Few days after GST and my personal experience

Many friends posted photos of them getting ‘GSTeed’ for the first time right after 1st April 2015. Many friends said that everything is higher priced. I arrived at office and many colleagues said that the even food at foodstalls have increased their price. A friend said that when he went grocery shopping, he felt that the prices are up. One friend posted in Facebook that this GST did give her a benefit. She was buying a new Honda car. Of course, majority of the comments were about how GST has affected them negatively. I have also been paying GST as I have been to cafes, to Starbucks and many other shops.
Assuming one Grande sized Starbucks latte is RM11.50, the 6% GST would meant an extra 70 cents. I usually drink once per week. Thats 70 cents x 52 weeks = RM36.  Well for 2015, I should think of some ways to balance this increase right. I have recently started to eat Oats plus raisins for lunch once per week. My usual lunch bill is around RM10, at the food court. This oats plus raisin lunch should come up to around RM2 per meal. In other words, I get healthier and save RM8 per week. That’s savings of RM416 per year. So, I think I can continue my Starbucks latte for 2015 and beyond.
Yes, there are many things with GST and we CANNOT run away from it. However, we COULD reduce or balance this one time adjustment. Come on, if you are holding an iPhone or a Samsung Note, you know you have other cheaper alternatives of which some are already better in performance. Yes, I am talking about the latest flagship models from OPPO, Xiaomi and even HTC, all of which gives you more for less. Please do not be fooled by all the huge banners telling you about iPhone camera. Think really objectively, why did they HAVE to tell everyone about their camera for the first time this time when all these while, iPhone never ever bothered? Competition has finally arrived, strong too. It may save you even more IF you buy a mid-priced one instead and you save even more.
Oh yeah, today I was at Econsave and I bought a 2.5kg pack of FAB washing powder at only RM8.90. I remember before GST, my wife bought the same pack for about RM11.90. Some retailers are selling at even higher prices. Of course, if you can accept house brands, it would be even cheaper. Fortunately for washing powder, there is a choice. Come to think of it, MAJORITY of everything has a choice. Is it not funny when in some places, the hawkers can sell nasi lemak at RM2.50 while in some other places, that same nasi lemak could be just RM1.20 Question, WHY are the people still buying even when they are selling at RM2.50? In Singapore, my friend said that the prices are pretty standard. In fact, if a stall sells the same food for 50 cents extra, customers would buy from a similar stall few streets away. I laughed and told him, in Malaysia, we just complain and then continue buying.
My GST experience for the past few days and for a very long time to come. Happy reading.
written on 11 Apr 2015
Next suggested article: GST, thus retail sector down? Great Sale Tomorrow.