KUALA LUMPUR - EATING out on weekends is no longer the norm for Madam Caryn Koh, 45, and her family of four from Klang, Selangor.

Until two months ago, Saturdays and Sundays were when the housewife took a break from daily chores and ate out with her businessman husband and two sons in her neighbourhood, a town north of Kuala Lumpur best known for its pork-rib soup.

'Now, eating out on weekends is like a luxury. Two weeks ago, the whole family went to a fast-food restaurant to celebrate my son's ninth birthday,' she said.

Rising prices, especially of foodstuffs, has led the family to tighten their belts. By eating home-cooked meals on weekends, the family manages to save up to RM300 (S$130) a month or about five per cent of the household income.

She said a plate of chicken rice sold near her house cost RM3 six months ago, but is now 50 sen dearer. Cold drinks have gone up by some 30 per cent during the same period.

Gravity-defying prices are taking a toll on urban middle-class families such as Madam Koh's, who see their purchasing power being slashed.

The Consumers' Association of Penang's (CAP) price watch shows that prices of foodstuffs such as milk powder, sardines, groundnuts and ghee have shot up by between 8 and 44 per cent over the past four months. The sharpest increase was seen in the price of condensed milk.

Mr S.M. Mohamed Salim, who heads the influential consumer movement based in Penang, told The Sunday Times: 'Some retailers have complained that distributors and wholesalers have warned them that prices of items such as milk powder and certain brands of ghee will rise by up to 10 per cent in the next few weeks.'

Since April, the price of non-general purpose wheat flour, a common ingredient used in making bread, has gone up by 80 per cent, from about RM33 for a 25kg pack to almost RM60 now, The Star newspaper reported.

The item does not fall under the government's price-control list, unlike general purpose flour, which is used to make cakes and roti prata.

A top official from the Malaysia Bakery Manufacturers' Association described the hike as unprecedented.

Local papers have reported prices of corn, onions, shallots, soya beans and seafood shooting up due to poor yields globally, a phenomenon blamed on changing weather patterns.

In Johor Baru, the situation is more acute, partly due to the huge number of Singaporeans who cross the Causeway to shop and dine, causing many shops and restaurants there to mark up prices, said Air Hitam MP Wee Ka Siong.

'Prices of items in JB are as high as KL, sometimes even higher.

'Some workshops in JB charge exorbitant rates to service cars as a lot of their clients are Singaporeans,' said Dr Wee, whose constituency forms part of JB city.

Based on feedback, he said many families have introduced cost-saving measures. Often, it entails a little common sense in budgeting, some adjustments in lifestyle and lots of restraint in spending.

Madam Sonia Chandran, 34, an assistant human resource manager with an electronics firm in Malacca, said she has switched from using high-end cosmetics, such as Estee Lauder, to more affordable brands, such as L'Oreal.

She has also started buying groceries from a neighbourhood shopping centre which offers cheaper prices than the upscale one she used to patronise.

In the past, she rarely went to the neighbourhood shopping mall, Mydin, because it was not the most comfortable place to shop, with its narrow aisles and long queues at the cash register.

'But by doing so now, I save quite a bit,' she said, adding that her monthly grocery bill has shrunk by as much as RM220.

She added that one of her colleagues, an ex-English teacher, has started moonlighting as a freelance copywriter to help make ends meet.

Speak to most Malaysians and they can recount the lengths to which they go to tighten their belts. Some Malaysians now car-pool to go to work and shop at neighbourhood night markets which offer better deals - and fresher produce - than air-conditioned supermarkets.

Parents get their younger children to wear hand-me-downs; trips to the mall become a fortnightly affair instead of a weekly routine.

And the worst is yet to come. Next year, a contractual toll hike is due for the operator of the North-South Expressway, the country's largest highway concessionaire.

The government has also hinted at raising prices for heavily subsidised petrol and diesel as world oil prices soar to record highs.

Past experience has shown that increased transportation costs will have a trickle-down effect on anything and everything from bus fares to a bowl of wonton mee.

The last petrol and toll hikes, in March last year and early this year, saw Malaysians taking to the streets in a rare display of public anger.

The national power company, Tenaga Nasional, has also asked the government to raise electricity charges in view of high oil prices, which have climbed to US$96 (S$139) a barrel.

With a General Election expected early next year, the government is likely to hold off any price hike at least until after the polls.

Meanwhile, the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Shafie Apdal has warned traders not to hike prices indiscriminately. He has also pledged to step up checks on retail outlets.

But with the government's reputation for lax enforcement, coupled with factors such as surging global oil prices, ordinary Malaysians will just have to make do with lighter wallets for some time to come.