Eat First Before Going Shopping Tip

By Nurrul Huda Ahmad Lutfi KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 13 (Bernama) -- Eat first before you go shopping because a hungry individual tends to make purchases on a whim. This is the advice of Dr Baayah Baba, senior lecturer at the Department of Economics, Faculty of Business Management, Mara University of Technology (UiTM). She revealed the information when offering tips on how to exercise thrift in the wake of the reduction of the government subsidy for RON95 petrol and diesel by 20 sen per litre and RON97 petrol by 15 sen per litre. Baayah suggested that consumers make purchases with cash rather than use their credit cards to ensure that they were not burdened with huge bills to settle later. "Don't tell me you want to use the credit card to buy shampoo or stuff for the kitchen? Those who have many credit cards should try to cut down on the number and keep just one," she told Bernama. Baayah also said that consumers should set their priorities in terms of personal and family expenditure. "They should exercise greater efficiency in managing their finances. For example, they should take along a list of the items to buy so as to avoid making unnecessary purchases," she said. She said a family which had more than one car should consider sharing one vehicle when going to work or outings so as to save on fuel. She also said that the people should also make use of public transportation to cut down on fuel expenses. Besides subsidising fuel prices, the government also exercises control over the prices of goods such as cooking oil, wheat flour, bread and rice to keep the cost of living low. Prof Dr Amir Hussin Baharuddin, lecturer at the School of Economics, Finance and Banking of University Utara Malaysia (UUM), said the increase in fuel prices was linked to inflation. He said the people should strategise their spending and those who encountered problems should seek the guidance and advice of the Credit Counselling and Debt Management Agency for more efficient financial management. Meanwhile, Aini Hassan, 52, said the government should adopt the best approach to help low-income single mothers to face price increases. Private sector employee Baharudin Bukhari, 30, said the government should have an effective method to ensure that the low-income group was not burdened by a higher cost of living following the fuel price rise. He also called for firm action by the authorities to prevent traders from raising prices of goods at their whims and fancies. -- BERNAMA