Due to the recession, people are more aware of how to cut costs. I am getting more aware of it now and learning from people on what to do. Here are some ways to save money which I have come across (although I guess all these are rather common sensical) :
1. Pack your own food
Ever since my return, I have seen my colleagues packing food from home to the office, then during lunch, they will just heat up the food in the microwave and lunch in. This is a very effective way, especially since the price of food around here can be a killer. Saving like a minimum of five dollars a day may not be much, but it all adds up. Twenty-five dollars a week, an extra hundred a month.
Besides, one need not go out and get burnt by the sun or splashed by the rain. Of course, there is no bonding and socializing time with the colleagues. Plus one may get sick of home-cooked food everyday, so perhaps lunch in like two or three times a week and then lunch out the rest of the days. Even though one still spends on eating out, but still, lunching in a few times is better than lunching out everyday.
Some people I know go for the cheapest hawker fare or the simplest food during normal lunch, then with the amount of money saved, indulge in some dining out during the weekends. That is a very good idea.
2. Make your own drinks
When we lunch out, or go for tea breaks, we tend to buy drinks together with the food or snacks. One thing we can do is to stop buying drinks. I do not mean to stop drinking altogether, but since the office has a supply of water, tea, coffee and hot beverages, why bother spending on drinks like these?
Water is the healthiest drink in the universe, much better as compared to soft drinks or caffeine. Drinking water is also a good way to slim down. This is tested and proven. I drink just water instead of soft drinks when I was undergoing the slimming treatment, and that was how I lost eight kilograms within two months!
If one gets sick of drinking water (which can happen because it is also the most tasteless drink in the world), one can allow oneself just one glass of indulgence per week. For me, if I lunch out, I will get barley or green tea just once for that week, the rest of the week get the water from the office. So instead of spending an extra dollar fifty everyday, just spend that extra dollar fifty a week. It may not be much but it all adds up in the end.
3. Haggle and Bargain
I used to think it is not ethical to haggle and bargain because after all, people are running a business too. However, I have come to realize that prices are jacked up, especially when I go overseas.
What my mum always does is to come up with her own price, then negotiate from there. I used to wonder why is she mistreating the poor sales staff, but on the other hand, if they will really make a loss, they will not sell it in the end right? Selling it at a lower price is better than not selling it at all, so if it does not affect them too badly, they rather make a sale, no matter what price, than not make a sale at all.
This is not being a cheapskate. One pays for good quality, but even then, is it necessary to pay so much, that is the question. A cheapskate will try all means and ways to get the best product for free – by mooching off others!
This is something I am still learning, I can never bargain like how my mum does, but at least I have learnt to try to get the best value and not pay unnecessary costs.
4. Misquote your age when necessary
Okay, I am not asking everyone to lie. But at times when the age factor comes in and there is a big difference in the pricing, it helps that people think you are younger than you actually are. :-p For instance, when we went up the Sky Tower in Auckland, an adult over the age of eighteen can cost twice the amount of a student eighteen years old and below.
Perhaps because Asians tend to look younger, or perhaps because my family has the genes where everyone looks younger than our age, plus the fact that we are all relatively small size, when my brothers and I wanted to go up the Observation Deck, the counter staff at the ticketing counter thought we were just students and gave us the student price! Needless to say, none of us disputed that.
What my cousin and her husband did in Tasmania was they removed their wedding rings and passed themselves off as brother and sister just so to get the student tickets! To some people, this may be wrong and unethical. I do not deny that. But there is a difference when people think you are eighteen when you are not, than to say outright that you are only eighteen when you are not. In the former situation, one need not admit nor deny. Just keep quiet, after all it is going to be a one-time thing.
True, it may not be much, but again, it all adds up again. Especially in a tour, one may never know what kind of emergency may arise. So since we have a budget, we just have to try our best to keep to the budget, and if some “tweaking” does not harm, then maybe it does not really matter at the end.
At the end of the day, we just have to see the amount we are earning and what we can put aside for whatever purposes we like. So if I like to travel and see the world and indulge in fine dining as and when, and enjoy life to the fullest, then there are things I simply have to cut down.
