So after a LONNNNGGG wait guys I'm back!  This forum was for an article that talked about how men behaved like babies when they get sick.  Obviously some women took the advantage to do some men bashing in this forum while other men retaliated with some women bashing.  Not gonna take sides here but do take a read at some of the posts as they were hilarious.

Posted by SP: 'Man colds are wonderful. It helps men die years before women. The fact that men only have 1 'x' chromosome has nothing to do with it, they die sooner because they're big wimps. Man colds, ha ha ha.'

Posted by MM: '"Man colds are wonderful. It helps men die years before women"
You've got some unresolved issues with men....'

Posted by TM: 'Man Colds give men the opportunity to act like women for a brief period. I think we die earlier to avoid the nagging.'

Posted by vkr: 'I think that we men get man colds because for 1 week every month we have to deal with all the woman issues that most women call a natural thing. It's not natural to hate everything about your man for a week a month and then when it's all said and done and he's hiding in the basement or working overtime to avoid being verbally assaulted, I think we are entitled to a little "down" time. But I also agree with Prospero it affects every one the same, on some level...'

Posted by RIP: 'Who's doing all of the whining here?Thats right, you women are!So enough man hating and SUCK IT UP,if your men in the house are whining because they have the flu/cold ,maybe its the only WAY THEY CAN GET any ATTENTION FROM THE FEMALES AROUND THEM,other than take out the trash or gimme your paycheck!You women crawl up our backsides for a week every month and we have to take it and go on.Both sexes go down for the count when ill, so knock off the man hating and deal with it!!!!! '

Hope you guys enjoyed this and have an enjoyable weekend.  I'll try to write more despite my busy schedule.

~Tre~

 

So it's now 3:23 am in the morning and once again the owl in me is preventing me from sleeping =.=*
Sorry for those who waited for my part 2 blog as I had intended to do it last night but alas something
bad happened (refer to my slept in on the bus pulse) and prevented me from doing so.
Without further ado here are 6 more points on how to shop smart at the supermarket so you can spend
that extra dime on other goods/luxuries.

I read these recently from an online MSN article so it may sound familiar to some of you but I'd thought I'd share it with those of you who didn't get a chance to read it.

1. Pick products on the top and bottom shelves.
The items placed on the top and bottom shelves tend to be bigger in size and will usually offer a better price per unit as opposed to the ones placed on the middle shelves at eye level. These items are usually smaller in size hence have a higher price per unit. It is a marketing strategy so do not fall for it!

2. Buy the store brand instead.
Every major supermarket chain has their own brand and it is usually cheaper than name brands. I normally look for the store brand of pasta unless you really want to get the organic pasta or the whole wheat pasta but the goal here is to save $$ without sacrificing quality. This comparison is an apples to apples comparison so if there is a store brand alternative, then opt for that instead of the name brand. A few extra dollars can be saved here.

3. Avoid buying packaged goods.
Don't buy bagged lettuce or bagged carrots because they normally end up costing you more. Sure you'll probably save time by not having to cut up your lettuce or peel your carrots but seriously are you THAT busy to dice up your own carrots / lettuce to make a salad? If you've got time to read this then you've got time to prepare your own salads etc. Buying canned food is also not a good idea due to increased cost for the packaging as well as health concerns (BPA gets soaked into your food!) It is also better for your health if you buy fresh. Eat healthy, save the environment (less packaging to be thrown away) and you get to save some $$. How awesome is that?

4. Become a club member.
Certain grocery chains have club memberships free of charge. They may offer you discounts on certain items that non-members would otherwise not get. This is an excellent way to save $$, get the inside scoop on upcoming deals and basically it's a free membership so why not sign up? Some paid club memberships may be worthwhile if you shop at a certain grocery chain regularly because the savings year round can more than offset the initial membership fee. You will have to do some math here and decide if it's worth it for you as it's a case by case deal.

5. Use coupons.
I used to think this was a 'cheap' thing to do but if you're saving $$ who the hell cares? Wouldn't you rather have that extra $$ to go to a movie or buy a beer? I would. Look for websites that offer coupons or go directly to the company website as some companies will have coupons listed on their site for customers to print and use. One of the best sites I have used for some time is 'save.ca' Sorry guys but this is only applicable to Canadians ^.^ but I'm sure there are similar sites like save.ca for other countries.

6. Horde.
Always stock up when things go on sale. You'll never know when the sale will happen again and you'd hate to be paying regular price when you know an item was 'at a cheaper price' before. I horde and I save a ton of $$. Just make sure you can finish the items you are hording or else you will end up losing $$ by having to throw away expired ice-cream or what not.

So there you have it, tips from a frugalista who went from nothing to a ton of extra $$$ from doing whatever he can to save a few dollars. Hope you have learned a thing or two from reading this
Look for my review on import snacks and collagen water in the near future. Hope I will have some time this weekend to write about those goodies ^.^

~Tre~

So I'm writing this having just saw Isla Fisher's movie 'Confessions of a Shopaholic'.  For those of you who don't know, the movie actually came out due to the amazing success of the book because so many women could relate to it. 

