HAVE you noticed lately that the when you are filling up petrol for your car the meter on the petrol pump would have registered RM100 and you are still filling your tank.

Have you noticed all those new price tags pasted onto the old ones in your favourite mamak stall and kopitiam (which are all rounded upwards)?

Have you noticed that your bills seem to be higher nowadays and the only thing which may not be going up as fast is your salary? Welcome to the era of high cost of living.

While all is not gloom and doom, it is imperative that we watch our spending much more carefully than ever before.

Extreme times call for extreme measures and below are some of those measures you may want to adopt. It is not going to be easy but it is something that we have to do.
Frugal! Frugal! Frugal!

The first thing is to be frugal. Perhaps, this may be your first acquaintance with this word but you cannot afford not to know it, especially in times like these.

Being frugal or prudent simply means getting the most value out of your money. In order to be frugal, we should ask ourselves these questions before buying something:

- Do I really need it? Can I delay having it?

- Can I get a less expensive alternative?

- Or better still, can I get it for free?

Until and unless we embrace this, we are in for a hard time coping with the higher cost of living.

We are going to share with you some ideas on how to cope with the rising costs of some of your major expenses. This week, we will look at your food and clothing bills.

Food

All of us need to eat but we can certainly choose what kind of food to consume.

There is fine dining, the all-you-can-eat buffet, the fast food, the economy rice and your home-cooked meals (and not forgetting all those snacks in between).

We have to plan our food budget carefully and take some drastic measures in order to survive. Below are some suggestions on how we may cut down on our food bills:

- There may be some wisdom in this saying: “Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and have dinner like a pauper.”

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and usually, it’s the least expensive. If we have a wholesome breakfast, we would not need to snack in between and save some money.

Lunch, on the other hand, is normally cheaper than dinner as a lot of eateries offer special lunch deals compared with dinners.

- You may have heard of the term B.Y.O.B.? In our case, it’s B.Y.O.D. — “Bring Your Own Drinks". Do you realise that the price of your drinks can cost as much as one third of your main meal or more?

This means that for every three meals, you could have one free meal.

Start bringing your own teh-tarik, kopi-kau or better still, plain water. Can you imagine some places charge you as much as RM1 for a glass of water when you can get a litre of water for that price.

If you need to order a drink, make sure it comes with free refills and order one for the whole family (it’s a good time to teach your children the value of sharing). But do check if the shop charges a fee when you bring your own drinks.

- Let’s see if you can guess this one — P.Y.O.L.? Yes, it’s “Pack Your Own Lunch". While you may not have the luxury to go back home for lunch, you can pack lunch from home. It’s not only cheaper but healthier as well.

In any case, how is it that our children can pack their meals to school and we can’t?

· A lot of families eat out during the weekends but make this an exception rather than a rule. As far as possible, eat at home and make it a fun-filled family event. The children can help to prepare the food, mum can do the cooking and dad can wash up.

Create your own recipes, be creative and experiment. For instance, you can bake your own cake for your child’s birthday using natural ingredients. This is not only healthier and cheaper but brings the family closer as well.

- Never over-indulge (just look at the heap of food in the buffet line) and try as far as possible to only eat when necessary. For some of us, we’ll just have to change our life’s philosophy from “live to eat” to “eat to live".

Clothing

As much as we need food on the table, we need clothes on our body. Today, we have so many designs and fashions to choose from. The prices can range from a few ringgit to hundreds of ringgit.

There are some people who think that what they wear defines who they are in society. Therefore, they only go for branded clothing and the newest fashion even when they are struggling to maintain such an image and lifestyle. There’s a very apt malay saying that goes: ukurlah baju di badan sendiri which simply means that we have to live within our means.

Let’s take a look at some ways in which you can “cut your cloth according to your pocket".



- Go for off-season clothing and most often, you’ll be able to buy them at a bargain. You never buy in abundance unless it is the Malaysian mega sale!

- Buy factory overruns or rejected clothing. Sometimes, some brands are very particular about their quality and if, for example, the threading is slightly out, they might reject the entire batch. This is where you can buy branded clothing at regular prices. Or sometimes, they just want to clear their old stock.

- Buying an in-house brand is substantially cheaper than the premium branded ones. Of course, the quality may differ but you need to ask yourself if it is worthwhile paying for one piece of premium branded clothing when he can buy 10 regular ones.

- When was the last you went through your wardrobe? Go through all the clothes and you may come across many you have not worn for ages.

- They are as good as new and those which you think were old-fashioned, has become the in-thing now. If there are those that you really can’t stand the sight of, sell them off in a garage sale or simply donate them to charity.

It’s hard to follow and easier said than done. But remember: extreme times call for extreme measures.

Next week, we’ll look at more extreme measures to better manage our transport, utilities and entertainment expenses.

Agensi Kaunseling Dan Pengurusan Kredit (AKPK) is an agency set up by Bank Negara Malaysia to provide financial education, credit counseling and debt restructuring services to individuals. All services offered by AKPK are free of charge. For further details, please visit www.akpk.org. my or call us toll free at 1-800-88-2575