folks who are more fashion-savvy than me (so, like, all of you), please share your tips in the comments 🙂


2 Ways to Save Money on Spotify Premium in Malaysia

This short and sweet article will inform you of the Spotify Premium price AND give you 2 ways to save money on Spotify Premium fee.  It comes with the following disclaimer.

Article disclaimer: I am not accountable for whatever happens to your Spotify accounts should you use any of these tips, including but not limited to suspended accounts and extra charges.

That said, the chances of that happening is very small.

How Much is Spotify Premium in Malaysia?

How much for Spotify Premium in Malaysia? The short answer is…
from RM15.90 per month, but you can reduce that to as low as RM4.15 per month
using the tips further below this article.

Official Spotify Premium Price – Here’s the Spotify monthly fee

As of the time of writing (July 2023), the official Spotify Premium price or Spotify monthly fee is:

Spotify Premium price for
Spotify Individual Plan (1 user)
: RM15.90 per month / RM190.80 per year

Spotify Premium price for
Spotify Duo Plan (2 users)
: RM21.50 per month / RM258 per year

Spotify Premium price for
Spotify Family Plan (up to 6 users)
: RM24.90 per month / RM298.80 per year

Source:
Spotify Premium Malaysia

If you think that’s kinda expensive, then let’s get to the part where you learn how to save money on your Spotify Premium fee 🙂

Method #1 – Get on a Duo or Family instead of an Individual Plan

Sharing is not only caring, but it’ll save you money on your Spotify Premium plan. If everyone contributes equally,

Sharing with 1 other person in the Spotify Duo Plan will cost each of you
RM10.75 per month
, or RM129 per year.

Sharing with 5 other people in the Spotify Family Plan will cost each of you
RM4.15 per month
, or RM49.80 per year

The catch is that someone must be responsible to hold the main account. They will make the payment to Spotify via their account as well as assign account keys to the other five people. The main account holder will also have to chase the rest for payments, so the effective way is to collect the money upfront.

Important point:
All six of you need to key in the exact same address.

Method #2 – Keep an eye out for deals

There are 3 deals now: Get 2 months for the price of 1, Spotify Premium Mini and Spotify Student

#1 – Get 2 months for the price of 1

As of the time of writing (July 2023),
Spotify Premium Malaysia
 offers
2-for-1 month deal for new subscribers
.

#2 – Spotify Premium Mini price

As of the time of writing (July 2023),
Spotify Premium Malaysia
 offers
Spotify Premium Mini,
 which is priced at RM0.75 per day.

#3 – Spotify Student price

As of the time of writing (July 2023),
Spotify Malaysia
 offers
Spotify Students,
 which is priced at RM8.90 per month. Take note this deal is only available to students at an accredited education institution.

There is also a 2-for-1 month deal for new subscribers!

If you like these deals, go for it because they don’t tend to last before replaced with new (and often less good) deals.

Other expired Spotify Premium deals in the past include:

[EXPIRED] GrabRewards Gold and Platinum users can enjoy 3 months of Spotify Premium Plan for free

[EXPIRED] Spotify used to offer 3-month Spotify Premium Plan for just RM2.

[EXPIRED] Maxis’ ONEPlan has an option to get 1-year Spotify Premium Plan for RM1, if you lock your phone plan in a 2-year contract.

[EXPIRED] Via Hotlink, you can get 3-month Spotify Premium Plan for RM14.90

Note: The list is not exhaustive, just the ones I know. Do have a look with your telco provider and
e-wallets
, in case they do other short-term deals. If you know more, please comment and share.

Bottom line: How much is Spotify Premium depends on convenience

So which Spotify Premium subscription should you pick – directly from Spotify, or via one of the 3 methods above?

My recommendation is… try the cheapest possible options first, ie Method #1 and #2. If it works out, great. If it doesn’t, then pay for convenience (ie subscribe directly from Spotify at normal price).

Well, there you have it! You have learned all official Spotify Premium prices, and how much to get Spotify Premium in Malaysia for cheaper via legal channels. Enjoy your ad-free music, podcast and the super fun annual Spotify Wrapped experience 🙂

While you’re at it, here’s
how to save money on Netflix subscription
, too.


I Figured Out The Perfect System to Stop Food Waste [APP NOW AVAILABLE]

What use is buying ingredients to cook at home if you, the average Malaysian household,
throw away 0.5-0.8kg of uneaten food
per day
? I thought you wanted to save money, and eat healthier at the same time?

I’m going to spare you the lecture, because honestly I’m not your mom, even if the food waste problem in Malaysia does piss me off a bit.
Do you even know how many people are starving as we speak-

And we dare to say we are a food nation

Food waste is such a stupid problem. I thought we have advanced enough as a society to solve this but the fact that we HAVEN’T, UGH

The System I Use to Stop Food Waste in My House

I’m not saying my system is perfect, but it damn near is – I have significantly cut down the groceries/food I throw out since I implemented it back in January 2020. And by doing so, I have stretched my groceries budget further, too.

The solution: use this note-keeping system in your notebook

Write down on the left-hand side
:

ALL your groceries, sorted by categories. You can make your own, but mine is:

Fruits/Veges

Carbs/Grains

Protein

Dairy

Flavour

Pantry

Write down on the right-hand side
:

Foods you cooked with the ingredients

Recipes you want to make

Ingredients you need to use up

Ingredients you need to buy to complete a recipe

The system is easy enough to use:

List out all your ingredients on the left-hand side

Cross em out as you use them up

Write out the meals you made and want to make

The beauty of this system

Listen, yo,

#1 – You never forget what ingredient you already have

One of the best reason to use this system is you’ll always know what ingredients you already have, instead of buying more of it at the supermarket, ‘in case we’ve ran out’.

#2 – You can quickly scan your remaining ingredients and figure out what recipes you can make with them

You can ‘cook intuitively’ by looking at your remaining ingredients and figure out creative ways to cook them, or use websites like
Supercook.com
 to help you find recipes using the exact ingredients you have left.

And if anything, leftover ingredients can always find their homes in fried rice and omelettes.

#3 – You can remind yourself to use up an ingredient/meal

The ‘to use up’ column is created precisely for this reason. Some ingredients naturally expire faster than others, and writing it down really helps to remind you to use it up sooner rather than later.

#4 – It works for people who plan meals by ingredients, rather than plan meals by recipes

One of the more common food-budgeting advice is to plan meals in advance, and only buy the ingredients to make those meals. For example, here’s how
Financial Mak
‘s meal plan looks like:

View this post on Instagram

Good morning! Meal plan for this week. I know its Tuesday already but better late than never 😂😂 #debtfreecommunity #debtfreecommunitymalaysia #debtfreejourney #debtfreemalaysia #financialfreedommalaysia

A post shared by
 financialmak
 (@financialmak) on
Jun 22, 2020 at 5:44pm PDT

Tbh I’ve never really liked this method. My life is so boring that I
like
 the excitement of , ‘oooh! I wonder what I am going to have today!’ during meal hours. I also love the grocery-shopping experience: finding fresh and interesting ingredients, and
then
 plan my meals around those ingredients.

(Another pro: I buy ingredients that are on sale!)

#6 – It’s so easy to start

I don’t need another app, or another tracker. Just a fresh, new page in my notebook. And WHO doesn’t have a spare notebook lying around?

