As a consumer, there are many ways one can reduce cost. Obviously things like swithing from taking taxis everywhere to using public transport. For me, a taxi ride home from school amounts to $10 on average whereas the bus fare is about $0.50(I think. See, in other words, in comparison to a taxi fare, the bus fare is so small, i do not even know what the exact figure is). There are alot of small things you can do to make a big change. Saving $2 a day means $64 saved a month. So here are a few examples of ways to save money during the recession as well as what i think could be done to save a bit more for the very rainy days that are to come...I hope the examples are can give you an idea of what the GURU thinks YOU should do to save money in this down turn
Fassler smoked salmon- Yes I love smoked salmon. No wait, i adore it. Usually, we are allowed 2 large packets a month. This means $15.40 a month. Now we get 1 packet a month. That is $15.40 already saved a month. The good thing about this is that you are not completely depriving your self, so you do not feel too lousy about it, because you are just getting a smaller portion.
Fresh milk-a luxury we no longer indulge in! We now stick to the UHT stuff. 1 packet of of Fairprice UHT milk costs $1.75 whereas one packet of fresh milk is $5.70. The price difference is $3.95. If you go through 2 packets a week, that is $31.60 saved a month.
All these things are elastic goods. There are other alternatives for smoked salmon and it is not essential for survival. Smoked salmon can be considered a luxury good which makes it an elastic good. Therefore, when it comes to the crunch these items such as fresh milk and smolked salmon can be forgone.
These are examples of small things you can do that amount to big changes. There are also many other things you can do to help save money.
Tip 2:
Like it or not, the biggest cost is the work force. However, I think that instead of decreasing the number of workers, the number of hours can be decreased instead. This way, costs are lowered, but people are still kept in their jobs and have an income though it might be lowered. This is what the company my father works for did. Since the demand is lowered, (for example, Hyundai has had demand in korea fall by 60%) there is no point in producing more. I think the first step would be to reduce the number of working hours. The second step would be to cut workers. For example, Hyundai in Korea has plans to cut 10% of its workforce by the end of the month. This helps cut losses and maximise profits in this economic climate. (news.bbc.co.uk)
I think if one has been buying expensive stuff, it is easy to see where to cut down. What happens for someone who has already been budgeting and scrimping to the max? Sometimes I wonder why the world cares about profits than people and the side effects from cutting labour.
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