When I was still in Toronto a few years ago and working at York University's Institute for Social Research, a lot of the girls were found to be reading this book during their lunch break.  Our workplace was predominantly female and they were mostly university students like me (at the time) and many of them were able to identify with the issues in the COS book.  I was taking the bus home one night recently and I found some girls (in highschool I believe) that were reading the same book.  I am assuming this book has become extremely popular as women in North America and now even Asia are reading the same book.  This was what lead to my decision to see the movie (sorry I just don't have the time to read the entire book plus I'm a sloowwwww reader) knowing that it was primarily marketed towards women.

So my reacion after the movie?  I must say I'm quite impressed because I never understood WHY women need to have 1 million pairs of shoes.  Seriously 5 purses is good enough but every girl I know always wants this YSL bag, that Miu Miu purse, that Prada coat, this LV scarf etc.  I never understood any of this (even though most of my close friends were female) until I graduated from university and am working and living alone in HKG.  Now that I'm single and living alone, I suddenly found myself with a lot of disposable income.  Sure my parents paid for my university tuition (I paid my own rent during the last 4 years of my university stint) so I have $0 in debt (in fact I've NEVER been in debt my entire life) but I never asked for their help in terms of $$ since I've always managed my $$ since I started working at 16.  I've been saving up for a good 10 years and I've got more $$ than most people my age (minus the rich kids who gets free $$ from their parents) and this is when the problems start.

I started to SHOP!!!!  I started to spend money out of control and was buying all these random things coz I just had too much money to spend and I was like so I've been saving up so long so why not just spend it?  I started to buy expensive Japanese 'figures' and was ordering them online from Japanese stores and they were just piling up in the house.  This is like Rebecca Bloomwood (Isla Fisher's character in the movie) that kept buying the dresses/purses and was just stashing them into the closet.  I kept buying these figures and was just stashing them into the shelves.  Many of them (90%) have been unopened and is just sitting in the original packaging.  I was doing this with food too and it came to the point that I have so many drinks/snacks at work that my co-workers were buying snacks from me.  The problem wasn't with buying but I DIDN'T need all this stuff.  I would constantly buy more and unlike Ms Bloomwood, I didn't have any credit card debt altho each month I had to pay off thousands of dollars of credit card debt.  Bills were racking up but fortunately I've been doing quite well from my investments and I've been buying more as I made more money. 

It was starting to go out of control because I was running out of room to put all these items in my room/house.  I'm now going to move next month to a bigger place because I don't have room to put all my stuff so yeah the problem is quite serious.  I'm glad I watched this movie because I now realize that I need to get my shit in order because I cannot sustain this in the long run (I can afford to keep buying stuff but I'm seriously running out of room).  The movie has taught me that we really DO NOT need all this stuff, we need to think long and hard before each purchase. 

Today is a Sunday and instead of going out to do some shopping (which I intended to) I decided to take it easy and just let my credit card rest for a bit.  I'm glad I did because I had time to watch COS and to reflect on my current lifestyle.  I'm actually in a lot of trouble because I cannot buy anything anymore.  I've got like enough shoes, clothes, food, decorations and basically I've got everything I need but I still feel the urge to buy more.  The movie ended in a good way and with Ms Bloomwood waking up and getting her finances under control but for me that still seems quite far away.  I've tried many times to sell my stuff or put them up for bid but I just can't do it.  Some of you may have read my other post and I am in fact a frugalista but my extreme frugal ways in the past 10 years meant that I now have so much money to spend and as I work insane hours I'm getting more extra income on top of my regular salary.  I guess it's true what they say, more money, more problems.  I don't know what to do so I'm just going to give up, I really wanted to end this blog with some encouragement to others who are also shopaholics like Ms Bloomwood and myself but I'm going to accept reality and the reality is that as long as I've got a surplus I'm going to spend.  What I DID learn from the movie however, is that there are things that are greater than money, just like Ms Bloomwood realized at the end.  Sure I'm making good money now and enjoying the bachelor life now, got my own place and can do whatever I want but I left behind friends that I've known my entire life, moved away from my family in order to work here...all this money, perhaps it was too much a price to pay for all the sacrifices I have had to make.  I therefore urge all shopaholics to turn back while you can!  Cherish what really matters in life, your bf / gf, family, friends or whatever else that is dear to you.  I cannot save myself from being a slave to $$ but if I can convince at least oen person who reads this, then I would feel that I have done my job in writing this.

Next Friday is payday (July 31st) and I think I may reward myself by buying something at the expensive Prada store. Hahaha o well I know this is contradictory to what I said but 'money has no value unless we use it'.  Looking forward to shopping next weekend ^.^  Nope I guess I can't be saved at all.  Shopaholic 4 life!

~Tre~