I’m really enjoying the process of crossing out ingredients. Visually, it tells me when I should plan my next grocery shopping trip as well: if most of the fruits/veges are crossed out, then its time for a trip!

[UPDATE] This system is now available as an app!

Software engineer Afif Sohaili aka Programmer Dad turned my grocery-tracking system above into an app, which is FREE for you to use! Try it out at:
groceror.netlify.app

Decided to say "screw it, let's just ship"
Announcing my newest app: Groceror.
It's basically an app that (is FREE, and) helps you better track your groceries 🧵
pic.twitter.com/kaDjYfmdEM
— Afif | Programmer dad 🤓🇲🇾👨👩👦👦 (@afifsohaili)
June 4, 2023

How do you stop food waste in your household?

So I’ve shared my system. This system is perfect… for *me*. Obviously, that sample size is way too small to claim overall superiority. I wonder what system do YOU use to tackle the food waste problem in your home? Let me know your tips, tricks and hacks in the comments section!


5 Extreme Money Saving Tips from The Tightwad Gazette

This article is for people who are looking for money-saving tips, but bored with the usual advice. You want something else beyond
modifying your living arrangement
,
downsizing your car
,
cooking at home
 and generally stop buying shit. You want something… different.

I got you, here are some money-saving tips from The Tightwad Gazette by Amy Dacyczyn (pronounced ‘decision’) that are sure to satisfy that itch. I picked up this book years and years ago, time to dust it and bring it to light.

Now, not all the tips in The Tightwad Gazette works in Malaysia – I definitely won’t include anything related to cold weather (saving money on firewood, winter clothing etc) or their insurance system. But there’s plenty left to use, so here we go:

#1 – Increase your financial edge

The author’s concept of ‘financial edge’ is a great money-saving tip to start with. She describes this as the amount in your bank account that you MUST maintain at all times. For example:

When my balance exceeded $1500 I would spend. When the balance dropped below $1000 I would cease extravagant activity.

Now that I think of it, I use this ‘financial edge’ concept in my own life too. My own ‘edge’ is no less than 1 month of expenses. If/When that happens, I stop all unnecessary spending and dissect all necessary ones.

What is the amount you want to set as your own ‘financial edge’? It can’t be RM0, that’s too dangerous.

By the way, credit card limit or borrow from people doesn’t count. The money has to come from your own cash/savings.

#2 – You don’t always have to choose convenience

Companies are smart
. They know you’re busy, so they will sell you convenience. Save time, they say. You might even internalise it and believe that any time saved = good.

And while some conveniences can be worth it, you still need to decide yourself because the cost can really add up. A bunch of the advice in The Tightwad Gazette is related to this, like:

Make your own dumbbells

Make your own [whatever expensive that is your poison] granola/ coffee/ sweet treats etc

Pack your kids’ lunchboxes

Make your own holiday decorations

Sew/Mend your own clothes (especially simple ones, like hairband etc)

Make kids/pets toys from whatever you have laying around

Cut/Trim your own hair (she notes that it’s simpler if you opt for low-maintenance hairstyle in the first place)

And more

Basically, whatever you can do yourself, do it.

Sometimes the ‘convenience is best’ crowd gets really upset with this, in which case I’ll just say, whatever, do what you want, it’s your life.

But for me, I do want to pick and choose what conveniences are worth it and which are not, especially because I know I am NOT using the time I saved that well :/ Good for you if you do but for me, I still end up wasting a lot of time lol.

One essential skill the author stressed is
planning ahead
. I mean, if your party is tomorrow, there’s no way you are able to spend the night cooking and DIY-ing the decorations, right?

#3 – 3 basic methods to save money

The 3 basic methods to save money are:

Buy it cheaper

Make it last longer

Use it less

You can apply these to pretty much everything. For example, when it comes to laundry:

Buy detergent on sale/ in bulk/ buy store-brand

Take extra care not to dirty your clothes more than necessary

Use less than the ‘recommended amount’

Here’s another example, disposable shaver:

Buy them on sale/ in bulk/ buy store-brand

Dry them properly after use so they don’t rust as fast

Maybe decide to embrace the beard/ body hair

Or, kitchen towel (paper):

Buy them on sale/ in bulk/ buy store-brand

Cut in half so you only use half the amount
each
 most time

Use (washable) cloth towels for general cleaning and paper towels only for certain things (absorb oil from food, etc)

You get the gist 🙂

#4 – Use it up/ Reuse before throw

The use it up part is easy to understand – as much as possible, use up all your:

Leftovers

Skincare/ personal care items

Clothes

Etc

Before you buy new ones/ do a restock.

The second part, reuse is about stretching your budget to the MAX. Basically, before you throw something out, try see if you can find a use for it. You can google things you can reuse before disposing things like:

Bread bags

Toilet paper tubes

Dried-out bread

Vegetable peels

Leftover rice

Milk jugs

Ziplock bags

Egg cartons

Ground coffee

Old newspaper

Food jars

Old clothes

And more

Easier said than done, but try to pause before you throw anything away and see if they can serve another purpose.

#5 – Saying no (nicely)

Whether your goal for extreme penny-pinching is to get out of debt faster or to reach early retirement, you’re probably not doing this on your own – you’re probably living with family, and don’t want to stop hanging out with friends. Like it or not, most of us depend on our communities and want to maintain harmony.

So, it is likely you will be pressured at one point or another to spend more than you want to. The author gave a couple of examples:

Kids ask for fast food money

The annual door-to-door visits from Girl Scouts selling cookies

Gifting expectations during Christmas

In your case, this may mean getting invited to a party that costs RM50+ per person, or being asked by the nice salesperson to make a purchase.

To be clear, you can’t win ALL battles (if it means. alot to your loved ones, you may want to set a budget for it), but you can win some by learning
how to nicely decline them
.

General reminder: Saving too much money is a better problem than not saving enough

Once in a while I’d get DMs from fellow savers asking me how to overcome their guilt feeling over spending money. I kind of get it, I spent a long time coming to terms with my own
lifestyle upgrades
 too. And to be fair,
frugalism does have its downsides
.

However, I’d take this problem any day. Better this than stressing over next month’s groceries money!

Plus, this ‘problem’ is easily fixable. If you save too much money and unhappy with it, you can always adjust your budget and allocate a new/bigger self-reward category.

Lastly, for those in the ‘why save, just earn more’ crowd, this is what the author has to say:

The ‘don’t save money, earn more’ philosophy is a very one-sided approach. And it has one big flaw.
Nearly everyone that earns more automatically spends more.
 For this reason, regardless of their incomes, many families seem to have exactly enough to get by.

She’s not wrong 🙂


How We Paid RM1.9k Instead of RM2.5k for Our Car Insurance [SPONSORED]

When the time came to renew our car insurance, we got a quotation from our existing provider: RM2.5k.

For funsies, we (as in, my husband and I) did our research and cost comparison from most of the car insurance comparison portals out there, and managed to
purchase the exact same coverage for just RM1.9k.

We basically got the protection we wanted for RM600 or 24% less!

