Who Says I’m Wise Moneywise?
I do. I mean, I did.
I always say that I’m so good in handling money that even my parents are envious of my “skill”. I rarely buy things that are of no real significance - material things that are nothing but luxuries. I don’t care if this means being “fashionably late” about what’s in; I just value money so much that I’m willing not to eat for a day just to set aside something for the future, in case an emergency happens. That’s why my father completely trusts me when it comes to money matters. He knows very well that my PhP500 weekly allowance is more than enough for me1. Yes, I’m a cheapskate. And I’m proud to be one.
But I think yesterday turned my whole life around. I might be exaggerating things a bit, but I cannot believe that I’ve spent more than a thousand bucks in just 7 hours! And the things I have purchased are not even books, which are my greatest investments since I was in grade school. The fact that I think I threw away my money just distresses the hell out of me. I am in complete shock that my poor wallet is a ton lighter than usual. That’s about a month’s worth of abstinence officially off my savings. Thank you, SM2 3-day-sale.
“Isn’t it ironic that during sale days, you actually spend more money than what you usually do for a whole month?” I asked my mother, while we were in the counter paying for new non-stick frypan and grill we fooled my father into buying. I told her about the cool laptop-like keyboard and optical mouse I bought3 to replace my almost defective ones. “Geesh, I still haven’t even paid for the phone and internet bills4! This is horrible!” Indeed, it was. If only I was as rich as George Lindemann Sr., but I’m not, and there’s nothing I can do about it, I guess. Poor me.
“I am never gonna buy another thing until next week,” I boldly announced.
A couple of minutes later, I was at the counter buying My Chemical Romance’s latest album. I couldn’t resist5 - with the album came a free t-shirt. It was a done deal. And I sealed my fate by actually choosing a small size6, and it fits perfectly, thankyouverymuch.
This is a picture of the things I wish I had stolen instead. A few more captured moments in my Flickr account.
I have read all the responses in my previous entry. It’s fun seeing you all unveil your overbearing personaliy when you were younger, or even till now. *grins widely* I’m afraid though that I have to put off returning all the comments for a few hours. I need to sleep. I’m dead-tired.
- He even wants to cut a hundred off. [↩]
- A well-known mall in the Philippines. [↩]
- Thankfully, my father agreed to chip in a few bucks. I was desperate. [↩]
- With my money, of course. I’m responsible for the things I use. [↩]
- Just for the record, I have been a fan of the band since 2002. I miss their underground days. [↩]
- And now I’m obliged to lose a few pounds. [↩]
LOL about being cheap! Hehe, yeah, I don’t spend money at all either… =/ It’s because I’m growing up poor, and I know what it’s like not to have money… *sigh*… So yeah, it is hard, but it is sooo true/funny that we spend soo much on sales!! Well, my mom does that mostly, LOL.
I try to be very frugal with my money. I tend to get my bills first, designate some emergency money and spend the rest. Right now I am at the point I am needing clothes that I can wear outside of work as I do not like to look bad. Not club clothes, but respectable as in my family we have a reputation to uphold and even with my married last name ‘Flores’, everyone knows I am my father’s daughter (he is the local popular physician, always in the area newspapers)… It may seem vain, but I rarely go out to eat and when I do, it is to a nice place. I mostly scrimp on my meals.
It is good that you are a penny pincher. Nothing wrong with that. You may worry about, but you will know that in an emergency, you will have the money to get you set right on track.
HAHA. I’m a cheapskate too. ;_; I tend to lean towards buying things on sale (and even then, I’m kind of iffy) and buying food out there makes me feel like “OMG I’ve just eaten 10$” xD
ANd yeah .. I feel horrible when I spend alot x_x; But hey, at least we’ll have money to fall back on and we aren’t those who are always in debt >=D
lol ah spending like an idioit never hurt anybody besides me.I think you’ll be fine looks like you got some nice stuff after all
wow. i wish i could spend money like that. im saving money to go buy the new fall out boy album, which comes out tomorrow. woo hoo. so…lol….but i want all those things too. i do. i do.
That proves that you’re a girl. Shari. Girls can’t resist shopping.
Yay for girls. Haha! 
Kaya pala wala sa YM maghapon si Shari, nagsh-shopping pala sa SM! Haha! Gusto ko rin ng bagong mouse, ang tigas na ng left-click ng optical ko—naka-3 years na rin namang gamit ‘to eh. Alam mo un, 3 years na wala halos pahinga :P LOL
To some extent, I think I can say that I’m like you in the sense that I can be a cheapskate and not spend money during the week to save my allowance (and this was all when I was still back there in the Philippines :P), but the difference is, I always spent the money I’ve saved every week (or two) every Friday (when I would go to Galle for church). I always bought CDs, too, haha, it was an unhealthy obsession. xD
But! Shopping is always fun, don’t feel bad about splurging every once in a while.
buti k pa sis how i wish gnyan dn ako tulad mo heheh ako naman oo matipid d dn ako bumibili maxadu kso minsan pag may nkkta ako nag tritrigger sa utaq ko na bilhin kht na mabigat binibili ko kasi.. d nmn me nagbibili ng kung ano kya minsan pag bumili ako mahal.. i want to change that kind of attitude
I got my paycheck a week ago, and I am proud I still have about $50 on my account. Yay! But I really really need to save money for… for I don’t know. I just have to,. I need to learn how to save money in case of emergency. But sometimes things are just so irresistable right? You just buy em even though they’re not really important.. but hey, cd with a free shirt? good deal! not to mention it’s MCR!
