6 Things You Should Start Doing To Cope With Rising Inflation

Grocery prices are going through the roof and most of us feel the pinch. Well, to be honest, a pinch is an understatement, recent inflation rates feel like a punch instead! If you’re anything like us, check out 6 things you should start doing to cope with rising inflation in this article.

Re-evaluate your expenses

It's time to revise your expense tracker! We’re not suggesting you do a major expense cut like move to a cheaper apartment or sell off your car, but simply reassess the RM10 coffee you have to get every morning, the snacks you always buy during lunch break and all the unwatch streaming services you’ve been subscribing to.

Related: Streaming Services In Malaysia: Compare Packages And Pricing.

These small expenses normally add up and cause a significant impact on your overall budget. So take a step back and evaluate your daily expenses. Consider cutting these items from your monthly budget to save more!

Maintain your monthly savings

While we do recommend that you reevaluate your expenses and budget, that doesn’t mean that you should reduce your monthly savings. Maintain your monthly savings especially in times like these because you never know when you might be in need of emergency funds. If you can’t add to your monthly savings during this period, at least try to maintain it.

Diversify your income

The next thing you should start doing to cope with the rising inflation is to find a side hustle to help supplement your income. Do you have hobbies or skills that can generate income? Time to make full use of it!

Related: 8 Side Jobs for Malaysians to Earn Extra Money

Although your initial intention to take up a part-time job is to make more money, remember to look for opportunities that interest you and can help improve your skills as well. This way you’ll always learn something new, and improve yourself!

Plan your weekends

Most of us tend to spend extra money during the weekend to unwind from work and studies. For example, cafe hopping, watching movies at the cinema and unplan spa sessions - can add up to your monthly expenses in the long run.

Moving forward, you can try to fill your weekends with affordable or better yet, free activities! Create fun challenges that you can enjoy with your loved ones such as the famous TikTok’s Egg Peel Challenge and blindfold drawing challenge. Click here for more ideas.

Practise comparing prices to cope with inflation

Some grocers really take advantage of the inflation rate and use that as a reason to mark up the prices of goods. If you have a favourite place to shop for groceries, try to compare prices with nearby grocery stores. You might also want to consider buying your groceries online as they normally offer discounts and deals for online purchases.

This practise doesn’t only apply to your groceries, try to make it a habit to do so whenever you want to purchase anything.

Make full use of your credit card

Most credit cards come with perks and benefits. For example, the Standard Chartered JustOne Platinum Mastercard offers up to 15% Cashback on Petrol, groceries, e-Market Place, and e-Wallet. Be sure to utilise all the perks during this period to get the most value out of each cent you spend.

Check out a wide selection of credit cards from major banks, here.

It's important to stay vigilant during times like these. While we can’t really do much to solve the inflation issue, we can try to implement all the suggestions above to cope with rising inflation!