september update

One of my reader emailed me yesterday and asked that why am I not writing about money lately and writing more on this - that. Well because, I am not handling money this month. This is an experiment month where my DH is handling our monthly budget, he really needs little discipline. This is my first step to teach him same, discipline in his life and not only in his money. :)

Also I am planning few more things that he needs to learn regarding discipline. :)

So, I am now a days concentrating on other things, not directly related to saving.

And to update on goals I set for Sep, DH handling has not met any of them and we will never meet them in this month. :)

How do you behave when you are sad?

What do you do when you are sad? Well, I am one of those who can not cry easily. So whenever I am sad, I never have easy option of crying and venting it out. And then I do so many things just to feel good, but it most of the times goes in vain.

• I’ll waste my time and just couldn’t concentrate on my work
• Won’t be able to eat, days will pass and I will be skipping my meals
• Won’t be able to sleep
• Reading time will increase exponentially
• Will not be doing my daily chores
• If I have nothing to read, I’ll be killing my time watching TV
• Won’t be talking to anyone

I call this my silent therapy. I need this to sort out things in my head. But I agree it’s really harsh on people around me. I turn quite an introvert monster whenever I am sad. I really need to improve here, because people around me often complain that I am almost un-approachable whenever I am angry or sad.

This is my next personal goal, to watch myself whenever feeling down.

New Look

I liked this template so much, that I changed this blog too to same template. Change looks good atleast for now, did u like it?

New Blog

Hey, I just started this new blog, to do something in starting of my day. Do have a look. :)

http://quotation-collection.blogspot.com/

Blood Donation

Donating blood is one of the best philanthropic things to do as per me. Though I am really skinny and underweight, I always want to do this. Recently my DH has to donate blood for some one close, and he felt dizzy even after days. So, learning from the experience, here I am listing few of the things that he missed doing and are must if you are donating blood.

1) Drink loads of liquid before and after blood donation
2) Have rest for an hour after blood donation
3) Don’t skip meals for at least 2 days after blood donation
4) Feeling dizzy and weak and getting fever happens at time after blood donation. Just have some paracetamol and increase your liquid intake further.
5) Don’t take out bandage for at least one day.

Sale – Anti Frugal?

When you try to live frugally, you basically abide by few of the principles:

1) Don’t buy the stuff that you don’t need.
2) Buy the stuff that you need at the lowest most prizes.

To keep up with the second one, how many times you go to a sale or wait for one. But has this ever happened to you that shopping from sale turned out to be even more disastrous? There is more then one way this can happen:

1) I go to a sale and find that deal is something like, buy 5 KGs of ABC and get 1 KG free. Assume I generally consume only 1 KG of such stuff but the temptation to get one KG free will force me to buy 5KGs. Result, chances are quite good that half of the stuff will be spoiled before I can use it or I need to put in more money to store it.

2) Deal is to buy stuff ABC and get XYZ on a discounted price. I need XYZ and don’t need ABC. Still I will be tempted to avail that deal. Result, I actually not saved through discount, rather spent extra by purchasing something I don’t want.

3) You went to buy stuff ABC and found stuff XYZ has a great deal on. You know you can do without XYZ but deal is unbelievable. You end up buying XYZ and wasting money.

That’s why I always say that sales are absolutely anti frugal. They basically want you to spend more rather then giving you good deals.

delhi blasts

We had serial blasts in delhi yesterday, and I hate it. I hate the sight of same and hence have not switched the TV since morning. No religion preaches terrorism. Some people out of their frustration do these ridiculus things.

I only want to pray for the victims and their family.

Teak Wood

I love buying things for my home and furniture is just one of those things. I prefer teak wood furniture over anything else, and here I list few of the reasons for same:

1) Teak wood is highly resistant to termites.
2) Teak has huge structural strength and durability
3) Due to its high oil content, teak wood is water repellent which also makes it resistant to insect infestation.
4) Teak furniture is known for its rich warm color and satiny smooth surface.
5) The application of teak oil extends the life of teak furniture, which is easy to do.
6) If you do decide to oil your teak furniture, remember to apply the oil before the color begins to fade - and always apply the oil on clean surfaces or else the trapped dirt may cause your teak furniture to turn black.
7) If you are in the market for teak furniture, you may be surprised to find out that teak furniture is quite expensive. But, if you are tired of replacing your patio furniture every year or so, the purchase of teak furniture may actually save you money over the years.

Tahaan - Movie Review

I watched Tahaan yesterday and was frightened by the first site of the theatre. There were only two people sitting in hall, and then we two entered. The first thought that came to mind at that time was, “why have I come to watch this movie which no one else is watching?” Then, two more people entered, and I smiled at them, understanding what they are going through.

Anyhow, the movie started with a dialogue “Birabala Oooooooooo” in a kid’s voice. And then next time I looked at anything but screen was when screen said “interval”. What a movie! It deals with all the difficult things to talk about, Kids, Terrorist, Kashmir, Financial Crunches and yet no where it will let you feel sad and depressed. Not really, well I was actually so much grossed in movie, that when Darr Saab refused to give back the birbal back to Tahaan even when he won the race, I really felt cheated myself. But first half is a must watch if you love water, if you love ice, if you love mountains, if you love nature. Frozen lake, sunrise, sunset, sun rays, snow fall, it never felt that I am watching them in theatre, rather I felt as if I am standing somewhere there in Kashmir and being an eye witness to this beautiful fable.

Second half dealt with Tahaan’s psychology, where he wants birbal desperately and other kid wants to use tahaan’s desperation for his tasks. How he struggles in deciding and questioning what Idrish wants him to do, how he convinces yasin that even though yasin also loves birbal as much as he himself, still it belongs to him because his father has given this to him, how he first takes away the dog saying “tujhe lag jayegi na”, and how he decides that he can do 1000 rounds of the hills to get the birbal back but cannot throw the grenade.

