A Malaysian earning RM8,000 a month has shared how housing, car and daily expenses leave him with only about RM300 in actual monthly savings, prompting him to make the difficult decision to seek work in Singapore.
According to Sin Chew Daily, the 30-year-old said his gross monthly salary of RM8,000 falls to around RM6,800 after deductions for EPF, SOCSO and income tax.
He said his fixed monthly commitments include a RM2,100 housing loan, RM500 car instalment, RM530 insurance, RM213 phone bill and around RM1,500 for food, petrol and other daily necessities.
After paying these expenses, he is left with approximately RM1,957 each month.
However, he said the figure does not reflect several expenses that only come up periodically throughout the year. These include RM1,800 for car insurance and road tax, RM1,500 for vehicle maintenance, RM1,000 for medical and dental expenses, RM1,000 for festive spending and RM1,300 in property-related taxes.
Once those costs are taken into account, he estimated that he was able to save only about RM3,700 a year, equivalent to roughly RM300 a month.
The man said his ability to save was also heavily dependent on the size of his annual bonus, making it difficult to build up meaningful savings.
Although he is single and currently able to support himself, he said the prospect of getting married and having children has become a source of financial anxiety.
He said future expenses such as milk powder, diapers and education costs made starting a family appear increasingly difficult to afford.
As a result, he decided to move to Singapore for work, saying the decision was not driven by a desire for a luxurious lifestyle but by the need to ease the financial pressure he felt in Malaysia.
“It’s not because I have huge ambitions, but because under the cost of living here, I feel like I have no other choice,” he said.
His experience has since sparked discussion online, with some agreeing that an RM8,000 salary may no longer provide the level of financial comfort it once did, particularly for those carrying significant housing and vehicle commitments.
