“WE ARE SPENDING RM200 A WEEK ON GROCERIES. COMPARATIVELY, WE PAID LESS THAN RM100 ABOUT 18 MONTHS AGO FOR THE SAME NUMBER OF ITEMS,”

Families feeling the pinch due to higher costs

PETALING JAYA: Administrative clerk Zainab Suboh wants the Government to take into consideration the reality on the ground when formulating policies as the rising cost of living is putting a heavy constraint on her household budget.

“Every time I go to the supermarket I find that I can only buy less and less items with my RM200 monthly budget for groceries,” she said.

Zainab, 32, said the Government must put the rakyat first when implementing policies.

“The interest of the people should come first. Right now we are not feeling it because we are overwhelmed by financial constraints because of the rising cost of living,” she said.

Zainab and her husband Md Fadzli Adnan, 33, earn a total of RM4,000 a month.

“We live in a low-cost flat with three children aged two, nine and 10. I also have to spend RM300 a month on diapers and baby formula,” she added.

She said that the baby formula was quite expensive, adding that the Government should look into providing subsidy for baby formula because infants need good nutrition for healthy growth.

Lawyer Ron Tan, 44, said he and his wife Tan Su Yin, 40, who is a bank officer, find that their monthly savings keep decreasing by the year.

“This is because of the higher inflation rate. We have to pay for essential goods and that substantially cut into our savings.

“We are spending RM200 a week on groceries. Comparatively, we paid less than RM100 about 18 months ago for the same number of items,” he said.

Su Yin said people could not cope with a minimal increase in salary, high inflation rate and low interest rate.

“We are opting to invest rather than putting the bulk of our savings in fixed deposits,” she said, adding that their combined income totalled RM25,000.

“We are investing for our retirement. Most of the working class people will have no money for their retirement,” she added.

A single mother, who only wants to be known as Mellycka, 43, is feeling the pinch even with earning RM5,000 a month.

Mellycka, a writer with two children aged three and eight, said the bulk of her salary went to housing loan and car instalments, and children and household expenditure including utility bills.

She said she hardly had money left and found herself resorting to using credit cards after settling her bills.

Mellycka finds it an arduous task to cut down expenses because prices of goods had gone up by 15% to 20%.

“I just can’t afford to go out. Once I step out of the house, I have to pay for everything from petrol to parking fees to meals.”

Vivek, a human resource manager, said despite having a household income of RM7,000, he and his wife were feeling the pinch.

“We have to service loans for two cars and a house, which account for 45% of our total monthly income. We spend about RM1,200 on groceries,” said the 43-year-old father of one child.

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