According to EPF Belanjawanku 2024/2025 Alor Setar the cheapest city to spend, Klang Valley is the most expensive



NOTE: These are the figures that you need to SPEND...not INCOME ya...

This post has been edited by knwong: May 22 2025, 12:45 PM

Tipu JB need to spend more vs KV folks

Outside KV public transport is shit. Minimum wage 1700. Can only survive in two cities.

Single but take care parent which no more work...
Is consider which category.....

Lie flat at home very cheap only.

Add that 2 columns (Single + Senior) up la

Stay in KV the public transport is not shit?

Add the single with the senior figures?

If got inheritance to look forward to not so bad.

It will become more expensive when RTS complete. But as of now...still affordable.

minimum budget means drive bezza and stay in rumawip (35 years loan), cannot eat red meat ( red meat tends to be double the price of chicken) , seafood only ikan senangin and sotong rendam, no white squid, other fish and shrimp.

Then like shit lol.....
Also where they pull the data from?
They own butt?
Health are rm 30 only....? Which era they stay.
Room rent rm 260....bullshit la....
Utilities rm 100......where got so cheap...

Minimum RM 5k for singles if u want good life

This post has been edited by -PuPu^ZaPruD3r-: May 22 2025, 12:48 PM

married wit 6 kids, how?

this table is for MINIMUM. So the data is still valid.

more or less in line with my expenditure

EPF collaborate with Universiti Malaya’s Social Wellbeing Research Centre (SWRC)

klang valley single car owner rm2800
rm20/day food
rm400 room rental
rm30 klinik
rm840 car
rm100 utlity
rm90 personal care
rm220 baju
rm180 pub
rm130 spare
rm150 savings

macam mission impossible

i'm not sure who did this research when kota kinabalu is no.3 and not no.1

what is the rm value actually?
total monthly cost of living?

tipu. Aloq staq food sexpensive macam Penang but porition lagi smol.

Single with one child...maybe Single with 2 child...because if parent no medical insurance and no savings to cover medical, you are the farked.

There's your problem. Make way for public transport, you save about 500+ to 600... then baju you need to buy every month?

Think it's pretty close to accuracy in average imo.

Living in penang really like klang valley level sudah

Belanjawan: Minimum level of expenditure required in order to live a reasonable life that is meaningful and sustainable

This post has been edited by knwong: May 22 2025, 01:13 PM

the irony when people with income less than that but choose to make family with 2,3 kids. i really cannot brain

You need to move to KV to experience first. KK I agree expensive but outskirt a bit still affordable

missing
- ptptn bayar hutang
- health insurance rm200 take from baju money.
- savings to cover 6 month expenses, should minimum rm500 per month


the car, assume rm500/month loan payment, toll 100, petrol 200, maintenance 100 pun dah rm900
if no car, have to stay closer to lrt station, rent also higher. belum kira grab money yet. easily additional 300 400 also.

senior old single 2.6K permonth?
topkek lah
pigi KKM tengok bawa BMW merc semua beratur kat situ
makan pon tak banyak... go hang flower ka

ts paste pic quality from 2002 with 80% compression

the saint category

need to minus the 'shared' expenses such as rental.

Lol

Gaji rm2800 onli but want to use car monthly rm840 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
When im at your salary im taking the bus bro

i already did, that's how i know
it's almost impossible if not already impossible to find anything below RM10 in sabah today and outskirt won't make any different
whatever that u ate in kota kinabalu which is RM13 cost the same no matter where else in sabah u eat
it is not like here where KL is expensive at RM12, u can go out to klang or kuala selangor where it's RM7-8(this doesn't happen in sabah)

and everything in sabah is literally more expensive than in klang valley....the house is, the cars is, there is no public transport to compensate, everything else that you need daily is more expensive in sabah
so i don't know how klang valley's cost of living is higher than sabah
do u know how much the same tayar cost in klang valley vs sabah....the moment you know is the moment u know this chart is wrong
i know because i just changed the same tyre for my car in klang valley thn in sabah....all within 2 month difference and the price difference is insane


and i haven't even went to the salary part where the salary of sabahan is way lower than those in klang valley too

This post has been edited by MR_alien: May 22 2025, 01:33 PM

Ok lah Malacca is nice place to retire.

negeri kecik senang urus they said

- they/them

syukurrrrrrrrrr

you'll be surprised the prices @ JB now due to singaporkean

Bro, can share the tyre price here? I just changed too, it’s a SUV, normal tyre (not low-profile), brand is continental, about rm470.

so cant fault fresh grad asking for rm3500 starting salary.
after deduct kwsp, tax take home less than 2800

While I agree with your assessment that a room rent of RM260/month is unrealistic, as single person, how much are your utilities?

3089.15 after 3500 deduct

https://payroll.my/

how about with 5 children?

you are right!

