No Spend September – Week 3
Week 3: Sept 15-21, 2010
Budget: RM105 = RM15/day
Actual: RM86.90
I’m pleased to report that there wasn’t an epic fail this week. Maybe just a RM2 regret, but who’s counting?
The sandwich in the above photo is what my typical lunch looks like. It’s called the Special Giant Croissant Sandwich which I picked up from Delizze. It’s totally worth the money because it usually becomes two meals for me. The regular sandwich is RM4.50. The Giant is RM4.90. I thought I heard wrong when I first asked about it. It is stuffed with ham, lettuce, cheese and tomatoes.
I usually eat half or 2/3 for lunch, and save the rest for the late afternoon hunger pangs. I ate the whole thing for lunch once and knew that I overdid it. It’s funny how I can’t remember the last time I was stuffed to the point of not being able to move.
The RM2 regret is in the background of the photo. The mini eclairs, also from Delizze. Pretty to look at, not too bad to mush around in your mouth. But once it disappears down your throat, it just… disappears. I don’t think I would have felt any different if I didn’t eat it.
Most food gives you some kind of feeling. Maybe a bit of sugar rush, peaking endorphins, feeling it sit in your tummy purring like a fed cat, feeling pleased that you made an excellent choice in dessert. But there was nothing. Just a bunch of calories that wasn’t worth the RM2. A can of Coke would have been worth the calories, and it costs 20 sen less.
Oh, I treat myself to a can of Coke maybe once a week but I’ve been much better at just drinking water lately. I thought I drank enough water before (and I still do compared to most people) but since I learned that hunger pangs are the same for food and water, it’s easier to just throw water into the hatch. Water is free. I used to buy big bottles of mineral water (RM2 each) when I’m looser with my budget but I just bring big bottles from home now.
Drinking more water also tells your body that it’s in no danger of dehydration, so it won’t retain so much water (causes bloating). When I find that article that talks about this, I’ll link it.
The other habit that changed is that I eat dinner at home more often. I could go for weeks without coming home for dinner, but I quite easily talked myself out of that this month. Again, eating mum’s cooking not only saves money, but it’s a lot healthier too, especially when my mum’s more health conscious than I am.
I was telling Shin Yi earlier that I miss pasta and sushi a little, but fortunately, it was just a passing realisation rather than a craving. I did treat myself to some KFC today.
Being able to keep my daily spending below RM15 is something I want to keep on doing.
Car accident
On my day off a couple of weeks ago, my car got rear-ended by a pick-up truck at the intersection at Tabuan Jaya. I was the first car, stopping because traffic was still heading my way when I got there. By the time the driver behind me pulled up, traffic cleared. She kept going, and I was still there. It was a good thing the traffic did clear, because her pick-up pushed me into the main road.
This was the second time this scenario happened. The first time it happened, I had a lot more things on my dashboard and the entire collection leaped into my face. I didn’t even know what just happened. This time round, I only had two things in the open and both were behind the gear box. My Starbucks tumbler jumped into the passenger leg space, and my phone dived into the garbage bag.
I just sat there processing all this and the lady came to check if I was okay because I was taking too long to get out of the car.
We both got out the survey the damage and quickly found out that we didn’t share a common language. Perhaps just enough to get by. But we were both calm. Nobody lost their temper, or raised their voices, pointed fingers. There was no drama throughout the whole thing.
“What happened?” I asked.
“I thought you were gone,” she said, still speaking Mandarin.
“That’s a common enough mistake,” I said. “Now what?”
“We go to your mechanic.”
I tried describing where my mechanic is but the language barrier wasn’t the only problem. She only recently moved here from Sibu. I decided to call my mechanic and let him give her directions.
She asked if it’s okay if she went and pick up her son from tuition first.
“Go on,” I said. “I trust you to meet me at the workshop.”
Not only did she meet me at the workshop, she got there before I did.
My mechanic assessed the damage and told the lady that he can only get an accurate quote by the next day. She was very attentive and asked all sorts of questions. I could only follow half of it, but I can tell she is no pushover. Neither was she trying to shirk responsibility or shuffle blame.
They will have to replace the bumper, the reflective strip, license plate, straighten out the dent and re-spray it. It will be in the ballpark figure of RM1,000. I know I wasn’t paying, but I cringed anyway.
Another mechanic helped me patch up the license plate so it won’t fall off before I delivered the car the next day. He was laughing that I had a roll of masking tape in the car. I told him I was cat-sitting a couple of months before.
Before I left, I tried my best to tell the lady that I’m sorry that this had to happen to the both of us.
“I’m the one who should be sorry. I hit you,” she said.
My mum was full of concern that the lady would simply vanish, leaving me with the bill. To tell the truth, I wasn’t the least bit concerned until then. Sometimes you just want to have a bit of faith that people will do the right thing. I spoke to the lady and had a good feeling that she will honour her word. My mechanic also said the same thing when I dropped the car off.
Since she and her family were new in town, they haven’t found a mechanic and was letting mine fix her car after my car was done.
I was car-less for four days.
For a few days after I got my car back, I was bracing for the mechanic to call me and say that she never turned up.
A few days ago, he called. When I picked up, there was a pause on the other end.
“Oh! Sorry, sorry! Wrong number!” he said and hung up.
No Spend September – Week 2
Week 2: Sept 8-14, 2010
Budget: RM105 = RM15/day
Actual: RM92.70
Remember how I said I’m good at thoughtlessly spending on entertainment?
Yup. In the middle of a game trance on the first day of the second week, I went and bought a casual pack at RM31. Yes, I enjoyed the game I was playing. The purchase wasn’t ideal and isn’t something I want to keep doing, but once next month’s coins are in, I’m gonna cancel the subscription.
Happily, I didn’t spend very much in the subsequent three days because it was my day off, then Hari Raya so I did my eating at houses I visited. Just spent RM6 on Thursday on lunch with my brother at my favourite kopitiam, and RM4.75 (RM2 tumbler discount) on a freshly brewed coffee at Starbucks on Sunday. So I just about balanced the extravagance of the first day and saved a few bucks along the way! (Imagine how much more I would have saved this week if I didn’t buy the game credits…)
As expected, I had to continue saying no to things I won’t have thought twice about before, like a new Artermis Fowl novel and various dinner outings with friends who probably don’t know about this project. It’s become a little bit easier to say not to unnecessary purchases, like daily afternoon snacks at work. In the long run, this is probably healthier as well.
There were a couple of purchases I decided to put off indefinitely until I get this financial situation sorted out. One of it resolved itself when my brother returned home with the packaging of the iPod Touch he gave me last year. My earphones were dying. There was a pair of the original iPod earphones in the box. Yay!
The other item I was coveting is the Black Rapid RS-W1. It’s a camera strap designed for women! There’s a curve that fits between the boobs instead of cutting across it like it isn’t there.
When I first saw it last month, I made the prudent decision to wait till the next paycheck. But the “next paycheck” coincided with NSS, so it’ll be a while before I get my mitts on this.
Nonetheless, I added it to my wish list, with an unsubtle reminder that my birthday is next month. ;-)
