Hello Grasshoppa,
Since the pandemic started & we had to go through multiple MCO, what are the biggest change in your spending? The most obvious that we observed is on our online shopping. Personally, I am not the biggest online shopping guy but while getting my new house fully ready, I am spending my money buying stuff on Shopee including detergent & other household products. During this period, the e-commerce business definitely benefitted a lot from this pandemic. Aside from buying stuff online, I have also noticed other changes in my spending but in terms of the amount of money spent, there is no significant increase or decrease in terms of the total spending.
What Spending Have Increased?
Online Shopping
I have at least 2-3 items arrived from Shopee or another website each week but most of the most significant spending from Shopee is for my 9-month-old car & my new house.
Food Delivery
My spending for FoodPanda & GrabFood has increased during this period. Since there is not much dine out during this period, I am ordering my meal to my home & office.
Groceries
Aside from not eating out as much as before, I do prepare my own meal sometimes at home.
Sanitising Wipes
Since mask & sanitisers are provided by my company, my only expenses of sanitization item is sanitising wipes which I use mainly to wipe my phones, wallet, watch & other items whenever I am home.
Monthly Subscription
Aside from subscribing to Canva & GoogleDrive for my business, I have recently subscribed to HBO Go to watch Justice League. With the launch of Disney+, I will definitely unsubscribe to HBO Go & start my subscription with Disney+.
What Spending Have Decreased?
Petrol
Since I don’t travel as much as I used to travel previously for work or other reason, my petrol consumption has reduced.
Travelling
I used to travel at least twice a year to other neighbouring countries mainly Thailand. Aside from that, I will also be travelling for BJJ competition. I haven’t been travelling since December 2019. Even for local travelling, the further I went was to Cameron in August 2020.
Formal Clothing
I used to buy lots of formal wear for my work but with the pandemic, there is lesser face to face meeting. That means that I don’t need to wear formal clothes on daily basis except when I meet my customer during face to face meeting.
Sports-Related Item
I used to shop a lot for items related to workout & BJJ. I may have still shop for it but it is lesser compare to pre-pandemic.
Eating Out
90% of my meals are usually out & due to pandemic, I am either ordering in or preparing my own meal.
Conclusion:
It’s been more than 1 year since the pandemic happens. There are multiple lockdowns that are happening in Malaysia & by now, we should be already used to it. It’s the same for our expenses. By now, we should be used to spending our money differently & able to work on the budget better. Whether we are spending our money differently or not, it is most important that we are spending it within our budget & don’t forget to save or invest. While the virus will not disappear & will keep evolving, let’s play our part to stay safe, get vaccinated & move forward with the new normal.
OSS!
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