Listing All the Annual Expenses I Have to Make Every Year

You’re familiar with monthly expenses. The biggest chunks are usually Accommodation+Transportation+Food. Plus Loan Repayments for some people.

How about
annual
 expenses? Are you already familiar with yours? These are payments that you make sporadically – either once a year, or once every few years.

Why list out annual expenses? Isn’t monthly enough?

Even though I’ve come across the advice ‘Budget for your annual expenses’ fairly often, I didn’t
digest
 it until much later. Before this, I treated all my annual expenses like ad-hoc payments.

That’s not good, because when I do it this way, my finances get messy. I forget to plan for it, and get surprised when the time comes for me to make those annual expenses. It’s like,
already? But I already made the payments…oooh that was last year.

Even worse, sometimes I forget about these payments and have to pay fines!

Therefore, this list, so I can plan better. Here are all the annual expenses I personally pay for, and when during the year. I’ve divided it into:

$ for small amounts (how much? No sweat, I can pay!);
$$ for a couple of hundred ringgits (hmm okay no choice); and
$$$ for ADOI (crap must reduce expenses in the next few months)

Let’s go:

January

My annual expenses in January are:

Netflix
 – $ – I use the
Netflix Premium hack
 to get this for cheaper 🙂

February

My annual expenses in February are:

Tax payments
 – $$$ – I usually get my CP500* notice from LHDN in January, and prefer to pay the four-figure amount all at once, in lumpsum.

*CP500 is the 6 instalments business owners have to pay, which goes towards your tax payment for that year’s assessment. Read more about taxes:
This Income Tax Calculator Shows What You Owe LHDN

March

My annual expenses in March are:

Partner’s birthday
 – $$ – It’s been somewhat of a tradition to do a staycation
Second Medical Insurance
 – $$ – I have a secondary medical card which I pay annually. In process to consolidate though

April

My annual expenses in April are:

Raya*
 – $$$ – Raya costs me around RM5k, mostly for duit raya gifts and contribution to Raya food. *Note: I know Raya’s actual dates and months varies every year. Let’s make this simple.

May

My annual expenses in May are:

Dad’s birthday
 – $ – We get together for a family meal 🙂 Random fact: My Dad and I share the same birthdate
Driving license renewal
 – $$ – Thankfully can make advance payments for up to 5 years; if not, so mafan to do every year. My next payment is in 2025.

June

My annual expenses in June are:

FundSupermart Malaysia annual fee
– $ – I use this platform to open my
PRS account
. Not a huge amount.
Brother’s birthday
 – $ – Usually belanja makan with the family or something

July

My annual expense in July is:

Sister’s birthday
 – $ – The youngest one

August

My annual expense in August is:

Business renewal to SSM
– $$ – This one also can pay for multiple years in advance. I paid for 3 years in 2021, so my next payment is in 2024.

September

My annual expenses in September are:

Passport renewal
 – $$ – Technically it expires in February, but passports should have at least 6-months validity. I should get mine renewed in September.
Malaysian Writers Society membership
 – $ – Proud to be a member of
Malaysian Writers Society
!

October

My annual expenses in October are:

Other sister’s birthday
 – $ – The second-youngest one

November

My annual expenses in November are:

Website hosting & Domain renewal
 – $$ – I paid 3 years’ of Ringgit Oh Ringgit hosting in advance (next due: 2023), but the domain must be renewed annually.
ClickWP membership
 – $$ – To fix Ringgit Oh Ringgit’s technical issues as and when it comes up
Grammarly
 – $$ – A software I use to improve my writing work. I try to get it during the Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend, its cheaper then
Wedding anniversary
 – $$ – Must commemorate with a fun experience 🙂

December

My annual expenses in December are:

Mom’s birthday
 – $ – She likes family time, so usually we take the family out for dinner 🙂
Christmas gift-giving
 – $ – Sometimes I participate in Secret Santa, it’s fun 🙂
Zakat
 – $$$ – I calculate and pay my
zakat
 (tithing the Islamic way) in December

Analysis of my annual expenses

I guess here’s the fun part – making sense of all these data. From the above, I can see that:

I have
21 different annual expenses
. Most of them are categorised under Business, Donations & Gifts or Misc Needs – all categories I use for my personal expense-tracking
I can make
several years’ worth of advance payments
 for 4 of them – passport, driving license, website hosting and business renewal
I have
at least one annual expense every month
. Going to double-check my
expense-tracking
 notes in case I missed anything, but I believe everything is covered
It’s in my best interest to
limit the number of my annual expenses
. Having said that, I do plan to add a couple more, like accounting fees (for my business) and insurance, especially if they give discounts for paying annual instead of monthly premiums. Well I’ll cross that bridge (and update this article) when the time comes, I guess.

Annual expenses that I don’t have to make

At first, I’m like, TWENTY-ONE?? TWENTY-ONE ANNUAL EXPENSES? WHY SO MANY?

Then I
did my research
 and found that other people, especially families, have EVEN MORE annual expenses to make. These are expenses like:

Road tax and car maintenance
 – I don’t have a car
Housing insurance, taxes and other fees
 – The property isn’t under my name
Children’s school fees and expenses
 – I don’t have kids
Academic fees
 – I’ve graduated
Credit card annual fee
 – All my
credit cards
 are free-for-life types

Those of you who have one or more of the above.
How many annual expenses do YOU have to make per year?
If you have a lot of payments, how do you keep track of them? Do you have a system?

Did I miss any other types of annual expenses? If yes, let me know in the comments section!

Last thoughts

I hope this mini-finance exercise will help me plan my budget better. If I STILL get fines after this, or get surprised by upcoming payments, I also don’t know what I should do -_-

Do your own list too. I’m so curious to know how many annual expenses YOU have to make, and what they are.


How Much $$ You Need to Live Well in 2023, According to Belanjawanku 2022-2023

Question: how much money do you actually need, in order to live a good enough life in Malaysia?

To answer that question, KWSP and
Social Wellbeing Research Centre (SWRC)
 released
Belanjawanku 2022-2023
 in July 2023, an updated and expanded version of
Belanjawanku 2021
 and
Belanjawanku 2019
.

In this article, I’ve compiled the estimated monthly expenses for each household category as included in
Belanjawan 2022-2023 Expenditure Guide
 for your easy household budgeting reference.

What is Belanjawanku

In case you haven’t heard of Belanjawanku, it is an
expenditure guide for Malaysian individuals and families
aimed to ‘help Malaysians plan their personal and family budgeting to
achieve a reasonable standard of living
‘.

The bolded part is important. Belanjawanku is not a bare-basics, just enough to eat and sleep kind of expenditure guide. A ‘reasonable standard of living’ is defined as:

Having enough money to meet basic needs, AND

Being involved in community activities and gatherings of families and friends, AND

Living a purposeful and meaningful life

It’s important to note that obviously how much money you need depends on your situation – including your household situation and where you live. Keep the instructions below in mind while you scroll down.

A short note before we start. It is common to, I guess, be angry at the numbers you’re about to see. I’ve seen various versions WHERE TO EVEN FIND CHEAP RENT IN X CITY and ONLY THAT MUCH FOR X CATEGORY?? DO THEY EVEN LIVE IN MALAYSIA on social media.

I don’t know if it will help at all, but I have a short commentary for people who do feel angry at the end of the article. Have a read. But for now, let’s start with..

What’s in Belanjawanku 2022-2023

Belanjawanku 2022-2023 is the latest version of expenditure guide for Malaysians, after Belanjawanku 2021 and Belanjawanku 2019. Here are the household categories and locations

Household categories in Belanjawanku 2022-2023

Belanjawanku 2022-2023 provides budget estimates for 9 household categories:

Single (Public Transportation User)

Single (Car owner)

Married couple (No children)

Married couple with one child

Married couple with two children

Elderly single

Elderly couple

Single parent with one child

Single parent with two children

Locations in Belanjawanku 2022-2023

Belanjawanku 2022-2023 breaks down budget estimates across
12
 Malaysian cities:

Klang Valley

Alor Setar

Kota Kinabalu

Johor Bahru

Kuala Terengganu

Kuching

Kuantan

Kota Bharu

Georgetown

Ipoh

Seremban

Melaka

Estimated monthly expenses for each household category, according to Belanjawanku 2022-2023

The households are sorted by: single, married, elderly and single parent, in that order. Find the one that most closely resembles yours.

#1 – Estimated Monthly Expenses for Single, Public Transportation User

The average monthly expense for a single, public transportation user in Malaysia is RM1710. To achieve a reasonable standard of living, they would need a minimum of RM1530 if they live in Alor Setar and RM1930 if they live in Klang Valley.

#2 – Estimated Monthly Expenses for Single, Car Owner

The average monthly expense for a single, car owner in Malaysia is RM2270. To achieve a reasonable standard of living, they would need a minimum of RM2060 if they live in Alor Setar and RM2600 if they live in Klang Valley.

#3 – Estimated Monthly Expenses for Married without children

The average monthly expense for a married couple without children in Malaysia is RM4030. To achieve a reasonable standard of living, they would need a minimum of RM3680 if they live in Alor Setar and RM4630 if they live in Klang Valley.

#4 – Estimated Monthly Expenses for Married with 1 child

The average monthly expense for a married couple with 1 child in Malaysia is RM5190. To achieve a reasonable standard of living, they would need a minimum of RM4760 if they live in Alor Setar and RM5980 if they live in Klang Valley.

#5 – Estimated Monthly Expenses for Married with 2 children

The average monthly expense for a married couple with 2 children in Malaysia is RM5920. To achieve a reasonable standard of living, they would need a minimum of RM5430 if they live in Alor Setar and RM6890 if they live in Klang Valley.

#6 – Estimated Monthly Expenses for Senior Single

The average monthly expense for a senior single in Malaysia is RM2230. To achieve a reasonable standard of living, they would need a minimum of RM2020 if they live in Alor Setar and RM2520 if they live in Klang Valley.

#7 – Estimated Monthly Expenses for Senior Couple

The average monthly expense for a senior couple in Malaysia is RM2880. To achieve a reasonable standard of living, they would need a minimum of RM2630 if they live in Alor Setar and RM3210 if they live in Klang Valley.

#8 – Estimated Monthly Expenses for Single Parent with 1 child

The average monthly expense for a single parent with 1 child in Malaysia is RM4060. To achieve a reasonable standard of living, they would need a minimum of RM3660 if they live in Alor Setar and RM4740 if they live in Klang Valley.

