Rising Costs of Living

Hi Everyone,

Food and Groceries

Prices of food and groceries have been on the rise since the past few years. A small plate (dry) or a bowl of noodles cost only RM3.30 many years ago. The large ones were RM3.80. Now the average is RM4.50 for small size and RM5 for big size. For more special preparation ones, it may go up to RM7. A cup of Teh C costs RM1 previously now costs RM1.50 at certain coffee shops with the exception of several stalls at Section 14 which still charges RM1.20. Herbal tea (leong sui) at certain stalls are also charged RM1.50. The price of sugar has also gone up. When the petrol price came down, prices remain.

For those who also need to support their family, they will need to fork out more money to buy groceries. Vegetables and meat are not that cheap anymore. For example, a 2kg Milo is around RM20 now. Eggs are not that cheap either.

Petrol

Since the petrol price increase last year, prices are going up. It has not been  coming down. Ron 95 petrol now is at RM1.90 per litre. The government recently announced that the price for Ron 95 will remain for now. It would be reviewed every 6 months. Ron 97 users are now paying RM2.9 per litre. For 30 litres of petrol, that would be RM 30 more.

How are we managing price hikes? For us who are earning steadily, we can still afford these. We can also manage it when we manage our money well such as not overspending on our credit cards, not buying unnecessary items or stay within our budget. We can also purchase items during sales or mega sales carnival to get lower prices on items. 

Technology

How about for techies? We are interested in the latest technologies such as IPhone, IPod, Android devices and other high tech products. Is it wrong to buy all these things? It is not but we need to really save up a lot of money to buy these things.  Some of these technologies doesn't come cheap with prices hovering above RM2000 and above. IPhone and high end Android devices such as the new Samsung Galaxy S2, HTC Desire HD among others are all over RM2000. IPad ranges between RM1499 to RM2599. If we are using IPhone and Android devices heavily then it may be worth buying. We can download plenty of apps for IPhone and Android. Christianity (Bibles, Dayspring), news, productivity (expense tracking, note taking, document viewers) and games are available for both. Pictures, music and videos can be stored inside as well. However, there are people who are comfortable with using older technologies but usable. To them, they do not need these things. 

Salaries should be higher to compensate price hike and reduce inflation. Malaysia has not achieve a high income nation yet and therefore, salaries should be adjusted accordingly. The public transportation system in Malaysia is also not efficient at the moment. For example, most people will need to buy a car to drive to their workplace and to send their children to schools. There are areas that are not accessible to LRTs, buses and trains. From my house, I also need to drive to the train station. There are no public transportation nearer to my house. There are also not many buses available although it has improved. The cost of petrol is then part of our expenses when we need to use the car and motorcycles as means of transport.

We should use our money wisely. Do not overspend. Do not overuse our credit cards. Credit cards do provide us with benefits such as redemption points but we also need to control our credit card spending as well. We also need to have a budget so that we will not overspend.

Cheers,

Rogerkoo