1. The return of piggy banks into our life
Getting back
to old ways is not bad always. Reviving tradition has always been on my agenda
personally and professionally. Though, I work in the area of preserving and
reviving tangible and intangible heritage. However, since the talk here
concerns finance, who can forget our old piggy/penny banks. Why not bring it
back into our life? I have tried it and it really plays its trick. I have been
trying this for almost 2 years now and it does its job good. I have tried a
combination of beautiful terracotta penny jars and colourful boxes installed at
ideal places. I even paint these terracotta jars to lend it a more colourful personal
touch. The space makes a huge difference in this attempt though. Placing the
penny banks and boxes near the main entrance of your house, dining table,
dressing table, wardrobe area does work wonders. I and my hubby together saved
almost 6K in a year by dropping coins. These jars and boxes really act like
monstrous penny snatchers and that small gap in them tempts me to drop in the
coins into them.
2. The homemade filter coffee mania
If you are a
“Bean-o-holic” and need your caffeine on a daily basis, then I’m sure your
visits to the Barista’s, Café days, Café worlds and Costa’s are as regular as
your need for water. The Espresso, Cappuccino and Café Lattes are part of your
regular vocabulary. Why not try different coffee beans at your home and make life
cosier? Rather than going for these exorbitantly charged hot brews, celebrate a
coffee festival at home. Try different brands (local and international) and
have a blast. That’s what we did! Also, I went through this search spree and
finally we customized our kind of bean powder. Bean powder from a coffee estate
in Coorg which was being exported by a “mami at the local kovil” combined with
the “Bru – roast and ground” coffee powder. The result was divine!
3. Health and Wealth at one go
Skip short
auto, rickshaw and bus rides. Walk it through. The walk would have rejuvenated
you by getting the toxins out. Now balance it out by dropping this petite saving
into the penny jar near the entrance door. Enjoy a tall glass of ice-tea toppled with
lime, mint and ice-cubes to celebrate this two-win moment of health and wealth!
You will feel like starting your life all over again after this….
4. Shed off the pride! Take a chill pill!
I feel losing
one’s pride till a point where it doesn’t make a difference to your self-respect
is fine. Taking from here, I have no inhibitions in telling people what I want,
if asked ofcourse and otherwise too. Rather than buying everything yourself it
gets better if it comes as a gift or a used commodity in a good condition! And
for a person who always has had an affair with gifts, it surely must not be a
problem. This step helps you save a lot in every sphere of your life!
5. Breaking the taboo of “My housemaid is my
right hand”
The Indian
household tinkers and twinkles at the sight of its housemaid every time the sun
rises and when it comes down. Households are on a constant hunt for the
precious maid! This tradition dates back
to generations and breaking it is considered more a taboo than a revolution. I
suppose, DIY was considered an unholy way of life. But, as India becomes
stronger as an economical power, the sight of this housemaid is diminishing
slowly. Why not get ourselves acquainted with the DIY mode slowly and steadily?
It sounds crazy and impossible but, it can happen. Maybe having a maid once a
day is just enough for us. Do scale your requirement and take a decision! Anyway,
it’s not long before this species is going extinct!
6. Talent and skill pool
Remember what
you were good at in your school/college days. Bring it back into your life! It
will surely make your life more interesting. You will be amazed on how much you
have forgotten about yourself all these years! This whole process will bring
back memories of those stress free days to you and make you laugh out loud. Discover
yourself and uncover your unused skills and talent. Make use of it and nourish
yourself. Why not share what you have? You can further pass on your talent to
those who want to learn it and earn a bit. This can be your extra income which
u can drop into your piggy banks.
7. The dirty laundry bazaar
The household market
is a world of giants! That too the cleansing brands flood the market with
washing products including detergents, germ shields, easy washes, after-wash,
bleach and more. Just the laundry products and machines itself can form a
bazaar! I have myself tried dozens of
stuff like Tide “nimbu aur chandan” “rose”, Ariel “oxyblue”, Surf excel, Rin, Godrej
Easy wash, Surf excel after wash, Rin bar, wheel bar, Rin Bleech, Robin whitener.
What I found? A Rs 20/- tide pack does as good a job as a Rs 85/-
ariel pack. Well the easy washes do help to save our dry clean costs though.
The job here is to choose carefully and use minimally. No need to follow the
scoop instructions for washing machines. The bars usually melt away during
summers so no use for them. Even otherwise I feel they are a waste and make your
hands look rusted.
8. Advertisement VS Meditation
An appreciation
for an advertisement and the process which leads to purchasing the same product
varies from person to person. The temptation factor is always high these days
because of the rising economy, unending contentment and unique creative. The way I find out of this temptation is
through meditation. I meditate for about 5-10 minutes repeating the name of the
product. Once over, I go through the need and want for the product in question
again. It sounds unrealistic but, yes I started doing this very recently so I
do not know how far it will be a successful way. But, no harm in trying it I
suppose! To a certain extent it has already started helping a shop-o-holic like
me!
9. Window shopping
On a boring
day, window shopping just peps me up. Moreover, it helps us know the different
deals running at different super markets, discounts, value buys and more. It
has helped me identify unknown shops in my local areas as I leisurely walk giving
myself time to explore each and every shop on the way.
10. Decking up your house
Why not brighten up the doors and
walls at your place with 3D stickers, self-designed posters or paintings and
photographs. It helps making your place more cosy and attached rather than brass
statues, ceramic models, glass vases or anything which you get with a big price
tag on it! Try it once and you will know what I’m talking about!
