Money, where did you go?
We know we keep saying that we're broke, but after reading this report, we found out that there are a lot of people out there who are having it worse than us.A recent Khazanah Research Institute (KRI) study revealed that every month, the average lower-income household in Malaysia has barely enough to survive after household expenses are deducted.
It's, like, really, really bad!
According to The Star Online, these households -- categorised under the bottom 40% (B40) income group in the country because they are earning less than RM2,000 a month -- only have RM76 to spare, after deductions, in 2016.
As comparison, these households have a residual income of RM124 in 2014.
The reason for the sharp decline? They were forced to spend more of their income on household items.
The study revealed that these households are spending 95 per cent of their total income on consumption items in 2016 compared to 2014, when the same households spend 'only' 92 per cent of their income on daily items.
So, what's the cause behind this worrying trend?
The report indicated that the rising cost of living is mainly to be blamed for the increase in household expenditure, so #ThanksNajib.
In fact, the report revealed that the high cost of living has affected not only the B40, but all income groups as well.
The real residual household income has, according to the report, reduced for all income classes. For example, households earning above RM15,000 has a real residual income of RM13,100 in 2016, down from RM14,458 in 2014.
Sigh, we guess we just have to spend our money wisely from now on. No more RM16 Caramel Frappuccino® from Starbucks from now on.