I live in Sri Damansara so not too far away. 2K for food is a lot especially when you are also eating out for lunch. The share to your parents I think is good. Good personal finance is both earning more and cutting expenses. You don't have to eat out every weekend. You are a salary earner so its not easy to earn more so in the short term cutting your expenses would free up more cash. 400 electricity is very high. My bill is around 60 to 80. Just by using energy saving bulbs and switching off unnecessary lights and reduce aircond you can cut to 200.

For food, shop in wet markets. You can get very high quality protein and vegetables for one week with just RM200. Thqt is 800 per month only and you save 1200. If you eat out twice a month with a budget of 100 per meal, you can save 1000.

Personal expenditure....you can cut on lunches. Just do a pack lunch twice a week and you save 160 per month. 500 misc per month is a lot? What do u buy? Clothes? We are talking every month here which is RM6000 per year on misc. If you cut to 200 per month you save 300.

Your wife as a housewife she does not need 2K per month as you are already buying food. If she can cut to 1.5K thats a 500 saved.

So total saved per month is RM2160 which is RM25920 per year.

Only by being honest with yourself and making changes can you start having funds to invest.

When my 2nd child born this year, an example of what I did is to stop going to any premium coffee due to the price and back to normal kopi ice. Little sacrifices like this saves a lot in a month.

Before venturing into any investments (as it takes time to grow), you should at least save up some fund for emergency use that is out of insurance coverage.

There are many things that I see you could cut like Astro (few channel at 150?) buy TV box better, car wash do it yourself some more you stay in a landed property (i stay in an apartment but i drive back to my mom house to wash it), don't go movies (TV box will have it later), eat at hawker stalls don't go fancy restaurant/cafes.

If you are not willing to do any cost cut then follow NightHeart advise to enhance yourself to get a higher office position and remuneration package or maybe your wife can do some home made stuff to sell.

even if i follow all the above, i manage to save RM 2160.... this is on a 20k salary per month basis.... so if those earn 18k ma save RM 0 liao??
er.. scaling in terms of % to save based on net income would be executable unless one earns subsistence-level of income
$18K $20K etc. is definitely NOT subsistence-level of income right?
The U.S. Census Bureau reported in September 2017 that real median household income was $59,039 in 2016. If one earns MYR20K net pm, that's already USD60Knet pa on a SOLO / single person income. Should be able to save & invest well kua.

The suggested action including packing ur own lunch to work. i wonder who packs for lunch in this forum on a long term basis ???
me - since.. erm. gawd.. 2006-2007, on average only 1 or less times per week i eat out for lunch.

Other niggles here/there - just thinking, bottom line, it's a matter of priorities - 10% future, 90% now? 30% future, 70% now? 50% future, 50% now?
some prioritizes alcohol, some travel, some growing net worth, etc.
What we focus on, grows - like focusing on eating, abs grow lor , focused on hunting for value investments, can see a lot of triggers lor, etc. etc.

As for the old argument that "one cannot" this that coz not enuf this that - from what i've seen others & got similar result -
"Do first, THEN GET"
NOT "Get, then Do"
eg. no extra money to save/invest/grow - save/invest then only have extra money, right?
eg2. not strong/fit enough to excercise & eat well - excercise & eat well first, then only get stronger/fitter, right?

Just a thought ya, no absolutes in personal financial management / cost management - it is personal priorities after all

ya i read & noted that earlier

probably due to my bad England or scatter brained , lost in translation is:
my main thrust = US Median wor, MY taxes & cost of living aint as high - heck, average folks in MY still can outsource car's oil/filter change, simple home fixes, etc. In developed nations, the cost can be painful to average folks there. thus, net MYR18K 20K etc MYR per household is definitely do-able for savings & investing ma.

PS to be clear - the above is specifically thoughts/feedback on the ".. earning $20Kpm i can only save.. what about the $18Kpm earners.." thinggy only ya
worry miscommunication friction, thus crystal clear-ing

This post has been edited by wongmunkeong: Jul 27 2018, 12:05 PM

Am not sure what suggestions you are looking for. You are unhappy with your finances and am wondering how to change it. As I said its twofold : Increase income and lower expenses. Since you are not willing to decrease expenses then increase income. How you do that is up to you.

Personally I do both. I keep my expenses medium to low, cut back on unnecessary expenses. FYI eating a packed lunch twice a week is not unusual. I do it most of the time. I run a busy business and I don't have 1 hour lunches. I work thru lunch most of the time. I usually just have coffee with clients from my office coffee machine. Business still booming.