Bullshit. I'm single with 1 car and 1 bike, 17k also tak cukup

According to EPF people with 5 children don't exist

In some culture in different parts of the world, having many children is a status symbol. At that level, no need to do Belanjawan

some people with many wives have 10 children or more.

min 20k i think

inb4 they don't contribute to EPF

i'll give a realistic example of what i just paid
same type...both Viking City Tech CT6(185/60R14)

in klang valley, i can get RM140 for each donut....so i paid RM280 for both(3 months old)
in sabah...that very same tyre is RM250 each final price ....so i paid RM500 for the same tyre but older by many months
in sabah, toyo proxes CR1 is also RM250/donut

and this is just viking, i haven't even go to better brand like continental, hankook yet
there's a reason lesser and lesser shops in sabah carry continental...it's getting too expensive
i know because i used to use continental CC5 thn CC6 and then that continental shop i used to go don't even sell continental anymore(but the shop big big continental outside)

This post has been edited by MR_alien: May 22 2025, 02:17 PM

your house is very big in heaven

melaka public transport is real shit lollll

not surprised memang high, when i balik PJ. things are cheaper/food etc

If you just spend at where Singkies are spending of course expensive la. Gotta venture out a bit to where locals are spending. Still alright one

Yeah right, my company lorry driver earns RM3.5k monthly, wife is not working and has 3 kids. Also no problem pun.

if based on public transport, to reach home i need to add in additional 1 hour walk each back and forth....unless take taxi or grab

This happen to me lol....
My mom heart surgery.....
And after effect....
Now 20k+ in debt.....

Electric monthly 150~190
Water 3 month 40~50
Unifi 140 (plan downgrade to 100mbps)
Mobile 40

Ur unifi cost 140 for 100 Mbps?
It is high if yes
Now is 89/99 only for 100Mbps

Looking at some replies, obviously most assuming their own spending as minimum expenses
If 3K is insufficient to meet minimum expenses, then how they going to survive with?
Those 2,3K single or 5,6K income with 2,3kids will not have spending behavior like most of ktard here

epf not helpful.
what people want is

Yes , Sabah n sarawak house and food expenses are relatively high compared to most of Klang valley area, meanwhile average income is really low
I would say their food prices are almost same with KL PJ especially city center
Btw Klang food is no longer cheap

I m surprised and not surprised when know the difference of tyre prices at Sabah n Klang valley
Surprise bcoz of 100% difference
Not surprise bcoz of Sabah and Sarawak import almost everything from west Malaysia, that's why so big price gap

not just tyres...i would say everything that we're buying on a daily basis is more expensive in sabah than in klang valley
another one is car battery
engine oil is also another one
fruits, vegetable are also more expensive because everything is shipped in via WM

so don't understand how the chart is like that

and i can still get single digit food price in PJ, in bukit bintang if you know where to find it but i can't in sabah anymore
my mom recently come to klang valley and is shocked by how cheap here can be compared back in sabah

You will be in "blessed" category. Mind to share, your age, self employed? and parents age?

IMHO the figures are close enough.

Sorry, I see the list and I call bullshit. Meaning the lowest and the highest cost city difference is only RM 300.
Meaning your cost of living between kota bharu and kl is rm 300. Not a chance.

Married couple with 2 children the difference is RM1300 you know between the 2 cities

No la...
When new 100mbps rm 129 (136.xx, due to tax)
Auto upgrade to 300mbps
Plan downgrade to 100mbps rm 89...
Or where got offer for more lower price.....
As now I seldom download anything...
So no need those high-speed.....

40, private worker....
80++, mother...
Surgery to implant pacemaker...
After that suddenly more trouble surface...
Stay hospital several time....
Medical cos almost 1k per month....
Father aeroplane before covid lock down.....

Barely can survive but insurance premium hike can't bear with it

Daily Rm211. Noted with thanks

80+ need more time to adjust herself. My prayers be upon mum.

Hang in there, mate
You gotta be strong 💪💪. Make sure you have someone close to talk things out and share. Don't bottle up.

tare 5mil... just retire somewhere outskirts la... as long as not KV...

prolly 2-3mil in Seremban,ipoh,bentong,


1-2 mil in PUAS states.

can retire at Thailand? owai

Not much diff

Ni bajet org b20 ke? I 15k habis each month

1 kid and 2 kid delta only 800 ..

just daycare already 1.5k per child liao

even u find those aunty 1 also need atleast 1k

This post has been edited by fantasy1989: May 22 2025, 09:28 PM

My family of 3 uses about 9k per month. Car house fully paid.

if your unifi contract is over, then just get a transfer ID from other broadband service provider and let unifi to counter offer
FYI, unifi and maxis will give free 6-8 months for retention or new customer

KV, married with 2 kids, 7k enough?
seriously, 7 years ago, i still in KV, combine salary 15k with 2 kids i also felling susah...

car - 600 + 500 petrol + 200 toll = 1.3k
kids preschool - 1000 x 2 = 2k
diaper + milk = 600
house 400k = 2k
grocery = 1k
electric + water + mobile = 800
lunch during work = 300 x 2 = 600
insurance = 400

not even give to parents already 8.7k liao
on weekend want to go out shopping also feeling susah, not sure now how to survive with 7k+...

RM 7440!

No wonder hari tu there’s a news mention a men complain 7k tak cukup for a family of 4.

I note in other posts that you are taking care of your parents, so using the metric of a single person is not appropriate. Like many people here, I commend you for taking care of your parents in their old age and ill health.

