Saving Money Archives - Ringgit Oh Ringgit

5 Best Places to Save Money in Malaysia, Ranked

Posted by Suraya - 14 Comments

I heard that y’all have a problem with spending your savings away, is that right? Despite your best intentions to save money, that company’s marketing campaign caught you at a bad time and there you are, nursing the most horrible buyer’s remorse.

Note that I didn’t name this article, Best Places to Invest Money in Malaysia. It’s Best Places to Save Money in Malaysia. Emphasis on saving money. All the options in this list MUST either be cash or can be quickly converted/sold into cash without losing much value. In investing-speak, we call this ‘liquid’.

According to Google image search, ‘liquid investment’ is also a tap that drips dollar signs, coins and banknotes. I can confirm this depiction is 100% accurate.

With that clarified, let’s go ahead and rank the best places to save money in Malaysia. The ranking order is decided by myself, but let me know if you have opinions – open to compelling arguments.

#1 – Mutual funds, unit trusts and roboadvisory platforms without withdrawal fees or ‘locking period’

25 ^th
November

SOCAR Review: 7 Tips to Get Cheap Car Rental in KL, Penang and Johor

Posted by Suraya - 6 Comments

So that happened. You sent your car to the workshop and will be carless for a few days. You have to go somewhere far and the Grab fare will be too high. You need to pick up a person (or an item) in person.

Either way, You. Need. A. Temporary. Car.

I get into one of these situations sometimes, and it’s really mafan. Usually I just bite the bullet and resign to paying high Grab fares but this time around I decided to give the car-sharing platform SOCAR a try.

And let me tell you. It solved my problem so well, and saved me so much money, that I decided to do not just a SOCAR review but also include tips to make the cost even CHEAPER for you. What can I say – I am a personal finance blogger 😀

Here are my 7 tips you can use to get the most value for money out of your SOCAR car rental:

#1 – Pick the cheaper car model

04 ^th
September

The Comprehensive Guide to Cost of Birth Control in Malaysia

Posted by Suraya - 19 Comments

Hello women and men who live alongside women. Today, let’s learn about the options and costs of birth control in Malaysia.

This guide is divided into the following sections:

Section one: preventative (how to avoid getting pregnant),
Section two: access to emergency contraception (where to get morning-after pill), and
Section three: how and where to get an abortion in Malaysia (I don’t want you to get to this stage but I’d rather you not die with DIY methods, so)

24 ^th
June

5 Things I Did To Reduce My Damn High Groceries Bill

Posted by Suraya - 4 Comments

Cook at home, they say. Then you’ll save money, they say.

Then why is the groceries bill still too damn high?

I personally got myself into this predicament – in April 2019 I found myself spending RM767.95 for groceries?!? For one person?!

Because it *was* abnormally high, I told myself to get my shit together. It kind of worked – in May 2019, the amount went down to RM480.20. Guestimating 100 homemade meals a month, that’s RM4.80 per meal.

And – not to brag or anything – I eat well. My meals tend to be healthy, I try my best not to sacrifice nutrition. I think I’m doing well, because I haven’t been sick in years actually.

Here are some changes I made to lower my high groceries bill. As the numbers show you, they worked!

#1 – Eat everything I bought challenge

15 ^th
April

Affordable Housing in Malaysia: 6 Alternatives to Consider

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This article is dedicated to everyone who ever uttered the phrase: ‘I can’t afford housing in Malaysia, it’s so expensive!‘

Which, if I’m honest, is the majority of you, at one point or another. It’s one of your favourite complaints. The default, almost.

(You are right though. It is expensive, especially in Kuala Lumpur and Penang. According to Khazanah Research Institute, property prices in Malaysia is ‘severely unaffordable’ at 4.4 times the median annual household income in 2014. A more acceptable range is 3x.)

(Having said that, Malaysia’s housing market is nowhere near as bad as the Top 10 most unaffordable locations globally. Hong Kong is 20.9 times (!!!) the median annual household income as of 2018)

But still, ok, just because we’re not the worst doesn’t mean the situation is good for us. What can you do if you can’t afford the housing in Malaysia? What are your options when it comes to living situation?

Here are some alternatives.

#1 – Pick one: A Just-OK place in the city OR A Great place far from the city

20 ^th
March

How Zero Waste Malaysia Helps Me Save Money (& the Environment, A Little Bit)

Posted by Suraya - 2 Comments

Confession: I entered the zero waste world a few years ago for its money-saving potential.

It’s been great. The communities are helpful, warm, encouraging. I had fun testing and trying out new lifestyle changes inspired from members of the zero waste community, sustainable living community, low impact community and so on. Among others, they encouraged me to:

include more plants and grains in my diet,
use a menstrual cup,
carry my reusable water bottle when going out,
stay car-free,
keep used coffee grounds to use as fertiliser,
significantly reduce my fast-fashion shopping,
and even helped me stay smoke-free (no more cigarette butts waste!)

26 ^th
November

9 Money Challenges to Try

Posted by Suraya - 13 Comments

Money challenges! Have you done one before?

Here are 9 money challenges you can try out. Some of them are for earning money, some are for saving money. Pick one money challenge you want to do for yourself – I’m going to share which one(s) I’m planning to do myself 😀

#1 – Kumpul Hijau Challenge

17 ^th
September

HappyFresh Review: 10 Tips to Save Money and Time!

Posted by Suraya - 4 Comments

I’m a frequent HappyFresh user. As of time of writing, I’ve made double-digit orders from them.

How it works is pretty simple:

Go to their website or download their app (iOS and Android)
Pick a supermarket (selection depends on what’s near you)
Add groceries to your cart
Select delivery time
Make payment
Wait for delivery

Being a power user, here’s my HappyFresh review and some money-saving tips I can pass on 🙂

#1 – Browse the Best Deals section

22 ^nd
August

Malaysians Share How They Save Money on Coffee

Posted by Suraya - 10 Comments

Every week, I do a little mini-forum in the Ringgit Oh Ringgit FB page. Recently, I asked what people do to save money on coffee.

The answers blew me away – you people really love your coffee huh? Some of the answers were so creative and informative, I had to compile them here! Here’s what Malaysians do to save money on that cup of joe, divided into two sections, free and reduced-cost.

Free Coffee

19 ^th
April

Shopback Tips: How I Made Over RM2000

Posted by Suraya - 4 Comments

I love Shopback, the cashback platform. In this article, I’m going to give you tips on using the platform for maximum cashback. Since opening an account way back in 2015, I’ve earned over RM2000 from it. The screenshot below is dated 18 April 2018.