In my previous post, I had written about signing up for two years worth of the Straits Times. It wasn't so much I liked the publication but because I was persuaded by the discount available if I took two years' worth of subscription instead of one year.
Come to think of it, it couldn't have been that attractive a discount or I would have remembered the exact cut.
But like most Singaporeans, I'm a sucker for discounts and low-value purchases.
Hence, my drawers are full of low-value earrings which i find irresistable. Hardly a pair cost more than $100; most considerably less or are even free, the last being gifts.
Yet as one astute friend pointed out: how many pairs can you wear at one time?
Not more than one pair I guess since mine are 90% dangles and in any case, I've pierced my ears only once, unlike the younger generation.
So, ahead of a trip to Melbourne, I've emptied drawers and boxes of earrings that I've not worn for years to donate to the thrift shop in that city where my hostess is a volunteer. According to her, shoppers at the thrift are willing to pay good money for earrings, even second-hand stuff.
I found more than 50 pairs to spare and possibly another 50 to 60 pairs I can't bear to part with.
Assuming the earrings I'm going to give away had cost $30 a pair new on average, I had spent $1,500 but not really maxed out the benefits. Worse, I might even have wasted time dithering over which pair to wear because of the many choices.
If I had just a dozen pairs, then the dilemma would be significantly less, and so less time wasted.
So, in the interest of saving time and cutting out wasteful, if not pointless, spending, I plan to give away more earrings in time to come.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Waste of money subscribing to the Straits Times?
Is Singapore's MSM or mainstream media becoming increasingly irrelevant as suggested by this blogger who calls himself/herself Flaneurose?
I recall a recent conversation with a friend who told me she's reading the July issues of the Straits Times. And our conversation was taking place in late October!!
I can empathise with her because I too have many back issues of the ST still unread -- not always because I wasn't in Singapore on the relevant days. It's just that on any one day, I find it increasingly difficult to finish reading the ST, even the more interesting sections.
It's not because I think the paper has declined in quality or that it has massively increased its pages, though both might be partly true. But if there aren't that many competing attractions/distractions in my life, I guess I would still be going thru the ST religiously.
Alas for the ST and other MSM: there are so many alternatives, not necessarily the Internet alone. There are many malls to visit for example. There are many more TV channels. And of cos the Internet besides offering news and views that are more up to date and often more controversial than MSM also offers film and TV shows, information and education on myriad topics...etc
So, one good way to cut down on unnecessary spending and wastage is to cut off my ST subscription and buy only the occasional issue. That way, I will not only save a little money and some space as I won't need to have room for the stacks of the half-read papers with their months' old news.
Trouble is that last year I had in a moment of enthusiasm signed up for a two year subscription and that doesn't end till end-2010.
Moral of this: don't buy in haste and repent at leisure.
I recall a recent conversation with a friend who told me she's reading the July issues of the Straits Times. And our conversation was taking place in late October!!
I can empathise with her because I too have many back issues of the ST still unread -- not always because I wasn't in Singapore on the relevant days. It's just that on any one day, I find it increasingly difficult to finish reading the ST, even the more interesting sections.
It's not because I think the paper has declined in quality or that it has massively increased its pages, though both might be partly true. But if there aren't that many competing attractions/distractions in my life, I guess I would still be going thru the ST religiously.
Alas for the ST and other MSM: there are so many alternatives, not necessarily the Internet alone. There are many malls to visit for example. There are many more TV channels. And of cos the Internet besides offering news and views that are more up to date and often more controversial than MSM also offers film and TV shows, information and education on myriad topics...etc
So, one good way to cut down on unnecessary spending and wastage is to cut off my ST subscription and buy only the occasional issue. That way, I will not only save a little money and some space as I won't need to have room for the stacks of the half-read papers with their months' old news.
Trouble is that last year I had in a moment of enthusiasm signed up for a two year subscription and that doesn't end till end-2010.
Moral of this: don't buy in haste and repent at leisure.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Not this freebie, thanks!
Singaporeans are known for their love of freebies. Utter the word "free" in a crowded place and you would be guaranteed a queue, if not a stampede. Yes, even if the freebie is just a sachet of sweets!
However, there is one freebie that finds no takers, at least going by the experience of one friend, who has been running a tuition center since the early 1990s.
