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Money Woes
Sep. 24th, 2006 12:02 pmI'm a hardcore consumer whore. I fully admit this. I'm selfish, I'm materialistic, I love buying things that I feel enhance my life in some way.
I never used to be such a big buyer. It was always a struggle for my friends to get me to buy anything remotely pretty because I had the idea that if I didn't need it, I didn't have to buy it. Solidly practical, I spent very little on myself.
Recently, this has changed to the point where I'm pretty much breaking my bank balance and my budget if I'm not careful. Since I rely on my dad to send me money, I tend to forget that I have a budget and take the bulk money in my bank account for granted. I'm aware of my money at two points in time: when I receive my bank balance and when I transfer money from my MoneyMasters to my chequing account to pay for bills and tuition, once a month.
During summer, especially, I've been really shitty at keeping track of my money, and I went out a lot, spending on clubs and clothes. Everything just adds up, and I forget this a lot of the time. While I'm good in that I never use my credit card for anything aside from big important purchases and always always always check with my dad before using it, I feel bad whenever I have to ask for money from him. Because then it becomes a waiting game for the exchange rate to fall to a reasonable rate, and lately it's been so high it's not worth sending over money. For every ten thousand ringgit I get sent, I only get three thousand Canadian dollars. Considering how cheap it is to live in Malaysia, that ten thousand ringgit could possibly have supported my family for several months instead of the few months that it supports me here.
To be honest, I know where this crazy shopping habit comes from, although I try not to pin the blame since it's me being more impulsive than I used to be. My friends used to tell me, "just buy it! Buy it! You might regret it if you don't!" and like a stupid child, I took their words to heart and now everytime I go out I end up buying something.
If I don't end up buying something for myself, it's buying something (usually food) for a friend. Cuts into my spending just as much.
I still have a couple of layaways at Night Magic, and I'm sure something must have come in for me at Odyssey. That's a couple hundred to go - except the layaways can go in a shorter period of time. I do, however, have a hair job coming up (Melanie's going to colour my hair for free, and then texturing it will be around a hundred dollars) and I'm planning on a very special treat for myself. I don't know how much it'll cost, or even whether I can even get it, but I'm going to have to check it out.
It's fall now, so I've got less compulsion to go outside and buy stuff. For the next few months, I hopefully won't spend as much as I already have.
Goddammit.
I never used to be such a big buyer. It was always a struggle for my friends to get me to buy anything remotely pretty because I had the idea that if I didn't need it, I didn't have to buy it. Solidly practical, I spent very little on myself.
Recently, this has changed to the point where I'm pretty much breaking my bank balance and my budget if I'm not careful. Since I rely on my dad to send me money, I tend to forget that I have a budget and take the bulk money in my bank account for granted. I'm aware of my money at two points in time: when I receive my bank balance and when I transfer money from my MoneyMasters to my chequing account to pay for bills and tuition, once a month.
During summer, especially, I've been really shitty at keeping track of my money, and I went out a lot, spending on clubs and clothes. Everything just adds up, and I forget this a lot of the time. While I'm good in that I never use my credit card for anything aside from big important purchases and always always always check with my dad before using it, I feel bad whenever I have to ask for money from him. Because then it becomes a waiting game for the exchange rate to fall to a reasonable rate, and lately it's been so high it's not worth sending over money. For every ten thousand ringgit I get sent, I only get three thousand Canadian dollars. Considering how cheap it is to live in Malaysia, that ten thousand ringgit could possibly have supported my family for several months instead of the few months that it supports me here.
To be honest, I know where this crazy shopping habit comes from, although I try not to pin the blame since it's me being more impulsive than I used to be. My friends used to tell me, "just buy it! Buy it! You might regret it if you don't!" and like a stupid child, I took their words to heart and now everytime I go out I end up buying something.
If I don't end up buying something for myself, it's buying something (usually food) for a friend. Cuts into my spending just as much.
I still have a couple of layaways at Night Magic, and I'm sure something must have come in for me at Odyssey. That's a couple hundred to go - except the layaways can go in a shorter period of time. I do, however, have a hair job coming up (Melanie's going to colour my hair for free, and then texturing it will be around a hundred dollars) and I'm planning on a very special treat for myself. I don't know how much it'll cost, or even whether I can even get it, but I'm going to have to check it out.
It's fall now, so I've got less compulsion to go outside and buy stuff. For the next few months, I hopefully won't spend as much as I already have.
Goddammit.