making it count

i recently got my first electricity/water supply bill in my new place. and it was very good to read that i didn’t owe the electricity-and-water-people anything – nope, not a cent! whoo-hoo! 

how did this come to be? 

well, for one, the government is handing out some dole to help shoulder the burden of inflation through utilities subsidies. and since i have been extremely conservative in my zeal to reduce costs and save the earth – not using the aircon, switching off at the socket, yada yada – my bill was less than the sponsored amount thereby giving me a surplus.

still happy at the prospect of one less bill to cry over, i waltzed over the grocery store. and when i came to the end of the check-out (the horrible moment when you pay) – it suddenly hit me. 

to really benefit from utilities surplus, i should try and use up every single cent that i have extra. i should expend a lot more water and power – kinda following from the logic that the best benefit of a buffet is gained when you eat much more than what it cost you

but how long can i stand under the shower? and what’s the point of keeping the lights and fan on when im not around? and given the media overload on saving the earth, its hard to revert to my wasteful-habits-days.

i so wish there was some way i could transfer the extra ‘money’ from my bill and use it to pay for other things – like my groceries, shoes, clothes, etc. but that will never happen, especially not in a country where welfare-ism is frowned upon (gently of course, with lots of advice on how giving you more help can actually make you worse off).

but thats o.k. tonight i will reward myself by turning on the aircon full-blast. and the fan. oh yeah, and plug in my laptop. maybe even leave the lights on in the living room – for my fish.  

money matters (it really does!)

in today’s world where self-made millionaires are in their 20-s, i am a poor, financially un-viable soul. heck, i could even make a good case study for management students of just what they dont want to see themselves as! i have a full-time job, but with a huge chunk of it going towards my rent, i am left with a pathetic amount for sustenance, let alone savings! 

so, it comes as a rude shock when i realise that not only am i financially near-broke in the present, i could be much worse off in the future! i can see the financial pundits shaking their head and wagging their fingers at me. 

the best way to handle this would be – ideally – to grit my teeth and save some money and invest it in one of the many plans that bankers have complicated with jargon only they can understand, cross my fingers and hope it wont evaporate in the stock market, and wait – then maybe, when i am closer to 50, i will enough ‘extra-funds’ generated to take a vacation (economy class, mind you!) or even a trip to a spa without having to cut corners on that month’s budget. 

sounds tempting? 

maybe i should settle for the one-dollar ice cream from the nice uncles/aunties with the pushcarts along the road. instant gratification, no guilt!