Poverty

Now, there is poverty and poverty.

Many who claim to be poor, or in great DEBT seem to be able to afford luxuries which many would have to save for monthS to acquire (and have the audacity on one hand to tell me - why dun u get it... and the other hand moaning about the debt he's in & inability to pay.....BAH the hypocrite!) , and even obtaining un-needed luxuries for their gfS....

to each his own...

at least i dun owe pp money

Living mostly from hand to mouth the past half year has made me embrace the "waste not want not" saying. With only $50 allocated per week for food, u value every mouthful of rice, and feel the need to dabao every bit of leftover. U'd also find yourself scouring other pp's plates, mumbling about the waste. Pp do waste ALOT of food.

Every credit card receipt is also kept close, and money doled aside for payment as soon as possible. Usage of the credit card is PUREly to earn points credited to frequent flyer miles in hopes of claiming a free flight. Unfortunately, I have neglected to take the exchange rate into a/c recently and eight cents is ALOT when the amount paid is 4 digits! Eight little cents equates to hundreds of dollars then. Blast the exchange rate! I hope it plumets!!!!!!

Now grocery shopping is most effective if a meal plan is thought out beforehand every week. It should be nutritiously and tastefully done, with at least 3 varieties of fruit and snacks. There's not much need to stinge on your favourites even if u have to eat within a budget, so i guess $50 is plenty for 1 person per week. It's also a bonus if the fridge is small with an easily overloaded freezer which means u can only buy enuff for wat u need and not overspend on luxuries such as ice-cream! :)

On a side note, they have good mini magnums here (not made in China), reasonably priced and big enuff to satisfy a calorie craving without the after effect of being ill.

And there's lots of fresh/roasted nuts that make a good healthy muchie.

Getting back on track, being poor... or choosing to be poor is only possible with no bills to pay, and having a roof over one's head. So i guess this is still not true poverty.

My only regret is having to stinge also on textbooks. But this will probably ensure me using the text fruitfully should I choose to get one :)

In all, poverty is good. It teaches one to appreciate what u oredi have, to work for what you want without waste and that every cent spent must be accountable. It forces u to be uncareless with money, and to appreciate its value. In its way, I think it makes a person less carelss with life as well.

It shows u that u only need very little actually.