Top executives work on ways to save finances

Spending much of his time after politics in Chiang Rai, former deputy prime minister MR Pridiyathorn Devakula found that living in a rural area has helped him save a lot of money.

"Many Bangkokians spend lavishly all the time. Try living in the provinces and you will find it easy to save money. Those who live in Bangkok should spend less on luxury items. Then you will see more of your money left," said the former Bank of Thailand governor, who has a hotel business in Chiang Rai.

It is time to save, not only for low-paid wage earners suffering from high petrol prices and a rising cost of living, but also for high-paid executives who complain that they need to save.

Premium petrol and diesel prices have risen to above Bt40 per litre, while prices of food and other consumer items continue to soar.  At this particular period, high-ranking executives have spoken out about how they save money and how they wish others would save.

 Kasikornbank president Prasarn Trairatvorakul said he was concerned about saving energy. He always turns off lights when they are not needed and sets air-conditioning temperatures at the energy-saving level. Saving energy saves expenditure and also helps the global warming problem.

Most executives cannot save money on petrol as they need to spend precious time in commuting to work, but they try saving money in other ways. "I cannot save by changing to public transportation as I live on the outskirts of Bangkok and my time is quite tight, so I choose to slash unnecessary purchases of luxury goods instead," said Siam City Securities assistant managing director Sukit Udomsirikul. His opinion is echoed by Krirk Vanikkul, assistant governor of the Bank of Thailand.

Krirk said he is not affected by the rising cost of living as he lives in a modest way like most people.

His car is fuelled by gasohol, which is much cheaper than petrol. He does not plan to install NGV in his car as it is not worth it, considering the long distance of his routine commute.

But he always shops at department stores during big sales, grabbing goods cheap at store branches that are about to be shut down.

Aside from smart spending, the best way to save money is to plan first, said Charlotte Donavanik, CEO of television production company Media of Medias.

"I told my children to think first before they go anywhere. Before, we used separate cars. Now, we plan and use the same car. We need to save in every way we can," she said.

In addition, she suggested that one should plan how much food one needs in the refrigerator and buy accordingly.

"We'd buy lots of food to store in the fridge, but it turns out that if there's too much food it spoils. That's a waste of money," Charlotte said.