GAP #1 - Big Breakfast

The Great Austerity Plan has begun.

They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day. So let's start cutting from there.

Photo Source: pufflist.blogspot.com

Economic bee hoon is one of my favourite breakfast choices. Bee hoon. Egg. Fish fillet. Luncheon meat. Some chilli by the side.

But it is rich in oil, cholesterol and increasingly heavy on the pockets. That combi would cost perhaps $2++. Excluding kopi gao.

So, out goes non-economic bee hoon. And its variants such as nasi lemak.

In comes three like-minded friends who will take their place in my stomach for the next 30 days.

Introducing Skippy, Nutella and Kaya. 3 different spreads to give some variety to my bread.

Weighing a total of 340g, Skippy costs me $3.80.

Following his peanut brethren is Nutella at a heftier $5.05.

And local brands always cost the least with Glory Nonya Kaya coming in at a transfer fee of $2.65 for 400g of squeeze.

That's a $11.50 for 3 spreads.

The kaya has to be consumed within 1 month after opening, so we'll give all three a go for 30 days.

Of course, we'll need some good ol' Gardenia bread to go along with them.

Hello breakfast!

After-note: To inject some joy into one's life, every Monday shall be a "kill the blues, buy some bee hoon" day.

The Great Austerity Plan

With the economy looking like a W, possibly double-double-U, it is with great pleasure (pain) that I'm announcing that I am going to be implementing austerity measures in my life.

Yakki, a great advocate of austerity, will chuckle at me crossing the line, joining him on the dark side of the money world, but I will have no shame in declaring my need to deficit-cut.

In times like these, it is important to track all austerity measures to determine if they're feasible and/or useful.

First up, restricting daily expenditure to $X/day, where X is undisclosed. With a tight budget like $X/day, it is critical that every cent of change is accounted for. You'll be amazed what you can do with cents.

Do not belittle coins.

Coins make dollars.