I remember when I was a little kid, I always looked forward to Raya Aidilfitri. Raya is a fun happy occasion for kids. The family gathering, the food, the mercun, the lights, the long trips balik kampung, school holidays, and all those fun stuff. And of course, DUIT RAYA. Every time I received duit raya in sampul, I couldn’t wait to get myself out of the giver’s sight to see how much I got. Then throughout the day, we, the kids would gather from time to time to see how much each of us has collected. And then…
I became an adult.
Oh wow how different Raya is as a grown adult! The family gathering, the food, the mercun, the lights, the long trips balik kampung, school holidays, and all those fun stuff, ACTUALLY require a lot of money! Talking about a change of perspective, huh?
RAYA IN A PANDEMIC
Despite celebrating Raya in a pandemic and MCO, I believe all are still spending money this year. Especially parents with kids, of course you guys want to see your kids happy with new baju raya and Raya food, right?
Heck, even *I* still wanted baju raya! And rendang. And ketupat. And kuih raya. I won’t let the pandemic and MCO take that away from me!
SAVING FOR RAYA
So having learned from my past Raya experiences, I started saving for Raya since last October. I saved RM200 per month using Maybank sinking fund feature and by the end of it in April, I have RM1,500 saved up! It’s such a relief to not have to stress out about forking out a big sum of money in one go out of my savings/account.
I’m not qualified to give financial advice but if you have trouble saving money, a sinking fund is the way to go!
I would save more for balik kampung expenses if not because I still got a sum of money in my Air Asia’s credit account for cancelled Raya flights last year in 2020. I was thinking of redeeming it if we’re to travel to my grandparents’ kampung this year. But it didn’t happen. Again. PKP. Again.
SPENDING FOR RAYA
As a single adult, I don’t spend as much as those with kids. But I’m still spending money for Raya.
1. My baju raya = RM69
So cheap right? Didn’t actually intend to buy anew if not because I came across Gene Martino’s off-season clearance baju raya sale. So I grabbed one. Hehe I’m proud of this. No other new Raya apparel than that.
But let me tell you something, puasa has been a non-stop internal battle for me. I got soooooooo close to buying baju raya online from many online shops and online shopping platforms but I managed to stop myself each time before payment. Phew. But so close I tell you.
2. Baju raya for parents = RM259
I got new baju raya for my parents as well.
3. Mercun for siblings = RM102
I just bought bunga api, mercun pop kind of mercun, and the Harry Potter wand type of mercun. Those are as safe as mercun could get.
4. Kuih raya for family = RM190
Not much spent on kuih raya this year. My mom didn’t let me buy much to avoid waste. No ziarah menziarah kan.
5. Duit raya = RM880
I should’ve given another RM8 so I could have an ong year – RM888.
As I didn’t spend much on other things, I gave out duit raya to family and friends’ kids (I FEEL OLD I SWEAR I’M NOT EVEN THAT OLD BUT WHY EVERYONE IS HAVING KIDS ALREADY). By the way, I think online transfer has become our way of giving out duit raya as millennials huh?
ALL IN ALL
I spent all of my RM1,500. I actually made it a point to make sure I spent every sen. On treating family and giving duit raya. Yay mission succeeds!
Anyway, I’m grateful for the privilege of having money to celebrate Raya and treat others this year. I’m also very grateful as I got to spend Raya with family when many couldn’t. I hope we can end this pandemic AND THE ENDLESS CYCLE OF MCOs.
And Selamat Hari Raya everyone! How’s your Raya(‘s spending)?
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