4 Ways To Not Be Broke (Especially With Less Than RM2,500)

Here’s a shocking fact, the minimum wage in Malaysia is RM1,100 but most companies will start you off at a higher salary of RM2,500. Yet, it is agreed upon by many malaysians that it still is an extremely low number, and it is difficult to survive, especially in KL. Most of us are living paycheque-to-paycheque, day-to-day, and sometimes we are even at a deficit and incur debt to survive. 

So how do we make the best of our situations? Well since we are in a similar position, here are 4 tips we can share with you on how we survive (even if it’s barely lah -.-)

1.  Net Income

As mentioned above, your net income is basically the total amount of money you have after all your tax deductions. So, with a pay of RM2,500 at a company, your net income would be around RM2,100-RM2,200. You have to know how much cash in hand you have before you can start your budgeting. Don’t start spending it right after pay day, trust me, this is a VERY bad decision and you will most likely run out of money before the next payday, spoken from experience as an ex-dumb young kid. Instead, if you want to survive, create a list with the general 50/30/20 rule, which I will explain further.

2. Limit Your Needs To 50%

So basically speaking, we all have to survive, and there are things we MUST spend on, like food, rental, insurance, loans. Stuff like that la, you know what I’m talking about, all that “adult sh*t”. When you are making your 50/30/20 list, this one is your top priority. Take a moment to calculate everything you need to pay, and make sure you only spend 50% of your income on it. If your net income is RM2,100 then you can spend up to RM1,050 on your needs. Try your best to not exceed that, for the sake of your comfort and survival.

3. Limit Your Shopping To 30%

This 30% is your livelihood. It is meant to be spent on making your life better, making you actually enjoy and be yourself. One you are done paying all the “adult sh*t” you can do the fun stuff. Wanna go drinking, go ahead! Wanna go dating, yeah man! Wanna go shopping or travel, you do you girl! Just always remember to budget yourself. So, again if your net income is RM2,100 then you can only spend up to RM630 on things you enjoy. If you want to buy something more expensive than that, you should try to save up for it. I know it’s tempting to reach for that credit card, but think to yourself, is that item really worth it for you to suffer for the next few years because of MORE payments needed in your 50%? Let’s be real here guys, we want to enjoy but let’s not make our lives more difficult than it already is because of impulse.

4. Save Or Invest 20% Of Your Salary

This one is actually lowkey the most important. Why? Because it is your rainy day funds. Putting your money somewhere so it can grow by itself means that one day if you kena anything you won’t be pulling your hairs out for a solution. Trust me, it WILL save your life sooner or later. If you are one of those blessed ones that will never have unexpected problems in your life, then by the time you retire, you are going to be bloody rich because of the long term saving that you are doing. A lot of people try to kill 2 birds with 1 stone by putting their money in a long term savings and insurance plan. Means while paying for your insurance, you are also putting your money in a savings account that has interest. If you ever meet an accident or need money, you have it, if you don’t then you will be rich later on in life.

Here's a quick cheat sheet for you <3

Overall though, this is not a hard and fast rule, it is just some form of sharing. You yourself, as an adult, need to be disciplined and decide what are your needs and wants, while thinking about your future. Adulting and living our lives isn’t something we are prepared for, but now that we are in this, we are in this TOGETHER, so let’s just help each other out and make our lives slightly less difficult. :)