I should totally get this patented.

“Whoever said money can't buy happiness simply didn't know where to go shopping.”

-Bo Derek-

So I’m blogging at work coz I suddenly felt awfully damn guilty for not updating in like forever, and I know I wouldn’t get to it when I get home later – heck, after-work hours is precious playtime, wouldn’t wanna waste it on blogging of all things – so I thought to myself, what better way to pass time than taking a break from work and using that time to blog instead?

BTW, this is my lunch time, so technically I’m not slacking at work either. Some people use the time to eat, I use the time to blog. =)

Did some calculating on my finances last night. FYI, life was so much more fun and less stressful back when I just received pocket money from parents. I spent a consistent amount of money on living expenses, didn’t splurge, and didn’t stress out on having to save all the time.

Well not literally but you get the point.

Logic: Receiving money from parents is easy. You know that money isn’t yours, so you don’t splurge. You spend a decent amount of money every month, and don’t ever dream of owning any of those luxury stuff coz you know your parents would never allow you to use their money on those.

Of course, prior to work experience, I thought that was a bad thing coz it confined me to spending only a limited amount of money every month and limits me to the luxury I can afford. I wished and wished I was working, and then I would have the right to do whatever I wanted with the money I earn and save up to buy really cool stuffs like designer bags, clothes, Apple products, Alienware, etc.

On the other hand, if you’re earning your own money, you’re free to do whatever you want with it. Hence, you’ll be more prone to splurging and impulsive buying and not saving up. Also, the money you’re earning is probably more than the money you receive from your parents, hence, your financial status is suddenly boosted a few notches up. Not a good thing if you’ve been making a mental wish list of all the expensive stuff you want but know you will never have, coz all of a sudden, you’re granted the opportunity to have them. It’s easy and safe to have an expensive wish list if you know you’re never going to afford any of them. But when you’re earning your own money, you start playing around with the thought of getting those stuffs you had always wished for and suddenly, you’re thrown into the Pit Of Confusion and Prioritizing, which, trust me, is pretty tough to handle.

So.

Did some calculating on my finances last night (which pretty much stressed me up – who knew keeping track of your expenditure/earnings would be so stressful?). Found that after 5 months of working, I managed to save up a pretty decent amount. Which pretty much shocked me, coz as far as I could remember, my expenses were always up to the limit.

Knowing that I’d never keep to budget and spend the money as soon as I received it, I had concocted up a special formula to avoid over-spending and leaving myself in budget deficit: Over-estimating your daily spending and rounding up to the nearest-highest hundredth. E.g.: If you spent $50 on shopping, assume you spent $100. Sure, your apparent cash at hand drains away pretty damn fast, but at the end of six months, you’ll realize that “hey, I’ve got an additional few thousands turned up out of nowhere!”

I didn’t expect my technique to work very well. Rounding up to the nearest-highest tenth for expenses below $100 and to the nearest-highest hundredth for expenses above $100 – I thought I’d only saved a few dollars, but to my surprise it turned out to be a pretty hefty sum.

Sure, most people would say my technique isn’t ideal and it’s still best to calculate your expenses to the exact decimal and stick to budgets and saving plans, but you know me. I always exceed my budget and spend more than I can afford.

There’s this theory I read in some book saying that the higher your salary, the poorer you are. Logic being, if you get a pay raise, your daily expenses would get a raise as well; problem is, while your pay may increase linearly, your expenses increases exponentially. This theory pretty much applies to me, I guess.

Hence, my new method to save. It’s proven to be working, too. I should totally get this patented.

I was poor. But then, I stopped being poor and decided to be awesome instead. True story.