Kami ingin pengeluaran rumah tangga lebih sedikit bulan ini.

We want our household expenses to be less this month.

Breakdown of Kami ingin pengeluaran rumah tangga lebih sedikit bulan ini.

• kami: we
• ingin: want
• bulan ini: this month
• pengeluaran: the expense
• lebih sedikit: less
• rumah tangga: household

Questions & Answers about Kami ingin pengeluaran rumah tangga lebih sedikit bulan ini.

What is the difference between kami and kita, and why is kami used here?

Indonesian has two words for we:

• kami = we, but *not including the person spoken to* (exclusive “we”)
• kita = we, *including the person spoken to* (inclusive “we”)

In the sentence “Kami ingin pengeluaran rumah tangga lebih sedikit bulan ini.”, kami implies:

• The speaker is talking about a group (e.g. their own family),
• The listener is not part of that group whose expenses they want to reduce.

If the listener is part of the same household and you want to include them, you would use:

• Kita ingin pengeluaran rumah tangga lebih sedikit bulan ini.
  “We (you and I, all of us) want the household expenses to be lower this month.”

So kami vs kita subtly changes who is included in “we.”

What is the nuance of ingin compared to mau in this sentence?

Both ingin and mau can translate as “want”, but they differ in tone:

• ingin

  • Slightly more formal/polite or neutral
  • Common in writing, polite speech, and when expressing a more deliberate wish or intention

• mau

  • More casual/colloquial
  • Very common in everyday spoken Indonesian

In this sentence:

• Kami ingin pengeluaran rumah tangga lebih sedikit bulan ini.
  sounds neutral and a bit “polite” or careful.

You could also say:

• Kami mau pengeluaran rumah tangga lebih sedikit bulan ini.
  This is perfectly correct and just feels more conversational.

In very formal writing, you might even see hendak, but ingin is a good all-purpose choice.

What exactly does pengeluaran mean, and how is it formed?

Pengeluaran means “expenses”, “spending”, or “expenditure” (usually money going out).

Morphologically, it comes from the root keluar (“to go out”):

• keluar = to go out
• mengeluarkan = to take something out / to spend (money)
• pengeluaran = the act/result of “taking out” → outgoing money / expenses

So in pengeluaran rumah tangga, pengeluaran is “expenses / spending”, and rumah tangga tells us whose expenses (the household’s).

What does rumah tangga literally mean, and how is it different from just rumah?

• rumah = house (the building)
• tangga = stairs/ladder

But rumah tangga together is an idiomatic expression meaning “household” (the family unit and its domestic life), not “house stairs.”

So:

• pengeluaran rumah would sound like “house expenses” (e.g. building maintenance), and is not the common phrase.
• pengeluaran rumah tangga is understood as “household expenses” (all costs related to running the household: food, utilities, etc.).

Thus, rumah tangga is better thought of as a single unit meaning household, not as “house + stairs.”

How does the noun phrase pengeluaran rumah tangga work? Why is the order “expenses household” instead of “household expenses”?

Indonesian noun phrases typically have this pattern:

Head noun + modifier

Here:

• pengeluaran = head noun (“expenses”)
• rumah tangga = modifier (“household”)

So pengeluaran rumah tangga literally is “expenses [of the] household”, which corresponds to English “household expenses.”

Compare with other examples:

• buku sejarah = history book (book of history)
• biaya sekolah = school fees (fees of the school)
• pengeluaran pemerintah = government spending (spending of the government)

So the order “pengeluaran rumah tangga” is the normal Indonesian noun + modifier structure; it just happens to be reversed compared to English.

Why does lebih sedikit (literally “more little/few”) mean “less / fewer”?

Indonesian usually forms comparatives with lebih + adjective, meaning “more + adjective”:

• lebih besar = bigger / larger
• lebih baik = better
• lebih cepat = faster

Sedikit means “a little / a small amount / few.”
So lebih sedikit = “more few” ⇒ a smaller amount ⇒ less / fewer.

Examples:

• Saya ingin makan lebih sedikit.
  I want to eat less.

• Dia punya lebih sedikit uang daripada saya.
  He/She has less money than I do.

So even though it looks odd literally, lebih sedikit is the standard way to say “less (in quantity)”.

What is the difference between lebih sedikit and kurang here? Could I say kurang instead?

Both can express “less”, but they have different flavors:

• lebih sedikit

  • Focuses on comparison of quantity (“a smaller amount than before”)
  • Sounds neutral and clear when comparing amounts

• kurang

  • Basic meaning: lacking / not enough / less
  • Often used for “not enough” or for “less than [a number]”
  • Can also be a general comparative: “less X”

In your sentence, alternatives include:

1. Kami ingin pengeluaran rumah tangga lebih sedikit bulan ini.
   We want the household expenses to be less this month. (focus on smaller amount)

2. Kami ingin pengeluaran rumah tangga bulan ini kurang dari bulan lalu.
   We want this month’s household expenses to be less than last month’s.

