So frugal (OMG) and note to self

I came across something mortifying today on the train.

The train stopped and a few hikers (you can tell by their gear and apparel, and I wasn't wrong!) of roughly 50 or 60 years of age boarded. The train was about 80% crowded so they stood dispersed, 2 women in front of me, a man next to me, and another man behind me. They were literally shouting (talking louder than normal) and it hurts my ears and peace. Of course the 2 women were talking at my direction since the 2 men were next to/behind me, the man behind me talked very loudly next to my ear, of course. They were talking about Chinese tea house fees, some cheap strawberries they got from so and so for how much. I winced. 

Then they went on about cutting away coupons for some chain restaurant. I don't want to repeat what they said (the nitty gritty - something about those coupons and card offers that can't be combined which adds up to maybe US$0.5), it gave me the red flag (!). While I consider being frugal is generally a good thing, the mortifying part (for moi) is that these folks have it written all over their face. It's absolutely revolting. 

Of course frugality, when done right, is nothing to be ashamed of; but there's something about their frugality being so vocalized in a public area(!) that it borders on being miserly/cheap/take it for granted/(insert your word here). 

I took time to observe their appearance, they looked like...well let's just say I definitely DO NOT want to look like them when I'm old (something about the hair and skin, and their central topic of $$$ spending and saving just turned me off). This is a huge red flag. Now, from their speaking (of their hiking hobby), I don't think they're poor folks, but rather, they're super duper frugal folks. There's nothing wrong with talking about money as a topic, but the way they talked about it made me drop my respect. Needless to say, I felt turned off and couldn't wait to get off the train. 

Has any of you come across scenarios like that? How did you feel?

On one hand, I'm very thankful that frugality is a choice that I can make, not something that's forced upon me. On the other hand, I'm not ready to give up looking decent (I didn't use the word "good"), and I believe being frugal an d looking good aren't mutually exclusive.

In other news, I did another run through my wardrobe and got rid of 4 pieces - skirts with prints that I used to like but now found them a bit old-looking (I noticed that always is the case with florals...) I got a bit of thermal layers (sale), a fleece jacket (sale) and a jumper (on clearance) over the weekend, taking the advantage of sales. Expensive? Not when they're on sale. Necessity? Not really since I already own a few (thermal layers and fleece). The fleece in question is SO SOFT and WARM that I just want to stay in it forever, period. Possibly wear it outside-the-home too (but I won't, for aesthetic reasons obviously). It is only after I got the new fleece that I realized my old one isn't so great in keeping me warm, but I am not ready to throw away the old ones, course not! The jumper was on clearance and while it's not strictly a 'keep-you-warm' item, I suppose the style is timeless so not really a problem, although I do have too many jumpers in the trove that it has to stop. Or "one-in-one-out" from now on.

December = Excess = Sick

Disclaimer: I went a little crazy during November and December and just did a huge shop yesterday - it's making me guilty, regret now due to the excess. 

I should know it's coming. Right? Right??? 

The end of the year is always the worst - different sales going on, birthday discounts, etc. Excess makes me feel sick. And I am sick of the stuff piling in my room, sick of the wrong decisions I made, sick of repeating the same route again as the years before.

Definitely some goals are in the making with regards to that, the difficult part is "how to". While it's probably easy for some people who "just don't", it's going to be a bit tricky for moi. In the past I found that too much time on my hands = more mindless purchases, fully busy = less time to shop. However just look at the past two months will tell you otherwise. Busy = stress shop. 

I start to think that clarity is the key, when my mind is clear and focused on goals, and that means really focused and determined without distractions, I generally do better. The environmental factors of course play a part, I do better on days without any credit cards around aka (limited) cash only. I also do better when I have time to connect with frugal bloggers and posts...which comes to the conclusion that while I don't really have spare time as in my previous position, and it's not a thing I have control over. I definitely can do something on my part by leaving the cards at home, go limited-cash-only on days that are planned to be no-spend. Some unsubscribing actions must be done to get rid of the distractions.  

Lastly, how do I maintain the clarity and focus? How can one make frugality on auto-pilot without the need to even think?

Slow Sunday

On this slow weekend, I opted to stay in and hence 2 NSDs.