To be exact, we paid RM1890.09

So when Tune Protect asked if I could cover their car insurance product, I thought, What a happy coincidence – that’s exactly the product we purchased! Let me break down exactly what made us choose
Tune Protect’s Motor Easy Car Insurance
 🙂

First: Car Insurance Basics

Before we start, I just need to share the MANY factors that affect the price of your car insurance:

They are:

Type of cover
– Third party cover is usually the cheapest, and Comprehensive Cover is the most expensive. You can only get additional coverage, like flood coverage with Comprehensive Cover

Value of your car
– The higher the value, the more expensive the cover. A good rule of thumb is to follow market value

The type of your car
 – the higher the theft ratings of your car, or the higher its general accident statistics, the higher the premium will be

Your risk behaviour
– depends on the driver’s age, gender, occupation, residence, claim history, and the frequency of car use

No Claim Discount
 – you get discounts for NOT claiming car insurance, ranging from 25-55%. The longer you go without claiming, the higher the discount

Like other protection products, you don’t want the cheapest (not enough coverage) nor the most expensive (paying for coverages you don’t need). You want to get coverage for what you think is important.

For us, we really just want these four things in our car insurance:

Comprehensive Cover
(includes third party cover, fire and theft AND compensation for the vehicle for accidental collisions), and

Special Perils
 (covers damage to the car due to occurrence of natural calamities, like flood, landslide, typhoon, etc), and

Windscreen coverage
 (read further below to learn how to avoid being overcharged!), and

Passenger liability

There are many other add-on coverages you can take, with added cost. Here are some optional add-on coverages that we DIDN’T take*, and why:

Personal Accident cover
 – because we have our own insurance

Coverage against damage to the car due to strikes, riot and civil commotion
 – we thought this is statistically unlikely

Inconvenience allowance
 – if we can’t use the car, there’s always Grab or Socar

And more, depending on the insurer (
Tune Protect’s Motor Easy Car Insurance
 even offers
Spray Paint cover
 but we thought we could live with an ugly car, as long as it works 🙂

*Note: These are our preferences. You can get them if they’re important to you. Simply select/deselect the ones you want/don’t want

By knowing what coverages we want, it makes car insurance shopping much easier – we could compare quotations on an apples-to-apples basis.

This is how we ended up with
Tune Protect’s Motor Easy Car Insurance
 – the quotation was just RM1.9k instead of RM2.5k from our existing car insurance provider, for the exact same coverage.

Four reasons contributed to the lower price:

Reason #1: Affordable Special Perils as a Core Benefit

It’s really common to get quoted really cheap car insurance and then finding out it is only Third party cover, not Comprehensive Cover.
Again, you need Comprehensive Cover in order to purchase Special Perils – the coverage against flood damage.

(You
can
 get Third party cover if you’re on a tight budget and just want to get your car insurance renewal done, but getting Special Perils specifically for the flood coverage is non-negotiable for us)

When we checked, many car insurance quotations got significantly more expensive when you add on Special Perils. But it was a good price over at Tune Protect – the
Tune Protect’s Motor Easy Car Insurance
 specifically has affordable Special Perils as one of their core benefits.

Reason #2: 10% Discount for buying car insurance directly

Another reason we paid RM600 less on our car insurance is because we got it directly from the Tune Protect website. Because of this, we got a 10% off discount 🙂

This isn’t a huge revelation or anything – no intermediaries means less markups. Intermediaries can be agents or even car insurance comparison websites. Our previous car insurance provider was the car dealer, who understandably would include their commissions in their quotation.

Reason #3 – Promotions!

Always check if Tune Protect has ongoing promotions before you purchase car insurance – who knows you get to save some more!

Lucky for you readers, currently the So Early Arh?! campaign is running until 30 June 2023! We missed this one, but if we had taken advantage of it, we would have gotten RM150 in e-wallet credit!

You don’t even have to do anything extra – just purchase
Tune Protect’s Motor Easy Car Insurance
 with at least RM800 in premium. For more info, check the T&C
here
.

Reason #4: We didn’t overpay for windshield protection

Here’s a tip for everyone wanting to get windshield protection in your car insurance – you should check how much it would cost to replace your car windscreen, and only cover that amount, not more. This will save you money.

For example, one of the car insurance quotations we got said that our car windshield coverage is RM2000. But upon checking, it would only cost RM1500 to do the replacement, including labour/installation fee and quality solar tint film.

If it only costs RM1500, why should we pay RM2000 for windshield coverage? Why would we want to pay coverage for the extra RM500, correct or not?

Here’s how to check your car windscreen cost:

Step 1: Go to the
Windscreen Insurance Price List

Step 2: Select your Car Model and see how much it would cost to replace your car windscreen

Step 3: Only cover that amount, not more

Unlike other platforms,
Tune Protect’s Motor Easy Car Insurance
 makes it really easy to edit your car windscreen coverage during the purchase process – simply input the amount you want.

(For the other car insurance quotations we got, we had to request to decrease (or increase) windshield coverage manually.)

Bonus Reason #5: Up to 20% Refund for driving less

This particular reason won’t appeal to heavy drivers, but it does for light drivers like us. My husband and I don’t really use the car much: we work from home often. Our families are nearby, too.

We won’t go out of the way to drive less than 6000km/8000km per annum, but if we somehow did that,
Tune Protect’s Motor Easy Car Insurance
 would refund us 15-20% of our car insurance cost.

Get Instant Quotation from Tune Protect Motor Easy Car Insurance

If you’re planning to renew your car insurance, it’s worth getting a quotation from them. Super easy process, too – simply go to
Tune Protect’s Motor Easy Car Insurance
 and input your vehicle registration number, place of use and NRIC.

We absolutely loved that we saved money with this product, and hope you will too with the tips I outlined above (don’t forget the windshield cover tip!).

In any case,
make it a habit to do cost comparisons for financial products and don’t just renew car insurance with your existing provider without checking what you’re paying for
. A few hundred is a LOT to overpay in this economy.

All the best and happy driving!


49 Ways I’ve Tried to Save Money in Malaysia, From Easy to Impossible

How do you save money in Malaysia? What works? What doesn’t?

I thought it would be fun to show you what I personally did to save money. Some were successful, some were not – I’ve listed what I’ve I tried, and gave them a rank: easy, medium, hard, and impossible.

Note: This is not a comprehensive list of all the ways to save money in Malaysia – I can’t claim I’ve ‘tried it all’. Regardless I think it’s a good start 🙂

I’ve sorted these money-saving tips in the following categories:

Accommodation
Transportation
Food
Clothes
Health & Beauty
Entertainment
Mobile
Small leaks
Optimising spending
Reduce temptation
Being organised

How to Save Money on
Accommodation
in Malaysia

1. Make rent as cheap as possible

Level:
 Medium

Why:
 When I lived in KL, I managed to reduce my monthly rent to RM150 a month. In Ipoh, I lived in a low-cost flat. For most of my life, I have housemates/ people to share bills with.

Rent shouldn’t take more than 30% of your income. For me I try to make it less than 10%, either by
drammatically reduce my accommodation cost
 or by earning more.

2. Live with family

Level:
 Hard

Why:
 I know its common to live with family, but I love my independence too much. I also believe in learning to be self-sufficient.

For y’all out there who always dream of moving out, I will be blunt here. Living by yourself is significantly more expensive.

How to Save Money on Transportation in
Malaysia

1. Not having a car

Level:
 Hard

Why:
 It’s hard to have a car, it’s hard to NOT have a car.

When I had a car, there were so many things to pay for: maintenance, petrol, tolls, parking. It also broke down a couple of times (once, on the way to Genting, I had to pay RM500 for towing!), screen shattered due to stray brick on the highway, flat tires… I don’t miss those times.

