Jottings

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN SYAFIQUE WANTS TO TEACH HIS NEPHEW HOW TO SAVE MONEY?

I took my nephew to The Curve recently. Coming from Klang and new to the capital city, it was only natural for me to act as the “good” uncle and be a tour guide for the day. At the same time, I was looking for new clothes. We went to Ikano and I immediately bought some shirts that are sold at RM100 for three.

“Great discount. I love a great discount!” I said. “No matter how much you earn, everybody loves a great discount, even Oprah Winfrey.”

As someone much older, I kept telling my nephew to save money. He wanted to treat me Baskin Robbins and I told him to save money until he can buy a BlackBerry (or an iPhone, whichever he prefers. Obviously I am all about the BB!). It was an attempt for me to teach him to appreciate money and that you need to work hard to be rewarded accordingly.

I told him, “When I was 15, I would save a portion of my daily pocket money. I’d save, save, save and save and I would then return to Malaysia during Hari Raya and with all the duit raya and my pocket money, I would buy a handphone. In 2002, it was a Nokia 3310. In 2003, it’s Nokia 8310. Obviously, if you start saving now, you can buy something big in the future!”  

So I went on and on about saving money and not spending on unnecessary things. After buying my shirts, we went to The Body Shop. My initial plan was to check the fragrances for men. As one thing led to another (The Body Shop staff was really friendly) I bought the skincare kit for men.

“Do you have a membership card?” asked the friendly salesgirl.

“No,” I said.

“Why don’t you buy another product so that you can get a member’s card.”

“What should I get?”

“Why don’t you get the body gel…Why don’t you get this one, it smells really nice and refreshing. ”

“Ok,” I said without thinking further.

I gave her my debit card and I walked out with a paper bag with several items.

“Enough shopping for the day,” I told myself.

***

My nephew then asked me to take him to the Levi’s store. Since he wanted to check out some of the stuff, I obliged. I was looking at the jeans and shirts without thinking of buying anything. I am not much of a shopper anyway. I usually shop when I REALLY need to buy something. Otherwise, I prefer to window shop.

So I saw this nice Levi’s top. I innocently tried it on. It looked nice on me. I asked the salesgirl if there’s any discounts for the shirt and there wasn’t. My nephew said that the shirt is really nice.

“Oh why not?” I told the salesgirl out of a sudden impluse. “I’ll take this one and give me a new piece, please”

I walked out with another shopping bag much like a scene from Confessions of a Shopaholic.

Damn. What happened? I warned my nephew that I had never splurged this much on a single day! I told him not to copy me and I was not being a good example on that day! After checking the receipts, I asked myself so many questions: Do I WANT this or do I NEED this? Is it necessary to buy such items? Can I live without the items? It was already too late to feel guilty since I already bought the items. I did not really feel guilty because these are stuffs that I want but at the same time, I should control what I bought and perhaps not shop at one go.  

I did tell my nephew after my splurge, “If you work hard and earn your own money… you can buy anything that you want!” So that is what I did on that day. It was a way for me to “reward” myself. The items bought are “investments”.

Now, have YOU ever experienced a similar situation?