How to save money for the people who are already broke
Published by Mel on Tuesday, April 17, 2007 at 1:44 PMOk, there have been loads of stuff off the internet on how to save money. But their tips include: stop drinking Starbucks, or go shopping only once a week using cash instead of credit card. Honestly, those tips are for those people who are already pretty well-off but just overspending. What about those who are already broke and need to save more money for college tuition fees and stuff like that? People who can't even afford to pay for Kopi-O in the mamak, much less Starbucks in the first place?
Here’s what you do:
Firstly, stop going to mamak with your friends so often. That Teh Ais might only cost RM1.40, but if you go 5 days in a week, after a month you will be spending RM28. That’s a lot of money for someone who is already broke. Besides, RM28 can buy you the new box of underwear that you seriously need (not safe for your reproduction orgrans to go hanging about near the zips of your jeans, I tell you). However, by not going for outings you may end up losing friends, so it may be a better idea to still go to mamak, but bring your own bottle of water (not mineral water, but boiled water that you pour into your recycled mineral water bottle). Mamaks are usually quite tolerant of people bringing in bottle water.
The second thing you need to do is stop buying lunch at the hawker. Go shop in Giant or the Pasar Pagi (morning market) and buy some eggs, tofu and vegetables. Those are pretty cheap. Cook your own food and tah pao (pack it) to your college or work place. This will save you something like RM2 a day. After a month, you would have saved RM40. If you feel shy about eating that, why not pack sandwiches instead? 4 slices of bread and some tuna spread, you can eat this with your friends in the food court. Maybe once a week, you can treat yourself to a char kuey teow. Oh yar, and never buy drinks. Just pack your mineral water bottle. Eh, you think RM40 so easy to earn ar? RM40 can easily pay for your handphone bill OK.
Another thing to save money is to spend less on consumables. Let's face it, tissue paper is expensive. Cloth is reusable and washable. Use a face cloth to wipe your face after washing instead of tissue. Use a hand cloth to wipe your hands after washing. You will save loads on buying tissue paper. Also, the dish washing liquid is pretty much the same, whether you buy an expensive brand or the Giant/Tesco brand. If it offends you to look at the cheapo brand in your house, buy a nice washing liquid dispenser for your kitchen and fill it up with the cheapo brand. No one will know the difference and your dishes will still stay clean. You can do the same for hand washing liquid.
Let your friends know you are broke, and if they choose an expensive restaurant to eat it, you will only be ordering water. Some friends take it for granted that expensive places to eat is actually cheap. They think the food outlets in shopping complexes are very cheap what. Only RM9.90 for a bowl of noodles. If you don’t buy, they say you are so kiam. This is the core reason why you’re always broke: peer pressure. Let them know that you’re not stopping them from spending, so why are they stopping you from not spending? And excuse me, but we can easily get a bowl of noodles for less than half that price. A friend who thinks less of you because you’re not overflowing with cash is not a friend worth having. And there are some friends who don’t understand that eating out “once in a while” means eating out once a month or once a fortnight. They think “once in a while” means every other day.
Stop going to clubs. Look, RM20 for a small glass of tequila is fine when your daddy is giving you an allowance of RM500 a week. But if you’re working part-time, paying your rent, buying your food and studying at the same time, you’re going to be broke real fast. And these “friends” who ask you out saying they will pay for you sometimes will btch about you behind your back saying that you never pay for anything, only know how to mooch etc etc. They think just because they spend RM300 a week on alcohol means you should do so as well. Stop going out with them to clubs (meet them in the mamak instead after their clubbing). Those drinks that they buy for you are not really free of they are going to say you are a cheapo moocher behind your back. Besides, you can’t really talk much in clubs anyway.
If you drive, here's an important tip: FIND ALL THE ROUTES THAT YOU CAN TAKE TO AVOID THE BLOODY TOLL! With the recent increase in toll prices, you are going to have to avoid these tolls at all cost. Also, petrol prices have gone up, so here are a few tips to consume less petrol: stop driving above 70kmh. Your petrol will last longer. Brake early, don't wait until last moment only tekan brek. Also, if you are driving automatic car, when you come to a red light, shift your gear to Neutral. Go Neutral also when going downhill.Have some frugal friends. You know, if your friends are trying to save as much as you, you’re probably going to enjoy their company better. You will find things to do that don’t involve spending too much cash. You may even find things with discounts and go for it. I once went out shopping with a girl who considers me too kiam with money. For instance: when we found that Starbucks was giving away free coffee for participating in some activity, I wanted to go for it. She rolled her eyes as if it was so tacky and totally beneath her. On the other hand, I have a friend who only goes to Swenson’s on Tuesdays with 3 other people so that they can share the Earthquake (it’s 50% off on Tuesdays). We can still enjoy nice and expensive things, just be aware of the discounts and take advantage of it! You know, I would normally never drink Starbucks because of the price. It would have been enjoyable if we took advantage of the offer. Too bad my friend thought that was too tacky for her. This includes get-togethers. The eye-rolling-offer-offended friend considers that get-togethers are only fun if there are loads of expensive bottles of hard liquor involved. The other friend is perfectly happy with steamboat get-together (where people bring tofu, eggs, Chinese cabbage and a little chicken) as well as playing Mahjong (using peanuts of course!). It became so hard to remain being friends with someone who got offended when I refused to spend so much money. And it became easier on my sanity and pockets to be with someone who can have fun even though we don’t spend much.
Don’t smoke. If you do, it will cost you more than you can ever hope to save.
Being frugal doesn’t mean you have to live poor or be super stingy. It involves making choices that are necessary for your survival. It’s about choosing practicality or luxury. I still buy presents for friends, or take them out for meals, only it’s not that often (perhaps only once every 2 months or 3 months). Most of them time we go Dutch, or just spend time in either my house or their houses. They are understanding and even help me save money by lending a hand (i.e. downloading movies using bit-torrent so that I don’t have to pay for movie tickets of dvds, helping me with manicure and pedicure etc). It’s fantastic, and the money I save can go into buying them simple gifts when I’m overseas. They don’t frown at my simple gifts (wah so cheap ar), but appreciate them to the point of feeling paiseh (shy) to receive them because they know I probably didn’t buy anything for myself and ate instant noodles for dinner everyday while overseas.
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