Friday, May 28, 2010

Things to cherish from school

My recent post Entering the next phase of life has made me remember what all I did when I was a kid in school, some of which even my friends remember.

1. Accidentally hit principal with a ball.
2. Collided with a classmate and had stitches. Because of this incident, playing cricket in the school ground was canceled.
3. Involved in wrestling resulting in breaking the glass of library show-case
4. Caused bulbs to burst in physics lab as I had incorrectly connected the wires for my physics experiment.
5. Losing my school fees in bus. After this my mom used to make me go to the school principal's house, which was very close to my house, to pay the fees.
6. Involved in petty fights with class mates in bus.
7. Forgetting my unit test and happily going to school without getting prepared for the exam. Got very less marks in that subject

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Entering the next phase of life

I had not felt that I had entered the next phase of life even when I had got a school admission for my kid. But the feeling dawned upon me when I stood in the school line "with other parents" for collecting his uniform.

Wondering when the day will come when I have to stand in front of the principal's office because Nikhil broke other kid's nose

Sunday, May 16, 2010

saving on monthly shopping

I was stuck behind a sardar family at star bazaar cash counter, this morning. They were there to do their monthly grocery and other consumables shopping. There final bill was was a whopping Rs 33000/-. They had filled up 8-10 shopping carts. The cashier was later saying that they come every month and make such a huge bill.
Why don't people with such huge consumption rate, go to wholesalers like Metro or such and get a min discount of 15-20%.They were 8-10 people from the family who had come to shop and paid the entire amount in cash. Couldn't believe, that they didn't think of converting it to credit card reward points.

In fact, I am a frequenter at 'Metro cash and carry'. I go there once in 4-6 months and buy all the non-edible items for 2 families. On a purchase of Rs 10,000, I save close to Rs 2000. I not only save a flat 15-20%, but also beat inflation for 6 months. Apart from this my friend made me realize that every time I have to have to buy something, I have to drive to the nearby store there by spending on fuel (and also spending time). By buying in bulk, I am saving on fuel too :)

The flip side, is by buying more, I am stocking up more at home. Since I have surplus quantity at home, I tend to consume more, there by buying more. So, it is a vicious circle.

I buy more to save more. But use more since I have bought more. I now have to buy more since I have used more :)

People who want to learn to how save money on monthly shopping should watch this mommy from Massachusetts whose family of 6 lives off $4/wk for food