5 Things You Used To Be Able To Buy With RM1

Main image via Shutterstock

“Wah, in the good old days ah, things were so much cheaper!” Does this line sound familiar to you? Of course, it does! It’s something almost all our parents have said especially when they’re out shopping.

It’s not that they don’t understand the concept of inflation, it’s just that, it’s true—things back then were really, really cheap! Reach into your wallet and pull out a one Ringgit bill, take a good look at it, then think of the things that you can buy with that one Ringgit today.

How many things could you think of? The first thing that came to your mind was probably one piece of roti canai, right? Well, in the good old days, that same one Ringgit could have bought you these things…

A whole loaf of bread

The price of a whole loaf of a bread today starts from RM2.50 onwards, but back then you can get an entire loaf for just 60 to 80 cents. Assuming you take an average of three days to finish an entire loaf, that would mean that having toast for breakfast would have only cost you 26 cents per day tops.

Bowl of noodles

Not a fan of bread? No problem! Depending on where you lived back in the day, RM1 could even buy a delicious bowl of noodles from your favourite hawker stand! Can you imagine only spending RM1 for lunch or dinner? No? Neither can we.

Ballpoint pen

You can probably still get yourself one ballpoint pen with RM1 today, but the emphasis here is ONE. Back in the day however, RM1 could get you four to five ballpoint pens because they only cost about 20 cents each!

Movie ticket

Yup, your RM1 can even buy you one ticket to watch a movie at the cinema back in the day. Seats in the cinema back then are separated by class and depending on which one you go to, RM1 can either get you the best seats or mid-class seats. How awesome is that?

Bus ride

Getting around in a bus is still really cheap today, but back then, you can definitely get further with RM1 or even less. For example, a 7km bus ride from Air Itam to Georgetown in Penang will cost you around 80 cents.

So, there are five reasons why our parents like to remember the good old days when it comes to how much money can buy back then. But there’s no need to despair just yet because thanks to Digi’s Rah Rah Internet Campaign, the humble RM1 can now buy great smartphones like the Huawei P20, Vivo X21, and many more with Digi Postpaid.

All you gotta do is sign up for a Digi Postpaid plan that gives you 100GB of Internet, FREE roaming and IDD across 10 countries, and unlimited calls to all networks!

See, the value of one Ringgit isn’t as weak as you might think. 

For more information, head over to the Digi website.