#9 – Estimated Monthly Expenses for Single Parent with 2 children

The average monthly expense for single parent with 2 children in Malaysia is RM4790. To achieve a reasonable standard of living, they would need a minimum of RM4340 if they live in Alor Setar and RM5650 if they live in Klang Valley.

How does your household finances compare to Belanjawanku guide?

How do your household finances compare to the monthly estimates, as outlined in Belanjawanku guide? Are you spending more or less than the average household in your city?

Where can you go from here? Well,

If you are earning
more than the monthly estimates
 and your
household expenses are

lower
 than the estimates in Belanjawanku, awesome! You’re in a good situation, keep it up!

If you are
earning the same or less than the monthly estimates
 and your
household expenses are higher
 than the estimates in Belanjawanku, then:

Look for
ways to cut expenses
. The top 3 biggest expenses tend to be Accommodation, Transportation and Food so I suggest to start there first. Use my free
 50/30/20 Budgeting Template
 to guide you

Look for ways to increase your income, because the cost of living is only going to go up from here.
Increase your salary through day job
 or
through side hustles

Bonus Section: BUT THE EXPENSES ESTIMATES IN BELANJAWANKU DOES NOT REFLECT *MY* REALITY-

Earlier in the article, I mentioned how some people get angry at the numbers. How come the expenses estimates are much higher than MY expenses, they asked.

Well sorry to break it to you, but

just because the data in Belanjawanku doesn’t reflect YOUR reality doesn’t mean the whole thing is wrong. If your expenses are way higher, that probably means:

you are
used to the more expensive version of that category
, and/or

you are
unaware of the cheaper options,
and/or

you are
unwilling to downgrade your lifestyle
.

It’s also possible your situation is different from the basic assumptions the researchers used to estimate monthly expenses across different categories.

After all, Belanjawanku researchers applied several methodologies to come up with the numbers, they didn’t just come out of thin air. You can refer pages 20-41 of the full
Belanjawan 2022-2023 Expenditure Guide
 to learn more.

Could the researchers do better? Sure. Would be great if they add more household variations, or for people with medical conditions. But some data is better than none, and you can always write to them to request nicely instead of YELLING BLOODY MURDER IN SOCIAL MEDIA.

Hope that settles it. If you are still angry, please Google the Main Character Syndrome and see if you have it. I’ll end here.

(Sorry not sorry. Data collection and analysing is a lot of work, and I respect and appreciate the researchers’ effort in doing Belanjawanku. They don’t deserve to be yelled by netizens)


Best Insurance and Takaful in Malaysia for B40 and M40 On A Budget

Looking for the best insurance and takaful in Malaysia that is also budget-friendly? If your current money situation is tight, then these online insurance options are affordable and most importantly, better than nothing.

At a glance, the insurance are:

Perlindungan Tenang
 (various protection products for B40, sole breadwinners and people with vulnerable dependents; those eligible can claim RM75 voucher from govt) [temporarily on pause]

EPF i-Lindung programme
 (life and critical illness insurance/takaful; for EPF depositors with balance in Akaun 2)

SOCSO Self-Employment Social Security Scheme
(for self-employed and gig workers)

SOCSO Housewives’ Social Security Scheme or SKSSR
 (for women)

INSAN – Skim Insurans Am Selangor
(FREE RM10k life insurance only for Selangorians)

Online Critical Illness Protection
 (critical illness insurance; for everyone)

Online Medical Insurance
(medical card; for everyone)

What type of protection a person needs varies depending on their life situation, but generally speaking you should aim to have all four of the main ones:
life insurance, personal accident insurance, critical illness and medical insurance.

Let’s go over each of the affordable options one by one.

#1 – Best Insurance in Malaysia for B40: Perlindungan Tenang

Perlindungan Tenang is specifically designed for the B40 community. If you are completely uninsured and fit the demographic,
go claim your RM75 Perlindungan Tenang Voucher
 from the government.

You can check your eligibility and find more info at
http://myptv.my
.

As of time of writing, there are 33 insurance/takaful options listed on the
Perlindungan Tenang product page
, including
 life insurance/takaful, personal accident, hospital income
, even
fire insurance
for kampung house.

You can find more information on each product’s coverage by clicking the grey button.

Personally, I think Perlindungan Tenang is good… but the product options can be overwhelming for someone who is unfamiliar with insurance and takaful options. One probably will need an agent’s help to explain the products and recommend suitable ones for them.

#2 – Best Insurance for EPF Depositors: i-Lindung

Now EPF depositors can use your funds from Account 2 to sign up for
life
 and
critical illness insurance
 /
takaful
 via i-Lindung programme.

Simply log into your
i-Akaun account
, select ‘i-Lindung’ on the dashboard and you’ll be directed to the i-Lindung portal.

The amazing thing about EPF’s i-Lindung is you can straightaway get a quotation and product options, based on your Akaun 2 remaining balance and your profile (gender, age, smoker status etc). I highly recommend trying it out.

 #3 – Best Freelance Insurance in Malaysia: SOCSO’s Self-Employment Social Security Scheme

(Note: This is not technically an insurance, but the benefits are similar enough so that’s why I included it here)

Those who are employed are already paying PERKESO/SOCSO (or you should be – check with your employers). This particular plan  is for those who are
self-employed, including those working in the gig economy
. The benefits, which I think is *excellent*, is as follows:

This Scheme provides protection for self-employed insured persons against
employment injuries including occupational diseases and accidents during work-related activities.

Self-employment injury means personal injury to self-employed insured person caused by an
accident or an occupational disease
 arising out of and in the course of his or her self-employment activity
 including while travelling for the purpose of his or her self-employment activity
.

Occupational disease is a
 disease caused by or arising from any occupation
specified in the Fifth Schedule of the Employees’ Social Security Act 1969. This scheme provides
cash benefits to the insured persons and their dependants besides medical treatment, physical rehabilitation and vocational training.

Basically, you get:

Medical
 Benefit

Temporary Disablement
 Benefit

Permanent Disablement
 Benefit

Constant Attendance
 Allowance

Dependant’s
 Benefit

Funeral
 Benefit

Education
 Benefit

Facilities for
physical or vocational rehabilitation

All in one plan!

Contribution-wise, your plan depends on your monthly earning. The higher your insured monthly earning, the higher your contribution per month/year. There are four plans, ranging from RM13.10 to RM49.40 contribution per month:

Plan
Insured Monthly Earning
Contribution Payment Per Month
Contribution Payment Per Year
1
RM1,050
RM13.10
RM157.20
2
RM1,550
RM19.40
RM232.80
3
RM2,950
RM36.90
RM442.80
4
RM3,950
RM49.40
RM592.80

For more info on enrolling in this scheme, please refer to my article
How to Apply for SOCSO / PERKESO Self-Employment Social Security Scheme

#4 –
SOCSO Housewives’ Social Security Scheme or SKSSR

(Note: This is also not technically an insurance, but the benefits are similar enough so that’s why I included it here)

Housewives’ Social Security Scheme or Skim Keselamatan Sosial Suri Rumah (SKSSR) is a new scheme under PERKESO designed especially for
housewives
 women. For only RM120 a year or RM10 per month, you get the following benefits.

Medical
 Benefit

Permanent Disablement
 Benefit

Constant Attendance
 Allowance

Dependant’s
 Benefit

Funeral
 Benefit

Physical Rehabilitation or Dialysis Facilities

Survivors’ Pension

For more info on enrolling in this scheme, please refer to my article
How to Apply for Housewives’ Social Security Scheme or SKSSR under SOCSO/PERKESO

#5 – INSAN – Skim Insurans Am Selangor

INSAN or Skim Insurans Am Selangor is a FREE initiative from the Selangor state government. You can get the RM10k life coverage if:

Your IC is registered in Selangor, or

Your latest address is registered in Selangor, or

You are a voter in Selangor

To claim, you must:

Download WavPay app (find in AppStore)

Click Daftar Sekarang banner (see image below)

Go through the quick registration steps. My tip is to have a clear pic of your IC ready

#6 – Best Medical Insurance in Malaysia for B40 and M40 – Online Critical Illness Protection

If you are not eligible for critical illness protection from EPF i-Lindung, you can get from these two providers:

FWD Takaful Big 3 Critical Illness Protection Plan
 (covers Cancer, Stroke and Heart Attack), or

MSIG EZ Critical Care and EZ Cancer Care
 (covers Cancer, Heart Attack, Stroke and Kidney Failure)

You will want critical illness protection. This is the one that’ll give you a lump sum of money when you get really sick, so you can use it to pay for life’s expenses. Ideally, you want at least a few years’ worth of living expenses. At a minimum.

For the two plans above, you’re only covered for 3 or 4 critical illnesses
out of the usual 36/40 critical illnesses
, but those 3 or 4 make up 85-90% of critical illness claims.

Credit to Chun Saw (@chunsaw) for sharing this table with me 🙂

Prices depend on gender, age and smoking status. As a benchmark, at time of writing, I’m a 33 year-old non-smoker and my quote for both plans is:

RM27.68 per month
 (RM100k sum assured) for the FWD Takaful plan, and

RM10.96 per month
 (RM50k sum assured) for the MSIG EZ Critical Care Plan

As someone who is
actually paying
RM171 per MONTH
for RM200k

for critical illness insurance
, believe me when I say the two options above are
much
 more affordable.

The downside is, of course, you won’t be covered for the other illnesses. But seeing the odds.. and considering the limitation of budget.. it’s not a bad decision to make.

#7 – Online Medical Insurance

Last but not least, you can get affordable medical insurance nowadays directly from insurance/takaful providers.

I actually made a separate article for this;
6 Affordable Medical Insurance You Can Buy Online in 15 Minutes
. In the article, I’ve listed 6 online medical providers. They are:

PRO-Health Medical by Tune Protect

Medical plans by Fi.Life

eMedic Plus by AXA

i-Great Medi Care by Great Eastern Takaful

MedicNOW by Berjaya Sompo

Takaful
my
Click MediCare

Do visit the article because in each section, I will show you the quotations I got, the plan at a glance as well as their pros and cons. At the end of the article, I’ll also share which online medical provider you may want to go with.

Are there any other affordable insurance company in Malaysia that I missed?

What other affordable insurance company in Malaysia or online insurance options deserve to be on this list? What other tips do you know to balance cost and coverage? Would love to hear your tips and advice – share them in the comments section below!

Bonus section- Does this insurance cover…

1) Does insurance cover therapy?

As a general rule, no. Insurance does not cover therapy.

2) Does insurance cover abortion?

No. Insurance does not cover abortion.

3) Does insurance cover IVF?