Yet when I didn’t have a car, I had to plan my schedules very carefully. Was fully dependent on ehailing and public transportation.

Update: Now, between e-hailing and husband’s car, it’s not so hard anymore, so maybe 1 car + WFH is the sweet spot? I can also book a rental car for the day if I need it. Read:
SOCAR Review: 7 Tips to Get Cheap Car Rental in KL, Penang and Johor

2. Cycle

Level:
 Impossible

Why:
 Look, I like cycling and everything, but it’s not realistic to depend on them. I used cycle when I lived in Ipoh and I used it to go to the gym, but stray dogs and road bullies scare the crap out of me.

How to Save Money on Food in Malaysia

1. Pack lunch to work

Level:
 Easy

Why:
 Back when I still had my office job, I’d bring packed lunch to work almost every day. This saved me tons of money – assuming lunch is a modest RM6 every day, I saved RM132 per month (22 days x RM6) or RM1584 per year.

Packing lunch is simple. When cooking (usually dinner), make more than what you need, then turn leftovers as lunch for the next day.

For those of you peer-pressured into going out for lunch, can you do me a favour and share how you say no to invitations? I always feel a bit awkward.

Related:
5 Things I Did To Reduce My Damn High Groceries Bill

2. Plan meals around sales

Level:
 Medium

Why:
 I love using HappyFresh, the grocery delivery service for this. After you pick a hypermarket you want to buy from (Tesco, Mydin, Cold Storage etc), you can go to ‘Best Deals’ section and look at all the items currently on discount easily!

Related:

HappyFresh Review: 10 Tips to Save Money and Time!
Online Shopping for Groceries: 5 Places to Get What You Need

3. Have a herb/vegetable garden

Level:
 Impossible

Why:
 Not lucky enough to have green thumb, and not motivated enough to learn at the moment.

I like the idea of aquaponics, though. It’s a garden on top of an aquarium – the waste produced by the fishes becomes the nutrients that the plants need.

4. Know how much common staples cost

Level:
 Hard

Why:

Having a rough idea of how much things cost is handy. If you go grocery shopping often enough, you would know more or less how much things usually cost.

However, I admit to only keeping track of a few items, not a lot. It takes a lot of mental space.

5. Bring water bottle everywhere

Level:
 Easy

Why:
 Already become habit. This is one of the best things you can do for your wallet, skin, health and the environment.

6. Don’t order drinks/ Order cheap drinks

Level:
 Medium

Why:
 Water bottle tip (above) saved me hundreds of ringgit when dining out.

Not immune to peer-pressure, though. I relax this rule when going out with friends or on dates. I also try not to be cheap when dining at small businesses.

7. Have a manual water filter at home

Level:
 Medium

Why:
 I love the idea of hot/cold dispensers, but why do they cost a hundred every month? 0_0

My drinking water system, ladies and gentlemen. They need replacing and occasional maintenance, but at least I don’t have to get water delivered or buy water filters every month.

8. Buy from bargain bins

Level:
 Easy

Why:
 I’d argue this is my favourite way to save money, even if I sometimes buy stuff I shouldn’t!
My favourite bargain bins are from Ben’s Grocers, Cold Storage and Jaya Grocer 😀

9. ‘Shop the perimeters’

Level:
 Medium

Why:
 In grocery stores, I try to shop around the edges and not in the middle. The middle is where they put most of the processed foods. Delicious, expensive marked-up processed food.

I’m not a saint. I like bad-food-for-me too. Thankfully bargain bins (above) has helped me to eat some of the weirdest shit.

10. Eat out pantry

Level:
 Easy

Why:
 More often than not, ‘there’s no food in the house’ is a myth. If you’re open to experimenting, you can be creative with odds and ends and try new combinations of flavours.

Related:
I Figured Out The Perfect System to Stop Food Waste

How to Save Money on Clothes in Malaysia

1. Small wardrobe

Level:
 Easy

Why:
 When you grew up fat, you tend to not like looking for clothes so much. I also don’t care much for fashion tbh :/

If you’re a fashionista, you can still have this hobby – just make sure that you make extra effort in other money-saving areas.

Related:
Save Money on Fashion: 5 Steps I Use to Optimise My Clothing Budget

2. Thrifted clothing

Level:
 Easy

Why:
 Thrift-shopping is enjoyable for me.

3. Repairing clothes

Level:
 Medium

Why:
 Don’t particularly enjoy sewing.. but if I have to, I have to.

4. Get free stuff from Buy Nothing Group

Level:
 Hard

Why:
 I have both given and received free items from Buy Nothing Group on Facebook. To join one, type in the name + your area, see what comes up. If none exists, you can create your own.

The reason why I put the level as hard is a lot of luck is needed into getting what you want. Not only the gifter must choose to gift to you (they can have their own requirements), you also have to sort out delivery/collection.

Note: You can give/receive more items beyond clothes in Buy Nothing Groups

How to Save Money on Health & Beauty in Malaysia

1. Exercise on the cheap

Level:
 Hard

Why:
 Can’t lie – I want to be the kind of girl who has gym memberships and personal trainers. I think their guidance can be worth the money, but it’s hard for me to shell out more than RM100/month for them :/ My Crossfit classes were RM120 per month, but I quit because I’m a cheapo.

How much do you spend on fitness per month? I wonder if I’m the only one who picks fitness activities based on how cheap they are.

2. Use menstrual cup

Level:
 Medium

Why:
 People with uteruses, hear me out. You can save so much money if you switch to a menstrual cup. I buy maybe one pack of every
 couple of year
, just for ‘in case’ situations.

Mine was about RM80 (please get the quality one not the China one), made of medical-grade silicone and pretty comfortable once used to it.

Assuming you spend RM15 a month for pads/tampons, and the menstrual cups lasting 10 years, you’ll save at least RM5000. My menstrual cup paid for itself a long time ago.

Image credit: fleurcup.com

3.
Cut own hair

Level:
 Impossible

Why:
 After 5 or so tries, I have to finally admit that I am not talented at this.

4. Buy generic medicine

Level:
 Easy

Why:
 I am lucky enough to be healthy, but when I need the odd paracetamol, I take the no-brand ones instead of overpriced Panadol.

5. Quit using shampoo

Level:
 Impossible

Why:
 A couple of years back I read about the no-poo movement. People were swearing by it – healthier hair and scalp, they say. Just wash your hair with water, and use baking soda as ‘shampoo’ and apple cider vinegar as ‘conditioner’.

I tried it and didn’t even last a week. It was so greasy and smells like vinegar (not nice, FYI). My hair even fell out wtf.

6.
Quit smoking

Level:
 Damn hard

Why:
 Nicotine dependence. But I have to quit smoking, it’s making my teeth ugly!

UPDATE: Quit for 1 year. Unsure where savings went

Been almost a year since I quit smoking. Estimate saved around RM1k. But where is that money where??
— Suraya | suraya.eth (@surayaror)
November 14, 2019

UPDATE: Smoke-free for a few years already!

How to Save Money on Entertainment in Malaysia

1. Low-cost entertainment

Level:
 Medium

Why:
 I like free/almost free entertainment. Being online is fun and cheap. Free content is amazing.

