Sunday Reflections - Saving Challenge Helps You Grind Yourself Up

Hello there

Here we are again, on Sunday doing the last themed post for FreeCompliments Community. For the last day, we always talk... or suggested to talk about things we have been doing for the last week, or the last 7 days... and We set a theme for this topic as Sunday Reflections

It's always be a complicated one... to choose which topic I will raise as the topic for this Sunday Reflections. Right now I have decided I will talk about the No-Buy-Month I have been doing as a part of #SaturdaySavers Club activity. The detail I have shared before in this post:

https://inleo.io/@dewabrata/saturday-savers-no-buy-month-feb-24-saving-challenge

So let me update first my program there before I share some of reflections I get from it

THE UPDATE

Honestly, I usually get confused it people ask me how the update of your no buy month run... Because all I need to do is follow the plan, as long I do not breach or lose focus or forget and break some... all are fine and well.

I do not buy anything outside my essential necessity and I do not overspend anything. so Yeah... let call this all is running well

Anyway I share some of the meal I have this month.

The first one is omelet with some stir-fried beans and fish cracker. This one is 15.000 Rupiah, or around US $0,95

Sometime I buy this fried chicken with fried soy cake. The price was higher, its 20.000 Rupiah or around US $1,30

Sometime I ordered a fried duck, most of Indonesian fried duck recipe come from East Java and Madura Island. It's more expensive than chicken so to get it locked on the same price $1,3, I ordered it without any side dish. Only piece of fried duck and chilies. Well there was a slice of cabbage as a complimentary.

So what was the most thing I have ordered? It's omelet or friend egg, I usually order an Omelet with side dishes. Most stall would charge me around 15.000 Rupiah or a dollar. My favorite side dishes are mushroom, petsai or chinese cabbage, and stir-fried soycake. The reason I like to order this dish is not due to the taste... I think from price to the meal volume and its nutrient, this one is the best value one.

What the hell with this guy (me)... So stingy

My Reflection - Knowing My Self Better

Ok before we start, first I would like to let you all know that I have no intention to turn any people into as stingy as me. I admit I am stingy because most of my colleague at works say it so too.

So lets not talk about being stingy, but more on more desirable level which is economical and frugal. To be able to spend most thing on the right budget, or being economical is not about how smart you are. It's irrelevant with our IQ at all. And having the right knowledge most of the time won't help at all too.

This things come from our habit, and we need to build our habit from doing the same thing, the same goal, over and over... and as time goes by, we get more used to it and unconsciously those become our habit. Because I am a gamer, I prefer to say this is like a grinding in RPG, we gather EXP and later we get level up and become ~stingy~ economical enough.

Ok lets take an example, I always eat below $2, the fact is that I can do that easily because I always explore and eat at new place which I think suitable and they are not always be like that.

A few month ago, a new stall opened near my office. My colleagues went there and said that the taste was good. So I came there, the layout and design was very simple, the place was cozy and clean. I ordered a Pecel, traditional Indonesian Salad from East Java. They charge me ridiculous $2 for that plate and it became my last order and my last order on there.

The price was not friendly, the taste was good but not great. I could not know the price if I had not try that. And If I do not have circumstances which force me to challenge myself everyday, I might be like my other colleagues, keep coming there and eat at place which charge me more.

Another thing I learn when I am ~being stingy~ following some economical challenge is that buying some instant coffee can save up a very tiny bit of money, which is insignificant. I am not fond of coffee shop who sell convenience and cozy place, because I like coffee more than fancy and comfortable sofa.

Starbucks is not the most expensive one but it is the brand which most people refer to when they talk about coffee shop. One cup of tall size is around 40.000 Rupiah, or around $3 USD. I know several great coffee which are sold around $2, so buying Starbuck for me is buying overpriced coffee.

Another point is that there are several outlet, like the above picture, selling coffee at 7000 Rupiah or less than $1, but their taste is actually good. Not all stall like that are good, but there are some are good for sure. Their price compete with the instant coffee so I can not get big saving from making my own instant coffee. And most of those cheap good coffee seller are small retailers, someone who only aim to get $200-300 profit a month... So sometime I feel bad if I do not buy their coffee instead buying instant coffee who are produced by big companies.

Ok the last point, is knowing that there are other things that people can easily safe, but that is not for me. Or there is a saving opportunity which can hurt me in the long run, and it won't be the saving later.

The solid example is bread. I like bread and I almost buy bread everyday. I always have them in my bag, and bring them everyone. Some of my colleagues like to mock me because they see I am often buying breads, which is not a cheap food in Indonesia, but being so nasty stingy when buying lunch.

The thing is... my stomach is weak, or maybe I have a sensitive stomach. In the past I often got Gastritis, or any other stomach problem... luckily I haven't had any GERD issue. Whenever I had too spicy food, or to acid, my stomach hurt and if it is not getting treated well, I might have gastritis in the next couple of days. The other problem is that when the work is getting tough, hard, and full pressure, I lost my appetite and I tended to skip lunches. In the end I have the same problem again. Even until today sometime I forget to take lunch.

So the quick fix for this issue is to have some bread in my bag. I had a habit of eating bread around 14:00 to 15:00. This help me have a better and healthy stomach, whether if the lunch is too spicy, too strong or maybe I choose not to eat any, bread will help me out.
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So the things that is special for me, actually something that ordinary or common in other people. When you take challenge like this, you will understand that what you can save up will have some different with others not because of personal preferences, but due to different in conditions and circumstances.

Closure

If I resume my post into some point, it will be:

1. To get a proper saving, you need to have some experience first and make it part as building the saving habit.
2. Sometime you will see some saving that might not give you significant value. Its up to you to keep it or not.
3. Everyone has their own condition, so you can not expect you can save up with the same number and same item with others.

I limit myself talking about food in this post, because If I talk to general, this could be a 3000 words post, and I believe none willing to spend that amount of time to read my post. So excuse me for limiting this one, I will talk more next week about my progress and reflection on No Buy Month. Thank you for reading this one

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