Friday, February 01, 2008

Shopping Pressure... errrr.... Pleasure

After 4 days in Macau and 3 in HK, we come back to our beloved country where our son awaits us. Bric greets us at the airport. Our baby is growing up so fast. He's now walking more than 5 steps and he doesn't want to be held. Hehe...

Despite my drowsiness from having to wake up at 7am (having slept at around 1am) to catch our flight, I didn't sleep when we got to the house. I started unpacking and realized we didn't buy too many stuff... which is good because we didn't spend too much money.... but I'm thinking I should have bought another one of those 'pylone' reminder buttons for our bathroom mirror or the pylone passport holder. Too late for regrets since we're not in HK anymore.

I've often been teased as 'kuripot' (thrifty) by my hubby which almost had me convinced. But after giving it serious thought, I've made a conclusion about my spending habits. I'm "practical" more than I am "kuripot"; I decide which things to splurge on and which stuff I can do without. I am a 'moody' shopper; I have to be 'in the mood' to shop and it's not a switch that is 'on' all the time.

I spend on the following:
1. food!!! - This is so self-explanatory... When we travel, I like to try the different restaurants and the cuisine a place has to offer. There are just endless possibilities with food and my palate is just only too willing to explore what the gastronomic world has to offer.
2. Travel - I'd like to believe that traveling is an educational and humbling experience. In travel, we learn about different cultures, see how different we are from one another, on one hand, and so alike on the other. It is also an exercise in humility as we realize just how small we are, how we form part of an even bigger world outside our own familiar corners of our home cities.
3. Loved ones - Gifts, trips, scrapbooks - I don't hesitate giving those to loved ones specially to Boydee, Bric, our 2 Moms, Dad and our brothers, sisters and nieces and nephews. But when it's Christmas, now, that's another story. Hehe...
4. Books!!! - Ate Rona was saying she can spend hours and hours in a bookstore and I couldn't agree with her more. I was telling Boydz that if I had to work in the US, I'd be happy and content working in a bookstore like Borders or Barnes and Noble or Page One in HK. Oh, I'd probably be reprimanded for reading too much and not paying attention to the customers. :)
5. clothes (not really so much) - I do this as a one-time shopping spree or occasional splurges because I don't really go to malls often and most times, I'm too lazy to try something on especially if it's just one piece of clothing. If there's a particular style I like that suits me, I tend to buy all the colors. I guess I'm a lazy shopper when it comes to clothes. Moreso now that I am overweight and still plan on losing at least 20 lbs!!! I don't want to buy too many clothes since I might just successfully lose my unwanted bilbils and oil deposits... (crossing my fingers here)
4. shoes - My Mom used to say to me about buying my shoes: Because your feet are big, it's hard to look for your size so if there's a style you like, buy it. I'm more careful now because sometimes, I buy shoes I hardly get to wear. I used to buy fakes until my friend told me a top-seeded tennis player had her ankles damaged because she wore fake adidas rubber shoes. That scared me so from that time on, when it came to rubber shoes and walking shoes, no more fakes for me. Now that I type this, I'm beginning to doubt the story... I mean, why would an international top-seeded tennis player wear fakes???!!! But my friend's logic stuck. Don't mess with feet!
5. Other needs and some 'wants' - Needs are our family's essentials with some specifics/premium on some items... like soap has to be Dove because Boydee's allergic to some others; toilet paper preferred is the one from Rustan's because it's 3-ply so you actually use less because it's thicker, etc... Other "luxuries" are tech stuff (more Boydee's) and services like massage (this I absolutely LOVE!), hair highlights (once a year or even once every 1 year and a half), formal gowns (only if an occasion calls for it).

Shopping is an art and a skill. To be able to hunt for the lowest price for an item, or to be conscious and updated how much a particular thing costs is not easy and requires time. I humbly admit that this is a skill and talent I don't possess; which is just so fortunate that I don't have too many "needs" or "desires"; no tendency of keeping up with the Joneses. I am a stickler for 'saving for a rainy day.' We still have one son and plan to have 1-2 more so we have a lot to spend for in the future. So, we're saving up but that doesn't mean the quality of our lives is less. As cliche as it may sound, money and material things can't buy you happiness. But then again, having them sure helps. Hehe...

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Hi Bang! I third in saying that I can spend hours in a bookstore. I don't think you're a tight wad at all =) you're practical and that's that. People think that I like to splurge on stuff too. Can I help it that I look expensive. Hahahah!