wmafendi.com

Laalitha Hunt gives very good writing about consumers buying attitude at this moment.

THE many price hikes in Malaysia over the past year have had a very damaging effect on household finances, and most families have found it difficult to make ends meet each month due to the rising cost of living.

Food inflation is particularly a pressure on many budgets, adding hundreds of ringgit onto the annual grocery bills.

Although in recent months, commodity prices had come off from their highs at the global level, retail prices locally have yet to see the impact.

The financial strain felt by households means that many have had to look for different ways to cut back on costs, and one avenue is to reduce the amount they spend on their shopping.

According to mother of two toddlers, Prishna Vasanthakumar, she and her husband had cut their monthly grocery bills by about 20% since the middle of last year.

“As a result, we were able to save about RM200 each month. We have put the money aside in case of emergencies,” she shares.

Shamani Nadaraja, 30, says she always compares prices of groceries at various supermarkets and hypermarkets by going through the newspapers.

She then shops where the goods are cheaper. “Besides buying in bulk, I try to get the best deal possible by buying from several outlets,” she adds.

However, when petrol prices shot up last year, she limited her weekly shopping to the outlet offering the best promotion for that particular week. This way, she saved on travelling costs.

“By cutting out unnecessary travel, I was able to reduce my monthly fuel costs from RM600 to RM400 last year,” she notes.

Shamani, a mother of two, says she and her family now dine out only once or twice a month instead of weekly. “I cook more often now instead of eating out. As for entertainment, we play more board games such as chess and monopoly,” she adds.

In addition, there are less frequent family holidays. “We used to travel every three months but now we travel only once a year,” she says, adding that she makes advance airline ticket bookings, which enables her family to save up to 60% on fares.

Since the economic downturn, Shamani, who is fond of gold jewellery, has postponed purchases of these luxury items because the price of the precious metal had spiked to record highs last year.

Meanwhile, Mabel Lim, 24, and single, has been controlling her impulsive shopping habits in order to cope with her new car loan payments.

Lim, a first-time car owner, says she has saved about RM200 a month by cutting down on her shopping sprees.

“At the same time, I am able to manage my new car loan instalment of RM500 a month with my current salary,” she adds.

According to a recent report by OSK Research, the poor global macroeconomic outlook, coupled with rising retrenchments, will result in consumers being more cautious in their spending as the threat of losing their jobs exerts pressure on discretionary spending.

“This would lead to consumers downtrading to cheaper substitutes,” adds the research outfit.

The report also says recent survey data indicates that people are generally more cautious in their spending and have taken measures to counter the slowdown, including those in the higher salary segment with average monthly incomes of more than RM7,000.

“From the survey, about 90% of those in the higher income segment claimed that the current outlook would have an impact on their spending habit,” the report says.