A few things that were forgotten in the last post, I made a decision to quit one of my side-hustle. Although it doesn't earn much, it does take up a bit of time and more often than expected, I found myself dreaded at the thought of working on it. To put it simply, I told the supervisor that I will have an impending change on my workplace, and that will take time to settle in; secondly but more importantly, I want to free some time to pursue my projects (e.g. de-cluttering, spending time with loved ones and family, exercise, catching up with blogs, or just plain idle...). But to keep things open, I did not exclude the possibility of picking it up in the future - if my work situation allows (but I doubt). Anyways, I felt free.

Starting from April, every month went not frugally, and I intend to change that. I found that jotting down tiny frugal things every few days / per week helps a great deal in keeping me on the frugal / resourceful course instead of looking anywhere to spend. I am also considering keeping a small, palm-sized note pad (and a pen obviously) in my bag whenever I go, so when I think of something, usually a to-do item, or a vague idea like meditation, some project that needs further consideration, I will write it down. Why not use a phone as a notepad? I have done that and the list ended up with many other miscellaneous items, and I cannot cross them out after completion of certain tasks (erase is the only option), I prefer something that allows me to check, check, tick and done.

The idea of keeping a physical to-do list is beneficial in a way I did not expect: when near to tears with boredom this weekend, I looked through the list (now still shreds of papers stapled together instead of a notepad), and realized I could use the time to complete some of the stuff that I've been dragging on: finish reading Mrs Moneypenny's book, draft a letter to the building management office, a wardrobe purge (see? this thing crept up every 6 months. Bastard.), clean my room floor, to rotate shoes (#firstworldproblem), exercise (as far as I'm concerned, with the heat and rainy weather, this will remain as scribbles on the paper instead of an item...sad). 

So the easiest was of course to finish the book where I left off months ago, and I couldn't find it anywhere! Wardrobe purge: not really feel like it now. Mop the floor? The flat below me is blasting their air-con so my floor is trickled with cold water droplets because of the temperature difference (I offed the air-con when I wake up)! It would be futile for me to wipe the floor clean when such situation is anticipated to last until summer finishes.

I turned to rummage through the cupboards and then found some noodles that were close to expiry dates, had one for lunch. Rummaging through the other cupboards I picked out some tubes and jars that are unopened and won't be used, off they go to my friends then. The travel book I borrowed from a friend - it's no longer sitting on my desk but off to the bag it goes - I'll return it when I see him for a dinner or something after work. A few reading materials on the side-hustle that I was working for? The recycle bin! 

I also reserved a book on de-cluttering (the mind and the home) with a click, didn't know it was that easy! Now I just have to wait patiently since there are others who are also waiting for the book. Think this deserves a frugal point!

For the rest of today, I'm catching up with some blog reading and will be charting my frugal course for August. 

I may or may not have mentioned in the last post, that some of the items in the wardrobe are looking a bit washed out and tatty (e.g. black turned dark grey with white cast on top, colors that no longer look like when they're new thanks to the mixed color wash and transfer of dye/colors during wash, things that no longer look good because I've grown fat in the belly - YIKES especially on the last one). I found that shabby looking clothes really dampen my spirits and outlook, I'd feel shabby the whole day and felt compared to, even when my bag is new. After some analyzing that most items in my current wardrobe had lasted 1-3 years, some of them are just outdated, gone tatty, and some of them just don't look good anymore. With this in mind, I have a clothes shopping trip planned next next week, I'd be uber careful and cautious when I consider bringing a new item in, however. This is due to concerns with space, ease of washing with other items (color transfer), style in question (compatibility with my activities and other items), and material. I deliberately pushed this shopping trip later and later, frankly I just want to faint when looking at the current wardrobe, I'm not sure if I have the guts to bring anything new in before cleaning something out, this is something I dreaded on and on. Secondly, some bargains might be at their best when we're stepping into the next season. 

Also on the same note, I really need a change on my hair, it no longer looks crisp nor fresh, instead it looks out of place, still thinking on how to proceed with this one. I may change haircut twice per year to three times per year in order to feel my best. Hope this doesn't come across as vanity, but how I look really affects how I feel (low confidence, insecurity, shy away from this or that). I could no longer deny it when looking at the mirror, and this has become more frequent than before.

As July is drawing to a close, the monthly wrap-up will be up in the coming few days. I'd have a weekend getaway next week so I hope everyone has had a great month!

What are your plans in August?