UPDATE: I subscribe to both Spotify and Netflix. Combined, they cost around RM20 per month, which is low for entertainment. Hard to even get movie tix at that price nowadays

Related:

3 LEGIT Ways to Save Money on Spotify Premium in Malaysia
Cheapest Way to Get Netflix Premium

2. Buy Steam games only on sale

Level:
 Easy

Why:
Just add the games you want in cart and eventually they will go on sale 🙂

By the way, did you know you can use Playstation controller to play (select) Steam games? Yes, you can!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Suraya Zainudin (@surayaror)

3. No magazine subscriptions

Level:
 Easy

Why:
 Most content I want to read is free anyway.

Hack: If you do need to subscribe (cheap subscription promo for the first month/year, etc), then use BigPay card. Reason: you can ‘freeze’ your card, so you’re not charged for the next payment.

Obligatory Bigpay referral link
.

4. Not really into festivities or holidays

Level:
 Easy

Why:
 I’ve never really been a Valentine’s Day person, or Hari Raya person, or any other special day really. Not being in celebratory mood saves me money on decoration costs, clothes, single-use props, and other stuff that makes the day special.

Note: This has tons of downside (i.e. being a killjoy), but this is my natural state.

How to Save Money on Mobile in Malaysia

1. Only use prepaid phone plans

Level:
 Easy

Why:
 I love
 Yoodo. You can adjust how much data, call minutes and SMS you want to get. My 150GB data with 50 call minutes plan is just RM93 per month, much more value for money than 40GB plan with unlimited calls and SMS for RM128 that I got under Maxis last time.

It’s easy to switch – just download Yoodo app and you can order SIM card and do porting (to keep old number) from there. Use my code ‘zwbai7716’ to get RM20 in your wallet.

It’s hard to decide which telco is ‘the best’ because coverage depends on location. Here’s how to pick telco with the best upload/download speed in your area:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Suraya Zainudin (@surayaror)

2. Use free methods of communication whenever possible

Level:
 Easy

Why:
 Thank you, Whatsapp and Skype.

How to Save Money in Malaysia –
Small leaks

(Small leaks = reducing/stopping addiitonal costs for things I pay for anyway)

1. Avoid bank fees

Level:
 Easy

Why:
 I check my online banking accounts at least weekly for transactions made during the week (to make sure I wasn’t charged anything that I’m not supposed to pay for) and pay off my credit card balance.

2. Switch off unused devices when I don’t use them

Level:
 Hard

Why:
 Bad habit. Thank goodness I married someone who is diligent about switching things off.

3. Choose low-cost investments

Level:
 Easy

Why:
 Investments with high fees, in my opinion, are an unnecessary waste of money. Feel free to provide data to disprove this if you don’t agree.

Related:
3 Best Investments in Malaysia (+ The Best Way to Invest Your Money)

How to Save Money in Malaysia –
Optimising spending

1. Use cashback products

Level:
 Medium

Why:
 Sometimes a bit hard to keep track of them, but here’s all cashback products that I have:

Shopback
 (note: referral),
Cashback credit card
 (5% off online purchases),
Loyalty cards (AEON, etc)

It’s hard to calculate exactly how much money I saved with cashback products, but I’ve earned at least
RM6000 via Shopback
 and ~RM20-50 per month via cashback credit cards.

2. Use e-wallets for discounts

Level:
 Easy

Why:
 I love e-wallets! Saved a fair bit of money from them. EDIT: Since original post, e-wallets discounts are not as great anymore.

Related:
Best E-Wallets in Malaysia: Comparing 38 E-Wallets in 7 Categories

3. Sell stuff I no longer use BEFORE I buy ‘unnecessary’ stuff

Level:
 Medium

Why:
 I had a lot of success selling unused stuff. Once, I bought a secondhand Wii, played it to my heart’s content, then managed to sell it for more than what I bought it for.

Hack: how I sell a lot of stuff without spending too much time:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Suraya Zainudin (@surayaror)

4.
 Limit
 monthly recurring payments

Level:
 Medium

Why:
 As much as possible, I look for free options and products offering one-off payments so I can limit the amount of subscriptions I have.

5. Check every receipt and change received, and scan the register

Level:
 Easy

Why:
 Highly recommended you to make this a habit. Sometimes people will try to stiff you or they entered the data wrongly. Just check your change and the receipt before you leave the store.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Suraya Zainudin (@surayaror)

How to Save Money in Malaysia – Reduce Temptation

1. Don’t be brand loyal

Level:
 Impossible

Why:
 I say impossible because I do prefer some brands over the other. Kicap Kipas Udang > other kicap. Ayam brand sardines > other canned sardines. Kewpie mayonnaise > every other mayo. Do not argue with me on this. My mind is set.

Thankfully the majority of items in the produce section – where I spend most of my time – is not branded haha. Aside from a select few, the rest I just pick whatever’s cheaper and on sale. I like to think it balances out.

2. Delay purchases

Level:
 Medium

Why:
 My impulse purchases are quite rare, unless its food and groceries. For non-food items, if I
really
 like something, I allow myself to buy them
if
 I still remember it months later (usually I forget though).

I can credit the 30-day rule, which I heard about some time ago. According to this rule, if you want something bad enough, you’ll remember it 30 days later. If it’s a big purchase, you can extend this to a few months or even years.

3. Unsubscribe/Uninstall shopping platforms

Level:
 Hard

Why:
 I have a junk email address so all the shop promos go there. Barely open those emails. I also turn off all notifications for shopping apps.
If you tend to make purchases after these ‘reminders’, unsubscribe and uninstall them today.

….is what I want to say, but I still keep them in my phone for convenience.

4. Learn unethical advertising

Level:
 Medium

Why:
 I have natural interest in psychology, specifically consumer psychology. What have they implemented so that they can get more money out of us? It’s fascinating. The more aware I am of their tactics, the less interested I am to buy their products.

Related:
10 Manipulative Advertising Techniques You Should Know

5. Avoid the mall

Level:
 Impossible

Why:
 Part of not spending is to avoid temptation in the first place. However, I admit I enjoy window-shopping too much to quit. I rarely make impulse purchases though, so all good.

6. Use cash

Level:
 Medium

Why:
 If you have problem with controlling your spending, then using cash is recommended. A crisp RM50 is more painful to hand over than a credit card. When money is abstract and you can’t see it, you will spend more…
56% more
. It’s psychology.

I use cash when I can, unless there are obvious financial benefits to using digital payments (ie credit cards and ewallets)

7. Don’t shop when hungry

Level:
 Medium

Why:
Being hungry makes you shop more
, and not just on food.

8. Calculate prices at the store

Level:
 Medium

Why:
 Ok, this is slightly embarrassing. I like to make mental calculations at the store. Sometimes I even take out my phone calculator and go, ‘Hmm, Item A is RMx.xx per 300grams, but Item B is RMx.xx per kilo. Which is more worth it?’ *calculates*

How to Save Money in Malaysia – Being organised

1. Periodically list out all annual expenses subscriptions

Level:
 Medium

Why:
 It’s just 30 mins of journaling, but so worth it because it helps me plan out my budget for the year, and not be ‘surprised’ when it’s time to renew whatever needs to be renewed, like passport or diving license.

Related:
All The Annual Expenses I Have to Make Every Year

2. Bring notebook everywhere

Level:
 Easy

Why:
 I’m forgetful. For my similarly-forgetful friends, keep a notebook in your bag. It’s a pretty big difference. ‘Shit I forgot to get X’ happens so much less nowadays.

