Noob and clueless about my financial skills

[sweetascandy1990]

I am 25/F my net salary is 4.5k as a government sector -I have zero commitment other than 800 for rent and I tried to save up money around 1k in TH in the bank but that was it . Yet , I still broke most of the time probably because the way I spent money on cafe food and stress shopping on shopee . Kinda scared because my parents kept telling me with the amount of money they can raise me but I can’t even raise myself enough with it . I also want to save up money for my postgraduate and travel in the future . As you can see I am sort of clueless and new financially as I just started my job 5 months back -Need opinion and suggestions so I don’t go broke in the future , save up / organised / invest .

 

[mlorrainee]

@sweetascandy1990 Record/Track all your spending and decide where to cut down. You can track it in an app/excel or even on a booklet. Not "agak agak" but record every spending down. You are the only person that can help improve your situation.

 

[nathilidou]

@mlorrainee People will be surprised at how little thing they buy, which didn't feel significant at first, actually do add up.

 

[sweetascandy1990]

@nathilidou Can confirmed this is actually what happened towards the end of the month -

 

[aimee3915]

@sweetascandy1990 I am using Monefy(app in Google Play Store) to track my spendings. It's pretty useful since its easy to use and you can just use it for free

 

[untilthewholeworldhears]

@mlorrainee That plus remove all cards on shopping apps like Lazada or Shopee if you found yourself unknowingly bought a lot of stuff that you don't need but want. I was in the similar situation before and formed a very bad impulsive purchase behavior back then, and I curb it down by doing these.

 

[resjudicata]

@untilthewholeworldhears Also delete all shopping apps. Only download again when necessary

 

[sweetascandy1990]

@untilthewholeworldhears Yea but the thing is most of the time I only shop im shopee for basic stuffs it’s kinda hassle to reinstall it

 

[resjudicata]

@mlorrainee Use monefy app but it takes discipline to track all purchases

 

[abbyzowabby]

@mlorrainee Yes, tracking is the way. I think it's better to write physically rather than using app/excel, but you do you OP. I think someone posted last month in the sub regarding Kakeibo. That really resonated with me. You could check out that way of budgeting.

 

[sweetascandy1990]

@abbyzowabby Will definitely do !! Because I feel like physical journal works on me since the digital method sort
Of didn’t work out . Used to have moneyfy then I just forgot about it

 

[abbyzowabby]

@sweetascandy1990 Same.... My brain appears to like analogue better. Maybe it's just a result of writing down notes all this time from all the years studying. I can't remember unless I physically write something with some colours. A visual and hands on type learner

 

[sweetascandy1990]

@mlorrainee I might be spending my time on how to to excel instead haha . You caught me there with my agak2 habit , I feel like physical journal is actually better for me than the digital one . Might take that onto consideration -my parents suggested buku 555

 

[mlorrainee]

@sweetascandy1990 I use an app called money manager n record everything immediately. Remember not to skip the tracking

 

[abbyzowabby]

@sweetascandy1990 Buku 555, now that's really old school!

 

[gladysbrierley]

@sweetascandy1990 50:30:20 rule

50% of your income = for paying commitments (rents, loans, bills)

another 30% = for leisure & entertainment (your shopping spree, movies, etc)

20% = savings.

Try your best to discipline yourself with following this ratio. if your commitments is not even 50% of your income, that's good, more money for savings then.

seems you're just starting, so my advise is to follow the above rule & save up till you have an emergency savings totaling up to your 6 months of expenses. You can use your TH account as your emergency saving account if you want. Once your emergency savings target crossed off, you can use explore other investment options as well, if you like.

 

[sweetascandy1990]

@gladysbrierley Thank you will surely to do this and see how it goes !!

 

[animatingspirit]

@gladysbrierley Isn't 30% on entertainment a bit high? Isn't it better to save 30% and spend only 20% on entertainment?

 

[gladysbrierley]

@animatingspirit that's entirely up to your own preference. it's more of a guidance instead of a must-follow rule.

even myself don't really have much spending/commitments, so my monthly finances are more or less 20% commitments: 15% leisure: 65% saving/investment

 

[bonnie99]

@sweetascandy1990 sorry out of topic, but I never knew that gov could pay rm 4.5k for a 25 y/o..It’s pretty high in my opinion. are you a fresh grad or did you come in with experience?