First Expenses to Cut When Starting to Save

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Indonesian anthropologist Prof. Dr. Semiarto Aji Purwanto believes that consumptive lifestyles, such as hanging out at expensive places to impulsive shopping, are the types of expenditure most feasible to reduce when someone wishes to adopt a thrifty or frugal living style. “If we want to live simply, frugal living, clearly the lifestyle whose concept is consuming tertiary goods,” said Semiarto when contacted by ANTARA on Friday. According to the Professor of Anthropology at the University of Indonesia, expenditures related to tertiary needs become one of the parts most easily curbed in daily consumption patterns. He gave examples of habits like hanging out at malls, buying premium coffee, to eating at expensive places as expenditures that can be adjusted according to each person’s ability. He said that a thrifty lifestyle does not mean one cannot enjoy entertainment or certain consumption, but rather the ability to manage spending priorities rationally. “Coffee now ranges in price from Rp5,000 to over Rp100,000. That’s the choice. Adjust life accordingly,” he said. Besides lifestyle expenditures, Semiarto also highlighted the habit of impulse consumption or impulsive buying driven by emotional factors and social media trends. “There’s a discount, hurry up. There’s a flash sale, come on hurry. Or just FOMO (fear of missing out), so-and-so has bought it, why haven’t we,” he stated. According to him, fanaticism towards certain brands or the habit of replacing gadgets too quickly also become expenditures that can be reduced. “Phones can last three to four years, but because every six months there’s a new model, we don’t need to keep replacing them,” said Semiarto. Nevertheless, he believes there are several needs that should not be excessively curbed, such as health, education, as well as needs supporting mobility and internet access. “The difficult ones to reduce are health and education. Usually those are already priorities,” he said. Semiarto added that a thrifty lifestyle fundamentally is not just about reducing expenditures, but consuming something more wisely and according to needs.