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The tightening of money belts.
Read this quote in the ST's forum page today:
'We buy the things we don't need, we spend the money we don't have, to impress the people we don't know'.
How true isn't it?
I think last Sunday, ST ran an article about youngsters barely 30 who are facing debt and I am hardly surprised.
Face it, Singapore is a materialistic country and there is much pressure to appear well-off. I abominate such a mindset and always wondered how certain people can spend money like water, or how they seem to spend more than they can actually afford to earn? Especially their parents'. Maybe it is my upbringing (which I am grateful for), but I have learned to be financially independent as much as I can.
And perhaps, this older sibling protectionist stance that kicks in; I have to think about my other 2 brothers. Somehow I can never forget what my youngest brother said when he was in lower primary, "How come jie jie has all the new books, while I get her old ones".
As much as I drool over shoes, bags, clothes etc, I feel bad spending my parents' hard-earned money on them and even if it's with my own income, I will be very picky with what I purchase. I sound like a complete auntie here but I will make sure that item I laid my cash on for is value for money.
It's scary, how i am going to hit 20 come Sept and I haven't thought about any savings plan. There are some really... practical/realistic/shrewd people I know (who are around my age+just a few years older) that have started investment plans. I want to be like them and have some control over my own finances. There are times when I wish I didn't have to grow up so fast and can continue to remain oblivious but I guess things like finances, you've got to learn the ropes for it as you grow, and no one can force it down your throat.
I admit, I don't save regularly and there are just some days I wonder where the blue note that I have redrawn at the start of the day has gone to by the end of the day. That feeling totally sucks.
At the start of this year, I wrote down whatever purchase I made, from a 50 cent 'pau' to grocery bills that chalk up close to $50 each time (yes, inflation+7% GST). It opened my eyes to my spending habits and now, I am definitely more conscious of my spending and I really feel the pitch, whether it is for food, transport (cabs in the CBD area during peak hours- argh!) etc. I'm thinking, even if I get my driving license (which is I don't know when :( ), I wouldn't want to end up with the situation where I have to fork out for petrol bills from my own pocket. Well, not too soon anyway.
You see, after my previous working experiences, I know how hard it is to earn $4.50-5.00/hr and how within a short span of an hour, ten times the amount can be gone in a flash. Working at Frujch was fulfilling, not only because of the great friends made but it gave me a taste of the many who have to balance school and part-time jobs all at once.
And when I am alone, I put on my social-sciences thinking hat and the rich-poor divide always consumes my thinking space. The fact that it is evident in Singapore makes it harder to evade this social problem. And also, how people in the less developed countries who have so much less in their personal coffers yet they are contented.
Well for those people who are in debt, I believe that they have made a decision and should learn from their mistakes. I wanted to say they should live with it but that sounds rude and ironic because it must be real hard to get by without even the bare necessities
And personally, I think credit cards are scary.
'We buy the things we don't need, we spend the money we don't have, to impress the people we don't know'.
How true isn't it?
I think last Sunday, ST ran an article about youngsters barely 30 who are facing debt and I am hardly surprised.
Face it, Singapore is a materialistic country and there is much pressure to appear well-off. I abominate such a mindset and always wondered how certain people can spend money like water, or how they seem to spend more than they can actually afford to earn? Especially their parents'. Maybe it is my upbringing (which I am grateful for), but I have learned to be financially independent as much as I can.
And perhaps, this older sibling protectionist stance that kicks in; I have to think about my other 2 brothers. Somehow I can never forget what my youngest brother said when he was in lower primary, "How come jie jie has all the new books, while I get her old ones".
As much as I drool over shoes, bags, clothes etc, I feel bad spending my parents' hard-earned money on them and even if it's with my own income, I will be very picky with what I purchase. I sound like a complete auntie here but I will make sure that item I laid my cash on for is value for money.
It's scary, how i am going to hit 20 come Sept and I haven't thought about any savings plan. There are some really... practical/realistic/shrewd people I know (who are around my age+just a few years older) that have started investment plans. I want to be like them and have some control over my own finances. There are times when I wish I didn't have to grow up so fast and can continue to remain oblivious but I guess things like finances, you've got to learn the ropes for it as you grow, and no one can force it down your throat.
I admit, I don't save regularly and there are just some days I wonder where the blue note that I have redrawn at the start of the day has gone to by the end of the day. That feeling totally sucks.
At the start of this year, I wrote down whatever purchase I made, from a 50 cent 'pau' to grocery bills that chalk up close to $50 each time (yes, inflation+7% GST). It opened my eyes to my spending habits and now, I am definitely more conscious of my spending and I really feel the pitch, whether it is for food, transport (cabs in the CBD area during peak hours- argh!) etc. I'm thinking, even if I get my driving license (which is I don't know when :( ), I wouldn't want to end up with the situation where I have to fork out for petrol bills from my own pocket. Well, not too soon anyway.
You see, after my previous working experiences, I know how hard it is to earn $4.50-5.00/hr and how within a short span of an hour, ten times the amount can be gone in a flash. Working at Frujch was fulfilling, not only because of the great friends made but it gave me a taste of the many who have to balance school and part-time jobs all at once.
And when I am alone, I put on my social-sciences thinking hat and the rich-poor divide always consumes my thinking space. The fact that it is evident in Singapore makes it harder to evade this social problem. And also, how people in the less developed countries who have so much less in their personal coffers yet they are contented.
Well for those people who are in debt, I believe that they have made a decision and should learn from their mistakes. I wanted to say they should live with it but that sounds rude and ironic because it must be real hard to get by without even the bare necessities
And personally, I think credit cards are scary.