Fuel price up. Foods prices up. What else is going up? Everything else that you need to live is going up. You cannot escape from this. One way to cope with these spriralling prices is to cut down your own cost of living. How? Just spend a few minutes each day to analyse your expenses. Create a list of "must have" things and "nice to have" things.
The "must have" list are the things like food, clothing, children's education and a roof over your head. The "nice to have" list are the things that you have a desire for them but you can live without them.
My focus today is on the "must have" list. Let's go back to the basics. For foods and clothing, buy on quality and value for money stuff not brand. Branding is a marketing tools to make you pay more for the same product. A popular brand and more expensive products is not always equal to better quality. Many product in the market today are produced by contract manufacturers with the same ingredients but differentiated by brand, packaging, flavour and fagrance. So, be a smart consumer.
The biggest "must have" expenditure is your home. The capital cost, i.e. the cost of purchasing or building your home, is a long term commitment that you cannot avoid. The maintenance cost of your home can be substantial. This varies with the type, size and facilties in your home. You can manage the maintenance cost with a little bit of thinking and know-how. It is not difficult.
How to minimise and save cost on home maintenance? This is where I am sharing my skills with you on DIY home maintenance.
There are many maintenance jobs in the house that are fairly easy to fix. You do not need special skills to do those. Just some basic knowledge and the right tools will do. With the high cost of fuel, the base charges for any workmen to come to your home is RM60.00 (USD20.00) for transport cost. Thereafter, the labour charges and material cost is added.
For example, if you have a leaking tap. The cost to fix this by a workmen will be:-
1) Transport cost 60.00
2) Labour cost 40.00
3) Material 5.00 (rubber valve) (if it is a catridge, may be 30.00)
Just change a rubber valve or the cartridge valve cost you easily more then RM100(USD35.00). This is only a 20 minutes job. It is very simple. Just open the lever cap with a spanner and screw driver. Remove the damaged valve and replace with a new valve. You don't need a plumber for this simple task. (see the picture).
There are only three type of valves. The traditional rubber valve, ball valve or the more complex catridge valve. These are available from your neighbour hardware stores or DIY stores.
I will come back with more DIY tips.
Pylim
The "must have" list are the things like food, clothing, children's education and a roof over your head. The "nice to have" list are the things that you have a desire for them but you can live without them.
My focus today is on the "must have" list. Let's go back to the basics. For foods and clothing, buy on quality and value for money stuff not brand. Branding is a marketing tools to make you pay more for the same product. A popular brand and more expensive products is not always equal to better quality. Many product in the market today are produced by contract manufacturers with the same ingredients but differentiated by brand, packaging, flavour and fagrance. So, be a smart consumer.
The biggest "must have" expenditure is your home. The capital cost, i.e. the cost of purchasing or building your home, is a long term commitment that you cannot avoid. The maintenance cost of your home can be substantial. This varies with the type, size and facilties in your home. You can manage the maintenance cost with a little bit of thinking and know-how. It is not difficult.
How to minimise and save cost on home maintenance? This is where I am sharing my skills with you on DIY home maintenance.
There are many maintenance jobs in the house that are fairly easy to fix. You do not need special skills to do those. Just some basic knowledge and the right tools will do. With the high cost of fuel, the base charges for any workmen to come to your home is RM60.00 (USD20.00) for transport cost. Thereafter, the labour charges and material cost is added.
For example, if you have a leaking tap. The cost to fix this by a workmen will be:-
1) Transport cost 60.00
2) Labour cost 40.00
3) Material 5.00 (rubber valve) (if it is a catridge, may be 30.00)
Just change a rubber valve or the cartridge valve cost you easily more then RM100(USD35.00). This is only a 20 minutes job. It is very simple. Just open the lever cap with a spanner and screw driver. Remove the damaged valve and replace with a new valve. You don't need a plumber for this simple task. (see the picture).
There are only three type of valves. The traditional rubber valve, ball valve or the more complex catridge valve. These are available from your neighbour hardware stores or DIY stores.
I will come back with more DIY tips.
Pylim
