Family
• Kun Siang is an only child
• Lives with his parents


Expenditure:

Type                                         Area of expense                                     Cost
Food                                    Market (Eating at home)                            $360
                                                  Eating out                                            $240
Transport                               Public transport                                         $60
                                                      Car                                                  $240
Household                                Necessities                                            $350
                                           Leisure/Entertainment                                  $250
                                            Family Outings                                           $100
Bills                                      Credit Card bill                                         $350
                                              Utilities bill                                               $400
                                              Phone bills                                               $150
                                                                                              TOTAL: $2500

Income:
Father: $1900 (Admin. Manager)
Mother: $1600 (Tuition teacher)
Total Income: $3500

Savings: $3500 – $2500
= $1000

With the economic crisis, Kun Siang’s household needs to save up more money, such that if anything worse happens, they will have money to fall back on. How?

Cutting costs

Food

Though his household’s expenditure is such that it spends more on eating at home than eating out, it is notable that eating out is always the more expensive option. His family will be able to save a tidy sum by eating self-cooked food more often. By right, savings could increase by at least $50 if his family ate out less.

Transport

It can be seen that Kun Siang’s family spends four times more money on the car than for public transport. Though slower, taking public transport can help to save quite a lot. Taking public transport costs a dollar or two each time. On the other hand, driving has parking fees, road tax, fuel, maintenance, and the occasional fine. Clearly, public transport is going to cut a lot of expenses, at least $100.

Household

To spend $250 on simply leisure and entertainment is quite a huge sum. Perhaps his household could sacrifice some of their comforts, and enjoy themselves in a cheaper but still satisfactory way. For example, his family could lavish themselves less on clothing, and save that money up for a rainy day. The same can be said of going to the arcades thrice a week, watching movies every week, or spending money for another laptop despite having another one. This can save up to $250.

Bills

Kun Siang’s household has alarmingly high bills. The credit card bill shows a tendency of his family to splurge on perhaps unnecessary items, and the best way to lower it is to simply have self-control.
As for the utilities bill, spending $400 for a family of three is a lot. To cut down on this bill, the easiest solution is to save more electricity and water. Everyday things like turning off the tap, reusing clean water, showering instead of bathing, replacing faulty pipes and taps, and using a pail instead of a hose to clean the car, is going to save a lot of water. Electricity can be saved by switching off appliances when not in use, using the fan instead of the air-con, and not wasting it by staying up all night on the computer just to play computer games and listening to music. This will be effective in reducing the utilities bill, by at least $250.
As for the phone bill, $150 is also quite high. Simple things like not overspending your phone plans, by having the common sense not to send more messages or make more calls than was allowed, will cut this bill by at least $100.


New Savings

Current savings/month= 1000+100+100+250+250= 1800.

Increase in savings= 1800-1000= 800

posted by blackfire123 at 9:42 PM