No. Insurance does not cover IVF. However you may be able to
withdraw from EPF for fertility treatment
.

4) Does insurance cover contacts?

No. Insurance does not cover contacts. You may want to opt for glasses instead – if you know where to look, you can find
cheap spectacles
 in Malaysia quite easily.

5) Does insurance cover Plan B?

No. Insurance does not cover Plan B.

6) Does insurance cover dental implants?

 As a general rule, no. Insurance does not cover dental implants.

However, it may be possible in very specific situations. For example, if you got the
SOCSO / PERKESO Self-Employment Social Security Scheme
 and, I don’t know, a freak accident happened while you were working and you lost some teeth, then you may be able to make a claim and use the funds to cover the cost of dental implants.


7 Budgeting Challenges You Might Have and How to Overcome Them

None of us are born with personal finance knowledge, so chances are all of us are going through different types of budgeting challenges.

In this article, I’ll list out the budgeting challenges you might have and how you might be able to overcome it.

(P/s- I intentionally omitted ‘not enough money’ from this list – you can’t budget yourself out of poverty, so if that’s your core problem, then learn income strategies in
3 Ways to Get High Salary in Malaysia
 and
25 Ways to Earn Side Income in Malaysia
 articles)

Let’s start with,

#1 – I don’t know where to start

The number 1 budgeting challenge I’ll address first is not knowing where to start. You’re simply overwhelmed. And you’re angry – maybe at yourself, maybe your situation, maybe the goverment – either way, you hate where you’re at right now.

What to do: Read Bergaji & Pokai (or any other beginner-friendly personal finance book)

The beginner-friendly part is important. I don’t know about you, but I personally spent a lot of time confused when I first started learning about personal finance. The materials I picked out were way too advanced for me – the equivalent of picking up Shakespeare when I just started learning ABCs.

On the other hand, Bergaji & Pokai is beginner-friendly, suitable for anyone who’s just starting out and even people who have been managing their finances for a while but wondering if they’re doing it right.

For Malaysians, I am biased here, but I highly suggest you pick up my book,
Bergaji & Pokai
instead of some book written by Americans/Westerners. You need to learn about EPF, not Roth IRA (both retirement accounts, but for different countries!)

You can get it from
ImanShoppe.com or Shopee
, or at major bookstores nationwide. Click
here
 to read Bergaji & Pokai book reviews.

#2 – I spend too mindlessly

Do you feel weird if you *don’t* spend money for something you want (not need) in a day? RM10 here, RM20 there, RM50 for that. Then this budgeting challenge applies to you.

What to do: Do a no-spend challenge

One of my favourite types of personal finance content is no-spend challenge write-ups by actual people, like the
I Tried a #NoSpendChallenge for a Month
 and
I Didn’t Buy Anything Extra for 3 Months – Here’s How Much Money I Saved
 articles. They’re just so much fun to read. This type of content usually include:

Their ‘rules’ – what expenses are excluded during the no-spend challenge (like medical, for example) (Note: I love the guidelines in
this article
)

How they adjusted their lifestyles

How and where they failed or caved

How much money they saved

How they learn to be more intentional with their purchases after the challenge ends

Important: You don’t ‘fail’ if you accidentally spent during the no-spend challenge. The point is to be more mindful, and learn your spending triggers. Most people who go through this challenge became less impulsive spenders afterwards – that’s a huge WIN.

#3 – I don’t know if I spend more OR less than I earn

So, you earn a salary or an income, but you don’t know if you are spending within your means or not. Maybe you have leftover money before payday? Maybe you don’t? You have no idea.

What to do: Use my 50/30/20 budgeting guideline template

Personal finance 101 – before investing, before insurance, before anything else, is cashflow management. In essense:

Earn more than you spend = good

Spend more than you earn = bad

The only way through this budgeting challenge is to know approximately how much you spend each month in different categories. I’ve made a template exactly to help with this:
Can You *Really* Afford It? Use the 50/30/20 Rule (Free Editable Template)

Take the template and do it, it’s free. I made a video guide and everything.

#4 – I just like buying stuff

Shoppers have this mentality. They tell themselves that they just like buying stuff. That’s their identity

But the thing is, stuff accumulates. Often (but not always), that results in a messy head and a messy space. Look around you – is there stuff everywhere?

What to do: Declutter and Sell Unwanted Stuff Challenge

I think its ok to like stuff. Its just not ok when stuff takes over your life, you know? So if stuff is everywhere until you can’t even think properly in your rest space, take action.

Outer organisation influences inner organisation. Watch a couple videos on decluttering (I’m partial to Marie Kondo’s methods), then sell/donate/throw away what you don’t need.

The awesome thing about this budgeting challenge is you get IMMENSE benefits. Here are some:

Much clearer head afterwards

You can get $$ from selling your unwanted stuff, obviously

It’s an activity so it distracts you from mindless shopping due to stress

You rediscover stuff you already have = less buying the same thing

This is also an opportunity to learn and improve on your sales/marketing skills as well! Always handy

Problem: It’s probably easy to sell high-value items with existing demand, but how about the random RM5-RM20 stuff? They’re too mafan to list individually.

Solution: My top tip here is to sell/donate/throw away them away in bulk, not individually. For example, I regularly sell a box of books instead of individually. You can do the same with clothes, toys, books, etc.

FOR SALE: A box of 23 books and booklets
Price: RM80 for all (average RM3.47 per book!). Take what you want and resell/donate what you don't. Notable books as pictured
Contactless pickup @ One City, USJ
First pay first sell. DM me to buy 🙂
pic.twitter.com/PwsynUDXWe
— Suraya | suraya.eth (@surayaror)
July 16, 2022

#5 – I keep my spending low, but other people keep making me spend more than I should

You’re frugal as heck, but still spending more than you should.

Maybe people around you keep asking to borrow money. Maybe they always invite you to expensive activities. Maybe your colleagues keep asking you to buy the stuff they’re selling as side income.

What to do: Learn to say no

This is one of the trickiest (if not the most) budgeting challenge in this list. Chances are, you prioritise harmony, hate confrontation, and a people-pleaser. This is a whole article on its own:
How to Say No to ‘Can I Borrow Your Money?’

#6 – I just enjoy [expensive habit] too much

This is also one of the tricker budgeting challenges in this list because we’re all creatures of habit. And its possible that some of those habits are part of your identity and something you do within your core friendship group.

What to do: Quit-a-bad-habit challenge

Some things to quit:

Smoking

Drinking (excessively)

Going to the mall/browing shopping apps just because you’re bored (I have this)

Mindless shopping trips with friends

Whatever activity that just got too expensive and out of your budget (even if its technically a healthy activity!)

What other bad habits would you add in here?

For me, quitting alone doesn’t work, you gotta have a replacement activity. This is the basis of my
 Free/Cheap Things I Do to Stop Online Shopping Habit
 article. Basically, I listed everything I could do *instead* of online shopping. It doesn’t work ALL of the time, but enough times, and that’s progress.

Something I should tell you upfront is you may lose friends along the way. I lost touch with most of my smoking buddies. It happens, and it’s okay.

#7 – I’m scared to spend money on myself

When we talk about budgeting challenges, we always assume that someone has a spending problem – they spend more than they should.

This is the opposite sprecturm – there are people who are extreme savers, who have earned and saved enough (sometimes even 50% or more of their salary!), but find it hard to spend on things that are good for them. You feel extreme guilt, even.

I know about this budgeting challenge firsthand, because I used to struggle with it. I even wrote an article talking about
My Dilemma with Lifestyle Inflation
.

What to do: Start addressing your money trauma

I’m not diagnosing, and you need more resources beyond this article, but you may have money trauma. You might see money as a protection tool. It makes you feel safe, so you want more and more and more of it, ‘just in case’ something happens.

The recovery (?) from this won’t happen overnight – there’s a lot to dissect, probably stemming from childhood or how you grew up. You don’t want to be in the same situation again.

Either way, know that buying products and services that enhance your quality of life – assuming you sorted out your savings etc – isn’t a bad thing. You can start with these
9 Things to Buy for a GREAT Financial Life
.

Why start with those? They’re all products and services that are good for your financial life – you’ll feel way less guilt for buying them.

Which budgeting challenge are you going to do?

Like I said in the beginning, EVERYONE is working on addressing their budgeting challenges. Heck, I’m still working on mine. It’s a lifelong journey, but hey, that’s self-development in a nutshell.

So.. all the best. Let me know which of the budgeting challenges above you’re most keen to do for yourself in the comments.


There are 4 Main Budgeting Types. Which One Are You?

I get asked all the time about which budgeting type is best. I’m a big fan of
expense tracking
, but of course, as with everything in life, what’s best for
me
 may not necessarily be the best for
you.

In this article, you can find out the different budgeting types, what’s good about each of them and incorporate it in your financial life.

The tl;dr version is:

Use the
Cash Envelope System
 if… You’re paying off debt / Recovering from bad credit card swiping habit
Use
expense-tracking method
 if… You like making notes and knowing where your money went – expense-tracking (manual or app)
Use
Excel budget spreadsheet
 if… You are a spreadsheet geek
Use the
50/30/20 Rule
 if… You’re lazy to track expenses

Which of the 4 describes you best? Start with that one. Using the one(s) that works better for your personality will make budgeting habit easier, thus helping you achieve specific goals (ie paying off debt) sooner.

Here’s the expanded version of each budgeting type:

#1 – Use the Cash Envelope System if… You’re paying off debt / Recovering from bad credit card swiping habit

What is it:
 A cash-only budgeting type

How it works:
 You stuff literal cash in literal envelopes, each earmarked for different expense categories, and
only
 spend from there. If the money is gone, the spending stops. For example,

RM500 for Groceries
RM100 for Eating Out
RM100 for Entertainment

And so on. You can allocate a spending limit for every category, or just the categories you have a spending problem with. It works as a hard stop.

For obvious reasons, the Cash Envelope method works really well for natural spenders.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Suraya Zainudin (@surayaror)

You can find a lot of resources for the Cash Envelope method. I suggest going on a Youtube binge – you can see how individuals and families use and tweak this budgeting type to suit their life.

Not really into this budgeting type? Well, perhaps…

#2 – Use expense-tracking method if… You like making notes and knowing where your money went – expense-tracking (manual or app)

What is it:
 Record and track every cent, categorising them under its relevant expense categories.

How it works:
 You review the data and make spending adjustments in the following months. I like it because there’s an element of shock factor that tends to work for behavioural change. For example, if Eating Out category exceeded [amount you’re comfortable with] last month, then you may make time for meal planning and prepping next month.

