It was 4pm in the afternoon. We were at the Genting Premium Outlet. My daughter said she was hungry. As the sole breadwinner in the family and looking at the potential cost if we were to go to a cafe, I suggested the food court. My wife said that the food court was congested. It will be impossible to find four seats at the same table. Right in front of us was Starbucks. Since I still have RM90 plus credits left in my Starbucks app, I said sure let’s visit Starbucks instead. As soon as we arrived, we saw a long queue of easily 20 people. As for all the seats, they were all occupied. I think it must be the Merdeka spirit. You know those occasions which we must spend money? Haha. Just kidding. I think it is both acceptance of Starbucks as a lifestyle and the fact that people still have enough to spend on”unnecessity.” Unnecessity is not the same as unnecessary. The former is something due to circumstances. The latter is simply wastage…. (of course, there’s no such English word)
My daughter got herself a slice of fruitcake for RM7 (coz all the cheesecakes were sold out) and my wife got an ice blended drink. I share with my wife of course…. My daughter? We told her cold drinks are not good for her as she was coughing. So, she drank her plain water instead. Phew…. Even with just these two things, the bill was over RM30. If I were to do this every week, that’s 30 x 52 = RM1,560 per year. More than enough for my family of four to fly to Langkawi for 3 days and 2 nights. Fortunately, we do this perhaps twice whole year. Seriously, I am not kidding. These days, my trip to Starbucks have gone down from previous twice per week to just twice per month! This is despite the fact that Starbucks is just on the ground floor of my new office. Since I have cut down on the ‘unnecessity,’ I would like to write an article remind everyone of spending money for conveniences.
Have we ever wondered how many times have we spent money on “unnecessity”? A few more actual examples. Parking at VIP spot for RM40 at a 5-star hotel when its parking was full and because we wanted to save time instead of a car park some distance away from the function we were attending. Second example, buying a much more expensive Batik shirt (due to brand limitations in a certain mall) for our official function the next day because we did not want to continue shopping for a cheaper piece instead. As soon as we sit down, start calculating all these :unnecessities”, it will frighten us. Note, that this is not something unnecessary. We really do need to park our car because the event was about to start. (YES, I started the journey late…). We really need a Batik shirt because the event was starting the next day and it was already late at night. (Okay… I left the buying to the last minute…). So, the general conclusion would be two.
One, starting much earlier may turn these ‘unnecessities’ into just unnecessary. Arriving early would have meant much lower parking fees. Start shopping earlier for the Batik shirt would have saved me a lot of money. Actually, there’s one more prominent “unnecessity.” Buying a new car because we believe it will enhance our image. Haha. Hopefully I have not lost too many friends simply because I am driving an Exora. Well, when I bought it, it was because I needed a 7-seater and it fits everything that I was looking for. Nope, I was not aiming at some recon cars at that time. 🙂 All the best in cutting back all these “unnecessities”. Wishing all of us success because cutting down these would mean much more money for investments. Cheers.
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<Featured Image is courtesy of Stock Photos from Artist_R >
written on 2 Sept 2017
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