Ask any Malaysian working in Singapore the reason they brave the traffic in wee hours to go to work in the island nation.
And they most likely will tell you that it is the currency value.
Salary in Singapore dollars would fetch three times its size in Malaysian ringgit.
Yet....
Saving money is a gargantuan task for anyone in the corporate world today,
Regardless of the currency value.
With various financial commitments,
Saving money is getting harder and harder day by day.
So how can these workers save on their monthly salary and make better of their earnings, and still live comfortably within their expenses?
There are many ways to save money and be financially responsible,
Be it in your Singapore dollar or in the converted Malaysian ringgit.
But it will only work if you are willing to make the sacrifice that is needed to ensure your money-saving regime work and excel successfully.
In this article, we show you ways to improve your money management skills and in turn help you save money in various simple changes you can make to your daily lifestyle.
The steps below are easy,
Fail-proof and give you the satisfaction of being able to control your finances.
We get it. Living in Johor, one of the underrated food destinations of Malaysia does come with its own bout of temptations.
Be it the authentic Malay dishes, easy availability of Chinese seafood restaurants or the delectable Indian banana leaf cuisine, Johor has it all.
But eating outside for all of your meals could be drilling a hole into our pockets.
Therefore....
This is a sure-fire area you can cut down spending to save some money.
Say your lunch during office break costs SG$6, which is about SG$30 per week and SG$120 per month.
At the same time,
A prepacked lunch from home would cost you about SG$3 at most,
Which is SG$15 a week and SG$60 per month.
You save about SG$60 every month (about RM180) just by bringing lunch from home.
That’s about RM2,160 per year, and that is off to a great start!
This is all about perspective.
Many service companies use this trick in reverse to trick customers’ minds into thinking that they are actually saving money.
Say a phone line service costs SG50 per month,
One marketing technique is to sell it at a daily cost, as it SG$1.66 per day,
Making customers think that is it actually cheap.
We can use the same trick here to help ourselves to save some money.
Say you spend about SG$15 a week on snacks or the luxurious bath bomb you like, that’s SG$75 per week, SG$300 per month and SG$3,600 per year!
That is the amount you could have saved if you cut out those expenses and put that money in a saving account instead.
Having unnecessary sometimes unhealthy habits may cause an exorbitant amount of money being spent to keep up with the habit on a yearly basis.
For example....
Some may be addicted to smoking cigarettes as a way to keep cold away while they wait to clear the immigration in the wee hours of the morning as they get to work.
Some may also resort to extreme clubbing during their weekends off.
All of these habits are expensive,
And may also burn a hole in your wallet.
Skipping these habits will not only help you save money but will also help you improve your health and well-being.
This idea will definitely help you to save up money no matter what. And without breaking a sweat too.
Set auto-debit features to transfer a fixed amount of money from your current account to a savings account,
Payable once every month.
You may set it on the date of your salary every month.
On your salary day, the amount specified will be transferred to your savings account.
Without you even noticing it.
SG$50 a month will accumulate to SG$600 a year.
That’s plenty of money for a year-end vacation.
When you do grocery shopping,
Always ensure you are the winning party.
Compare prices and check if you get the value of the item you buy.
For example....
A carton of 1-liter milk may cost RM8, but a small carton of 500ml milk may cost RM4.50.
Now, the 500ml carton seems like its cheaper,
But when you do the math.
The one-liter milk is more economical.
Using this method....
Your shopping experience will definitely take you one notch higher when it comes to saving money as well as cutting down unnecessary expenditures.
It is a lot harder to let go of money and tracking your expenses when you pay by cash at every turn.
This is due to some psychology involved.
When you swipe your cards, be it credit or debit,
You do not see the amount of money that is spent, as in the value that you use up or the hole it is burning to your budget.
Therefore.....
You may spend more than intended and not notice until it is too late.
But when you use up cash to pay for everything including for trivial things.
You see the amount you spend and therefore are more careful in your spending.
This method will also help you to keep up with your budget.
As you work hard day and night all year long.
You deserve to unwind and relax by going on vacation perhaps by the beach sipping margaritas.
But the flight tickets as well as accommodation and almost everything else in is sometimes expensive and also out of budget for some people.
Fret not.
Malaysia and Singapore both have hidden true gems for vacations for a cheaper cost with the same experience compared to foreign destinations.
Some places are in your backyard.
Closer to home and give you the ultimate stress-releasing escapade you need,
All for a fraction of the money you would spend if you choose to go vacationing in a foreign land.
Saving money works better when you have a goal to work towards.
Not long-term....
But a short-term one.
Say.....
You set a goal to save SG$600 in six months.
The trick is discipline.
You must be dedicated to set aside SG$100 per month or the like, and viola, you will definitely have SG$600 in six months.
This is not only rewarding but also gives satisfaction every month that you are being responsible for your future.
Some of us always have a spare change of coins wherever we go from the purchases we make day in and day out.
We never think much of the coins and leave them lying around in car compartments, tables, jeans pockets etc.
Here’s a way to save even those pennies.
Keep a jar on a table closest to the main door of your house.
As soon as you walk in, clear your pockets for coins and put all those coins in the jar.
fter a year or when the jar is full, take out the coins and exchange them to be deposited to your savings account.
Every bank has a fee when users use ATM debit cards from different banks.
The charges vary...
But in Malaysia, some bank charges RM1 per transaction and some charge up to RM4 for each transaction.
To avoid this unnecessary spending,
Try to always use the ATM of the bank in which you have an account.
This way,
You will not have those extra charges made to your bank accounts.
Read More: Using or Cancelling A Credit Card In Malaysia
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This is very important and is usually done for the first-month salary.
Following this.....
You will get to know the area of your preference and the prices in each exchange,
Yo you will be able to make a wise decision as to where you get the best amount for your Singapore dollars.
You have a Netflix account...
But you barely use it as your working schedule is hectic and with the traffic across the causeway, you do not have time to Netflix and chill.
Accounts like these are auto-renewed monthly by auto-pay, therefore you may not know that you are paying for it.
If you are not using these subscriptions, the best option is to cancel it, and you get to save that money every month.
The same goes for gym subscriptions, store memberships, magazine subscriptions and such.
The steps given are very helpful and will definitely work to help anyone look to save their hard-earned Singapore dollar and make a fortune back home in Malaysia.
But it will only use full if you have the grit, discipline, determination, dedication and the ability to make sacrifices if you truly want these steps to work.
Best of luck!
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