This is my preferred budgeting type, but I know its (1) hard to pick an app that suits you (there are SO MANY to choose from), and (2) the habit can be hard to stick to.

Read tips that worked for me in
How Expense Tracking Looks Like (As Someone Who Doesn’t Budget)
 article.

One step above: If you enjoy micromanaging and want to know EXACTLY which money went where and making sure your data and bank account tallies, you can read up the principles behind
Zero-based Budgeting
. The tagline is ‘give every dollar a job’. It’s a bit too intense for me but whatever works.

#3 – Use Excel budget spreadsheet if… You are a spreadsheet geek

What is it:
 Excel spreadsheet

How it works
: Similar to expense tracking in #2, but fully customised to your liking.

No expense-tracking apps or platforms are good enough for you, or have enough personalisation, so you do it yourself via Excel spreadsheet. You complain about it but secretly love doing the formatting merge cells all (you may ‘cheat’ by downloading a budget spreadsheet then customising it yourself).

Tip: Bet you didn’t know Google has a free Monthly budget template. Go to Google Sheets and find it in the Template Gallery.

#4 – Use the 50/30/20 Rule if… You’re lazy to track expenses

What it is:
 A simple breakdown of how you should divide your salary/income

How it works:
Allocate 50% of your salary for needs, 30% for wants, and 20% for savings. You ‘pay yourself first’ by transferring xx% of your salary to your savings/ retirements/ emergency/ investment accounts.

AFTER you paid yourself first, then you calculate and pay for life’s necessities (Food+ Transportation+ Accommodation+ Miscellaneous Needs etc), and then only spend the rest on whatever you want.

The ratio is completely adjustable; for example, you might want a higher savings rate, so you might do 50% savings, 25% needs and 25% wants. I know some
 personal finance Instagrammers
 especially like to show their high savings rate!

Which budgeting types do you use?

Do you fit squarely into one of the budgeting types explained above, or do you use a little bit of each? What are your top tips in making and sticking to a budget?

Let me know in the comments section!


9 Things You MUST Know Before You Buy Insurance in Malaysia

Everyone wants to buy insurance in Malaysia. But barely anyone wants to be ‘sold’ one. This fact has exasperated insurance agents like crazy since the beginning of time.

I’ve been researching how to buy insurance in Malaysia for a while now. It started when I was in my early 20s, over a decade ago. And it’s time to compile everything I know *so far* in an article, for my own reference and yours.

UPDATE: I’ve also compiled what I know in my newly-launched course! Get the
How to Buy Your Own Damn Insurance/Takaful course
.

Some notes before we start:

Insurance =/= takaful
, but they serve more or less the same purpose – protection. I’ll just use the term insurance for the rest of this article, lazy la to type insurance/takaful

Yes non-Muslims can absolutely get takaful, and Muslims can get conventional insurance. No one will stop you (except the Gates of Heaven oop-)

There are many types of insurance, but in this article we’re specifically talking about the ones for humans, not property, car, pets etc

I’m not an agent and my knowledge on insurance is limited, beyond what was shared to me from people in the financial industry. If anything below is wrong/inaccurate, please comment and I’ll edit

Let’s go-

#1 –
Where
to buy insurance in Malaysia

You can buy insurance from:

Budget range RM100+++:

Insurance agents
 – According to Life Insurance Association Malaysia, there’s like 88,000 insurance agents in Malaysia in 2022. They represent and sell products from ONE insurance company (representing two is uncommon, but I’ve come across them)

Financial planners
 – around 1000++ financial planners in Malaysia. They’re able to suggest and sell insurance products from ANY company (must pay for this service but more efficient – they suggest best plan for you)

Budget range RM100 and below:

Direct distribution channels aka Online
 – They are offered on insurance companies’ websites, financial comparison websites, and for some reason, on selected e-wallets and telco platforms. This option is the most convenient but coverage tends to be lower.

Government (-linked) bodies
 –
MySalam
 (free; for B40),
SOCSO Self-Employment Social Security Scheme
 (for self-employed),
Housewives’ Social Security Scheme
 (for housewives)

More info in
Best Insurance in Malaysia for B40 and M40
 article

Common question:
Do you *need* to buy insurance, when you can get cheap healthcare from government hospitals?

Well, if you have some wiggle room in your budget, I’ll say it’s downright
a moral obligation
 for you to take private insurance; there are solutions to fit your budget. Depending on government-subsidised healthcare means less allocation is available to those who are *actually* poor. Please don’t burden the poor.

Also, there are other benefits to taking insurance beyond medical. Ie: Having money to support your lifestyle when you’re sick, leaving money behind to your loved ones so they don’t get burdened, etc.

#2 – Which insurance provider to pick (ie which one is the best insurance in Malaysia?)

The branding of most insurance companies is more or less the same:
‘we care for you’
. I have no particular preference for any of them, but if you do, then go for it. You’ll be paying the insurance company (and/or the agent) for a long time so you might as well do it without resentment.

The most important thing is to ensure that the company you pick is a
PIDM insurer member
. Imagine diligently paying the premium every month for years then one day the insurance company go bankrupt and poof no payout for you. Yeah avoid that situation altogether.

For most people, the best insurance is the one they can afford. Go back to #1 and pick options according to your budget range.

#3 – How Investment-Linked Insurance is structured

By default, when you look for insurance, most agents will assume you want ILP, or investment-linked insurance. More on this in #8.

If you don’t know how ILPs work, I highly suggest you read this article before continuing:
Investment-Linked Products, As Explained By the CEO of Life Insurance Association of Malaysia

#4 – Picking what insurance you need

Simplistically speaking,

Get
Life insurance
 if you have people who financially depend on you, especially sole breadwinners (and, according to
Mr Money TV
, get this if you’re Chinese cos your funeral expenses very high compared to other races; don’t let your family get into debt just to pay this)

Get
Critical Illness insurance
 because anything can happen and the lump-sum payment helps (living with a disability is expensive and you think you can easily work while in pain meh)

Get
Medical insurance
 (ie medical card) if the thought of paying high hospital bills scare the crap out of you

Get
Personal Accident
 if you travel a lot on the roads, or your lifestyle has statistically higher accident rate.

The rest – hospitalisation benefit, income replacement, waiver benefit etc etc – are all nice to have, but
prioritise the above first

Most people will want all of the above, and that can be expensive (see #6). It’s okay to not get them all at one – buy what is the most important for you first then add on as you go along in life. For good measure, pray a lot for good health, exercise and eat healthy.

(Medical insurance alternative – This isn’t insurance, technically speaking, but
GatherCare
 and
Lyndung
 is a ‘medical cost crowd-sharing’ platform. Not endorsing in any way but it’s an option.)

#5 – Checking what each insurance plan exclude
sucks

Check if they cover this. Check if they give you that. If not you have to pay extra later!

This is seriously one of the most annoying things when you buy insurance in Malaysia. Something that is supposed to help me shouldn’t have been this… aggravating.

Therefore, you need consultation just to make sense of it all – ie talk to insurance agents or financial planners. They are supposed to help you find the best insurance plan possible
within your budget.

Of course, they don’t do this for free. They earn commissions on sales, a percentage of the premium you paid (there are tiers; won’t get into details).

I used to be dengki of this, but watching the reality TV show Selling
Sunset on Netflix forever changed my impression of real estate agents and salespeople in general. Can see la the hustle, not so easy. As long as they don’t guilt-trip or mislead you, it’s honest money.

(Ps – Even agents hate fellow agents who give the industry a bad name. The ones who are too pushy with sales, the ones who say things like, TAK AMIK INSURANCE NI, TAK SAYANG KELUARGA KE?, the ones who use grisly accident pictures to sell their services, the ones who focus way too much on the investment part rather than the protection part)

#6 –
Comprehensive
 insurance coverage costs higher than you think

Ah, the number of times I clicked on insurance ads using the text ‘
From
 RMxx only per month’ and end up being disappointed.. 🙂 It’s like going to that sales rack in Cotton On that says ‘From RM20’ but everything worth getting is RM75 and above.

In my early 20s, I met up with an agent and asked for a quotation for the best possible insurance I can get. The most comprehensive, without excluding anything I didn’t want to exclude.

I remember the brochure said ‘From RM99’ or something like that. My quotation?
RM500 per month.

Overinsured? Maybe, but I really really really wanted to avoid the ‘oh sorry miss actually your insurance don’t cover xyz’ situation at the friggin’ hospital.

But let’s face it, there’s no way I could afford to pay that on my salary then. I also didn’t want to ‘just get it’ and then let my insurance lapse due to non-payment. I heard this happens a lot.

I *could* get mediocre insurance within my budget (and this is completely fine – can always upgrade later when have more money), but in the end I picked the other alternative: I looked for term insurance.

#7 – ‘Buy term, invest the rest’ – Buy insurance without agent

I didn’t know this when I started learning about insurance, but ‘buy term, invest the rest’ is a strategy in itself. Term insurance costs a fraction of investment-linked insurance, BUT the money is ‘burned’. That means, unlike investment-linked insurance, you won’t get it back.

Why would one want to do that, you ask? Because term insurance is
much more affordable and you can get bigger coverage for less.

Of course, there are
downsides to term insurance
. For one, this may only appeal to people who prefer to buy insurance without agent, aka through direct distribution model. People who are relationship-driven may not be comfortable to buy insurance without agent.

The second major downside is if you forgot (or ‘forgot’) to pay for your term insurance renewal, you’re no longer protected.

However,
no one said you can’t get both ILP and term insurance, depending on the product
. This strategy suggested by
MyPF
 makes a lot of sense.

Investment-linked for medical (to keep up with medical inflation which is at 13% rn in Malaysia); Term for life, disability & CI (to keep costs low). Travel insurance (annual) to renew only when borders reopen.

— My Personal Finances (@mypf_my)
October 15, 2020

#8 – The insurance industry don’t expect you to be financially savvy

Why does it seem like investment-linked insurance the default, most of the time?

Because they assume it’s ‘safer’ to bundle your protection with investment so you can use the cash value during financial hardship to continue your policy, rather than you letting it laspe.

They also assume automatic deductions for ILPs are better for you than manual yearly deductions for term insurance, where often, people just don’t renew and immediately lose their coverage.

Another thing is putting ‘investment-linked’ as part of ‘investment-linked product’ makes the product sounds a lot more appealing. Sometimes people get protection BECAUSE of the investment part, when it’s supposed to be for protection!

