Cost cutting

Today marks another milestone in our married life. We decided to cut cost in all ways that we could. Having been challenged to give to church missions with a substantial sum from our partly salary, both wife & me took some drastic measures to save any money we could. They are:

1. Cook our own dinner as much as possible. The average amount we spend on homecook dinner is RM5/meal consisting of chicken & vegetables. Eating out with similar dishes & lesser portions would cost RM12.
Advantages: Save RM7/meal.
Disadvantages: More time spent in the kitchen.

2. Ride the bike as much as possible. My wife travels about 20km daily to work, and that translates about RM200/month just on fuel alone. We decided that I should fetch her to work on the bike every morning. Advantages: We'll save about RM150 petrol money every month.
Disadvantages: I gotta wake up more earlier.

3. Save money on news: I have already stopped buying newspapers and reading the online version. Wife started following my footsteps since last week. Money saved: RM70/ month.

4. Reduce phone bills: We downgraded our phone plans to the cheapest possible. Wife using pre-paid now and I am on DIGI RM50 plan. As for internet using Digi EDGE RM58/month plan.

There are more steps we can take to save cost. One of the things we are thinking about is whether we should sleep in the living room where it is cooler so that we don't have to turn on the air-condition. We shall see.