iMoney.my Releases Survey Results on Raya Spending Behaviours in Malaysia; Advices by AKPK

Oct 1, 2013 (Tue): A nationwide online survey conducted by Malaysia’s leading financial comparison website, iMoney.my, has resulted in some revealing insights regarding festive spending behaviours by Malaysians.

The survey, opened to over 150,000 monthly visitors of www.imoney.my and some 28,000 followers of iMoney.my on Facebook, was conducted by the iMoney research team between August and September 2013 for the purpose of evaluating Malaysians’ attitude towards festive spending.

Amongst some of the key findings were:

  • More than 10% respondents had to resort to borrowing money for the purpose of celebrating Hari Raya.
  • Over 15% respondents had spent more than RM3,000 on top of their normal expenditure for the Raya holidays.
  • Over 50% respondents agreed that they spent the most on Food and Festive Shopping during the Raya holidays, followed by Gifts and Transport, in that particular order.

Full statistical results from the online survey are as follow:

Amount Spent During the Raya Holidays On Top of Normal Expenditure

RM0 – 1k

18.12%

RM1k – 2k

49.66%

RM2k – 3k

16.78%

Above RM3k

15.44%

Highest Spending Items During the Raya Holidays

(Participants are allowed to choose more than one category)

Transport

32.21%

Food

55.70%

Festive Shopping

51.01%

Home Decoration

6.71%

Gifts

35.57%

Others

14.77%

Borrowed Money for the Purpose of the Raya Holidays

Yes

11.41%

No

88.59%

Avenues Where Money was Borrowed from for the Purpose of the Raya Holidays

Credit card

64.71%

Friends / family

11.76%

Loans from banks

17.65%

Others

5.88%

*Note: the above are actual statistical findings tabulated from responses by iMoney.my readers and facebook followers in an online survey.

iMoney Co-founder Ching Wei Lee said the survey results “were encouraging, in view that a majority of 88.59% of respondents have displayed sufficient financial restraint in choosing not to borrow money for the purpose of celebrating a festive occasion”.

“However, one result of note is that over 64% of respondents who had borrowed money for the Raya holidays had done so using the credit card – perhaps an indication of how easy it is to spend beyond your means with a card in hand,” Ching said. “Add to this the finding from Nielson Global Survey of Investment Attitudes 2012 that only 47% of Malaysians pay their credit card bills in full; and it shows that we Malaysians probably still have a long way to go when it comes to the matter of card debt in our society”.

The Credit Counselling and Debt Management Agency (“AKPK”), an agency set up by Bank Negara Malaysia to help individuals take control of their financial situation, agreed that Malaysians are generally “unable to run away from expenses and are faced with great temptation to overspend during the festive seasons”.

“From experience, we have noticed a trend of a slight increase in the number of people who seek our counseling services post-festive seasons,” said Azman bin Hasim, AKPK’s General Manager of Corporate Services Division. “That number will usually normalize after a few months.”

“With the rising cost of living, most Malaysians do face financial pressure in various degrees, so it is important we begin spending money more prudently,” he added. “Basic money management measures such as having a monthly budget and sticking to it, living within your means and taking loans only for productive reasons will go a long way in helping people steer clear of unmanageable debts.”

Moving on, iMoney.my is planning on undertaking future researches on various money topics related to Malaysians, as well as working with official bodies such as AKPK to help educate the Malaysian public on personal finance. All studies and financial articles by iMoney.my are available to members of the public for FREE at www.imoney.my/articles.

Author: Terry KS

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