Outsourcing your time or your hard earned money?

The other day I met up with a friend who just came back from the holiday destination that I'm soon going to, and I borrowed the travel guide from him. In the past I've also borrowed another travel guide from him too! Makes me cringe to buy books of that sort...unless it's somewhere I really, really want to go, and the book is really, really helpful. But these days there's always the Internet.

During our convo, I learned that the price he paid per person, for flight and hotel, is double than the amount of what I booked per person for me and DB. Shocker, right? And my vacation dates belongs to the peak season and his was not! I was very curious so I asked him where he stayed at. He quoted a place which they booked a private pool (!) and the nights we stayed are the same. We lived in pretty much the same area I guess...his hotel was newer, but basically the "level of stars" are the same, if not half-a-star difference. To my surprise, my friend thinks this price was fair. To me, needless to say, was not. I told DB this shocking discovery, that what they paid for one person actually pays for 2 of us to go, with same number of nights spent there in a similar area! I can't remember whether they have free breakfasts included but mine surely have!

I would further add that even though the sound of having a private pool is nice, but I'm not going to use it every day while at that destination. I don't like the idea of vegging in the hotel room when traveling, so it doesn't make any difference to me (or benefit) if the hotel carries a free gym access and a free pool access. I would love the idea of having a private pool, but anything more than 1 day is too much, who am I kidding anyway? If I'm going swimming I might just as well get to a standard pool and do some laps like a pro (ok, maybe not a pro), or if I want some sun I might as well go to the local beach. Paying for a private pool which I'll not be using everyday? No thanks. And the ludicrous part was, I thought his partner did the booking for him, but no, he told me they bought the package via an agent. An agent! If it was somewhere I'm not too familiar with, not that popular with tourists, I might do the same. But chances are that 90% I would not outsource it. 

In the past I've made booking for flights and hotels via agent, but on different occasions and never booked together. One occasion was when I was traveling with my parents and they made a booking for the hotel via the agent (a place they've been to but I haven't, so I trusted their recs, the place doesn't have much "hotels" but instead "home-stays" are plenty, and I'm not staying at anything other than a hotel when I'm with my parents). The other time I booked a flight ticket via an agent because I wasn't too sure about buying it online. 

But I'm getting better at it now...once I got past the "fear of making a mistake" stage (story to come in an upcoming post).

With outsourcing I believe that depends on the age and angle where you're looking at it from. Right now, it makes sense to me that these are things that I could easily do it myself, but when I become old one day, I might just dismiss the act of outsourcing as "giving myself some free time" or "saves me hassles", or it was just something that I'm not capable of, e.g. mechanics, renovation. But for now, as far as I'm concerned, I can book tickets and hotels myself without problems, although it means I have difficulty choosing.

Over to you, what do you / will you happily outsource?

Something frugal, and something not that frugal

Shall we begin with the not so frugal thing about this week?

Well, I caved and bought this mook (a Japanese term referring to a book magazine with gift, usually a pouch or a tote). Do you recognize the character? She's Lilla My from the Moomin tribe! The cartoon is originated from Finland.

 

The mook is not very expensive, but surely it's not a need, but a want. The bag is made of nylon, has no zippers, but I like the way the colors combined and the cartoon on it. So much for saying to 'pay thyself' first...hahaha.

Moving onto the frugal things this week:

We went to the movies, but we chose to eat at a food court, that cut down our dinner to about US$4.5 for me, US$8 for DB. We bought bottled water because we were both coming from work, usually if it's on the weekend I'd bring my own.

I checked the travel insurance price last week from our usual provider, they offered 10% off throughout the year for their members. Today when I looked at it again, they are offering 35% off for members - YAY. It pays to wait, but I really wouldn't recommend you to wait to buy it at the last minute since the companies take time to process before they issue a green light to your insurance policy. I would suggest if you know you're needing it anyway, go check in with them every now and then, and pounce when a special offer (than usual offer) is there.

