March is that time of the year for me, financially, because this is the month both my Car Insurance and road tax expire simultaneously.

It’s a heavy month because the cost of renewing both will take about 58 per cent of my monthly income, and unless I have made some savings to prepare for this double-whammy expenditure, there is no way for me and the family to survive the month without postponing the payment for other household bills.

Thankfully the dreaded period is over now and on March 2, I managed to renew both the road tax and car insurance by postponing the payment for my rented house’s six-monthly assessment fee, my home Internet broadband bill and water usage bill.

The amount is still high even after deducting the 55 per cent NCB. My car — it’s a 2.8cc four-wheel-drive pick-up — is powered by diesel and the road tax for such cars is exorbitant, to say the least, in Malaysia. The road tax is 500 per cent more expensive than, say, a 1.5cc petrol sedan.

Back here in Malaysia — and I guess in many other places as well — you can renew both the car insurance and road tax at the post office.