Why Saving In Malaysia Is So Hard for Gen Z And Millennials And How To Fix It

The truth is simple: Malaysia’s rising cost of living 📈 has turned everyday expenses into the biggest obstacle 🚧 to saving money. Without a plan to automate savings and optimise spending, surplus shrinks and saving becomes inconsistent.

A small, consistent savings habit beats occasional big cuts.

Daily spending is the silent drain:

• Food 🍲: RM30 – RM50 per day → RM900 – RM1,500 per month 

• Transport 🚗: Petrol, e-hailing, tolls 

• Bills & Subscriptions 📱: Mobile plans, streaming services, utilities

The solution is not deprivation, it’s optimisation. Prioritise unavoidable costs and use tools that give money back.

Most people follow this pattern:

Spend → survive → save if possible

In today’s environment, that rarely works.

✅ Fix: Pay yourself first. Even RM50 or RM100 counts. Treat savings like a non-negotiable bill 🧾.

💡 Pro Tip: 💰 Automate transfers to a savings account on payday. Consistency builds momentum.

Many Malaysians assume petrol expenses can’t be reduced. Wrong.

✅ Fix:

• Utilise Budi95 petrol subsidy if eligible. 

• Use a cash rebate card like 💳 CIMB PETRONAS Credit/Debit Card to get up to 12% cash rebate*  and 3X Mesra Points.

💡 Pro Tip: Transfer the cash rebate into savings immediately. Over a year, this adds up to hundreds of ringgit.

💳 Credit cards do not make people broke, poor planning does.

✅ Fix:

• Use cards only for essentials (petrol ⛽, groceries 🛒, bills 🧾). 

• Pay the full statement balance monthly. 

• Focus on cashback 💰, not rewards that encourage extra spending.

💡 Pro Tip: One card, one purpose. Simplicity = control.

Streaming, music, cloud storage. Individually cheap, collectively expensive.

RM100 – RM200/month → RM1,200 – RM2,400/year.

✅ Fix: Audit subscriptions every 3 months. Cancel unused services or rotate them.

💡 Pro Tip: You do not need to cancel everything, just stop paying for things you forgot existed.

Saving money in Malaysia isn’t hard because you’re irresponsible, it’s hard because daily expenses eat your income. You don’t need extreme budgeting.

Start small:

• Identify unavoidable costs and optimise them

• Use cash rebate cards 💳 and subsidies smartly

• Fix one blind spot at a time 👀

If your income hasn’t increased, the fastest way to save more is not earning more, it’s losing less. Financial awareness is no longer optional, it’s essential 💪.