I wish I was like you! I have a tendency to save money at times but the next time I come at a mall, I’ll most likely splurge it on books and/or CDs. I also tend to be extravagant when it comes to food and entertainment like movies.
Just enjoy what you bought and I envy you for having a MCR t-shirt. Rawr.
Ok lang yan, minsan lng naman eh. You deserve a splurge of spending once in a while.
You should see me lose half of my salary just 2 days after pay day. haha
Gish you’re good at saving money because I know me, I’ll be having the time of my life spending that money on clothes and my new fetish “Stilettos”. But you shouldn’t feel bad that you spent your money, sometimes it’s okay to splurge on yourself. An you enjoyed yourself while doing, I love the things your brought with your money. Atleast they are useful.
That’s the reason I don’t want to go to mall sales. Pag nag-umpisa ka kase, ang hirap na tigilan.
wish ko lang i’m a cheapskate too! but i can’t..i love to eat & eat…, watch new movies, buy shoes..tops..sigh
shari, dear! i should paste your post in all corners of the house for my kids to see. they should emulate you. some of them save their allowance, skip meals, just to have shopping money to splurge. if you were my daughter, i would raise your allowance, so that i can borrow money from you, once i go broke from shopping!
yeah. sales make you splurge more. pero depende na yon. if you buy less in regular days mas mura talaga. pero kung mas marami pag sale, mahal. advantage ang sale kung consistent ang quantity/amount na binibili mo. lol. kasi para sakin masaya ang sale. haha! although I dont go to SM malls (MOA lang) kasi I feel uncomfortable. sikip kasi.
lam mo naman na i liked MCR so much. kaso totoo yung sabi mo na masyado nang mainstream, pati mas maganda pa yung dating albums nila kasi yung ngayon parang medyo typical stuff nalang.
Hellooo Shari :D!
Oh, thanks a bunch for warning me about that! That is quite bizarre, though. I use Firefox as well & it looks fine *confused*. But, I use a 1152 x 864 resolution. I changed it to 1024 x 786 & then the screenshot you showed me matched my screen :(. I will have to put that in the sidebar too, eh?
Thanks again! I’m glad you took the time to help me out =).
Hahah~ there’s nothing wrong with being cheap - I’m sorta like that too. But I don’t think there’s something wrong with an occassional shopping splurge either :P Don’t feel bad, in the end you bought things that you actually needed - right? xoxo
I’m a cheapskate but I starve myself so I can buy something. lol. Shop, shop, shop!
Lol.The things you bought were beneficial. It’s okay.
I feel the same way after I spend money. Only, I’m not as good with money as you are. I love shopping. Then afterwards I’m like “Did I really need that??” I spend all my money on my son- we have no more room for any more toys. lol
I’m pretty thrifty when it comes to money… most of the time. I can hold on to a lot of money for weeks, and then one day when I go the mall, it all vanishes. Haha!
uy were the same.. :P im proud din haha..
i love clothes, pero o i dont buy yungn mahal,. naku kasi i believe, di naman yun sa brand its how you carry it.. mahal ng abili mo di naman bagay di ba?
same sa mga gamit, i always go for like outlet stores,. talagang after mong bilhin, di ka makapaniwalang ganong kamura ang nabili mo haha..
i collect coupons din sa mga newspaper hehe.. :P
sometimes nga, lalo na pag nasa counter ka na at magbabayad..
magugulat ka na lang sa presyo ng nabili mo,. di ka na naman maka backout kasi nandon na.. hehe.. pero sa tingin ko naman e napamura ka pa rin sa nabili mo..
takecare
hi! pareho tayo, mahilig din ako magsave ng pera pero pagdating sa pagkain, tipid lang. naku hindi sayang ang pera mo sa MCR!
waah may libreng shirt! same price pa rin ba? huhu gusto ko rin nyan 
ok lang po yan, save na lang ulit. 
hhmm. sometimes i feel the same way whenever i buy a lot of things then eventually, ill just be shocked that i spent a thousands just for surplus shirts and pants and all those scrumptious meals. hhmm… but then, i just realized now that i haven’t been going to any malls for 3 weeks now.
how outdated i am! LOL.
“Isn’t it ironic that during sale days, you actually spend more money than what you usually do for a whole month?â€
>> this is true! I heard one pastor’s preaching about money and debts, and he also mentioned this in his preaching
kaya nga sabi nya hoax daw ang mga sale-sale na yan.. hehehehe 
I want to give you an award for surviving on php500.. 0_0 that takes skills!
now that I rarely go to malls to “shop”, I spend a lot more than I usually do..and I’m already an impulsive buyer to begin with.
Dude. I once spent 4 grand on alcohol in just one weekend. Don’t beat yourself up over this. You can actually use the stuff you bought
I think the only way I would go about not spending money if it cost too much. I’m so freakin frugal, lol. I rather spend my money on food and technological gadgets…as far as clothes and shoes and other necesseties (sp?) that I actually need I put it aside. It’s sad. I wish I could save money like you. IT’S SOO HARD!
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