Suddenly we find ourselves having not enough to spend. We want to manage our money properly, but don't know where to start.

Financial experts always tell us: Take down all the accounts. You must know where the money comes from and where it goes to, before you know how to fix your account book.

Many people feel baffled seeing their high school friends earn a whole lot more than they. They wonder why their friends can save up enough to buy a house while they still have to rough it out with the little money they have in hand.

If we begin to take down all the accounts, we may find that an additional dish at dinner, an extra cup of coffee we drank, or some unnecessary stuff we bought in a sale, could all cause our total savings to stay flat.

If we know how we have spent the money, then we should seriously look into it whether we can manage our money in a better way, and how we should spend our money in a way to maximise its worth.

At a time when everyone in the street lacks the cash, so does our government.

The budgetary deficit has jumped from 3% or 4% of GDP several years ago to the earlier predicted 7.6% of GDP or RM53.8bn. Should the government also take down all its accounts properly, and see how many "unnecessary" expenses have been made?

When the days were good, we only prepared nine covers for ten cups. But now, with the domestic economy remaining sluggish, global financial crisis squeezing our economic cake, the government's revenue dwindling and expenses on the rise, it seems that government officials need to think of ways to improve the efficiency with which they handle public funds.

As a matter of fact, the tabling of the Budget is to allow everyone to see that between January 1 and December 31 each year, what kinds of revenues the government will have and what kinds of expenses it will make.

Unfortunately, nothing comes perfect under the sun. If a "moonlighter" is well aware of the consequences of reckless swiping of his credit cards but still gets engrossed with his shopping spree, spending on unnecessary things, then it is well within everyone's belief that he will sooner or later be plunged into deep financial difficulty.

The same with national treasury. The fact that the latest AG's report was released only three days before the tabling of the 2010 Budget, obviously serves to remind the government to enforce administrative efficiency so that such irregularities will not be repeated in the future.

Even as we have begun to see a ray of light in the depth of global economic crisis, Malaysia and other export-oriented markets may not be able to continue perking up their economies by means of exporting their products overseas. They need to turn to domestic demands for long-term developments.

Besides introducing and implementing people-friendly policies and reducing the burden of ordinary people, the government must also enhance the support for the business sector in a bid to stimulate the economic expansion.

While spending the money to improve the lives of Malaysians and boost the national economy, perhaps the government should also review the budget for all expenses from time to time, improve on the disbursement procedures and annouce the expenses and progress of public projects on a regular basis in a bid to get rid of any unnecessary wastage of national resources.

Many people do not seem to be bothered about one ringgit, and will not stoop down to pick it up if found on the roadside. However, with fiscal means remaining tight at this moment, every single ringgit must be saved and well accounted for.

It's now time for all of us to tighten up our belts. (By WANG BAOQIN/Translated by DOMINIC LOH/Sin Chew Daily)