I took some time off due to a dental appointment this week, and managed to squeeze in an hour brisk walk at the park, that's gonna be the single entry in my March exercise goal, lol. The said dental appointment meant a surgery date pushed earlier (end of 2015) than the old date (2017 / 2018, which was way too far away). I have doubts about this dental operation, since it's not necessarily a life-threatening situation, and they told me they'll give me 2-3 days off after the operation. Seriously! I must have underestimated it based on my one time experience with removing a wisdom tooth. Well, at least, the operation should save me from seeking private dentist. I also scrapped plans for the dental checkup-and-wash in March, one that I have to pay for, since I have an upcoming visit to a dentist covered by my employer in May anyway. BONUS: I made progress on the Mrs. Moneypenny book (!) instead of the book I'm supposed to finish, but sorry, not sorry!

Tomorrow we'll be dining out WITH coupons, you guessed it. The other day I told DB that since we usually eat out (because we aren't sharing a home together), we might as well: (1) eat more frugal sometimes; (2) when we eat fancy / more up-scale, relatively speaking, we might as well do some hacking, that includes Super Monday deals, going on days / to places that let you multiply the points / miles on your card (travel hacking); (3) make use of coupons from newspaper and flyers. DB agreed. 

I applied for an equivalent to Nectar card in the UK - a moneyback card from a supermarket chain, I don't know why I didn't apply it sooner, I should have! I don't shop at supermarket much, if at all, but it makes sense to have it ready when I do shop there, no matter how infrequently and how small the amount usually was. I had this "ding!" moment when I was paying for the cheese fondue pack at the cashier a few weeks ago. The card took more than 3 weeks to arrive in the mail, but I'm happy that I made a sensible decision :-) Note: supermarket and grocery store are not the same thing (for me).

Upgrading my existing credit card to the "elite" status had been on my mind for months but haven't got around to actually ask about it in detail. To be honest, apart from accumulating miles quicker, it doesn't really offer that much benefits (unlimited access to airport lounges throughout the year? I don't travel more than twice a year and twice a year, the maximum amount of how frequent I can use the airport lounge with my current card, is enough for me). Second, the annual card fee was much higher than the current one, and can only be waived if I had a 150,000 spending, which is rather impossible. Don't think I'll be making the upgrade in this case.

A friend sent me some goodies from the mail - she ordered a matching set of a perfume for both of us, how sweet of her! Her parcel totally made my day week.

The past week had seen me really busy with work so this weekend will be all about catching up with blogs! This week had been not very good, hope you have a good weekend.

Frugal things this week

Some frugal things I did this week:

- I replied to an email and got free ticket to an Art Show that is good for 2 plus a free drink;

- I borrowed a travel book from a friend who just returned from the destination, instead of buying it;

- Got a free book sent to my way (thanks January for posting about Mrs Moneypenny!);

- I gave away my free movie ticket to my relative who would have better chance of using it than me, I figured it won't be worth the cost if commute costs + time are taken into consideration;

- Asking a friend returning from UK to bring me back some toothpastes instead of asking for them to be shipped to me (yes it's a specific brand that I can't find locally);

- Asking same friend to get hold of a bottle of perfume from UK, and I paid 35% less than locally (Yes this might not sound that frugal at all. Yes I have a weakness!);

- Did not buy any food or snacks, still need to try harder to avoid going into the shops AT ALL

The free book pretty much made my day, knowing it's free, I even forgot about it after signing up, and I'll have fun reading books about financial management!

What frugal things have you done this week?

Slowly hoppin' back on (and THANK YOU)

And a full week ahead, may I add : /

I'd like to say a heartfelt thanks to all that has left a comment on my last last post. THANK YOU. 

I was shot to both sides of the world the past week - a swinging pendulum that gravitates towards the negative, and a lot of sadness in the mix. Things are looking better right now, although there's still a lot to follow up, I'm in a much better place now, emotionally speaking. It amazed me how everything ceased to matter (money was the last thing on my mind), when the world (almost) came crashing down. 

Developing a sore throat in the past few days, I decided the whole weekend to be a stay-in, and hopefully a no-spend as well! I had oatmeal this morning (surprise, surprise), I put water on a higher ratio than oatmeal and loved the watery consistency. By the time I had the second bowl (I used a small bowl), I threw in some dried sultanas and they are GOLD. Not that I had any problem with plain oatmeal but the dried raisins just upped the whole ante and I downed it quickly. Some almonds were also thrown in and it's delicious and balanced (I hope). Some fresh fruit would be nice, but I"ll use what I have. This combo should be featured more often everyday!