Change is not easy but if you are not willing to change how to have a different outcome?

Despite all the good intentions here to ask u to cut yr expenses, the fact is once expenses are up, it is damn hard to cut especially in your case.. with a family .. because too many parties are involved!

I find that single income family a bit hard to build wealth unless one spouse earns big on business . Anyway, it's not easy to ask wife to work cos of employability and also socially...not her fault also as stay at home mum has many merits too... one thing she can contribute is to cook more good food and eat at home... dining outside is a killer... the reason previous generation can survive on lower wage is there is nothing much to eat outside other than hawker food and fast food... nowadays ... u know la

You should do 2 things . Concentrate on career and break 20k per month... then, maintain your expenses! Don't increase it further !

Maybe can reduce insurance a bit.. buy term life.

Yr expenditure is not excessive at all.. it's quite normal

Another thing ... pray that u don't lose yr job!

Note: packing lunch is out of the question now! U r not single and young .. easier said than done


This post has been edited by aspartame: Jul 27 2018, 02:54 PM

Cut down car installment - by getting a lesser car, easily can save a few hundred buck per month, not to mention cheaper car insurance as well.

Revisit insurance - if wife is not working, life insurance may not be needed except those CI type and medical. Many do overbought insurance or bought unnecessary insurance. Even having the max medical insurance, there are scopes that insurance does not cover, that one needs to pay by your own money. Typically dental, outpatient type of treatment.

Phone landline can cut down as prepaid HP is much cheaper than landline, pay TV can be cut down as well since nowadays Internet got lot of stuff to watch already. Newspaper is needless if have internet, subscribe online news also cheaper.

Trim down a bit here and there, easily squeeze a few K out, one year 20~30K then can make investment that generate passive income.

Active income saved reinvest + passive income compounded, over 10-15years, it will be significant.

If i might be frank, if you are of a substantial ranking and experience, its hard for me to believe that you don't have a wealth management plan at this level.

And guys he's at that level of position and still want to pack lunch?? Must have some face

Let's do some breakdown :
House + Car loan = RM5k
Parents + Parents Benefit = RM3k
Food for family = RM2k
Wife Pocket = RM2k
Self Expenses = RM2k
Children Education = RM1k
Utilitiles = RM1k
Insurance for own family = RM1k

Total RM 17k. Estimated savings = RM3k


From what I see, savings is pretty average (3k), but like others have mentioned before the main point is Self Expenses + Wife Pocket (of course wife save for herself too).
Food + Self Expenses (maybe less happy hours with the guys eh ) + Utilities can be cut down.

This post has been edited by cfkoon: Jul 27 2018, 03:33 PM

Just sharing ya - no absolute right/wrong
for me, packing lunch is not about face - it's about time saving +healthy eating +i'm lazy as heck to drive out in the hot sun or walk to the nearest cafe
and..
er.. i'm at point where i've enough not to work for quite awhile (boys/girls - go get your own scholarship or loan, papa wanna chill ), thus, i don't bother with face or what others think of me, as long as i do right by my principles & goals..

IMHO, too many people got into trouble just because of "face" (i know coz younger & stupider days, i got into several bwhaahahah - luckily survived them)

This post has been edited by wongmunkeong: Jul 27 2018, 04:13 PM

Agree. I don't care to show face. I do eat high quality food but cooked at home. I save money and also my health. The monies I gain goes to amazing experiences instead. Nothing beats flying in a helicopter seeing lava flow in Hawaii.

Ultimately, it's one own decisions on type of lifestyle they want and how one see the value of money.

If one see how money works through the inflation in Long run, I would said it will be smarter to save some unnecessary expenses and use the saving for future investment.

Whether these investment is invest in financial markets or invest in our brain is better than invest in our face or stomach

This post has been edited by ehwee: Jul 27 2018, 06:25 PM

Flying in a helicopter going around NZ mountains during winter seeing the glaciers would be just as good as lavas in Hawaii too.

I' m sure! Will put in my bucket list

Just my 2 cents. Actually I do think RM20k is quite a lot for family of 3. You did have the choice to live more frugally but instead, you give yourself reasons to spend and hit your limit while ignoring future investments and savings.

I know many families have both parent working but earning less than RM20k. Most of them have more kids than you. But yet, when I see how you spend your monthly income, I feel sorry for those families. We are talking about Malaysia T20 complaining about things not affordable.