In all, it’s a beautiful movie and I was not bored even for a minute in the movie. So far, out of all the movies I have seen in 2008, undoubtedly this is the best movie so far.

Why I hate Credit Cards?

Yes you read it right, I hate credit cards. In fact I don’t own even one of them and that doesn’t mean that no one offers me. My friends keep telling me the advantages of credit cards:
1) You don’t have to carry cash.
2) You get points for whatever you earn, so they will be giving you something for free.
3) You can buy something even if you don’t have cash now and pay next month.
4) They are must in emergencies.

These advices really made me think that am I missing something crucial? So I decided to post this entry where I want to list why I think credit cards should not be used like they have mentioned:
1) You are not paying cash. That gives you a feeling that you are not spending your money and you get tempted enough to splurge on things that are not at all required.
2) They give you points whenever you earn, again tempting you to spend more. They will not reward you if you spend less then you did last month.
3) You can buy something that you can not afford today, it means they are encouraging you to spend more then you earn.
4) For the last point, they might be a help in emergency but a must is really debatable.

So here I am, again convinced that I am quite well off without credit cards and can survive without them pretty much as I am doing till now.

Some low cost things to do while you are free

I was thinking about some of the inexpensive hobbies one can have, and here is my list:

1) Writing (Mine too)
2) Running / Jogging
3) Sleeping (Mine too)
4) Star Gazing (Mine too)
5) Do It Yourself
6) Calligraphy
7) Singing
8) Astrology
9) Dancing
10) Playing Sudoku (Mine too)

Hobby – to learn something new or to have a dent!

I always wanted to learn to play Guitar. One day I finally got myself enrolled in the class and bought a Guitar for me. Now after 2 months, what’s my progress? I have not gone to my class past initial 10 days and my guitar has loads of dust over it and needs cleaning. Result, craze is gone and left a dent in my pocket.

How many times we all do it and I think I do it most often of you all! Whenever I am new to some hobby, I am never sure what’s required and what’s not so required. I end up spending money on all the things and buy the best stuff available. Soon enough then I find that it is not as interesting at it seemed to be. Too bad! So time to learn:

1) Educate yourself enough before jumping into anything.
2) To start, borrow or rent the equipments, rather then buying.
3) Don’t buy the stuff till you are half way through.
4) Explore the option of buying the used stuff.
5) Don’t buy the best thing (read most expensive with all the latest features) available. Advanced features can only be used by advanced users.

In fact why to have those hobbies that want you to put in more money? Hobbies should be something creative, right? And even if a hobby wants you to use some equipment, does that really have to be cool and the latest most? No. While learning something new what matters is time and hard work you are putting in and not the money on new equipments.

I hope I have learned my lessons, hard way. :(

why discussing money is so tricky?

Why is money so difficult and tricky? This perplexes me completely, I mean the question. One of my friends asked me about this!

Ok his story, his wife thought that he is a spend thrift, and I really don't agree with that one at first place. Anyways, he discussed it with her and started on budgeting and saving regime. And now, his wife has a complaint that he is too thrifty, OUCH!

Well, he must have over done it at some places, but I really think that his wife should keep few things in mind, first if he is cutting down his lifestyle, then so should she do, and secondly it was she who got him do this. I mean please be reasonable.

He asked my advice and I said i don't know! :(

I mean its tricky, discussing money with your partner is one of the trickiest things, I am not at all equipped to help him! I hope he can deal with this one.

But yes, his phone call really reminded me of the article that I read today, which mentioned how saving is as addicting as spending is. :)

Bless you pal.

August Update

August was a bad month financially. I overshoot my budget and my credit card has given me even bigger dent for this month. Again there were many reasons:
1) So many birthdays (4 of my family members)
2) Festivals
3) I needed some furniture for my home
4) My car (eats a huge pie)
5) I fell ill and also my DH

Bad in all. :(
I hope to recover from it all this month and hopefully by next month I'll be back on my target. :)

My September Goals:
1) Manage all the expenses within cash budget
2) Use Credit card only for petrol
3) Save at least half of what I usually save monthly

Decide which one to buy!

We all need stuff. So buying the products is part of our life and when we say frugal living, it certainly doesn't mean that u live cheaply, it only means u live reasonably within Ur means.

But every product has so many different brands available that I can hardly decide. And over the period of time, my accumulated golden principles for buying one particular brand is:

1) Compare the maintenance cost and buy with the least of them, even if this means buying little expensive item at first place. It pays in long term. I remember me and my friend once bought some electronic item together. It cost him Rs 5000 and me Rs 7000. But in long run, on same usage, mine consumes electricity worth Rs 100 and his Rs 180 per month. So eventually my extra Rs 2000 are compensated in 25 (2000/80) months. And if I am going to use that product for around 10 years, I have definitely the best value for my money.

2) List the features available in all the products and make a separate list of the features you want to have. Only buy the product that has features closer to your list, reason, why to pay for features that you any how not going to use much!

I hope my 2 golden principles will help you too. :)

Missing Missing

Hi Guys,

Last week was terribly bad. Last treatment I took reacted and I got bigger infections this time :(
Along with this, I recently changed team I work for in my workplace, so had things to wrap up.

Result, hectic week with no energy left, hence could not blog and could not read all of the blogs too. I am surely going to catch U all now. I love reading U all, more than I love writing. :)

And yes, my organization celebrated last week as Employee Appreciation Week. So we got loads of gifts:
1) Watch
2) T-Shirt
3) Pen ( I love this one, I love stationary)
4) Loads of chocolates and candy
5) Movie
6) Lunches

Wow na!