Like many fresh grads, for the first few months of employment, i would spend almost all my monthly salary on things on my wish list. We would give ourselves treats from time to time as a reward for working "so hard". The spending habit went on until a year went by and i looked at my saving account and all i saw is disappointment in myself.
As much as enjoying life is important, having savings for future is important too. So i started making budget, setting saving targets and watching my spending to find out what went wrong.
While i still spend on the things i love (ie books, skincare products), i cut down on the things that would be unnecessary to begin with. Like, the extra cup of Starbucks.
Here are some of my ways of effortlessly saving a few extra bucks:
1. Do Groceries Shopping at Mydin.
Disclaimer: This is not an advertorial (lol)
I genuinely love Mydin from the bottom of my heart lol. Their wet section is much more cleaner than Giant. Their raw food are always fresh. Their staffs are 10x more efficient and friendlier than Tesco's grumpy staffs who move in sloth mode.
Above all, the main reason is I can easily find things here cheaper than any other grocers by about RM1 to RM2 which can amount to a significant figure in long term.
I never thought it would be possible for the price to have so much difference (20 to 30%) because i thought all prices for general household items are pretty much standardized everywhere. I was wrong.
Some examples of my usual purchases:
1) Febreeze
2) Johnson Bath
3) Shimeji Mushroom
If one trip saves me RM20, i usually do my groceries shopping twice a month, i save up to RM480 in a year.
And the best part is? I am still enjoying the exact same things I wanted and I don't have to go through all the hassle of saving up coupons, waiting for the big sales and whatnot to save this RM480. I just simply choose where I shop at.
Although i would admit the selection here in Mydin is quite basic. I usually go to Jusco or Isetan for imported goods like Japanese rice or fruit jam.
Another favourite place for the cheapest chips ever is Speedmart 99.
2. Buy A Cheaper Smartphone
..with equivalent specifications and I wouldn't know the difference.
I know it's common for iPhone users to have this unexplainable loyalty towards Apple products, but with iPhone prices keep increasing, you'd have to ask yourself is throwing your hard earned money worth the chase?
I once was a Blackberry user, then iPhone, then eventually Samsung. When my Samsung was dying, i started checking out the prices of few arising brands like Huawei and OPPO.
I was surprised to find that they only cost a fraction or some even less than half an iPhone! But i was careful not to compromised with lower specifications because i have this phone 24/7 attachment. Having a lower resolutions screen or a lagging system would makes the whole experience less enjoyable.
High and low i searched and found OPPO F1. It was their latest model at that time. It has everything i need: good resolution screen, good camera, white colour, normal size (my Samsung Note 3 was too big for me).
Here's a simple specification comparison table between iPhone 6 and OPPO F1:
Not much difference, is there?
On more than one occasions, my friend who owned an iPhone 6 mistook my OPPO F1 by mistake, and only realised when she checked the phone for messages. The size and weight is that similar.
The difference might be 10-20%? But i saved RM1,701 (60%). That's a Tory Burch or Coach bag there.
3. Learn To Make Simple Recipes
It's a common culture now for Malaysian to hang out at cafes during weekends. While it's a good thing to socialize with friends, one meal at a cafe can easily costs around RM30.
So on quiet nights or weekend mornings when i have my me-time dining alone, i cook for myself. It's always cheaper and cafe food can easily be duplicated, especially Big Breakfast, which you basically just have to pan fried everything and serve in a big white plate.
I've grown fonder of cooking in time (watching Masterchef helps lol) and i'm quite proud that i have mastered quite a few recipes now.
One of my simplest recipes:
Non-baked Oreo Cheesecake:
View my 4 steps recipes here.