I just got a few more pairs this week (March) from another brand. I can live with garment replacements should the need arise, but I'm still saying NO to new clothes/bags/shoes. I unsubscribed from newsletters of apparel retailers sometime ago and didn't aware that I'm missing anything until they sent me promo codes a few days ago for a major sale event. Being very careful, I did not click onto the sites and see what's new and the deals, it's all the more easier to avoid clicking on it than to spend time debating and saying no. Willpower is like a muscle that has to be flexed frequently to strengthen it, too much exercising leads to fatigue sometimes. Auto-pilot is the way to go!

Also organized some papers and letters, and paid my taxes. Even though I don't have to pay a large sum this year, I dreaded on it because of the paper decluttering, today as I went through the papers I thought I might as well paid it and put the tax demand note back to the folder. Staying in might just be my new favorite hobby.

For the upcoming trip in Easter I just modified the list I drafted for my previous trip (oh USA!) and will do some final tweaking tonight. So far I still have to buy travel insurance (putting it to the last few days), schedule a driver at the destination, and exchange currencies. This trip *should* go on as planned.

The coming week will be quite packed as I've got some side hustle scheduled, dinner with a friend, lunch with coworkers (16!), reading through a travel guide book and start thinking on the itinerary. I want to pack a facial session (congested skin!) but will likely postpone it since my throat is feeling bleurgh at the moment. Spending wise, I'm still on track at the moment.

Should my body and spirit allow, this weekend should see a bit of things getting done, I try not to be ambitious here so there is no weekly goals post for the coming week (or maybe more), because honestly, in such a state, being ill and all that, I'd be grateful to just get by, instead of being hard on self for not following a list and whatnot!

How's March treating you so far?

Follow up on February's monthly Wrap-Up

I'm hoping as I write this, I'd be able to hop back on the blogging bandwagon. During the 1 week break, I still read and went through blog posts of those I follow, making a comment or two; but now I'd like to sit down and dig further into the nitty gritty of the February spending.

Here's some figures:

Jan 2015 - overspent budget by HK$813

Feb 2015 - overspent budget by HK$861

The 'slips' in February included the following:

- falling for ready-meal ("just add water") packs of flavored oatmeal, I bought 2, each costs $4.x serves 1 per meal. The slip? I could have bought 1kg of Museli or oatmeal for $30! Not in individual serving and is best accompanied by milk, but still, I loathe to pay more than acceptable just for "convenience"

- I spent quite a lot on gifts in February, even though I said no rather strictly when it comes to gift in my yearly laid out goals, and subsequently I had to spend on shipping it to a friend as well

- I made redundant trips to supermarket and got beverage sachets on clearance. Note to self: Saving money is NOT SPENDING IT in the first place, money is not saved even if you buy things with a yellow label

- I bought a perfume, a scent that I love which was discontinued, I searched high and low (refusing to pay full price), and finally found it on A**zon

- I bought snacks (chips, drinks) for the office, could have saved that money instead, and save myself some waist room

- I overspent in beauty category the most, it's my vice and I knew it, trying hard to tone down on this area

I did well with the no shoes/bags/clothes ban though! I only bought a pair of footsies (socks) in February as my old ones were slipping down as I walk.

The doctor I had been visiting has increased their fees so it's crap news, but I'd have to stick with it and scrimp elsewhere. Furthermore I had the habit of putting a cereal bar (or leftover dried fruits and nuts) in my bag if I hang out by myself during much of the day, it helps to cut down on the "hunger" spending and avoid to eat out. There's also the plus when I'm hungry, I eat everything, including the dried apricots that I've been shunning away from for months, helps to cut down food waste. 

Before you ask, YES, I finished up that bag of sucker (will not repurchase)! 

Saying NO to temptations

OK, I've never thought these to be the first pictures to appear on my blog posts but here you go...aren't they pretty?

THAT china ware in the bottom pic...priceless. Well, no, they come with a price tag. What are you doing in a Starb**ks when you are not actually a coffee drinker or a snacker? You may ask. The reason I was there was because of these - I hunted them down for my friends, but the mugs were so adorable...I found them hard to forget. But I'm trying to resist; I have too many cups / mug, I might break them since I'm careless, my home is running out of space, etc The debate is still raging hard this morning when I helped my friends to purchase them (which they'll reimburse me later), and by the way, these are "limited editions" exclusive to this corner of the earth (of course that darn word again!) and sold like hot cakes every year around this time when they are released (some of them the same, some are new designs). The whole city was scouring over these, and I just didn't buy them (yet). I don't think I will, even though I very much want to!

