5 Budget Tips Every Malaysian Student Should Know

by 红玫瑰社区.com on January 13, 2017 | Top Stories, Useful Tips

As a student, our lifestyle tends to be a little more frugal as we don’t have the luxury of income to go crazy and splurge. While it might be tempting to live life young, wild, and free, here are some budget tips every Malaysian student should know. Remember, it’s never too early to start managing your finances.

Before we get into that, why do you need to even have a budget or start saving?

Because more Malaysians are living off money they don’t have. This means more Malaysians are in debt and are living off borrowed money.
Inflation, food price hikes, and the general costly living expenses means that you need to learn how to budget to ensure you can still set aside money to save to grow your wealth for future security.
To survive during retirement because we’re all living longer.

You may read more about it

Budget 101

Start saving! If you’re not working, try to save at least 10% of your allowances that you receive from your parents. For example, if you receive RM500 per month, set aside RM50 for emergency situations. You just never know when something might go wrong. If you do have a part time job, you could obviously set aside a larger portion to savings.
Track your expenses. You’ll be surprised how much money goes to Starbucks coffee or eating out. Track every little expense you make and at the end of the month, review that and assess if there are “wants” or “desires” that you can cut down on. For example, perhaps limit yourself to one Starbucks Venti coffee a week? Be able to pay off your needs first. Your wants and desires come second.
Take advantage of student discounts. You get discounts for almost anything and everything, and if you need to commute between school and home, take advantage of student rates on public transportation including the MRT. When in doubt, ask someone if students are eligible to discounts and always carry your student ID with you wherever you go!
Get a part time job. You have goals you want to achieve? Perhaps that new iPhone 7? Or you just don’t want to live on such a shoestring budget? Get a part time job and increase your monthly income. Don’t forget to include this into your budget.
Set a spending limit and stick to it! Perhaps out of your RM500 allowance, you want to spend only RM200 on food. Which leaves you with RM300 for other expenses including travel, necessities and your social life. Split your budget accordingly and set a limit for each category. It forces you to be disciplined and each purchase will be carefully thought through, which means less impulsive shopping!

We hope these tips will help you weather the tough conditions and help develop financial discipline to tackle the real world once you starting working!

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Where Can I Study?

You can discover a wide range of universities and colleges in Malaysia that align with your academic goals , campus preferences, location and within your budget. Find the perfect place to pursue your studies and achieve your aspirations. Parents too, can explore a list of quality international schools for their children.