Archive for the ‘Finance’ Category

The Ban


I’ve put myself on a two-month shopping ban.

Elsa, Franklin and Winston

For the months of October and November, I’m limiting my purchases to food, necessities and the occasional gift (for others).
I’m explicitly not buying clothes, shoes, accessories, gadgets, cookware… or anything I don’t need.
I’ve wanted to try this for a long time; I just didn’t think I could do it.

Wallet

Coming back from vacation and feeling a little shopped out presented a great opportunity to attempt this shopping fast.
I’m confident this time, I’ve gotten some good tips from the few fashion and personal finance bloggers who’d tried the shopping ban.
Unlike most shopaholics, I also do enjoy saving my money, as a matter of fact, I save and budget for almost all big purchases.
I figured with the holidays coming, I’d take a breather from shopping and put my finances in order.
Who knows, I might save enough to get myself a MacBook Pro Air soon.

Tote

Not buying stuff willy nilly has been liberating, and freeing, and awesome!
I don’t know how, but I almost feel it has improved my quality of life.
Plus, I’ve gained all this free time, now I’m trying other interesting non-shopping activities.

People

The other day while was walking on air, high on life, smelling the roses and listening to the music of chirping birds, it dawned on me; Holy crap! I’m becoming my father, (back when he was young and an idealist), This hasn’t been so bad!
I want to come out of this a more conscientious shopper.
I want that stylish yet sustainable lifestyle, I want to make discerning choices from here on.

CD

I’ll attempt another shopping ban after the holidays, for three months from February.
And as I begin my second month with this experiment I hope it’s as enlightening as my first month.
Oh and I hope I save tons of money too!

Posted October 29th, 2010 in Finance, Life, shopping. Tagged: , .

On Personal Finance Blogs


on pf blogsI’ve been reading a lot of personal finance blogs lately.

I’d like to blog about my finances or my futile efforts at saving – but given my more than normal erratic spending lately, it’ll just be too depressing.

I, like most people was never taught the value of money as a child, my mother’s philosophy to this day remains: “If it’s too expensive, don’t buy it” – which isn’t always practical.

It wasn’t until I was much older that I realized that the idea of saving/investing my money excited me… almost as much as shopping.

Even though I’m a little hesitant to document it, I’d love to start a more clearly defined journey towards financial freedom and build myself a nice nest egg.

The one thing I’ve learnt from these personal finance blogs is that it’s not for the faint hearted; there’re sacrifices to be made and huge lifestyle changes ahead.

I intend to start small; grow my saving a tad more aggressively, research and invest more and most importantly try not to spend more than I own.

For the first time in years, I’ve done up a budget that I want to stick to, I’ve set up precise financial goals, I’ll curtail impulsive spending (like that Marc Jacobs scarf I bought on sale and still haven’t worn a year later), I’ll look closely at my investments and take a more hands on approach at managing them. And above all, I’ll respect my money.

I’ve been thinking about this for a while and I feel I’m more likely to stick to if I write it out, in a place where everyone can see.

Here are a few PF blogs that I read religiously:

I’m sure there are a lot of personal finance blogs out there for every kind of person – so if you’d like tips on how to save a little more or are just curious, it’s worthwhile to check them out.

As always, use caution.

Posted May 20th, 2008 in Finance. Tagged: , , .

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