It’s OK to Have Nice Things. You Just Can’t Have ALL the Things ALL the Time

It’s OK to Have Nice Things. You Just Can’t Have ALL the Things ALL the Time

I still love the statement in the title.

It’s OK to have nice things. You just can’t have ALL the things ALL the time.

I wrote the original article with this exact idea in mind some time back (original article as per the source at the end of this article), and after thinking about it again, I honestly think it is even more relevant today.

Because we are constantly being told to buy.

New phone. (latest model!)

New car. (not that national brand…)

New shoes. (our feet deserve better)

New holiday. (need a break… again)

New restaurant. (must try even if expensive, at least tried before)

New everything. (especially when we receive the salary)

And social media makes it worse. (jealousy… envy… all combined)

Someone is travelling to Japan. (my favorite travel destination)

Someone just bought a new Mercedes.

Someone is having dinner at a nice restaurant.

Someone just renovated their kitchen.

Someone is wearing a RM2,000 pair of shoes.

And then we look at our own lives and think:

“Maybe I should have that too.”

But here is the problem.

We can have nice things.

We just cannot have everything.

#1 – We must live our lives too

I don’t believe in telling people:

“Don’t spend. Save everything. Invest everything. Then enjoy yourself when you’re 60.”

No lah. Life doesn’t work that way. I have always believed that we should invest for the future, but I also believe we should enjoy the present.

I like travelling. (favorite country is Japan)

I like eating good food.

I like coffee.

I like buying things that I genuinely enjoy.

And I have bought quite a few pairs of shoes from different countries over the years.

So I’m certainly not writing this as someone who has discovered some magical formula for living a completely minimalist life.

Haha.

But I have also learnt that enjoying nice things is very different from constantly wanting more things.

That distinction is important.

#2 – The problem isn’t buying. The problem is overbuying.

Take something simple.

Jeans.

How many pairs can we actually wear at the same time?

One.

Maybe we need another pair because the first one is in the washing machine.

So perhaps three or four pairs make sense if we do stretch that a little.

One light blue.

One dark blue.

One grey.

One black.

Done.

But do we really need ten pairs?

And what happens when we see another pair that looks slightly different?

“This one is on sale!”

Then another. And another.

Before we know it, we have a wardrobe full of clothes and still say:

“I have nothing to wear.”

I know this because I have done it myself.

I have several pairs of Levi’s jeans and plenty of shoes.

In fact, I once counted something like 35 pairs of shoes.

Yes.

35.

And I have bought shoes from the USA, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand and other countries.

The funny thing?

There are shoes I haven’t worn for a very long time. So yes, I can say this from experience:

Overbuying is not clever. That includes me.

#3 – Malaysia’s household spending is increasing

This isn’t just a personal feeling.

According to the Department of Statistics Malaysia, average monthly household consumption expenditure increased from RM5,150 in 2022 to RM5,566 in 2024. Median monthly household consumption expenditure increased from RM4,282 to RM4,758. 

And here’s another interesting number.

DOSM found that for every additional RM1 of disposable income in 2024, Malaysian households spent an average of 84 sen. 

Think about that. We earn more. We spend more.

And very often, when our income increases, our lifestyle increases too.

That is perfectly understandable. But if every salary increment immediately becomes:

better car + better phone + better restaurant + better holiday + bigger house

then our income can increase for 10 years without our financial position improving very much.

That’s lifestyle inflation. And it is very difficult to see because it happens slowly.

#4 – Nice restaurants are fine. Every meal isn’t.

I still love my normal kopitiam food.

Give me a good plate of bihun goreng with sambar and telur mata and I’m happy.

For a family of four, a normal kopitiam meal might be around RM60–RM70, depending on what we order.

Then occasionally, we go somewhere nicer.

Maybe an air-conditioned restaurant.

Maybe a celebration.

Maybe somewhere with better ambience.

And that’s perfectly fine.

The problem is when every meal has to become the expensive meal.

If we spend RM30 more per person, that’s another RM120 for a family of four.

Do it 20 times and that’s RM2,400.

Suddenly the “small difference” isn’t so small anymore.

I don’t want to remove nice meals from my life.

I just don’t need them every day.

That’s the difference.

#5 – The same applies to holidays

I love travelling.

And I would rather spend money travelling with my family while we are still healthy enough to enjoy it than save everything until retirement.

There are places I want to visit while I can still walk around comfortably.

There are experiences my children should have while they are young.

So yes, spend.

But again:

We don’t need every holiday to be a luxury holiday.

Sometimes a simple trip is fantastic.

Sometimes a highly rated 3-star hotel is good enough.

I have never been on a business class. (Yes, I do enjoy the Golden lounge every time I fly)

Sometimes we may decide to pay more for convenience.

The important thing is that we choose.

#6 – And this is where investing comes in

This is the part I care about most. We should enjoy our money.

But we should also make sure that some of our money works for our future.

If we spend every ringgit on nice things today, what happens when we are 60?

The answer is quite simple.

Today’s lifestyle becomes tomorrow’s problem.

So I don’t want to say:

“Don’t buy the shoes.”

I want to say:

“Buy the shoes, but don’t let the shoes stop you from investing.”

#7 – We don’t need to choose between enjoying life and building wealth

I think this is the biggest misunderstanding. Some people think financial discipline means living miserably.

No.

It means choosing what matters.

If travelling is important to you, travel. (does not say must spend a lot)

If good food is important, eat good food. (does not say must be expensive)

If you love cars, perhaps buy the cheaper model you could afford?

If you love property, invest in property.

But you cannot simultaneously have:

The biggest house. (thus high mortgage)

The most expensive car. (thus high car loan)

The latest phone.

Designer clothes. (or even more premium brands)

Five-star holidays.

Fine dining every weekend.

Unless your income is really, really high.

For most of us, something has to give.

And that is perfectly okay.

SO, what is enough?

This is probably the hardest question.

Stay real. We manage our life a little better. So perhaps the answer isn’t:

“How can I afford everything?”

It is:

“Which things do I really value?”

Spend generously on those.

Spend less on things you don’t care about.

And save and invest consistently for the future.

That is how I try to look at it.

I don’t want to live a life where I save every sen and only start enjoying myself at 65.

But I also don’t want to reach 65 and discover that all those nice things I bought earlier have left me with very little financial freedom.

Spend intentionally.

Invest consistently.

Enjoy life along the way.

And perhaps most importantly…

Don’t compare your life with someone else’s Instagram.

Because you don’t know how much debt is behind that photograph.

Happy spending.

Happy investing.

And yes, happy having nice things.

Just not ALL the things ALL the time.

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Sources

• Department of Statistics Malaysia — Household Expenditure Survey 2024 — latest household consumption and spending patterns. 
• DOSM — Household Expenditure Survey 2024 report — household spending, marginal propensity to consume and expenditure composition. 
• EPF — Policy and Product Enhancements in 2026 — Retirement Income Adequacy Framework and the RM390,000/RM650,000/RM1.3 million benchmarks. 
• EPF — Basic Savings — explanation of the RM390,000 Basic Savings benchmark and estimated retirement income. 
• Original Kopiandproperty article — “It’s OK to have nice things. You just can’t have ALL the things ALL the time”— original article and personal examples used as the basis for this refresh.