I don’t blame them for assuming this. Data backs it up –
Malaysians do have low levels of financial literacy
. People also fall for investment scams all the time. The Chairman of Securities Commission Malaysia said;

 In our survey earlier this year, it shows that a majority of investors in Malaysia have an unrealistic expectation of 24% to 30% returns per annum on their investments. Please remember, if the investment proposal is too good to be true, then it probably is.

This is why sometimes you’ll face some questions or resistance from insurance agents if you specifically request for term insurance options – they’ll want to know
why
 you want to keep investment separate from insurance (also, less commission for them perhaps).

Depending on your answer, you are
either really brilliant with your finances, OR an overconfident idiot
.  No in-between.

This is why self-awareness is important 🙂 I *hope* I’m the former, but it is absolutely possible that I’m the latter too.

#9 – Who to buy insurance from

If you have a
good friend or trusted family member
 who happens to be an insurance agent, it’s not a bad idea to get from them – you get to support them and they (hopefully) have your best interest at heart.

You can also ask your friends and family for
insurance agent referrals
. If they had a good experience, you’re likely going to have a good experience too. Make sure to compare plans from a few agents. This process will likely take a while, it’s not the most efficient.

It is also possible to find
 insurance agents who are also content creators
 on social media and/or blogs. Reach out to them and ask for quotations (or simply ask out loud in social media, in my experience someone will DM you), then compare the plans and service you got. This process will also take a while, it’s not the most efficient.

The most efficient way IMO is to hire a
 financial planner
 to suggest suitable insurance plans, and review your overall finances at the same time. See
4 Places to Find A Financial Planner in Malaysia
 article.

(If you have multiple insurance plans, it is also not a bad idea to hire a financial planner to review everything, see if you’re over or under-insured.)

If you don’t have much money, then look for the government-assisted options.
 Scroll all the way up to #1.

What other practical tips on buying insurance in Malaysia that you know?

Do you have insurance? How did you get yours, and how would you do it differently if you were to do it all over again?

I especially want to hear from insurance agents and financial planners – what would you suggest we do before we reach out to you? What tips do you have for us, so that our interaction is pleasant and mutually beneficial?

Let me know in the comments section!


Everything You Want to Know About Buying Travel Insurance, Answered [SPONSORED]

Flight tickets, check. Accommodation, check. List of things to do and places to go, check. What else? Oh yeah, need to buy travel insurance too. You know, just in case. Also it’s not like the pandemic is over.

But which travel insurance to buy? Which one is the best?

Spoiler alert, this article is sponsored by Tune Protect, but they specifically reached out to me so I can create
educational content
 about travel insurance. Here’s what I will cover:

Part 1: What you MUST include in your travel insurance (non-negotiable)

Part 2: What travel insurance does NOT cover (just how it’s designed)

Part 3: Where and how to buy travel insurance (how much coverage is enough?)

Part 4: How to buy travel insurance for cheap(er)

Part 5: How to claim travel insurance

Let’s go:

Part 1: What you MUST include in your travel insurance (non-negotiable)

Of course the answer is ‘it depends’, but to me, there are 4 non-negotiable things I need before I buy travel insurance. I won’t even look at the product if they don’t include good coverage for:

Trip Cancellation/Curtailment
– in case trip is cancelled or cut short – the higher the better

Personal Accident
– in case accidents happen – the higher the better

Medical Expenses
 – in case accidents happen – the higher the better

Covid-19
– in case get infected – the more comprehensive the better

Only after these are satisfied, I’ll look at the ‘nice-to-haves’, like:

Price
 – I don’t look for cheap, I look for value for money, discounts and contests, if any

Home Care Benefit
– if house got burglary or fire while away

Travel Delay
 – if flight is delayed without enough notice. Tip: get a written confirmation by the flight operator

Baggage Damage/Delay
 – If luggage lost/destroyed

And others

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like Travel Delay and Baggage Damage/Delay isn’t important to me, it is. In fact, according to Tune Protect, these two alone make up a
combined 90% of claims
.

But inconveniences and loss of items are
temporary
 problems – I’ll forget about it in a month, maybe two, while the consequences of an unfortunate accident are more long-lasting. So I highly suggest you prioritise health-related coverages first before travel inconveniences.

Part 2: What travel insurance does NOT cover (just how it’s designed)

Your travel insurance will NOT reimburse your claim if it does not satisfy its T&C as stated in the Policy Wording document.

Each travel insurance provider will word their policies a bit differently, but the
Trip Cancellation clause
under
Travel Easy by Tune Protect
 states the following (bold my own addition):

We will reimburse for loss of irrecoverable deposits or charges paid in advance for the Trip only in the event of unavoidable cancellation of all or one of the following:

Air ticket

hotel/accommodation expense

local tour package

admission tickets

 In the following situations:

if you are
tested positive for COVID-19
 within 14 days prior to your departure date (Note: only under Covid Plus Plan)

Insured event (
Death, Permanent Total Disablement or an admission as an in-patient in a Hospital
 where such admission is Medically Necessary; occurring to You, Your Immediate Family Members or Travel Companion within 14 days prior to Your original scheduled departure date

a fire or natural disaster resulting in serious damage
 to Your Home or destination of planned trip.

natural disasters such volcanic eruption, flood, earthquake, tsunami, hurricane or wildfire
occurring at destination
of planned trip.

Therefore, you WON’T be reimbursed for Trip Cancellation if:

 a second cousin is admitted to the hospital (not You, Your Immediate Family Members or Travel Companion), or

due to a fire at your workplace (not Your Home or destination), and

you certainly can’t make a claim if you just cancel your trip for funsies

But if you paid a hefty sum for, say Hajj or Pilgrimage package and tested positive for Covid-19 days before departure, then this counts – Tune Protect will reimburse you for Trip Cancellation (subject to other clauses).

Other standard exclusions

In addition, most (if not all) travel insurance products apply many standard exclusions, including:

Any illegal or unlawful intention act by You

Any Pre-Existing Condition

Suicide

Death or injury directly or indirectly occasioned by war

And more

The full coverages and exclusions will be covered under a document called Policy Wording document, and it is generally quite long and legalese (it has to be – precision of word matters). Open the
Travel Easy Policy Wording Document by Tune Protect
 to see how it looks.

Don’t be too overwhelmed by the document. After all, you have already listed your priorities (see #1 again). You just need to skim 3-5 sections, not every single thing.

Part 3: Where and how to buy travel insurance (how much coverage is enough?)

Now comes the next questions: Where to buy travel insurance in Malaysia? How to buy travel insurance?

Where to buy travel insurance in Malaysia?

Hint: I wouldn’t worry too much about ‘bad’ travel insurance providers or avoiding that one particular company because that one time your cousin/friend didn’t get the claim they asked for.

The thing is, if the travel insurance provider is licensed by Bank Negara Malaysia and you have a valid claim,
you WILL get your money
. If not, you can:

Submit a complaint at
BNM Financial Consumers Inquiries and Complaints

Lodge a dispute at the
Ombudsman of Financial Services

So go ahead and buy your travel insurance from any of companies listed on the
Financial Sector Participants Directory
 in BNM website. These companies are regulated under strict and comprehensive
legal frameworks
:

Financial Services Act 2013

Islamic Financial Services Act 2013, and

Insurance Act 1996

Tune Protect = Tune Insurance Malaysia Berhad

How to buy travel insurance?

As for how to buy travel insurance in Malaysia, generally speaking you can get them via 2 ways:

Via agent, or

Via online

Personally, I prefer online because it is easier to learn more about the products and compare prices. There are also discounts via online purchase – you know me, I like saving money!

Bonus question from RoR audience: How much coverage is enough?

How much coverage should you get for your travel insurance? You might see various travel insurance products offering Medical Expenses and Personal Accident coverage from RM100,000 all the way up to RM1,000,000!

For me, I am personally comfortable with the RM300,000 in Medical Expenses and RM300,000 in Personal Accident coverage offered under all plans from
Travel Easy by Tune Protect
. You might want to get higher coverage if the country you are traveling to is known to have
super expensive healthcare
.

However, I wouldn’t worry excessively to the point of paranoia. Tune Protect informed me that the highest amount of claim they have paid out for Medical Expenses is RM30,000. Not a small amount, but not six or seven-figures either.

Part 4: How to buy travel insurance for cheap(er)

First, I should share with you the 4 factors that decide the price of travel insurance in Malaysia:

Destination
 – The further away the location from Malaysia, the higher the price. Note: If you are going to a couple of destinations, the furthest location will be used in the quotation

Type of plan
– Basic plans are cheaper, extensive plans with better sum coverage are more expensive

No of pax
– Individual plans are cheaper than family or group plans

Duration
 – The longer your trip, the higher the price

Like buying other types of protection products, I believe in getting a few quotations. Here’s what you can do:

Step 1: Get 3 or so travel insurance quotation online

Step 2: Look at what each of them offers for your non-negotiables (see #1)

Step 3: Make your purchase

How the process of buying travel insurance looks like

It is easy to get a travel insurance quotation online. Just go to travel insurance providers of your choice and fill in your trip information, and they will spit out the quotations. My suggestion is to include
Travel Easy by Tune Protect
 as price benchmark.

Note that each travel insurance provider usually offers a few types of plans, and not all will apply to you so take them out of consideration.  For example, there are 3 plans under
Travel Easy by Tune Protect
, but I know I will only consider the Covid Plus plan because
Travel Cancellation due to Covid-19 is non-negotiable to me
.

(Thanks to my preference for cheap but non-refundable flights, it’s too much money to potentially lose if I go without it)

For a 1-week hypothetical trip to Australia, the Covid Plus plan from
Travel Easy by Tune Protect
 will cost me RM58.65. I will repeat this process and get quotations from at least 2 other companies.

Now that I have 3 quotations, I will look at price. I mentioned that I look for value for money rather than cheap. I look for discounts, promos and contests.

In this case,
Travel Easy by Tune Protect
 is running a Buy early, save 15% + 25% promo – you’ll get 15% discount for buying at least a month early PLUS 25% discount for buying online.

Here’s an idea of how much you’ll save, depending on where you’re going.

Will all these information, and factoring in coverage and price, I will compare the 3 plans and make my travel insurance selection.

Bonus question from RoR audience: Does travel insurance work on Cashless admission or pay first claim later?

Generally speaking,

(1) unless stated otherwise, many travel insurance works on pay first, claim later basis, and

(2) cashless admission is more expensive

I wouldn’t mind no (2) if the difference is a little bit, but it can be a lot.

My quotation for the hypothetical 1-week trip to Australia from
Travel Easy by Tune Protect
 are just RM36, RM40.16 or RM58.65, depending on the plan. With another provider, my quotation for the same trip WITH cashless admission ranged from RM117 to RM294. That’s like 3x to 6x the price!

