Everything is up. Petrol. Groceries. Your regular teh tarik at the mamak.
Most financial advisors will tell you to fight inflation by buying things: gold, REITs, or ASNB units.
I’m going to tell you to fight inflation by not buying anything at all.
Welcome to the “Kosong Method” of financial planning.
Kosong means empty. No sugar. No milk. No unnecessary extras. And in an inflationary economy, kosong is powerful.
The Math of “Stuff” in an Inflationary Cycle
Here is the secret that IKEA and Shopee don’t want you to know: Inflation only hurts if you are a constant consumer.
Think about it:
- If you own 50 pairs of shoes, inflation makes your next pair painful.
- If you own 3 pairs of quality shoes, you don’t care if Nike raises prices by 15%.
Inflation is a tax on acquisition. The moment you stop acquiring, you stop paying the tax.
I call this the “Zero-Marginal Utility” Hedge. That RM1,500 espresso machine you bought during MCO? It makes the same coffee today as it will next year when that machine costs RM1,800. By keeping it and not upgrading, you just “earned” a 20% return.
The Malaysian “Kosong Method” – Three Rules
Rule #1: The Spice Rack Test
Go to your kitchen. Look at the back of your cabinet. How many half-used bottles of sauces, expired spices, and dried cili from 2022 are sitting there?
Inflation hits hardest on groceries you throw away. A kosong pantry means you buy exactly what you eat. Zero waste = Zero inflation impact.
Rule #2: The “Kaw-kaw” Gadget Rule
That new flagship phone (RM 6,999). Does it feel good? Yes. Does your current phone still send WhatsApp, scan QR codes, and browse Reddit? Also yes.
Keeping your old phone for three more years saves you RM 7k plus the 3–5% inflation on electronics. That’s not deprivation. That’s a 7k dividend nobody taxed.
Rule #3: The Subscription Purge
Netflix. Spotify. Disney+. Astro. Gym membership you haven’t used since Raya. Adobe Cloud. iCloud storage. Three different news paywalls.
Inflation raises their prices annually like clockwork. A kosong digital life—canceling 80% of them—is a permanent, tax-free raise.
But Isn’t This Just Being Miserable?
No. This is Strategic Stagnation.
While your friends are upgrading their lives (and their loan payments) to chase happiness, you are sitting still. In a high-inflation environment, the person who moves the least loses the least.
When you stop bleeding money on depreciating junk, you have cash. And cash, right now, isn’t trash. It’s dry powder.
While everyone else is panicking about the rising cost of nasi lemak bungkus, you are quietly stacking funds into investment.
The Dangerous Trap (Read This Carefully)
There is a fine line between kosong and deprivation.
True minimalism is owning enough. It is not living in an empty room eating plain rice.
As a financial planner in Malaysia, I see clients make this mistake constantly. They try to “save money” by owning nothing, but they lack a plan. They cut costs so aggressively that they miss out on genuine wealth-building opportunities—like buying depressed assets during a recession or locking in higher yields when OPR rises.
You don’t need a smaller salary. You need a smaller desire for useless things.
But you do need a system to know:
- What to keep
- What to toss
- And most importantly—what to do with the cash you save
Ready to Hack Inflation?
Stop letting inflation bully your wallet.
Let’s do a 20-minute “Clutter Audit” of your finances. We’ll find the three subscriptions, insurance riders, or bad spending habits draining your Ringgit—and turn your empty space into real, working wealth.
Because the best thing to own during inflation isn’t gold or crypto.
It’s a plan.
(And maybe one really good pair of Bata slippers.)
Click the button below to leave your details and I will reach out to you to book a time.
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Disclaimer: This post is for informational purpose only. You should use judgment and conduct due diligence before taking any action or implementing any plan suggested or recommended in this article.
