8 Simple Ways to Save Money

Time has come to close aboi's financial year for 2009 end 31st May 2010. I spent my Saturday night together with my prized Dragon Well Tea from Hangzhou to get some wisdom and draft what would be my financial strategy for the next one year period. Wah need so serious meh? My question to you is, "Do you only plan to start when you are about to retire?" There's pretty nothing much to do when you are at 65 except waiting to die lor.

Let me explain a lil, above is a personal bugdet planned out considering all sources of income & all expense factors. Some are pretty straight forward except for family & friends (treat here'n'there, kai kai $$) while buffer savings (gifts, car service & impulse spending-i need to enjoy life also ma). So how do I achieve all these for the coming year? Well, below are my lucky 8 ways, might be applicable to you as well.


Use cash instead of credit card
Spending cash makes the spending more real, and with the advantage that you know when you are out of cash. This prevents you from over spending. I am going to use card for autopay billing and pump fuel only.


Pay investments & debts first
Pay them last and you will find that you have shortchange them most of the time. Once done, you have what is left for you to spend or indulge for the rest of the month.


Exercise at home or workplace
Some might disagree which is OK, mei wenti. I am going to spend time exercising in my workplace gym & running tracks around my home as I am devoting my workdays for other activities. This has cutback 2.5% expense into other areas :) How neat.


Lend and borrow
Exchange books with friends and family because we can share receipt for income tax declaration as the govt allows photocopies. I am cutting down book purchases by 75% and share a pool with friends for reading materials.


Stay Home
Going out makes you more likely to spend unnecessarily. It's hard to avoid spending when you are on the road. This means eating home cooked food whenever possible, if you 'pak-thor' cook together and spend time at home, watch series, play games, pick up a hobby or surf the net.


Small daily savings
Get a big piggy bank and deposit RM5 each day. I decided I could live without RM35/week without really feeling it - it's relatively small amount that one would barely notice, the implication is that I could save nearly RM2k a year without feeling anything! And RM2k is the amount I use to top up my balanced fund yearly.


Turn passion into income
Computer hardware has been my passion since college & over the last three years establishing contacts & reputation to build PCs for clients. Effort paying off with four digit income each year. Everyone has a passion, why not turn that into income. It could be photography, cross stitching, writing, online retail and etc. When you love to do it, it comes with no stress plus you earn.


Find happiness in life, not spending
Some might disagree, I know! but still OK, mei wenti. Most of the time, when you buy stuffs, you are happy for a day or two. Why? Because it makes you feel rich BUT not wealthy (cause you spend de le). Instead, learn to love life. Find joy in talking with people around you, in doing something you love, in exercise, in helping people, in re-educating yourself. There is no need to find it in spending alone.

If you have any other suggestions I do welcome your input so I might have a stimulus package in this budget. You can place your comments here or email me directly if you are paiseh at nick_allianz@hotmail.com