This tag came just in time from Lian during this current petrol price hike period. I believe every household is taking some measures to live as frugal as possible since the cost of living is going to already shooting at ceiling height. What cost cutting measure did you take? All along, we have been living in a very frugal lifestyle. So if I were to be more thrifty, I think my kids will ended up eating bread only.

1) Domestic Helper
After 2 incidents of having a stranger living with us and all the horrifying nightmare, I finally sent home my maid of 9 months. No. 3 was only 7 weeks old then. Since that day, I did all the house chore myself and occasionally Hubby will help out. Financial was constrained during that time, so I’ve never thought of getting a hourly maid. Good thing though cos I am so used of not having a maid at home. To me, having a messy house won’t die. Having them in my house added more stress. That one I can die! At the same time, they can be very expensive cos they go round your house breaking electrical appliances and food always runs out SO fast. I wonder why. Nowadays, I do get a hourly maid that is charging RM10 per hour. Not on weekly basis tho. Something like 3 months once when I needed someone to clean the greasy kitchen.

2) Transportation
This is our biggest expenditure. I tried to drive at 90km/h now and not hitting the break abruptly. We are cutting down travelling out from Klang on a weekend for shopping. I think Aeon Bukit Tinggi, Klang has everything we wanted. Have a shopping list so that I don’t miss anything and safe me extra trip to the shops again.

3) Food
Kids started to bring Bento to school. I don’t save much there cos the food I put in the box for them sometimes cost more than their pocket money but I get to control what they eat. Noodles at the cafeteria contains so much MSG. On the other hand, my lunches is more expensive than the kids. So I do save few Ringgit there. Even if I had lunch outside, I tried to go for frugal food. More greens for me, definitely. That way, I get to jaga badan sikit la! Talking about bento, it was supposed to be a frugal meal. Other than investing in bento boxes, good thing I am not so crazy over their accessories yet which is costing a heaps! I tried to go a bit creative like rolling up the food, cutting them with cookie cutter, skewing them, etc… Sometimes, kids needed a little pampering like McDonald Happy Meal. However, we does that less often now compare to previously which is like a weekly affair.  Joining the Kids Club, we are entitled to a free cone or fries or apple pie with purchases.  Kids can have the burger, while I can have the apple pie 😉 .

4) Shopping
I hardly shop for clothing nowadays even during the Malaysia Mega Sales. Hubby bought mostly branded clothings for us from outlet store in States. They are really cheap. A piece of OshKosh t-shirt is equivalent to the price for a piece of Kiko t-shirt in Malaysia. Guess t-shirt is selling at about $7 to $10. Not that he bought a lot. Just two to three pieces each person to wear on CNY. Good thing kids doesn’t mind wearing hand-down clothings from their cousin. At the same time, SIL from Singapore used to buy Giodano for the kids. Giodano in Singapore is so cheap! Shopping in Malaysia sucks big time la! When choosing where to shop, I go the one that give me good rebates like Jaya Jusco and their Member Day Sales is such a crazy event.

5) Income
I was bitching with the nasi lemak seller one day when the nasi lemak biasa has increased from RM1 to RM1.20. “I pun mau jadi peniaga. Bila barang naik, mereka ikut naikkan harga. Orang makan gaji macam kami ni, gaji saja tak naik.” Good thing I have commercialized my blog. If not, life will be more difficult.

6) Electricity
From using the electric kettle, we have switched to using the stove kettle. Air-conditioning is switched on from 9pm to 2am only.

7) Water
Never wash your dishes bit by bit. Do them when they start stacking up or when you are running out of spoon. lol. Drinking cup is non greasy. Just rinse and put them away. Some lazy bugger will dump them in the basin together with other greasy dishes. I have a bad habit of saving the water from the last rinsing whenever I do the dishes. I used them to wash the kitchen towel (for cleaning the table).

8) Holidays
The local ones we went is usually from our timesharing package. Even the Pangkor trip was free. Hubby just pack us all into his luggage. *sticking out tongue* Should we or shouldn’t we go on with our plan this year? That is the question now.

What more can I do to be more frugal? I have been holding back my plan to get a new lens and the external flash. I am pretending I did not hear about the Galvanic Spa from NuSkin. I recycle almost anything now even little bits of paper. They do contribute some weight on the scale.

I decided not to pass the tag to anyone. If you like it, JUST DO IT!