going the opposite way…

Warning: this is a ‘fuel price hike’ ranting!

Did you feel the crunch yet?

At first, it wasn’t much of a crunch for me. Why? Because I have a small car, running on 6L/100km. Coincidentally, 4th June was the last day of my Basic Japanese Language class. After that, no more traveling to PJ twice weekly, until next class started. And I had also filled up the tank on that day, not knowing the price will increased.

The RM50 filled-up lasted for about 11 days.

Then the nightmare started. The next filled-up was RM75, which was totally expected. What caught me off guard was, it lasted for about 8 days (the classes started again!). Which means my daily fuel consumption is now RM10, therefore, I need to increase my monthly fuel budget from RM200 to RM300. I was already scraping by as it is, so, I took it off my meal budget. It was probably the worst decision ever, because apparently, food prices were also increasing everywhere. Even the 2-for-1 bread deal that I know of at Jusco is hardly available now. So, what a girl with a single limited income to do?

I went on a beige spending.

I was a planner, at least in my personal life. (If it was about my work, I’m a chronic procrastinator). If I decided to buy new shoes, it usually took me about 2 month to buy it as I was saving for it before buying. However, after seeing prices increases left and right, I went on a panic mode and started spending on things that I was planning to buy later. I bought a new pair of shoes, splurge on a western lunch, bought a new dress, 3 pair of pants and a handful of shirts.

And the biggest splurge of all, climbing Mount Fuji in Japan.

This year, I was hoping to climb Mount Fuji when I stumbled upon the Mt Fuji package last year. The package was RM3k. I’d been scrimping for it since last year and I managed to save at least for the package, which not include spending money. However, this year, the package cost ballooned to RM5k. So, I decided, maybe I’ll do it next year instead. This was before the fuel price hike.

After the fuel hike, and learning that this year’s group was a very small group (less than 5) and there might not be any climbing expedition next year, I went into panic mode again & decided to pack my bags and go climb a mountain. Damn you, crude oil! You make me do things I normally hate.

I’ll tell you all about it next time.