3. Kami ingin pengeluaran rumah tangga bulan ini lebih sedikit daripada bulan lalu.
   Also explicit comparison.

You could say:

• Kami ingin pengeluaran rumah tangga bulan ini lebih kurang. (not natural)
• Kami ingin pengeluaran rumah tangga bulan ini kurang banyak. (awkward)

So for a simple “less,” lebih sedikit is the most straightforward and natural here. Kurang is better when you specify what it’s less than or that something is not enough.

Why use sedikit and not kecil? Can I say pengeluaran rumah tangga lebih kecil?

Both sedikit and kecil can relate to “smallness,” but in different ways:

• sedikit = little / few (about quantity/amount)
• kecil = small (about size/scale, sometimes amount too)

With pengeluaran (expenses), both are possible:

• pengeluaran rumah tangga lebih sedikit
  = household expenses are less / fewer (focus on the amount spent)

• pengeluaran rumah tangga lebih kecil
  = household expenses are smaller (often heard when thinking in terms of a money total/figure)

In practice:

• Both lebih sedikit and lebih kecil can be used with pengeluaran.
• lebih kecil is extremely common when talking about numbers or totals.
  lebih sedikit feels more like “not as much / not as many (expenses).”

Your original sentence with lebih sedikit is natural, but lebih kecil would also be acceptable and common:

• Kami ingin pengeluaran rumah tangga lebih kecil bulan ini.

Why is there no word like “to be” (is/are) in pengeluaran rumah tangga lebih sedikit bulan ini?

Indonesian usually omits “to be” (is/are/am) when linking a subject to an adjective or description.

In English:
> Expenses are lower.

In Indonesian, you normally say:
> Pengeluaran rumah tangga lebih sedikit.
> (no “are”)

You only use adalah (a kind of “to be”) mainly when linking to nouns, especially in more formal contexts:

• Dia adalah guru. = He/She is a teacher.
• Masalahnya adalah biaya hidup. = The problem is the cost of living.

But with adjectives or comparative phrases like lebih sedikit, you usually don’t insert adalah:

• Pengeluaran rumah tangga lebih sedikit bulan ini. (natural)
• Pengeluaran rumah tangga adalah lebih sedikit bulan ini. (sounds off/unnatural in most contexts)

Is bulan ini (this month) in the only possible position, or can I move it?

You can move bulan ini quite flexibly in Indonesian. All of these are grammatical:

1. Kami ingin pengeluaran rumah tangga lebih sedikit bulan ini.
   (Very natural; “this month” at the end.)

2. Bulan ini kami ingin pengeluaran rumah tangga lebih sedikit.
   Slightly more emphasis on “this month” as the topic.

3. Kami bulan ini ingin pengeluaran rumah tangga lebih sedikit.
   Also possible, but a bit less common in careful written style.

General tendencies:

• Time expressions often go at the beginning (“Bulan ini, …”) when you want to set the time frame as the topic.
• They also commonly appear at the end, just like in your sentence.

So you’re free to move bulan ini, with only minor changes in emphasis, not meaning.

Could we say Kami ingin mengurangi pengeluaran rumah tangga bulan ini instead? What’s the difference?

Yes, that sentence is also correct:

• Kami ingin mengurangi pengeluaran rumah tangga bulan ini.
  = We want to reduce household expenses this month.

Differences in nuance:

• Kami ingin pengeluaran rumah tangga lebih sedikit bulan ini.
  Focuses on the desired state: expenses being less/lower this month.

• Kami ingin mengurangi pengeluaran rumah tangga bulan ini.
  Uses the verb mengurangi (“to reduce”), so it emphasizes the action of reducing.

Both are natural. The original sentence is more like stating a goal (“We want the expenses to be lower”), while the alternative sounds more like a plan to actively cut down expenses.

Is pengeluaran rumah tangga singular or plural? How do I know it means “expenses” (plural)?

Indonesian generally does not mark plural with an ending like English -s. Number is usually understood from context or added words like banyak (many), beberapa (several), etc.

• pengeluaran by itself can mean:
  • expense (in an abstract, uncountable sense), or
  • expenses / spending (all together), depending on context.

In pengeluaran rumah tangga:

• We naturally understand it as “household expenses / spending” (all the money going out), not a single isolated “expense.”

If you really want to emphasize plurality or variety, you can say:

• berbagai pengeluaran rumah tangga = various household expenses
• banyak pengeluaran rumah tangga = many household expenses

But normally, pengeluaran rumah tangga is enough, and is commonly translated as “household expenses” in English.