Ultimately, whichever you pick is up to you – cashless admission to the hospital might be YOUR non-negotiable when choosing and buying travel insurance. But considering everything, it’s not mine.

Part 5: How to claim travel insurance

I hope nothing bad happens and you have the most amazing time in your life, but in case something does, there’s where travel insurance comes in. Let’s learn how to make a claim.

The process is usually like so:

Step 1: Get the medical help needed first

Step 2: Contact your travel insurance provider

Step 3: Collect information/documents needed

Step 4: Submit claim

Step 5: Receive claim

You will see information related to assistance and claims easily on the product page. For example, this is how
Travel Easy by Tune Protect
 displays its Travel 24/7 Emergency Assistance number and claim guidelines.

When you buy travel insurance, you should also receive the information plus a copy of the policy document
 in your email.
So if something happens on your trip, you can quickly check your email or the product page to look for the information you need. I would also suggest you
save the hotline number on your phone
.

One thing I hear a lot is ‘sure there’s a number, but will they actually reply?’. I asked this to the sponsor of this article, Tune Protect and they said they don’t know about others, but they have a 3-3-3 Brand Promise:

3 minutes to buy

3 hours to reply

3 days to receive claim upon approval

I’m fortunate enough to have never needed to contact my travel insurance provider while traveling, so I’d love to hear from you – share your experience in the comments section!

Bonus question from RoR audience: Is it easy to get admitted in foreign country?

It’s hard to answer this question because the ease of getting medical help greatly varies depending on the medical infrastructure and processes of the country you’re visiting.

However, what you MUST do is
seek professional medical practitioners
– you need official documents for the claim process.

Traveling with peace of mind

The older I get, the more I value peace of mind. Travel insurance is something I never go without anymore. And if it’s something I have to get, might as well learn how to purchase it, correct or not?

Lastly, thanks again to the sponsor of this article,
Travel Easy by Tune Protect
. You can read about a successful claim from their customer
here
, and feel free to share your experience with Tune Protect in the comments section, if you have any 🙂


Cagamas Reverse Mortgage: A Good Retirement Solution?

Everyone knows that Malaysia is facing a retirement crisis – not many people have saved up enough to fund their old age. Announced in late 2021/early 2022,
Cagamas
, the National Mortgage Corporation of Malaysia introduced the
Skim Saraan Bercagar (SSB)
or
Cagamas Reverse Mortgage
.

It is hoped to be (one of) the solutions to this crisis.

The idea is, instead of you being forced to sell your house in old age to fund retirement, Cagamas pays YOU a monthly payout
until your demise
. When this happens, Cagamas will then get ownership of the property, which then will be sold (for profit, hopefully).

Because of the way it works, in effect the house
cannot be given as inheritance to the next-of-kin
 (because Cagamas now owns the property). However, the next-of-kin will receive profit from sales proceeds of the property, if any.

On the other hand, shortfall will be absorbed by Cagamas (good, no debt or payment required for your next-of-kin).

Basically, this is how Standard Mortgage differs from Cagamas Reverse Mortgage

Standard mortgage
Cagamas Reverse Mortgage
– Pay monthly mortgage to bank, own property in 30-35 years
– Can be given as inheritance
– Cagamas gives monthly payout until the end of your life
– Cannot be given as inheritance

Before you get too excited, just know that the monthly payout amount is good, but not bombastic because it is spread over a long period of time. Many of us forget that ‘retirement age’ is a hella long time – 20 years or more. Also, how much monthly payout you get depends on a few factors.

How much do you get from Cagamas Reverse Mortgage?

How much you will get for your house from Cagamas Reverse Mortgage depends on:

(1) the borrower’s age, and
(2) property value, location and type.

You can get an estimate with Cagamas’
Reverse Mortgage Calculator
.

I made an example calculation. In this case, a 60 years old couple with
RM800,000 house
 in Petaling, Klang and Hulu Langat district can expect to get
RM1053
 in monthly payment per month, for life.

I thought it was good that there’s also an option to take R
M38.5k upfront lumpsum
 too. If the couple takes that option, the monthly payment drops to
RM842.03
.

If you thought – that’s it? Just RM800-RM1k for a RM800k house? Well, they did say Cagamas Reverse Mortgage is for supplemental income, didn’t they?

Also, bear in mind that 60 years old is relatively young, thus the lower amount. I played around with the calculator and assuming all variables are the same except for the age, one would get:

RM1385 monthly lifetime payout and RM47.2k in maximum lumpsum at age 65
RM1851 monthly lifetime payout and RM57.1k in maximum lumpsum at age 70
RM2486 monthly lifetime payout and RM67.3k in maximum lumpsum at age 75
And so on

One question I do ask is – how will the house appraisal be conducted? Obviously it’s best to have a high appraisal on your house value so you’d get maximum amount.

If I were interested in Cagamas Reverse Mortgage, I would probably try my best to do strategic home enhancements to increase my property value as much as possible 🙂

Eligibility for Cagamas Reverse Mortgage

All this looks good, but not everyone is eligible for Cagamas Reverse Mortgage. Here are the criteria for borrower and for property.

(All taken from
Cagamas Reverse Mortgage website
)

Criteria for Borrower

Malaysian
55 years old and above
Owner or joint owners of a residential property
For a joint loan, the joint borrower can be a partner, parent, sibling or child, subject to age limit

Criteria for Property

Residential property in Malaysia held in Borrower’s or joint borrowers’ name(s).
For a joint Skim Saraan Bercagar Loan, joint ownership of property is required.
Property must be owner-occupied and be the primary place of residence.
Free from encumbrances such as mortgage and other financial liabilities.

In short, you must fully own the home and also live there. Cagamas Reverse Mortgage is not applicable for investment property, or weekend homes. Although having said that, I’m sure you can have a chat with them when you apply and see if that’s a hard rule. One never knows.

Speaking of how to apply,

How to Apply for Cagamas Reverse Mortgage

(All taken from
Cagamas Reverse Mortgage website
)

Step 1

Schedule an appointment with EPF at any of the branches below via this link:
https://www.kwsp.gov.my/ms/janjitemu

EPF Kuala Lumpur
Ground Floor KWSP Building
Jalan Raja Laut
50350 Kuala Lumpur
EPF Petaling Jaya Services Counter
PJX-HM Shah Tower
Lot A, Ground Level,
No. 16A, Persiaran Barat
46050 Petaling Jaya
Selangor

Step 2

Take a pre-assessment test to determine your eligibility. Here are some basic information that you would need to provide:

Personal Details

Age of borrower or borrowers (for joint SSB Loan)

Property Details

Estimation of property’s market value
Type of property
Location of property
Land title of property (i.e. Freehold or Leasehold)

Step 3

Schedule an advisory appointment with the Credit Counselling and Debt Management Agency (AKPK).

Suraya’s note: Great idea! Extra income in old age is obviously welcomed, but no matter how much you get, it wouldn’t be enough if one doesn’t manage their finances optimally.

Step 4

Complete the reverse mortgage financial advisory module with AKPK at the nearest AKPK Branch.

Suraya’s note: Quite impressed they designed a module just for this scheme.

Step 5

Once completed, you can submit your SSB application for the Skim Saraan Bercagar Loan to Cagamas. Make sure to attach AKPK’s confirmation of attendance form and other relevant supporting documents together with your application.

Final thoughts on Cagamas Reverse Mortgage

According to
Belanjawanku 2021
, a senior single spends between RM1,990 and RM2,490, while a senior couple spends between RM2,590-RM3,170 per month, depending on where they live.

Therefore,
even if one takes the Cagamas Reverse Mortgage, one is expected to cover the shortfall with other savings or income.
It’s not a silver bullet.

Cagamas Reverse Mortgage is meant to be a
 supplemental
income stream, and not the
only
 income stream. Therefore, if one is eligible, one should combine this strategy with other efforts, like:

Increase income and decrease expenses
Allocate more money to retirement earmarked accounts like EPF and
PRS
Use
retirement calculator
 to calculate shortfall
Hire a financial planner

That’s all from me. Do check out the website at
https://ssb.cagamas.com.my/
 and watch the video below to learn more. Share this article with your parents and see if this is a good option for them.


3 Cashback Credit Cards I’m Eyeing Right Now… Help Me Pick?

Currently, I have 3 credit cards, including 2 cashback credit cards: The
Maybank 2 Gold Cards
 (AMEX and Mastercard) and the
CIMB Cash Rebate Platinum Mastercard
. Aside from these cards, I also have the
BigPay debit card
 (Mastercard) and the usual bank debit cards.

I want another credit card, a VISA. I don’t need it, but I kind of want it. Having all three VISA, Mastercard and AMEX will give me the widest range of discounts and savings opportunities. I’m in no rush to get one, but I just want to share my thought process in credit card selection, because I’m an oversharer like that.

Before that, the necessary disclaimer about responsible usage of credit cards…

Because I wouldn’t be a responsible personal finance content creator if I didn’t write this out. Feel free to skip to the next section if you just want to read on about the cards.

I know credit cards have a bad reputation. And for good reason, too: a whopping 3 out of 5 people do not pay (cannot afford to pay?) their credit card balances in full (Source:
NST, 2017
)

Yet… as horrible as those statistics are, you can’t deny that they are immensely useful as a financial tool. I had this realisation when someone asked me which option would I pick: paying a large amount via cash or via credit card. I picked credit card without hesitation.

Why? They’re amazing for building up my credit score. For getting additional benefits and discounts when buying stuff I wanted to get anyway. For convenience in payments. And perhaps most importantly, for emergencies.

Related:
Malaysians Share the Biggest Credit Card Expenses They Ever Made

So here goes: I’m able to maximise the utility value of my credit cards because and ONLY because:

I already have the money to pay back the amount in my bank account
, which I’ll use to pay in full the very next day (thus incurring no fees); and
I’m a natural saver
; my default is to NOT spend
that often
. Although admittedly the banks do try to tempt me to spend more than I should, judging by ‘the aspirational lifestyle’ promotions they keep sending me. Happy to say that’s less of a problem now since I muted all notifications from them.