I also write down reminders to:

Pay off credit cards
Check if I’m paid by clients or not
Reply back to potential buyers when I sell stuff online
Reply back clients
Update budget
Stop spending on some categories, if I go overboard that month
Transfer money to investment accounts

Related:
17 Things to Include in Your Money Journal

3. Use company benefits

Level:
 Medium

Why:
 Check your company manual for hidden goodies. For my previous employment, I got reimbursed for dental work, transportation and internet subsidies, and more.

Read:
Malaysians Share Their Best Employee Benefits!

Conclusion

There you go! 49 ways to save money in Malaysia. Again, not comprehensive, so I invite you to list your own ways to save money in the comments section below.

If you tried any of the above, I want to hear from you – do you agree with my ranking? Do you find them easier or more difficult?

As you can see, you don’t have to be good at all of them. But you can try some of them, for sure 🙂


How Much You Need to Save Every Month to Afford Your Wedding in Malaysia [SPONSORED]

So you want to be married.

Maybe your partner sweet-talked you into it, maybe you’re still working on yourself while looking for ‘The One’, but one thing is clear:
you know you need to set aside some money every month for the eventual wedding-related costs, because you are aware it can get pretty high
.

How high is high?

How much does it cost to get married in Malaysia?

According to The Asean Post,
the average wedding in Malaysia cost is around RM50,000
. That includes the essentials (paperwork, HIV test, etcetera), the culturally symbolic (rings, hantaran, etcetera), the celebratory (food and drinks, venue, etcetera) and everything in between.

However, that is the average. Weddings can cost much lower and yes, much higher than RM50,000.

Based on (my own) research,
most
 people spend between RM10,000-RM100,000 on their wedding day. Some people spend less than RM10,000
 or more than RM100,000, but they are a relatively small group.

If you put it visually as a distribution curve, it looks something like this:

How much you need to save every month

Here is how much you need to save up every month for weddings that cost between RM10,000-RM100,000, in 1 to 3 years timeframe. All numbers are taken from the MyASNB app, via the Target Labur feature.

Wedding cost
How much you need to save per month if 12 months
How much you need to save per month if 24 months
How much you need to save per month if 36 months
RM10,000
RM833
RM408
RM267
RM20,000
RM1,667
RM816
RM533
RM30,000
RM2,500
RM1,225
RM800
RM40,000
RM3,333
RM1,633
RM1,066
RM50,000
RM4,167
RM2,041
RM1,333
RM60,000
RM5,000
RM2,449
RM1,599
RM70,000
RM5,833
RM2,857
RM1,866
RM80,000
RM6,667
RM3,266
RM2,132
RM90,000
RM7,500
RM3,674
RM2,399
RM100,000
RM8,333
RM4,082
RM2,666

Note: RM50,000 is highlighted because:

it’s the average cost of a wedding in Malaysia, and
even if you don’t reach this amount, you can still have a decent wedding at a lower price point.

If you personally think this is too much to spend on a wedding in Malaysia and you want a lower , then use the money for post-wedding expenses, like honeymoon or towards your first home together. Better to have saved more money than you need than less.

Some of you with sharp eyes might notice that
the longer the duration, the less you need to save per month to reach the amount
. For example,

It takes RM1,333 per month for 36 months to save up to RM50,000
However, RM1,333 times 36 is only RM47,988, not RM50,000

Gain extra money while you save money

Where did the extra RM2,012 come from, you ask? That’s ‘free money’, thanks to compounding and profit rate of 4.15%*. In other words, if you only used a bank account (with zero or almost-zero profit rate) to save the same amount of money, you’ll need another 1.5 months more to reach RM50,000

*Expected return of 4.15% per annum used as a guide; actual returns will vary

Tip: You can reach your target amount faster by adding initial investment in the beginning. For example, if RM50,000 is your goal and you started off the wedding fund with RM15,000 initial capital, then you only need to set aside RM881 monthly for the next 3 years.

How to use the Target Labur feature

Step 1: Download ASNB app

If you’re a new myASNB user, follow these steps to sign up:

Step 1: Download the myASNB app. It is available on
Android
,
iOS
, and
Huawei
.
Step 2: Click on Sign Up
Step 3: Enter in your personal details
Step 4: Upload your IC
Step 5: Finalise account information
Done! The whole process only takes minutes

You can read more about the online account opening process
here
.

Tip: MyASNB app insists on strong passwords, so use a password manager to generate yours. I use Bitwarden, which is a password manager with built-in password generator

Step 2: Click on Target Labur

You can find the icon in the main dashboard of the app.

Step 3: Select your goal

You can use Target Labur to plan many financial goals. In this case, we are planning your wedding budget, but you can also save up for retirement or your emergency fund with MyASNB.

Step 4: Enter variables

The variables needed are:

Goal amount
Goal dateline
Initial investment (if any)
Return expectations (go ahead and pick 4.15%; the number is suggested based on historical funds’ performance)

When you’re done, select Next

Step 5: Find out monthly amount to set aside to reach your goal

Don’t be too intimidated by the amount, it’s nothing that other people haven’t achieved before.

The good thing is, if with this challenge you become someone who is able to earn and save more, then all the better for your married life. You need the same set of skills to cover future expenses, like the cost of your child’s birth, house downpayment, family trips and more.

Where to find the money to fund your wedding in Malaysia

Now that you know how much to set aside every month for your wedding, the question now is
where
 to find the money to fund your wedding.

Well, I asked the exact question to netizens on Twitter. You can look through how real people fund their weddings – go through the replies and QTs of the tweet below:

Question: how did you pay for your wedding?
Was it your own savings? Worked extra hard to earn? Parents helped pay? Took loan?
— Suraya | suraya.eth (@surayaror)
April 15, 2022

You can see from the replies that most people fund their weddings via a combination of:

Own savings
Earned extra income
Lived extra frugally
Parents helped to pay (it’s cool if they do, but never feel entitled to it if not offered)
Took a loan (worth noting – all of them said it was a burden and they don’t recommend it)

There are also other strategies shared to lower the cost of weddings, such as:

Negotiation tips with the parents
Holding joint wedding with a sibling
And more

Final tip: Set aside 10-20% buffer that’s not included in the wedding budget

Truth is, a wedding in Malaysia is an event, and any event needs contingencies to cover unexpected expenses  (say the tailor botched the dress the week before and you need a new one ASAP, for example).

Therefore, it is a good idea to allocate 10-20% more that is NOT part of the wedding budget, in case of emergencies.

For this, I’d recommend setting up a secondary Target Labur fund, for Emergency Fund. You can set up multiple goals in the same app, super convenient.

That is all. All the best if you are planning your wedding in Malaysia, and hope you have the strength in you to organise a wedding within your means, and resist the temptation of taking up loans, even if your own parents present them to you as a solution (a story for another day).

Now, go find out how much you have to save up monthly – download the myASNB app on
Android
,
iOS
, and
Huawei
 devices.


How Zero Waste Malaysia Helps Me Save Money (& the Environment, A Little Bit)

Confession: I entered the zero waste world a few years ago for its
money-saving potential
.

It’s been great. The communities are helpful, warm, encouraging. I had fun testing and trying out new lifestyle changes inspired from members of the zero waste community, sustainable living community, low impact community and so on. Among others, they encouraged me to:

include more plants and grains in my diet,

use a menstrual cup,

carry my reusable water bottle when going out,

stay car-free,

keep used coffee grounds to use as fertiliser,

significantly reduce my fast-fashion shopping,

and even helped me stay smoke-free (no more cigarette butts waste!)