1. Pack your own food
Ever since my return, I have seen my colleagues packing food from home to the office, then during lunch, they will just heat up the food in the microwave and lunch in. This is a very effective way, especially since the price of food around here can be a killer. Saving like a minimum of five dollars a day may not be much, but it all adds up. Twenty-five dollars a week, an extra hundred a month.
Besides, one need not go out and get burnt by the sun or splashed by the rain. Of course, there is no bonding and socializing time with the colleagues. Plus one may get sick of home-cooked food everyday, so perhaps lunch in like two or three times a week and then lunch out the rest of the days. Even though one still spends on eating out, but still, lunching in a few times is better than lunching out everyday.
Some people I know go for the cheapest hawker fare or the simplest food during normal lunch, then with the amount of money saved, indulge in some dining out during the weekends. That is a very good idea.
2. Make your own drinks
When we lunch out, or go for tea breaks, we tend to buy drinks together with the food or snacks. One thing we can do is to stop buying drinks. I do not mean to stop drinking altogether, but since the office has a supply of water, tea, coffee and hot beverages, why bother spending on drinks like these?
Water is the healthiest drink in the universe, much better as compared to soft drinks or caffeine. Drinking water is also a good way to slim down. This is tested and proven. I drink just water instead of soft drinks when I was undergoing the slimming treatment, and that was how I lost eight kilograms within two months!
If one gets sick of drinking water (which can happen because it is also the most tasteless drink in the world), one can allow oneself just one glass of indulgence per week. For me, if I lunch out, I will get barley or green tea just once for that week, the rest of the week get the water from the office. So instead of spending an extra dollar fifty everyday, just spend that extra dollar fifty a week. It may not be much but it all adds up in the end.
3. Haggle and Bargain
I used to think it is not ethical to haggle and bargain because after all, people are running a business too. However, I have come to realize that prices are jacked up, especially when I go overseas.
What my mum always does is to come up with her own price, then negotiate from there. I used to wonder why is she mistreating the poor sales staff, but on the other hand, if they will really make a loss, they will not sell it in the end right? Selling it at a lower price is better than not selling it at all, so if it does not affect them too badly, they rather make a sale, no matter what price, than not make a sale at all.
This is not being a cheapskate. One pays for good quality, but even then, is it necessary to pay so much, that is the question. A cheapskate will try all means and ways to get the best product for free – by mooching off others!
This is something I am still learning, I can never bargain like how my mum does, but at least I have learnt to try to get the best value and not pay unnecessary costs.
4. Misquote your age when necessary
Okay, I am not asking everyone to lie. But at times when the age factor comes in and there is a big difference in the pricing, it helps that people think you are younger than you actually are. :-p For instance, when we went up the Sky Tower in Auckland, an adult over the age of eighteen can cost twice the amount of a student eighteen years old and below.
Perhaps because Asians tend to look younger, or perhaps because my family has the genes where everyone looks younger than our age, plus the fact that we are all relatively small size, when my brothers and I wanted to go up the Observation Deck, the counter staff at the ticketing counter thought we were just students and gave us the student price! Needless to say, none of us disputed that.
What my cousin and her husband did in Tasmania was they removed their wedding rings and passed themselves off as brother and sister just so to get the student tickets! To some people, this may be wrong and unethical. I do not deny that. But there is a difference when people think you are eighteen when you are not, than to say outright that you are only eighteen when you are not. In the former situation, one need not admit nor deny. Just keep quiet, after all it is going to be a one-time thing.
True, it may not be much, but again, it all adds up again. Especially in a tour, one may never know what kind of emergency may arise. So since we have a budget, we just have to try our best to keep to the budget, and if some “tweaking” does not harm, then maybe it does not really matter at the end.
At the end of the day, we just have to see the amount we are earning and what we can put aside for whatever purposes we like. So if I like to travel and see the world and indulge in fine dining as and when, and enjoy life to the fullest, then there are things I simply have to cut down.
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