So with that out of the way, on to the actual meat of the article. Here are the 3 VISA cards I’m looking at, which looks good to me, based on my preferences below:

Must be a VISA card since I already have MasterCard and AMEX
Islamic cards would be a HUGE bonus
I like cards with no annual fees, but can consider if they allow waive fee upon certain conditions
I like cashback credit cards
If I can take advantage of
sign up offers
 and get a free gift, even better

Other features – reward points, airmiles, airport lounges, etc – are nice to have, but not a priority. Let’s go:

#1 – HSBC Amanah MPower Platinum Credit Card-i

What I like about the
HSBC Amanah MPower Platinum Credit Card-i
:

Cashback credit card (see below. It’s cool that you can get cashback for ewallet reloads!)
Islamic card (get pahala points!)
Design looks pretty cool

What I don’t like about the
HSBC Amanah MPower Platinum Credit Card-i
:

Have to spend a minimum RM2000 monthly to get 8%, if not just 1% (but because ewallet is counted, that’s not that big of a deal? Hmm)
The monthly cap of RM15 per category
RM240 Annual fee (but waived with minimum of 12 swipes per year which tbh is not bad at all)

#2 – Public Bank Quantum Visa

What I like about the
Public Bank Quantum Visa Card
:

5% cashback is great! The minimum spend is just RM30 too
FREE FOR LIFE card! No annual fee!

What I don’t like about the
Public Bank Quantum Visa
 Card:

Non-Islamic card
Maximum cashback capped at RM30

#3 – RHB Islamic Cash Back Credit Card-i

What I like about the
RHB Islamic Cash Back Credit Card-i
:

Islamic card!
0.2-5% cashback for categories Petrol, Dining, Utilities and Groceries (cashback % depends on spending amount – I can easily get the 5%, based on current usage)

What I don’t like about the
RHB Islamic Cash Back Credit Card-i
:

It *might* encourage me to get more food delivery.
The monthly cap of just RM10 per tier
RM70 Annual fee (but waived with minimum spending of RM10,000 per year)

So those are the 3 cards. I’m thinking of picking one of them. Even though the RinggitPlus website has
lots of cashback credit card options
 that fit my initial criteria, but after looking at all of them, I will only consider these 3 cards because the others:

Have very low cashback rates
Have unnecessarily complicated T&C (must complete x number of transactions in x categories, must spend only on weekends, etc. Who can even remember.)
Have VERY HIGH monthly income requirement (all the above require RM2000-3000 monthly income, not up to RM6.8k)
Cashback limited to certain shops/categories I don’t use very often

So, again – I already have:

Maybank 2 Gold Cards
 (AMEX and Mastercard)
CIMB Cash Rebate Platinum Mastercard
BigPay debit card

And my options for VISA cards are:

HSBC Amanah MPower Platinum Credit Card-i
Public Bank Quantum Visa

RHB Islamic Cash Back Credit Card-i

Based on the pro/cons list above, which one do you think I should pick? Public Bank’s one is really tempting as it is FREE FOR LIFE, but unfortunately it’s not Islamic. The other two have different cashback structures that can work with my lifestyle.

Help me decide!


Check CTOS Credit Report for FREE (+ How to Read, Build and Improve Credit Score) [SPONSORED]

Listen up everyone. As part of the CTOS Cares Campaign, CTOS is letting you check CTOS Report with CCRIS for FREE. This initiative, aimed to empower Malaysians with the right tools and knowledge to make good financial decisions, is
valid until 31 August 2021 to all eligible Malaysians
.

Go to
Bit.ly/ctoscares
 or click the image below to check your eligibility and claim the report. Alternatively, you can also download the CTOS mobile app and complete your sign-up from there.

What you can use the information for

Basically, the MyCTOS Report with CCRIS will pull data from various sources including BNM and SSM and show your:

Missed payment records
New credit applications
Loans and credits
PTPTN student loan
Directorship and business interest
Legacy and bankruptcy cases under consumer’s name
Non-bank debts (for example, utilities)
And more

The information allows you to review your credit report and understand your financial situation better, and is
very
useful for those of you who want to
know your chances of securing credit or loans
.

In plain-speak, that means, if you want to apply for a house or car loan,
then do the free report first
 to check if your financial health is good or not. It might save you a lot of time and effort in preparing documents for submission, as well as spare you the pain of possible rejection.

Note:
It’s ok if your report is not as good as you hoped.
 Scroll further down this article to know more about building a good credit report and work on improving yours so you have a higher chance of getting financing when you apply again.

Other reasons to check CTOS report includes:

Check for signs of
identity theft and fraud
 (I hope not, but you never know until you check);
Check if any
litigation or bankruptcy cases
 have been registered under your name;
Fix any
inaccuracies
that may show up,
See if you are an
optimal renter or job candidate
 (some landlords and employers do check credit reports)
And more

That’s why CTOS Cares is doing this CSR campaign – to help financially struggling Malaysians understand and rebuild their financial health in a systematic way. So take up this offer and claim your FREE MyCTOS Report with CCRIS at
Bit.ly/ctoscares
 before 31 August 2021.

Optional: Get CTOS Credit Score Report

The above offer at
Bit.ly/ctoscares
 is for FREE MyCTOS Report with CCRIS. I need to clarify that a credit report is
not
 the same thing as a credit score.

This is totally optional, but for RM24.85 – the price reduction is valid until 31 December 2021 – you can get a
CTOS Score Report & Score
 and find out your three-digit credit score number. The number is indicative of your overall financial health.

This is my CTOS credit score, as checked in April 2020. It has since expired (it’s valid for 3 months), but this is what you can expect if you get it. You will also get a PDF report containing more information.

(Humblebrag – my credit score is EXCELLENT. I am in the Top 1% of my age group and in the Top 5% of Malaysians. Nice.)

Further down the report are detailed information like:

What affected my score (and personalised recommendations to improve it)
My CTOS Score history
My latest credit history – outstanding loan amount, limit, etc
My accounts – loans and card payment history
And other information already contained in your
FREE CTOS Report with CCRIS

How to Read CTOS Score

The below image is the CTOS credit score guide, as per
CTOS official website
. There are 6 CTOS score categories, ranging from 300 (minimum) to 850 (maximum). A ‘good’ credit score is 697 and above.

Contrary to popular belief, Poor isn’t the worst category to be in. The worst is actually… No Score. There is no data that can be used to formulate one’s credit score, therefore they have no idea if you are a good borrower or not.

Simply put, someone with No Score:

Do not have credit card
Have not bought car (hire purchase) nor house (mortgage) under their name
Do not have loans, including personal loans or PTPTN

If you don’t plan to apply for any financing in the future, then No Score doesn’t matter, go ahead with your life.

BUT if you aspire to be a homeowner, or would like the option to apply for SME financing for your future business, then you should probably build your credit history from now.

How to Build or Improve Credit Score

Your credit score is calculated from many factors, and some are more important than others.

From the chart below, you can see the most important factor for credit score calculation to the least, in ascending order:

Payment history (45%)
Amounts owed (20%)
Credit mix (14%)
New credit (14%)
Credit history length (7%)

I’ll put it in plain English. Building and improving credit history is as simple as (1) making a purchase on credit, then (2) paying the instalments on time, every month.

As for what purchase to make on credit – You don’t *have* to get a credit card to build credit history, but it is perhaps the easiest method among other options, especially if you’re a natural Saver (as opposed to a natural Spender).

Get the CTOS Credit Report

Again, don’t confuse CTOS credit report with credit score. You can get your credit score for RM24.85, but if not, no worries. Get the FREE MyCTOS Report with CCRIS – go claim it at
Bit.ly/ctoscares
 before 31 August 2021.


How to Check Unclaimed Money in Malaysia & 14 More To Do If You Need Financial Help

Lots of reasons could have depleted your savings. Maybe you were unlucky and had an emergency.  Maybe you lost your job and finding it hard to find another. Maybe
someone took advantage of you
. Maybe you YOLO’d too hard.

Whatever it is, the financial damage is done. Now how do you get back up again?

I HATE the ‘why didn’t you’-type advice, they’re useless. Instead, here are 15 things you can do to get back on the right financial track.

#1 – Check if you have unclaimed money in Malaysia

First, do check if you have unclaimed money in Malaysia. You may have ‘free’ money to claim from the Unclaimed Moneys Registrar. Maybe there isn’t any, but no harm checking – who knows there’s a few thousand ringgit waiting for you, right?

Use these steps to find out if you have unclaimed money in Malaysia:

Step 1: Go to
https://egumis.anm.gov.my/

Step 2: Complete the online claim application form. Registration info will be sent to your email

Step 3: Input identification number in the box provided (note: you can only make 2 searches per day)

Step 4: If there’s unclaimed money, it will show up in the search results (see image below)

Step 5: To receive your unclaimed money in Malaysia, click on the Proceed to Application button. You are required to input your payee details and upload the relevant supporting documents

IMPORTANT:
You must do this yourself, there’s no such thing as paid service or needing someone else doing it on your behalf.
As mentioned on the website, ‘Ministry of Finance or the Registrar of Unclaimed Moneys never appoint any individual / firm / company as an intermediary or agent for the refund of Unclaimed Moneys’.

Note 2: If you have parents, help them check if they have unclaimed money as well.

Supporting documents you may need to get your unclaimed money in Malaysia

Depending on the type of unclaimed money you get, you may be required to upload supporting documents:

Copy of ID card

Copy of active bank account statement

Copy of name change documents from JPN – if individual have different name than ID document

Copy of company name change documents – if company/firm have changed name

Copy of bank draft/telegraphic form – if apply via TT/bank draft for foreign bank

Copy of swift code/foreign bank account authentication – if apply via TT/bank draft for foreign bank

Copy of company liquidation form – by liquidator only

Copy of minutes/other registration documents – if entity is not registered by CCM/ROS

Copy of birth certificate – by inheritors (child/parents only)

Copy of marriage certificate – by inheritors (spouse only)

Copy of General 80 form and Indemnity bond form UMA-8 – by inheritors for amount under RM2,000

Copy of Letter of Administration – by inheritors/administrator

Copy of Letter of Administration (foreign) – by inheritors/administrator

Copy of proof of payment – done by submission company/firm only

Copy of claim letter – done by submission company/firm only

Copy of death certificate – by inheritors (child/parents/spouse only)

You don’t need to upload ALL documents – the platform will tell you which ones are mandatory. For example, I only had to upload (1) and (2).

That should be it. Remember to check once every couple of years or so to see if you have unclaimed money in Malaysia.