All of which saved me a TON of money as a result.

The hard part: the plastic-free part of zero-waste lifestyle

So by this point, I thought I’m doing okay with this zero-waste lifestyle thing. But there is this one part that is hard for me to do. The
plastic-free part of the zero-waste lifestyle
.

I admit that I am, at best,
meh
 about the whole ‘create less plastic waste’ and ‘save the environment’ aspect of the zero-waste lifestyle.

Plastic is, after all, cheap. My priority is saving money. I don’t really want to commit to a plastic-free lifestyle if it’s going to add more cost and trouble into my life.

But at the same time, I also want to be good to the environment. Especially now that the no-plastic awareness campaigns are in full blast. You also may have seen the dead sea creatures with plastic-filled stomachs. Read about microplastics in the marine life we consume. Watched fishes get stuck in single-use plastic bags..

#NoComment
 😰😭

©Nat Senmuang
pic.twitter.com/IsSf5M1CTs

— 30 Millions d’Amis (@30millionsdamis)
February 26, 2019

I know that I have been so spoiled by plastic’s convenience and cost that I find it
hard
 to live a plastic-free life. Even after I know how damaging plastic is, I still buy fruits and vegetables packed in plastic. I still buy bubble tea sold in single-use cups. Sometimes I’d forget to bring my reusable bag to the groceries and just pay the 20 cents.

I make some effort and some lifestyle changes here and there, yes, but I don’t know if I even deserve the ‘you tried’ gold star.

Zero Waste Malaysia as a resource

Yeah, it’s hard, but I didn’t say I’m giving up. It’s slow progress but it’s progress.

The
Zero Waste Malaysia Facebook group
 has been a great resource in this journey. I’m mostly a lurker there, but I’m always blown away by the quality content. I highly encourage you to join if you’re interested in the zero-waste, plastic-free lifestyle. Some of the things I’ve seen include:

How they shop without using plastic bags (bring own bags) and order food without single-use plastics (bring own containers)

Attempts and recommendations to reduce, reuse, recycle and upcycle

Zero waste-related workshops, seminars, public talks, events and fairs

How other countries create and implement unique solutions

Things that aren’t often shared in the media, like how plastic pollution looks like IRL, and more

I’m also super impressed by
Zero Waste Malaysia
‘s Zero Waste Resources map. Look at all the zero waste options available!
In the map
, you can find:

Bulk food

Community Compost/Garden

Furry Friends’ Corner

Household Products

Personal Care Products

Repair Services

Sustainable Businesses and Services

Thrift Shops

Traditional Wet Markets, and

Recycling, Upcycling and Waste Disposal Centers

Click on the map to find zero waste options near you! You can add your recommendations (or your sustainable businesses) in the map too!

Making plastic-free lifestyle more affordable

As I mentioned, I am primarily motivated by savings. I would love to save the environment, but I don’t want to pay, like, triple the usual price for plastic-free equivalents of things I need, you know? I think many of you are in the same boat too – it’s important for us to balance cost while we do the right thing, because times *are* tough.

I made a plan on how to incorporate plastic-free lifestyle into my frugal life so it doesn’t cost too much:

Using a product’s plastic packaging as an excuse to
not
 buy something.
 Food is my weak spot, but I’ll try my best

Resisting zero-waste products that I don’t really need.
 For example, I don’t need metal straws. Or special product bags, since I have lots of tote bags (and old t-shirts that I can turn into bags). Or another tumbler. Sometimes the marketing gets to me but I’m resisting.

Slowly moving away from conventional household and personal care products?
 This is a hard one, perhaps the hardest. I’ve never tried non-plastic toothbrushes, do they even work? And it’s so easy to restock at the supermarket rather than making separate trips to HIVE or the
BYOB (Bring Your Own Bottle) shops
.

Start going to the wet markets (with my own containers)
. Also a hard one, because it requires separate trips.

Hyping up zero waste in my own capacity so that there will be more zero-waste businesses.
 If you’re thinking of a business to start, you should know that (1) there is demand, and (2) the demand is growing!

Speaking of that, I want to share some links and resources that may help, if you do happen to be entrepreneurial:

Links and resources for your future zero waste / sustainable living business

List of
impact-driven enterprises at MaGIC website
 (go ahead and filter by category)

#zerowastemalaysia hashtag on Instagram
 to see the types of products and services in the market

Talks and workshops on upcycling, circular economy etc:
Malaysia Nature Society
,
Me.reka Makerspace

Bluebee Technology,
FatHopes Energy
 and
Grub Cycle
 which emerged as
Regional Finalists in Alipay-NUS Enterprise Social Innovation Challenge
. They do e-waste recycling, used cooking oil collection and reducing food wastage

Look out for Startup Weekend Sustainability Kuala Lumpur (they had one in 2018). Bonus: LeaveNoTrash shared how they organised a
zero waste startup weekend
 in Ubud, Bali

Share with me more links and resources if you have them 🙂

How about you? Where do you fit in, in this whole zero waste thing? Are you all-in? Are you just starting? Are you cost-conscious like me? Share with us more resources, tips and hacks that work for you in the comments section so all of us can learn!


My 20 Best Purchases in 2020

Some people find it hard to save money; they’re natural spenders.

I’m the opposite. I’m a natural saver. It actually took me a while to be okay with spending money – especially for things I don’t technically need – without feeling guilty. I wrote about this complicated feeling in my
[PERSONAL] Upgrading vs Making Do: My Dilemma with Lifestyle Inflation
 article.

But if 2020 have taught me anything, it’s this: it’s completely to use some of my savings (not money I don’t have!!) for joy. And in that spirit, I’d like to share 20 of my best purchases in 2020, in categories:

Things that save money & time
Personal growth
Thrifted
Food
Books
Beauty, and
Pure Joy

Here they are:

Things that save money & time

#1 – Automatic pet feeder – RM85

The automatic pet feeder is one of those purchases I don’t know how I ever managed without. It might be the single best purchase I made in 2020!

Aside from saving me time from feeding my cats 2-3x per day, this item has (1) stopped Lemon (pictured below) from scarfing down his food and subsequently vomit all over my carpet, and (2) stopped my cats from yelling bloody murder at me at 6am in the morning so I would wake up and feed them.

10/10 would recommend!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Suraya Zainudin (@surayaror)

#2 – Menstrual cup – RM68

Lost my old cup (still don’t know how that happened, but it’s due for replacement anyway so no biggie) so I replaced it with
The Hivette menstrual cup from The Hive
. This purchase is a no-brainer – it will pay for itself within one year, and will last me for up to 10 years!

#3 – Fabric Masks – ~RM70

My flex is I’ve used only around 5 disposable face masks in total in 2020 – used reusable masks all the way on other occasions.

At the moment, I have 7 or so reusable face masks in rotation. I love the Airism masks from Uniqlo, and the upcycled fabric face masks from @cheapskate.fashionista from IG.

Dah la reusable, upcycled pulak tu. I'm happy 🙌
pic.twitter.com/W8azDqywjp
— Suraya ringgitohringgit.com (@surayaror)
June 19, 2020

Personal Growth

#1 – Pursue CFP (Certified Financial Planning) – will cost ~RM10k in total

As some of you know, I’ve made decision to
pursue CFP
. If all goes well, I hope to be certified by the end of 2021 (fingers crossed!)

