LAST week, we shared with you some extreme measures on how to manage your food and clothing expenses. This week, we'll look into managing your transportation, utilities and your entertainment/lifestyle costs.

Let us emphasise again the importance of being frugal in all your spending habits. It plays a significant part in helping you cope with extreme times. However, it doesn't mean you'll be deprived of good things in life. It's just about being a little more creative with your spending, and to draw a quote from Amy Dacyczyn: "Frugality without creativity is deprivation." Let's see how creative you can get.

Transportation

A car may be a need to some but with the rising cost of petrol, we may have to reconsider our priorities and see if there are other alternatives. Let's explore some of the ways:

- Get rid of your car and get a bicycle. Does this sound too extreme? Perhaps, but what we are trying to say is get rid of the mentality of over-reliance on a car.
For instance, if you want to get a newspaper or pack some food from the stall down the road, put your pair of legs to good use or if it's a few blocks away, try cycling.

- Use public transport. We may not have a world class public transportation system in place yet but it's still the cheapest alternative (besides using your pair of legs).

Klang Valley folk can hop in and out of a bus as many times as you wish for a mere RM1 per day. If you were to use the bus and the LRT, the maximum you'd pay per day is RM7. Do check out RapidKL's website for the fares and routes at www.rapidkl.com. my

- If you really need to drive, then drive efficiently. There are quite a lot of smart driving tips being circulated lately and even a whole lot more in the Internet.

For example, you should not accelerate too quickly, and speeding certainly consumes more fuel. How and when you fill up your petrol tank also makes a difference. You may want to check it out through the various search engines online.

- Finally, try not to use your car for at least once a week, whether on a working day or weekend. Treat as though your car is in the workshop or just couldn't start. What would you do? Imagine how much you can save, not only your money but also the environment.

Utilities

We should inculcate the habit of conserving energy and preserving our resources for our future generations. We should remember that the resources we have do not really belong to us. We are merely stewards who have been entrusted with them and are responsible to use them not just for our own benefit but also for the greater good of mankind. How can we do this?

- Turn-off the switches. You do not need to have all the lights switched on when the family is in the living room and neither do you need the fans or air-conditioners on when there's no one in the room.

- If possible, substitute all your lightings and even refrigerators and air-conditioners with energy-saving types. Audit all our electrical appliances for their power consumption and substitute them with lower power consumption appliances. For example, you may want to switch back to the conventional kettle instead of the electric kettle.

- As for water, it's time to harvest the rain. You can use rain water to wash your car (or an easier way is to wash your car when it rains) or water the plants.

Try to bathe with just one pail of water and to brush your teeth with one cup of water. Make this a challenge within your family to see who uses the least amount of water for these purposes.

- Put a limit to your telephone/ mobile phone usage. Depending on your usage, there are packages that allow unlimited calls and you might want to switch over to these plans. However, to instil some discipline, especially in your kids, have a quota for each of them.

If you're using mobile phone, either go for the prepaid cards or have your telcos restrict your outgoing calls if it hits a certain limit.

- As for your Internet/ broadband usage, is it possible to share with your neighbour and split the costs? You can also do the same for your newspaper subscriptions. This will not only help you save some money but promote semangat kejiranan (neighbourliness).

Entertainment / Lifestyle

This is one area where we would have to cut down substantially in tough times. However, it's still possible to get good wholesome entertainment for free or almost free, if you are resourceful and creative. Just because times are bad doesn't mean you can't have fun. No matter what your income, make time to relax and enjoy as it'll help ease the daily stress of life. Without fun, it's hard to lead a healthy life. Here are some suggestions:

- It's time to give up your fitness club membership if you are not utilizing it to the fullest. Instead, take a stroll in the parks, hike or bike to explore something new and enjoy the fresh air (depending on where you are).

- Borrow books from or attend seminars/ programmes for free at the public library. You can even attend free book readings for adults and kids at your local bookstores or library

- Look out for free concerts, children's programmes and family activities in the newspapers or at the tourist information centres / websites

- If you're a smoker or drinker, it's time to cut down on the number of packets/ bottles and eventually kick that habit. You'll be surprised how much money you'd save.

- Want to catch the latest movie? Beg, borrow or rent it from your friends/ stores. The whole family can enjoy it in the comfort of your home along with mummy's home-baked cookies.

There you have it. As we said it before, extreme times call for extreme measures and this is a good time for all of us to re-examine our spending habits.

It is a good time for us to refocus our priorities and to remind ourselves that we are merely stewards of all the resources that we have been entrusted upon. We should be using them responsibly and to also preserve them for the generations to come.

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