For clarifications and questions, you can visit/call the Unclaimed Moneys Registrar office. The address and phone number for Jabatan Akauntan Negara Malaysia/ Accountant General’s Department Of Malaysia

is:

Pendaftar Wang Tak Dituntut

Jabatan Akauntan Negara Malaysia

(Accountant General’s Department Of Malaysia)

Bahagian Pengurusan Wang Tak Dituntut

Address: Aras 1, Blok Utara, Perbendaharaan 2, No. 7, Persiaran Perdana Presint 2, Kompleks Kementerian Kewangan, Pusat Pentadbiran Kerajaan Persekutuan 62594 Putrajaya

Phone number: 03-8000 8600 (Talian AM/General Line)

#2 – Check if you are eligible to receive financial help from Malaysian government

Go to
MyGovernment > Applying Financial Help
 page and see if you are eligible to apply and receive financial help from the Malaysian government. There may be financial aid available, especially for:

Children

Housewife

Single mother

Senior citizen

the Disabled

#3 – Check with religious bodies

You may be able to get some help from religious bodies, either from your church, temple or even local surau.

I’m not familiar with processes for other religions, but for Muslims, you may be able to get financial or other types of aid from zakat collection bodies. Contact your respective states’ zakat collection bodies for more info.

Zakat collection bodies in Malaysia, according to state:

Selangor –
Lembaga Zakat Selangor

Wilayah Persekutuan –
Pusat Pungutan Zakat MAIWP

Melaka –
Zakat Melaka

Pahang –
Pusat Kutipan Zakat Pahang

Perlis –
MAIPs Zakat

Johor –
Majlis Agama Islam Negeri Johor

Negeri Sembilan –
Portal Pembayaran Zakat Negeri Sembilan

Perak –
Majlis Agama Islam Perak

Kelantan –
Majlis Agama Islam Kelantan

Terengganu –
Majlis Agama Islam Terengganu

Kedah –
Lembaga Zakat Kedah

Pulau Pinang –
Zakat Pulau Pinang

Sabah –
Bahagian Zakat dan Fitrah Majlis Agama Islam Sabah

Sarawak –
Tabung Baitulmal Sarawak

Note: As far as I know, these aids are not fast. You have to register, then they have to vet and perform background check. Regardless, even if you can get a free meal out of them, it helps.

#4 – Get help from WeListenPack

If you truly have no money for immediate needs like food and baby stuff, contact We Listen Malaysia Organisation). They may be able to help.

However, they may or may not be able to help – it’s subject to funds availability. Help your fellow Malaysians by donating at
https://marhaen.my/campaign/557
 or 552189537243 Maybank (We Listen Malaysia Organisation)

#5 – Sell things of value

This is obvious, but go ahead and sell things you own for immediate cash. For the best chance of selling, list your items on as many platforms as possible, including Carousell, Mudah, Facebook marketplace and more.

Sometimes, we are reluctant to part ways with our items, even though we don’t use it. This is a good time to learn about
the endowment effect
: ‘the human tendency to attach more value to items we own simply because they belong to us. In other words,
once we own something, we value it more.
‘

This is not the time to be a hoarder – stuff is just stuff. Plus you can always buy them back when your financial life gets better. (And it will, you hear me? It will).

#6 – Significantly downsize Accommodation, Transportation and Food

Generally speaking, Accommodation, Transportation and Food make up the biggest expenses in most households. If you want to save money, it’s worth starting from here.

Now, there are a lot of cost-saving tips for these three. However, not all of them work for everyone. So what I’m going to do is leave you with the respective articles so you can decide which one will work best for you and your family.

Accommodation:
5 FREE or Cheap Housing in Malaysia

Transportation:
The Real Answer to ‘How Much Should I Spend On A Car?’

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

#7 – If you can, work from home (or move near to workplace)

Find WFH jobs or move near to your workplace. Near as in you can walk/cycle/public transport under 20 mins to get to work.

This lifestyle change means:

You may be able to sell off your car (save at least RM1k++ per month)

Or downgrade – sell your car on
Carsome
 and get a cheaper one (in both monthly instalment and maintenance cost)

The time saved from not maintaining the car or stuck in jams = can find extra income and use for meal prepping, thus earning and saving more money

Again, this won’t work for some situations, but if it does, this strategy will save you a shit ton of money + time.

#8 – See if you are eligible for any help from SOCSO/PERKESO

Go to
SOCSO/PERKESO website
 and see if you can receive financial assistance there. As of writing time, there are 3 types of assistance:

SIP Prihatin 2.0 – Job search allowance

SIP GIG – financial incentive for new gig workers

SIP EMP+ – Additional job search allowance

You might also be eligible to get
SOCSO Self-Employment Social Security Scheme
 for 80% or 100% off. More info in the article.

#9 – Collect money owed to you

If friends/family owe you money, this is the time to ‘remind’ them to return it back to you.

If other individuals/companies owe you money, send them reminders and if you have to, submit a small claims procedure to recover sums less than RM5000. This could be for:

Refund of money paid for defective goods

Refund of wages/salaries paid for work that has not been carried out;

Claims for due commissions

Claims for payment on supplied facilities, rendered services or undertaken repairs.

And more

Here’s the
process to file a small claims procedure in Malaysia
, courtesy of AskLegal.my

#10 – Do 50/30/20 budget, see how many % is Needs

Needs are:

Accommodation – Mortgage or Rent

Transportation – A travel pass or vehicle (and all its related costs)

Food – Groceries and budget meals

Bills – Electric, Water, Phone, etc

Debt repayment – credit card, personal loan, BNPL

Insurance/Medication

Contribution to Family

Ideally, these expenses shouldn’t exceed 50% of your take-home salary.
The nearer your Needs % are to 100% (or even exceed), the more urgent you have to take action
. You can no longer afford to lalala or be in denial about your financial situation.

You can use the free tool in
Can You *Really* Afford It? Use the 50/30/20 Rule (Free Editable Template)
 article to find out your Needs’ %

#11 – Immediately reduce everything under ‘Wants’ category

Your stress and anxiety will make it hard for you to resist Wants or any other impulse purchases. I get it, those purchases can give temporary happiness and sometimes that’s all you want because everything else sucks so bad.

So here I’m going to say, don’t stop spending on Wants, just
reduce
 instead. Like dieting, restricting usually doesn’t work, but giving yourself a small amount to play around with can go a long way.

Give yourself a guilt-free RM50 or RM100 or so (depending on your income) to spend on anything you want. Tell yourself this is your chance to try cheap but fun things you never get to try – like getting that RM1.50 ice cream, instead of RM15 frappuccino.

This will be harder for the
natural spenders
 among you. If you’re finding it hard, know that this is temporary, until your financial life is back on track.

Lifehack: Find low-cost or free leisure activities you enjoy

It would be a problem if you feel like you need to splurge every time you are stressed. Find low-cost or free leisure activities that you can do instead.
 ‘Reward yourself’ doesn’t have to be expensive.

I compiled what I like to do in my
23 Free/Cheap Things I Do to Stop Online Shopping Habit
 list. Make your own version, too.

#12 – Consider donating blood

It’s really cool that people who donate blood in Malaysia can enjoy special perks. Here’s the blood donor privilege list, as of 20 July 2020, as taken from the
Pusat Perubatan Universiti Malaya website
.

As you can see, even donating blood once or twice can give you free* outpatient treatment and medical treatment for 4 months.

Donation Frequency
Blood Donor Privilege
1 time
Free outpatient treatment and medical treatment (excluding X-ray and surgical charges) and second class wards for a period of * 4 months.
2 times (within 12 months)
Free Hepatitis B preventive injection
2 ~ 5 times
Free outpatient treatment and medical treatment and second class wards for a period of * 4 months.
6 ~ 10 times
Free * 1 year outpatient treatment and second class medical treatment for a * 6 month period.
11 ~ 15 times
Free * 2 year outpatient treatment and medical treatment and second class wards for a * 1 year period.
16 ~ 20 times
Free outpatient treatment and medical treatment and second class wards for a * 2 year period.
21 ~ 30 times
Free outpatient treatment and medical treatment and second class wards for a period of * 3 years.
31 ~ 40 times
Free outpatient treatment and medical treatment and first class wards for a period of * 4 years.
41 ~ 50 times
Free outpatient treatment and medical treatment and first class wards for a period of * 6 years.
Over 50 times (for “Whole Blood”) and Over 150 times (for aferesis donors)
Free outpatient treatment and first-class medical treatment and wards for 10 years and second-class wards of life after 10 years in first-class ward.

Malaysians can now check their blood donor card update and privilege level in the MySejahtera app.

Blood donor card update for
@my_sejahtera
. Available for Apple now. Google normally a day after.
Next update will contain red book donation record.
pic.twitter.com/sc1Ehg6TQt
— Khairy Jamaluddin 🇲🇾🌺 (@Khairykj)
September 30, 2022

#15 – If you struggle with debt payments, contact AKPK

If you are stressed all the time because of your debt situation, go to
https://services.akpk.org.my/EN/
 and get the help you need. AKPK’s services are FREE.

#14 – Find extra income

Even if your job pays well, it can be dangerous to rely on one income. Not to make you panic, but lay-offs happens.

So, brainstorm and decide on a type of gig work that you can do – better if it’s something you yourself find fun or at least curious about. Register on gig platforms and if possible, start doing some work if only to collect testimonies. This will help you get jobs easier when you really do need them.

Here are some options:

Fiverr

Upwork

Freelancer

Goget.my

Swifty.my

Thekedua.com

E-hailing/Food delivery rider – Grab, etc

Babysitting – Sitly.my, etc

(Please send more suggestions in the comments section)

Personally, I would focus on the platforms paid in USD because the exchange rate is favourable to Malaysians. But there’s no harm in trying out ALL the gig work platforms. If you’re financially struggling, whichever platform sends (paying) clients your way is the best platform.

#15 – Get my book, Bergaji & Pokai

I wrote Bergaji & Pokai: Membina Kehidupan Bebas Tekanan Melalui Pengurusan Kewangan Yang Realistik especially for people who are stuck in the vicious paycheck-by-paycheck cycle.

You don’t have to get it if the free information on RinggitOhRinggit.com is enough, but if you are overwhelmed, get the book. I’m addressing the one thing most people find challenging – feeling overwhelmed by all the financial info out there, paralysed in fear and stuck in analysis paralysis. You can follow the step-by-step I outlined in the book.

You can get Bergaji & Pokai at bookstores nationwide, or shop online at
linktr.ee/surayaror
.

What other resources can you suggest to those financially struggling in Malaysia?

I admit, as someone who grew up with more privilege than many others, my knowledge for this article is limited. Regardless, I did my best to compile resources for those who are financially struggling in Malaysia.

It is my hope that readers can (1) add more resources in the comments section, and (2) share this article to people who may need it. If data is to be believed, a lot of people are pretending everything is OK, when they’re actually not.

That’s all from me today. Take care and stay safe y’all. Covid is still around.