Now I invite you to join me to savor these pretties in a digital form...cross our arms in front of our chest and say no. No, it's not easy, but it has to be done, if we are to stay on course with frugality.

Over to you, how do you resist temptations? How do you convince yourself to say NO?

*Full collection photos HERE. Do not click if you are feeling weak. You've been warned.

Pay yo'self before you treat yo'self?

Have you ever thought about treating yourself to a cup of milk tea* but delaying it until next month? Well I just did last week. Today as I was thinking about March, the thought of it resurfaced again and I was caught suddenly thinking WHAT WAS I THINKING?!

That "I'll treat myself with a cuppa next week" thought is essentially what I'm writing about. It shouldn't be a treat that makes me look forward to March, no; it should be a treat when March is over AND if there's money left in the budget. 

Not only the thought hints at a sense of "entitlement", like it's only the beginning of the month not the end! Do note that the thought comes along with the subtle messages like "at the start of next month I'll have money in the budget to start with, and so I can get X and Y". Dangerous signs there, dangerous.

What I'll do is delaying treats towards the end of month, and try my very best to go without them. Then when the month comes to an end and there's a few bucks left, I'll decide whether to keep those in the pocket or let them pay for a humble treat. Pay yourself first, (maybe) treat yourself later.

It's the way it should be really!

*here refers to a special blend beverage you get from a joint instead of making my own*

First day back at work

I slept very poorly last night. Not just the fact that I had caught up with plenty of doze during the 4-day weekend, but we had a nasty fight. I loathe to end my day with negativity but it's not something I can forget at the click of a button in my head.

So far 9 NSDs in February, and 3 more should happen this week *crosses fingers*. As far as the long weekend was concerned, I made very conscious effort not to spend / delay the spending. I took advantage of the 50% off discount on metro rides during Friday and Saturday, to my grandma's place for dinner, meet up with a few relatives. It seems that even though she's deemed smart at her age, she's showing signs of aging (memory getting poorer), it's really sad. Even my mom noticed it as well. 

I had a...very unproductive holiday. No exercising goal was reached, no reading had been done. And I felt terrible about it, the monthly wrap-up will come later this week.

My nightmare of not having enough variety of food at home - partly came true. That's exactly why my folks and I headed out for tea yesterday (on my purse of course), we could have stayed home and made something but since it was the CNY, it seemed "appropriate" (darn this word and the mentality behind it) to go out to treat them.

That's it for now - am exhausted! 

*off to catch up with missed blog posts and ponder on the way forward in March*

Crunching the numbers

So here we are...16th of February!

A quick trip to the budget number reveals that I've spent 78.5% (!!!) of the monthly budget. The remaining days in the month will see me teetering over the edge, and I'll be clutching my wallet very, very tight. There will be a trip to the health practitioner tomorrow and it'll send me right over the budget. 

Previously I made it clear that there won't be any stockpiling purchases this month, but I've made a few slips here and there. I caught the oat biscuits (cheap and tasty) back on shelves again and got two boxes without thought. (Hey they last until December...) With the coming week is major Public Holidays (PH) I should have no problem with 3 NSDs in a row. Next week there will be a banquet (saved for), and an official lunch treat (shared with peers, also saved for) so those won't hurt my monthly budget numbers. But there's another trip to the doc next week, but we shall see.

I'm going to spill the beans about an awesome deal we had on V Day, since me and DB don't want to succumb to paying triple or double prices for poor quality set dinner and such. In the past we've deployed our twisted logic, had our mouths fed in a fast food chain and we can't be happier! Here's why:

(1) no crowds next to us

(2) no need advance booking via phone, no head-wringing moment of "OMG where should we eat at?"

