I received an offer from my credit card a few months back telling me about one latest promotion for all the credit card holders. I could buy one breakfast and get one breakfast free. It is an awesome deal right? Then, when I looked at the breakfast set, it starts from RM29.90 (excluding tax). Haha. Okay, the place is an upscale one and I have been to another shop next to it before which serves good Spanish food (yes, not cheap..). I am very sure the waiters speak English and would serve you with a smile as well. However, the RM29.90 breakfast set does NOT include a cup of latte.
Oops. Well, as they say, when we want to live with style, better make sure we earn much more to support it. Every weekend when my family and I go out for breakfast in KL, it would be at a kopitiam (restaurant) for those hawker stalls. I love them. However, every few weekends, we do go for some nice cafes, with air-con and a smiling barista and spend enough money for many kopitiam trips. Note: every few weekends also because of weather. Sometimes, it’s raining or sometimes it’s just too hot.
Else, there is nothing wrong with a breakfast beside a main road. These small stall based food courts are without aircon but just gentle breeze or none.There are lots of noise from the passing cars. This morning, I had a roti telur bawang (pan fried bread with egg and onions) and a roti kosong (plain pan fried bread) plus a cup of teh tarik kurang manis (less sweet pulled tea). The damage of this awesomely delicious and nutritious breakfast? RM4.20 Jalan Sungai Pinang, Penang. You know why they could still be so cheap? basic flour does not incur GST…. Margarine comes from palm oil. The tea leaves are usually a couple of ringgit for one packet of 500gm. This 500gm is enough for many cups. Prices of eggs are getting higher but it is still less than 40 cents for a B or C grade. So, will the stalls go bankrupt from selling these? Nope. Margins in percentage may be pretty good even. One day of breakfast in a cafe with latte is more than enough to support 5 days of this breakfast and maybe more if one roti telur bawang is enough for you as well as air suam (warm water) instead of what I ordered. Seriously, it’s a choice that we could and should make when we have a choice. Spending lesser than what we could afford and investing them would give us more money to afford things in the future. Cheaper choices? Of course there are.
I could not eat the same food daily. However, the only reason why a lot of these new ‘luxury’ breakfasts are sprouting is also because people started to accept that breakfasts should be RM29.90 instead of RM3. A good friend had her dinner at MUJI cafe in Singapore recently. I asked if it was expensive because a very basic MUJI T-shirt can be RM50 or higher. She replied not really. It’s still affordable. A plate of chicken rice in Singapore, coupled with a glass of iced-coffee in one of the food courts would cost nothing more than $6. Her MUJI dinner is definitely many times more expensive even if the food is great. The goal is not to have chicken rice every night. it’s more of a balance of enjoy occasionally and be ‘strategic’ on most days. After all, our future requires long term strategizing and actions too. Happy enjoying your food. (Yes, my dinner tonight would most probably be RM20 per pax. It’s air-conditioned and comfy. The reason is because this place has covered carparks okay. It was raining cats and dogs a while ago.)
Please LIKE kopiandproperty.my FB page or Sign Up for free to get daily updates about the property market.
written on 27 Nov 2017
Next suggested article: Buying a renovated unit, why not?
Leave a Reply