Looking at Sarawak Energy's rates, electricity at RM150 a month would be easily a 500kWh consumption a month

Electricity at RM180 a month would be easily a 670kWh consumption a month

A single person consuming that much electricity a month has a lot of wastage.

As a single household, my usage is about 200kWh/month. Some months I can keep it under 150kWh/month and get into the lowest tariff at RM0.18/kWh. That's a monthly electricity bill under RM30.

People who are renting a room would have lower electricity consumption than a 1 person in a house.

3 months of water at RM40-50 is about RM13-16/month in water. That's about 27m3 of water a month. That's a daily water use of 902.7777777777778L/day based on the Sarawak water rates (that haven't been revised since 1992). That is way too much for one person. At best there is a leak; at worst there is a lot of unnecessary wastage.

A single person who uses more than RM5/month in water (to qualify for the Sarawak state government free water rebate) needs to seriously reconsider their usage patterns.

While I don't agree with a lot of the numbers of EPF's Belanjawanku 2024/2025 (especially in the housing costs), the utilities number (for singles at least) IMO is reasonably accurate, and IMHO is a benchmark to see if there is any excess spending that can be trimmed.

Lol, kasi breakdown

If you are taking care of someone, elderly or kids, they will be in the house most of the time. Hence the higher utility bills.

For a single person, it will be lower if you spend half the day at work.

That's why I said, it is not fair to use the EPF's Belanjawanku 2024/2025 numbers for a single person and call them "bullshit" when there are other factors like taking care of someone.

Taking care of kids is in either the "married couple with children" or "Single parent with children" category.

For electric...
I did try to lower the usage...
Use fan only...
But nowday too hot need aircond to lower the temperature....
And becos old people don't know how to use those tv box,
They keep let it running without turn off...
Around 2~3 fan running whole day to circulate the air....

As for water, the manage bill me lump sum....
So I think that rm 5 discount not apply to me....

what to do, complaint, kena suruh moved out country. keep complaint, kena suruh go find your own gig-job, complaint further -- kena target by * ACT 2025 implemented. just be silence and swallow the difficulties...

That's not the cost base for a single person as defined in EPF's Belanjawanku 2024/2025.

A single person using >500kWh/month to keep cool and running 2-3 fans the whole day to circulate the air is still too much.

For the comment about water, I don't understand that, so I will not comment further.

This post has been edited by haya: May 23 2025, 08:17 AM

When one stay in condo, the water rate is much much higher...no state government discount like how you stay on landed

If it is a real condo condo, can request to Change Water Tariff Classification to residential: https://service.sarawak.gov.my/web/web/home...a_view/311/297/

There is the gap/crack of commercial rates to water usage by residents living on the second and third floors of a shoplot building: https://www.theborneopost.com/2023/12/31/da...unit-residents/

(Note that I am talking in the context of Kuching/Sarawak costs)

/k alot of ppl here luxury lifestyle

My workers make do jer with 3/4k basic

Work in kl/ stay in semenyih-
Wife not working-

But memang b40 life

1) eat once a day- bekal from home
2) daily transport motor
3) weekend kfc with kids once
4) one myvi for family travel


Wife not working- one child

— alot of them like that-

Masih hidup with some saving after 3 years-work for me

U guys kecoh pula- 7k-

Lol

This post has been edited by badmilk: May 23 2025, 12:30 PM

Don't forget washing machine, fridge....
Water heater need off?
Stay at apartment...
So water is lump sum from management...

As for electric...
What can I do to reduce more wastage....
1 hp aircond x 3 (only 1 use at night for 1~2 hours)
1.5 hp aircond x 1 ( use the most as cover living and dining area)
Standing fan x 2 (whole day)
Desktop fan x 2 (whole day)
Washing machine 1~2 time / day (45~50 minute / session)
Water Heater main switch no off....(2 unit l, use for fee .minute)
Air fryer (few time / week, 30 ~ 60 minute)
Water filter....(cosway)

As I said, no single person is using 4 fans a day. If they are, something is very wrong.

Same thing with washing machine. If a single person living environment is running 1-2 loads a day, the person needs more clothes.

Even air-conditioning, I just run it for a few hours at night to cool down the room so can sleep. Of course it varies, especially in the hot season sometimes need to run the air-conditioning overnight. I'm thrifty, not crazy.

For the water heater, is it possible to put a timer on it? So instead of running the whole day, just run for a few hours a day. That would bring down a lot of the electricity costs.

Air-firers relatively speaking don't use that much energy relative to its output. To cook the same thing with a electric stove or oven would draw more Watts.

I would get rid of the water filter. Kuching tap water isn't that bad: I drink straight out of it. But maybe boiling it might be more palatable for most people.

I just upgrade to a modern water purifier that only dispense hot water on the go...like Nespresso coffee machine.
It doesn't store hot water at all so really electricity saving

+1.
When I visit my dealers in KK, Keningau, Tawau, Lahad Datu, Sandakan, etc.. the food can considered as expensive.

Totally understand. I was also sandwich generation.

i currently am on digi mobile plan..rm53, 1gig data..monthly , takhabis guna pun..