(3) we never like "V Day set menu" prescribed by the restaurant and have the same food as everyone else *BORING*

(4) not dining in a restaurant means we won't be extorted $ (mind you the quality usually goes downhill on fully booked occasions like this, and Xmas)

(5) no pressure to "do what everyone else does", aka a bouquet of flowers and all that sh**

So, what did we have? *cues drumroll*

Our dinner for that night (1 big pizza + 1 baked rice) only costs HK$108, for 2! We could have gone to a fast food chain cheaper than HK$54 per person, sure. But HK$108 for 2 is a major win considering that it's not a fast food chain quality food! (Pizzas do not belong to fast food "menu" where I live.) I had a coupon for a big pizza at $69 versus the usual $149, and since we're *kind of* big eaters, we added a baked rice, it was $45 but the cashier told me the set (same size) is $39 and comes with soup/soda, that's even better! The only downside was that I had to go to the place to order (the place is far away from everywhere else) and self-deliver it home by transit instead of the motorman buzzing it to our doorstep. Sure it took quite a bit of walk and strong arm muscles but hey it's a win-win for everyone! We got our fab deal pizza dinner and can't be happier.

I also booked tickets for DB and I for a short trip somewhere in Easter - it wasn't the prime time for fab travel deals but this period is easiest to allow taking day-offs to make it into a trip. So I guess that'll have to do. Location-wise, it's not where I felt 100% attracted to go but DB really wants to go there so no problems with that. Any travel related costs shall not come under the monthly budget and shall be taken out of another pocket - which I hope will be adequate to fund it...

Monday is the new Friday!

I'm referring to "Super Mondays" promo which has recently caught my attention.

Apparently, I think the same as most people: Mondays = going home / not hanging out. The restaurateurs had come up with "Super Mondays" promo whereby you get BOGOF on main courses, to boost their on-site traffic. Some of them do Tuesdays as well, but you guessed it: none on Friday. However only the mid-end restaurants do this offer...wish more of them did.

So what does this mean for my newly found frugality*? DB and I are dining out on Mondays now instead of Fridays, it'll allow us to try more dishes without spending more, and not to mention to avoid the crowds on Fridays! Less queue, less crowded dining experience. Can't complain :-)

*I am fully aware that dining out is not "frugal" per se, but for our situation right now (we don't live together), so dining out when we hang out is mostly the case. If we're doing this anyway, why not make the best use of BOGOF offers?

Everyday frugality

Happy new year everyone! 

The first week of the year was a rather eventful week, so far I've done the following on my to-do list:

- Read 50 pages of the said book read 30

- Jog 2x walked 1x, jogged 1x (but my calf starts to hurt after i'm done with 1.25 miles...had to switch to walking)

- See whether DB needs help with his house move I spent much of Saturday helping him and his mom to pack and move...

- Hand tiny gifts to DB's mom handed her some, still some more

- Pick up free ticket from cinema  done

- Track refunds x 2 done

- Make outfit plan on Sunday shamefully not yet...

- Ship 2 parcels to friends abroad not yet

- Make a list of items for blog sale not yet...but needs to be done soon

- Continue the glasses search looked at a few places, found nothing, the search continues

New year calls for a new way of doing things :-) I'm noting down the frugal things I did each day this week, whether they are on purpose or not! I doubt if I can come up with a frugal thing to do on a daily basis (dig hard and deep enough?), but so far so good. As long as frugality is practiced everyday, I'm contented.

1st Jan: Went for a walk at the park, healthy and free. What's better than the feeling of getting a head start on first day of the year (health goals)?

2nd Jan: Took home from work some leftover cakes and pastries. Dad was kind of excited about one of the pastries being his favourite. The pastries are individually wrapped so they can sit for a while, yum!

3rd Jan: Took my complimentary ticket from the cinema, picked up some beauty samples. Free of course! I re-gifted a purse to DB's mom, it was new but not my taste, she happily took it, win-win!

4th Jan: Can't really think of anything - except that all my spending were on food today.

5th Jan: I could have asked a colleague to share with me the Starbucks BOGOF offer which expires tomorrow, instead I made hot cocoa using what I have. Frankly speaking I just need a hot sweet beverage as I was feeling a bit nauseous whole day. Also I also picked up some free samples on the way home from a chain store, nothing beats beauty on the cheap (free)! Will be cooking up some instant noodles tonight for dinner (1 person serving) using what food we have. Oh and I received birthday money from my distant family, this will be counted as part of the extra income made this month. [Edit: I bought some butter shortbread, mincemeat tarts, and Hershey's nuggets on clearance! The chocolates would be gifted, the shortbread would be an indulgent treat. Talk about a frugal slip! Today is not a No Spend Day hence, but tomorrow will be!]

So far so good : ) I hope everyone's got a gentle but good start of the year.