How about the other M40 and B40?

I knew friends from B40 feeling contentment in their frugal life.
I knew friends from M40 feeling grateful for their mediocre lifestyle while pursuing T40.
I knew also friends from T20 feeling thankful for what they have and usually go for FIRE.

Come to bottom of it, it still depends on choices you made, the lifestyle you want, and the target you set for yourself. No right no wrong.

Consider average as single working in Singapore. Good to go

24 (M) Fresh Grad
Take Home Pay - RM2650 after EPF

Spendings:
1. Rent - 0, staying with parents
2. Insurance - 0, Dad's still paying but actual cost is about RM600 because it comes with investment linked
3. Mom - RM300
4. Unit Trust - RM1000 (aiming to achieve first million by early 40s)
5. Food, MRT and other expenditures - RM1000
6. Shopping - RM300

Future commitments:
1. House - FAMA have one small condo ready for me when I want to move out. So if I'm gonna buy another property in my 30s then it will be for investment rather than to live in it... but I still think unit trust is a better investment though.
2. Car - Probably don't need because the cars we have now can probably last for 5-7 more years. Most likely will settle for a myvi when these cars expired.

I admit I'm very dependent on my parents.

This post has been edited by monkeyrangers: Jul 29 2018, 05:42 PM

Quite similar with you except I have a car loan RM610 monthly. Food wise I allocate RM15 per day for two meal for 20 days. Petrol RM 40 per month because I ride bike to work. I also allocate RM500 monthly for my FSM investment. Give mom and dad rm250 each. Still staying with parents.

Be frugal.
KV use umobile cukup. RM30/month with 7.5GB Internet, free 30 min talks. And I am not even in KV.

Car get 2nd hand car. In the range of RM10k can get already. Who asks one to buy super fuel Sucking car? Kancil, kelisa viva, axia are all super fuel saving car. Siapa ask to buy Honda or Toyota first hand. Even if buy a brand new 1st hand car. Buying big car only only cause misery.
1) higher petrol
2) higher taxes
3) higher price
Small car RM30/month cukup. I am living proof as my car only use RM30/month.

Breakfast drink fruit/vege juice eat drink oats. Super filling and healthy. Makan just pack your own food. Scramble egg/tuna in wholemeal bread. Makan also makan at economy rice stall. I pack my own lunch and dinner to work. RM300 for my makan which include groceries.

Do you even need pocket money? I don't. My excess goes into my savings/investment chest. I don't need anymore savings as I have already build up my emergency savings and they can last for min 2 years worth of expenses.

CNY only once a year. If you have saved enough, CNY won't be big issue.

Clubbing is ownself find fault. Easily can burn RM200 there. All alcohols and why should I burn money to prison myself slowly when the money burned for clubbing can be used to buy healthier food or make more money. Is clubbing really needed?

This time of day, you don't need movie nights out. If you need movies night out, how much do you spend? I only pay for parking + fuel + movie ticket. That's it. About RM10 total. Nothing more. No popcorn, no pepsi/coke. Again I am not paying money to prison myself.

My income tax and EPF is already deducted from my salary. Have no say in it. But what I do is make sure to claim back what is mine. Make sure my income tax is lowered hence claim some money back from govt. So many legal ways to reduce income tax.

Do you need yearly medical checkup? If you go clubbing, poisoning one with Malaysian food, then yes. If you choose to go for min 70% fruits and vege diet, then not needed. Majority of medical conditions in malaysia can be prevented by change in lifestyle and spending. Diabetes, hypertension, stroke, heart attack kidney problems are all a result of poor healthy lifestyle.

Again is that overseas trip really important? Can you survive if you never go for one? Is been years since I actually go on a trip. Imagine if you can save RM3k/trip. For 10years you don't go, there's already RM30k saved up.

If you have no money, there's no need to act like you are rich. If you are rich, do you need to scale your lifestyle up and give in to lifestyle inflation? Lifestyle inflation (the desire to spend more with increasing salary) is what's trapping middle class people. If salary naik, you think other things won't naik? Come back to square one.

You don't need high salary. You just need to know how to save and be frugal. Cutting out things from one's lifestyle is hard as it requires sacrifice. Not many people can sacrifice things. You don't get something if you don't give up something.

And i'm sitting infront of laptop scratching my head to do calculation, where can I get RM10 include parking + fuel + movie ticket in cinema,especially at night.

RM10 to buy CD maybe can.

Or else, usually nowadays need at least RM20-30.