Quite happy to score this financial calculator for cheaper, too!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Suraya Zainudin (@surayaror)

#2 – Everything related to Ringgit Oh Ringgit website and maintenance

Doing RinggitOhRinggit.com has been so fulfilling, and opened so many opportunities for me. In 2020, I collaborated with various financial institutions, launched 2 books, interviewed on ~10 occasions, and most importantly grew the personal finance community (thank you for the sweet messages you sent me!!). All the website costs – including hosting/domain/ support service membership – were more than worth it!

I’m not done with y’all. I have big plans in 2021, including a new look for the website. Stay tuned!

(Pictured: how RoR looked in 2015 vs 2020)

How it started:                How it's going:
pic.twitter.com/7MmwK22cQn
— Suraya ringgitohringgit.com (@surayaror)
October 18, 2020

#3 – The Happiness Project Experience 2021 – RM815

I bought a
year-long course
 designed by one of my favourite authors Gretchen Rubin <3 My
My 21 for 2021 List: Money, Work, Learning, Health, Relationship and Misc Projects Goals
 article was inspired by her as well.

Bonus: Financial Behaviour Assessment

An assessment to discover your financial behaviour and biases, so you’re aware of your blindspots and be better at money management and investing!!!!

This was a GREAT assessment and I’ll dedicate an article to do it justice, but worth mentioning in passing here. I got the Couple test and completed it with my partner – we found out areas where we are similar in money, and where we are different. Really eye-opening for us.

The Financial Behaviour Assessment is available for individuals and couples. You can buy for yourself
here
 (disclosure: I’ll get a commission on sales, but I was the one who loved it so much and reached out to offer to sell it).

Thrifted

#1 – Shaggy carpet – RM15

My living room was carpet-less for at least 4 years until I found this secondhand carpet from Jalan Jalan Japan.

(I’m not really big on home decorating and mostly only add on non-essential furniture and home decor when I find extremely good deals)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Suraya Zainudin (@surayaror)

#2 – Clothes

I thrifted a few cute tops and dresses, ranging from RM5-RM40, from thrift stores and Carousell. Received a lot of compliments on the dress, I’m happy!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Suraya Zainudin (@surayaror)

Food

#1 – Snacks from Signature Market

I can’t stop raving about Signature Market, especially their gourmet popcorn, it is THAT good. My favourite is Chocolate, please go buy it and try, its amazing.

Read my review on Signature Market
here
.

#2 – All my groceries – ~RM600 per month

I love grocery shopping. It satisfies my shopping mood, allows me to be creative (I like trying new ingredients and figuring out how to use up odd ingredients!), and I get to enjoy delicious food at a cheaper price (see pictures!)

If you love grocery-shopping as much as I do, you’ll love the following articles:

5 Things I Did To Reduce My Damn High Groceries Bill
HappyFresh Review: 10 Tips to Save Money and Time!
I Figured Out The Perfect System to Stop Food Waste

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Suraya Zainudin (@surayaror)

#3 – Daging Dendeng + Rendang Pucuk Ubi from Dapur Omak

However, on days when I don’t feel like cooking, I’m glad I have my daging dendeng and rendang pucuk ubi stock from @dapur_omak from IG. Meals cannot be easier even on the busiest of days.

Daging dendeng & Rendang pucuk ubi yang order dari Dapur Omak minggu lepas dah sampai yayyy
Tak sabar nak makan dengan nasi panas 😋
pic.twitter.com/ecIOA5XdV7
— Suraya ringgitohringgit.com (@surayaror)
March 17, 2020

#4 – Ground coffee from Sols Coffee Roastery

Its hard to have a bad day if you start it with freshly-brewed coffee 🙂 It’s part of my morning ritual and I love how it starts my day right.

Ground coffee recommendation: Sols Coffee Roastery on Shopee. Second time ordering, super satisfied with product and price 👍
pic.twitter.com/W581rzvsx4
— Suraya ringgitohringgit.com (@surayaror)
July 14, 2020

Books

I bought and read a lot of books in 2020, can’t possibly share all here, so I picked some lesser-known ones for this space.

#1 – 2020: An Anthology from Fixi Novo

Best gila buku 2020: An Anthology dari
@BukuFixi

#FixiNovo
 ni. Kreatif sangat: ada cerita kereta terbang kebangsaan, cerita time travel malaysia tahun 4040, cerita gomen pakai teknologi mimpi untuk sebarkan propaganda…
Available @
@GerakBudaya
 shopee, RM17.17 (free shipping!)
pic.twitter.com/qMNtV8KQWB
— Suraya ringgitohringgit.com (@surayaror)
December 15, 2020

#2 – Not Buying It: My Year Without Shopping by Judith Levine

By the end of the book, I understood that doing no-spend challenges is not about not spending money, but about being mindful about it.

It’s also quite eye-opening how her self-imposed spending ban impacted her relationships – she wrote about how she felt guilty that her friends were gifting/treating food and items, as she couldn’t buy them herself.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Suraya Zainudin (@surayaror)

Beauty

#1 – Wax Strips – RM15

I guess I can take out eyebrow threading cost from my budget, because 2020 was the year I finally learned how to shape my own eyebrows!

I have decided to learn how to shape my own eyebrows, for both cost-saving and Covid-19 reasons
If the learning process is steeper than expected, and my eyebrows look weird, please lie to my face, thank you 😌
pic.twitter.com/6zShlY9je6
— Suraya ringgitohringgit.com (@surayaror)
August 5, 2020

#2 – Hair cut + Hair Perm at A Cut Above Academy – RM150

I’m
lazy
 efficient, so I perm my hair ~once a year so it takes me less time to get ready throughout the year. The deal from A Cut Above Academy was unbeatable!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Suraya Zainudin (@surayaror)

#3 – YOKO Deep Intensive Treatment Hair Mask (Avocado) – RM30

Thanks Twitter folks for this product recommendation! My hair loves this product!

Pure Joy

Last but not least, here are some purchases which brought me a lot of joy in 2020. They are all budgeted-for ‘wants’.

#1 – I-Blason Laptop Case – RM78

I waited to find a sturdy but more importantly PRETTY laptop case I liked for under RM100!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Suraya Zainudin (@surayaror)

#2 – Rirana Perfume sample set -RM100

If you like your fragrances, I can’t recommend this set enough. Amazing quality and super value for money!!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Suraya Zainudin (@surayaror)

#3 – Gold jewellery

My hypo-allergenic hoops from Lovisa finally rusted, and since I had some money to play around with (I used my dulang hantaran money), I decided to upgrade my jewellery game and got some gold pieces.

They look so good on me that I don’t even care that gold price fell since I bought them!

Finally found gold jewelry in a design I like 😍 it was so hard to find earrings, let alone hoops, let alone in minimalist design that I prefer!
pic.twitter.com/fSj80q4VK6
— Suraya ringgitohringgit.com (@surayaror)
August 8, 2020

What are some of your best purchases in 2020?

I’ve shared my 20 best purchases in 2020. Your turn – what are some of your best purchases in 2020, and why? Share with us in the comments section!

Last but not least – because this is a personal finance blog, I trust that all of you have budgeted for those purchases, and only buying things that you can afford and not on credit card/personal loans!