Hello Grasshoppa,

Chinese New Year is coming soon & as usual this is the time where some people may start to worry about their expenses or will enjoy their shopping for CNY. Some may be excited for this festive season since this is when our family members will gather together & some may even be worried about the “annual questions” where your uncles & aunties will ask you. LOL. KL will be empty while other parts will be full of cars & traffic will be crazy on North-South highway.

Some people will usually keep their year end bonus for festive season like this where they will be giving money to their parents or loved ones & buying groceries & clothes. As a Chinese, this is the time where I usually spend most of my money giving pocket money to my mum for grocery shopping, spending it for my CNY clothes & giving to my loved ones.

There are plenty of unavoidable expenses during this time but how do we actually control our expenses to ensure we spend it wisely? I think that giving within your means is something that needed to be watched out for. It can be from giving money to your parents, grocery shopping, clothes shopping or even “angpow”. It should be planned well by allocating a proper budget.

Example :
1. Parents : RM500
2. CNY Clothes : RM200
3. Grocery : RM300
4. Angpow : RM300
5. Miscellaneous : RM200

*It depends on your budget & also your marriage status.

Those are the expenses that you will usually spend during CNY. With those standard expenses that we usually need to pay during CNY, how do we actually spend wisely & avoid overspending?

Planning Ahead
At times like these, it may be quite late for you to plan ahead but you may use this next year. December is usually a good time for clothing sales & you may buy ahead before CNY season to have better deals. Same goes for household item. They may have good deals from time to time.

Make Comparison
I am sure that your neighbourhood have plenty of grocery shopping center such as Tesco or Giant. You may even buy some grocery online & just pay for their delivery fees. There are plenty of apps such as Hargapedia or SmartShopper where you are able to compare groceries price.

Create A Buying List
Whenever you buy groceries or clothes, always create a list of items you really need to avoid spending extra. This may be hard but it’s better to have a list to avoid over spending.

Entertainment Expenses
It can be from catching up with your buddies for a drinking session or some other “friendly match”. I’ve seen some of my friends actually lost plenty of money during the “friendly match” so it is best to avoid those matches. Try to minimize those gambling expenses as it may cost you more money than your other expenses.

Conclusion :

CNY is coming soon & this is the time where most Chinese get excited for their family gathering . Those who are still receiving angpow, this can be your best time to collect & invest your money to investment such as Gold. That was what I did to my last year angpow. LOL. Anyway, Happy Chinese New Year in advance to all of you.

OSS!