How to Spend Your Duit Raya Wisely

“Raya only comes once in a year, so why not spend more?”

This is one of the common phrases we’ll hear during this month of Raya celebration, as people tend to overspend on buying things that are not necessary.

Though it’s a festive season, it’s important to always plan our budget and not to overspend beyond our financial capabilities.

Here are some tips to spend your duit raya wisely.

Treat yourself

Raya is a good time to treat yourself and indulge in your wants, you can spend on experiences that are worthwhile, such as bungee jumping, island hopping, and other activities, or buying things that you have always wanted.

However, you must stay within your budget and avoid overspending.

Invest in yourself

With all the duit raya that you have collected, why not use it for your own self-development?

Invest it towards upskilling yourself by attending courses and training. It’s an opportunity to develop yourself and the outcome of this investment will be valuable in your career and life goals.

Donate to the poor

While enjoying the festive season of Raya, we should also remember the poor people who are in need of our help. This means to spend for a good cause.

There are charity organizations that you can lend your help to, such as the Need to Feed (NFN), a soup kitchen that distributes food and other basic necessities to the homeless and the urban poor in Kuala Lumpur, and other charity organizations.

Save your duit raya

“Sedikit sedikit, lama lama jadi bukit”, which means “slowly but surely”, this saying is often used to encourage saving money.

Let’s practice this and put all the duit raya you collected towards your financial goals. You could start by putting it into a fixed deposit account that allows your money to multiply year-on-year, such as the Amanah Saham Nasional Berhad (ASNB) which is a unit trust fund for Malaysian Bumiputeras.