So,
it’s 10 Syawal today and the middle of July. I’m sure some of us are already
counting to the days to payday and this is perfectly understandable considering
we just celebrated Eid. Of late, I find myself in tight financial situations
too myself due to a variety of reasons (one time it was because I had to settle
Mummy’s estate and paying the administrator’s fee for helping me settle it;
then it was when I decided to pay for my LASIK in full instead of opting for
instalment; another time it was because I was cheated from a purchase; a few
times it was because of repairs; and other times it’s because I was lusting
after bags, yes plural). But hey, no regrets. I don’t believe in regrets and I
try not to have any because life is too short anyway (life is just too short to
have regrets and too short to beat around the bush).
As
such, I decided to have share some tips to those of us observing financial diet
for whatever reason.
Cut
down on dining out. Besides, it’s healthier to buy your own food and cook
yourself. You can control the amount of sugar and sodium you put in, eliminate
colouring and artificial flavours, and choose healthier ways to cook like
steaming, grilling, roasting and baking.
Cut
down on recreational activities. When we were at home from boarding school on
school hols once, Akak and I had the following conversation:
Akak:
I’m bored
Me:
Well, what’s boring costs nothing. What’s not boring will cost you though.
And
yeah, when you think about it, a lot of recreational activities that are
interesting cost money (bowling, watching a movie, going to a play, dining out,
travelling, paragliding, shopping...). Activities that are not interesting
don’t usually cost money. Such is life. Choose activities that either don’t
cost money or cost very little. If you want to exercise, go for a walk or run
instead of joining a gym. Spend an afternoon at a museum or art galleries instead
of at the theatres. Better still, stay in and be firm about it. Surely there
are a lot of things you can do at home: reading, tackling those domestic
chores, cooking, gardening, working out...
Oh, make up your mind! Just stay in!
Cut
down on pampering activities such as massages, pedicure/manicure, facial
treatments...
Cut
down on shopping, be it physically walking into shops or catalogue shopping or
online shopping. Window shopping is fine as long as you have the restraint and
control. Make a shopping list before going to the supermarket or hypermart for
your grocery shopping and try to go early to avoid the crowd and after a meal
so you won’t be tempted to buy too much food.
Buy
good quality goods. Quality lasts a long time. Don’t compromise on cheap fast clothes
that go out of fashion after a season. Be a smart savvy environmentally-aware
ethical shopper. Avoid clothes-shopping errors (check the guide by Lady Sarah here,
here, here and here. Oh and do practise wardrobe maintenance too). Invest
in classic quality accessories, shoes and bags. It’s taken me a while but I’ve
started investing in bags and shoes.
Invest in fashionable, versatile and chic clothes
Buy
pre-owned or pre-loved instead of a brand new item. You won’t believe it but a
lot of pre-loved goods are in pristine gently-used condition. This is a big
market in some cities. London has quite a few charity shops (check this and
this out) and it is one of the things to do in the city. I myself went to visit
a few shops on my recent three trips there (it all started when I spotted a
second-hand book in a store in Bayswater...).
My haul from my trip last September
Consider
selling your things that you have use or no longer have any use for. One man’s
trash is another’s treasure and all that. Hold a jumble sale, sell it to Cash
Converters, sell it on mudah or other social media platform like Instagram.
Jumble sale
Do
it yourself. Instead of sending your clothes to the cleaners for ironing, pump
the iron yourself. Learn how to mend your own clothes or fix and assemble
things, in short, DIY. Where you previously engaged some help to clean your
house, do it yourself. Trust me, you get more satisfaction that way. The
downside is you get more backache though!
Make sure you know what you’re doing before attempting DIY!
Join
a local library. I brought two box-full of books to the KL Library to donate in
mid-October 2015 (I had previously enquired if a donor could join for free but
was told no). There was a promotion then and they were offering free membership
so of course I joined. Members get to borrow three books for two weeks. The one
that I frequent near Merdeka Square is closing for renovation though (if it
hasn’t already). But there are other outlets that you can go to. To be honest, I
only started borrowing in mid-March of this year; I really should have started
going much earlier. I already have too many books and have given away at least
five boxes of books so far. So joining a library means I don’t have to buy as
many books. I also exchange books with a colleague so we get to read more books
but not have to spend as much as we did before. And yeah it’s a good thing we
like the same genre!
KL Library network info
Take
public transportation. It’s environmentally friendly and you don’t have to
worry about filling up, finding parking, insurance, road tax, possibility of
being involved in an accident, being summoned, wear and tear, repairs and
maintenance.
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