There were few takers for free lessons she offered to her students some 10 years ago. Attendance for the freebie lessons shrank to about one-third.
However, when she changed tactic and charged for the extra lessons, there was full attendance.
With the passage of time, she decided once again to offer some free lessons to her current cohort of students. And surprise, surprise, there were again no takers when one might expect that a different group of children would respond differently.
My friend has an explanation. She thinks that free lessons unlike other freebies are considered inferior to paid lessons ie the teacher won't do her best or just rehash old lessons and wastes the children's time.
So the lesson here seems to be this: if you are in the education business, charge an arm and a leg to ensure fukk enrolment!
However, there is one freebie that finds no takers, at least going by the experience of one friend, who has been running a tuition center since the early 1990s.
There were few takers for free lessons she offered to her students some 10 years ago. Attendance for the freebie lessons shrank to about one-third.
However, when she changed tactic and charged for the extra lessons, there was full attendance.
With the passage of time, she decided once again to offer some free lessons to her current cohort of students. And surprise, surprise, there were again no takers when one might expect that a different group of children would respond differently.
My friend has an explanation. She thinks that free lessons unlike other freebies are considered inferior to paid lessons ie the teacher won't do her best or just rehash old lessons and wastes the children's time.
So the lesson here seems to be this: if you are in the education business, charge an arm and a leg to ensure fukk enrolment!
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Fools' promises
Nothing makes me quite so mad as to see advertisements suggesting that if you buy at the given discount, -- be it 10%, 30%, 70% whatever% -- you would "Save! Save! Save!" or "Save More!".
Nothing could be further from the truth, if you don't need the goods on sale!
If you buy on the premise that you'd be saving but have no or immediate use for the purchase, then you are not saving but actually wasting money.
So instead of saving 10% or 70%, you would in fact be throwing away 90% or 30%.
Even if you do need the item on sale, do check if the price hasn't been marked up first!
Because if the shop or supermarket has already marked up the prices, then the discount would be illusory.
Even if the prices haven't been marked up, that particular shop or supermarket might be selling stuff that's more expensive than available else where. In that case, what it offers in discount may merely match its competitors' prices.
The bottom line is this: know your prices and your needs.
Nothing could be further from the truth, if you don't need the goods on sale!
If you buy on the premise that you'd be saving but have no or immediate use for the purchase, then you are not saving but actually wasting money.
So instead of saving 10% or 70%, you would in fact be throwing away 90% or 30%.
Even if you do need the item on sale, do check if the price hasn't been marked up first!
Because if the shop or supermarket has already marked up the prices, then the discount would be illusory.
Even if the prices haven't been marked up, that particular shop or supermarket might be selling stuff that's more expensive than available else where. In that case, what it offers in discount may merely match its competitors' prices.
The bottom line is this: know your prices and your needs.
Money and mindset
- Never claim to be poor, if you aren't. Your claims could be fulfilled, to your detriment.
- Never bite the hand that once fed you. Of course, it's sensible not to bite the hand that feeds you; but gratitude should still stop you from biting the hand that's no longer able to hand out the goodies.
Money and happiness
Money may not buy happiness but a sad person without money will be sadder still.
People who say money may not buy happiness will already have oodles of moolah. My wish is that they lose the oodles. Then they can truly say if it's better to be sad with money or sad without money. And whether they are in fact happier with NO money. Then I'll be able to say who is the liar.
Before anyone says money will not buy happiness, he had better speak to
People who say money may not buy happiness will already have oodles of moolah. My wish is that they lose the oodles. Then they can truly say if it's better to be sad with money or sad without money. And whether they are in fact happier with NO money. Then I'll be able to say who is the liar.
Before anyone says money will not buy happiness, he had better speak to
- the person who has not had a decent meal for years for lack of money;
- the parent whose baby is crying itself hoarse because its dad hasn't the money to buy it milk or take it to a doctor
- the elderly woman who is sick and yet has to clean the dirty public toilets at a hawker centre because if she doesn't, she'll not only be sick but she'll starve as well
- the sickly old man pushing his invalid wife in a broken-down wheel-chair over uneven ground to try and get to shelter before the drizzle turns into a tropical storm.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
