Learn Hardcore Malay: Untuk jimat belanja, saya bawa bekal nasi sendiri ke universiti. - To save expenses, I bring my own rice to the university.

jimat belanja literally combines jimat (save) + belanja (expenses/spending) to form a noun phrase meaning cost savings or saving money. It’s a common, concise way to talk about cutting costs.

What role does untuk play in untuk jimat belanja?

untuk means in order to or for when expressing purpose. untuk jimat belanja translates as to save money. It introduces the reason or goal of the action that follows.

Why use untuk instead of supaya or agar to show purpose?

supaya and agar also mean so that or in order that, but they introduce a full clause and are more formal. untuk + verb or noun phrase is shorter and very common in everyday speech.
Example:
• Casual: Untuk jimat belanja, saya bawa bekal…
• More formal: Supaya saya dapat menjimatkan belanja, saya membawa bekal…

Why is bawa used instead of membawa?

In informal Malay, many verbs drop the meN- prefix. bawa is the root of membawa (to bring). It sounds more casual. In formal writing you’d often see membawa.

How do we know if saya bawa is past, present, or future?

Malay verbs don’t change form for tense. You add time markers if you need to clarify:
• Past: tadi saya bawa… (I brought earlier)
• Future: nanti saya bawa… (I will bring later)
• Habitual/present: No marker usually implies a habitual or current action (I bring / I’m in the habit of bringing).

What does bekal mean, and why do we say bekal nasi sendiri?

bekal means packed food or provisions you bring from home. bekal nasi is packed rice, and adding sendiri (own) emphasizes that you prepared it yourself or it’s your own.

How does sendiri work here, and why isn’t there saya before bekal?

After a noun, sendiri means own (e.g. bekal nasi sendiri = one’s own packed rice). It can replace an explicit pronoun. If you want to be explicit you could say bekal nasi saya or bekal nasi saya sendiri, but in casual speech bekal nasi sendiri already implies your own.

Why is it ke universiti instead of di universiti?

ke indicates movement toward a place (to/towards). di indicates location (at/in). Since you bring the food to the university, you use ke universiti.

Why isn’t there a word for “the” before universiti?

Malay has no articles like “the” or “a.” Nouns stand alone, and context tells you whether something is definite or not.

How could I make this sentence more formal?

Use the transitive verb with affixes: menjimatkan belanja instead of jimat belanja, and the full verb membawa.
For example:
Untuk menjimatkan belanja, saya membawa bekal nasi sendiri ke universiti.