Tuesday, August 15, 2006

Lesson: never shop on an empty stomach


A wise friend once taught me (it was O-K): If you want to save money, don't go shopping when you're hungry.

Today I woke up unusually late and had to go without breakfast. The wards were also unusually busy and so I had to go without any lunch. Despite the hunger, I had to go shopping with the family straight after work as Amar and Sarah's bedtime was soon due.

As you could imagine, shopping on an empty stomach, everything on the shelf looked exceptionally tasty and I was grabbing for everything that was even remotely tempting. It wasn't a surprise that when I got the receipt:


The total was a whopping £101.07. A personal record!!



Learn it like a mantra my friends: never shop on an empty stomach, lest your wallet also becomes empty!

ps
  1. If you want to make it more interesting, multiply the total by 6, and you'll get the equivalent in Malaysian Ringgits.
  2. If you look closely at the picture you'll notice most of the stuff we bought were food!
  3. If you look at the receipt, one of the items i bought was a dvd - it's King Kong two-disc edition for £10 (for Sarah *wink*).
  4. You'll notice there's also a "bug viewer" - heh heh heh - wait for an entry in Puan Mama Sarah's blog. Hint words - microscope, spider, science.
  5. The lady's skirt is not for me - honest! (or rather: onus!)

30 comments:

Mama Pongkey said...

Wow. It is very true, never shop when you are hungry. The Eid OK was here that was exactly what we did (being bulan puasa and whatnot, so all food looked extra delish) but I think our bill that day was 60.00.

Our (me and KW's) record is 80.00. That was because it was Eid, we bought kambing, juices, baking stuff etc, also bought beras berpuluh2 kilo. I think we didn't need to shop for about 3-4 weeks after that, so it was worth it. Within budget la in the end.

Mama Pongkey said...

Actually upon further scrutiny (me in menyibuk mode) your grocery bill is only 70.00. Lagi 30.00 tu on DVD (citer apa?) and clothes, I am guessing surprise for MS? Or for the little ones?

pycnogenol said...

Orang dah cakap jangan pergi shopping kat Tesco, apasal awak masih pergi ke sana Mynn?

Dah la tu, Raya ni tak pakai Baju Melayu nampak nye....Pakai skirt warna pink ke??? ;)

Anonymous said...

1 orang = £3-5/shopping. 4 orang = £100/shopping. isk...

Anonymous said...

silap, 2 adults = £60. 2adults + 2kiddies = £100.

ayumi said...

Salaam..

101.07 X 6...

*Speechless*

You're really THAT hungry eh?

mynn said...

ayumi
i hadnt eaten for the WHOLE day, I was THAT hungry :) LOL

anonymous
exactly! what bumped the price was the kid's & PMS' clothes (and my dvd ...)

pycno
i dont know why, selalu tergelak reading your comments anywhere it is. the closest alternative to tesco is Marks and Spencer. Lagi teruk. The next alternative is 30 minutes away - an Asda, owned by America's Walmart. If lebih kurang je, we'd rather go to the one 5 minutes away:D oh, another alternative is the Sandhu shop. takde supermarket orang kita kan?

KKL
DVD king kong 2 disc edition. you know what KKL, our anniversary is coming soon and i'm supposed to get a surprise for PMS........ huuuu nak beli apa huh? ps - OMG dah start cakap pasal raya eh? it's that near already.

Anonymous said...

why you blame on my skirt ah ah ah??? i will return it instantly the next trip to tesco. make sure you keep the receipt.

don't you all blame me for not cooking at home ok. i made 3 dishes + sambal belacan lagi that day.

Anonymous said...

Pycno,
AGaknya bila Mynn dah jumpa Pycno, dia tergelak lagi tak baca comments? :p

Mama Pongkey said...

Mama Sarah

Jangan return skirt tu... murah tu at a tenner. Skirt lawa kat Malaysia pun RM60-70 (this was in 2001 though, sekarang I tak tahu). And the cut here is better then back home. I saw Monsoon ada 70% off. I am trying hard to forget that fact. I have never bought anything from Monsoon, sebab mahal, walaupun berkenan.

Anonymous

2 adults = 60 quid = 1 month. Which is less then 10 pounds a week. Although it was originally for 2 adults, in reality we had a Raya gathering for 20 people the same month. :D

Ayumi

Actually groceries are cheaper here than in Malaysia, when you bear in mind that people get paid in pounds. If a person gets paid 1000 pounds a month, they can live on 100 pounds worth of groceries easily (provided they cook and do not eat out. I am being generous here, I personally have lived on 30-40 pounds a month for food, when I lived alone. It gets cheaper if you have a flatmate who cooks with you).
But can anyone in Malaysia, specially KL, live on RM100 a month for food? Heheheh when I was in uni I spent RM5-10 per day on food, depending on my hunger level. Every year I return to Malaysia, I am shocked at how much it costs per week to cook for 2. The costs of groceries keep on spiralling year after year, that in the end, me and OK find it cheaper for us to eat out rather than cook. :(

Mynn

Get MS gold. Now around 600 dollars an ounce. Buy now before the seasonal rise in gold prices (due to the wedding season in India and Christmas, Sept-Dec every year).

Murah jugak double disc for a tenner. Byk sale ye skrg? Utk Sarah ye? :D

Pycno

The first year I was in London, I spent a bomb boycotting everything under the sun. I had to pay more because I avoided all the big stores. I had to waste time travelling because I refused to shop at the Sainsbury's 5 minutes walk away. I was so frugal you wouldn't believe.

Now I am a bit relaxed. I realised I simply couldn't afford to do that any longer. I get my milk and bread from Tesco's because they last for 2 weeks although expiry date is only 1 week. I also buy items on offer, such as buy 1 get 1 free, etc at the big stores (I still avoid M&S though) :) But I get all my other stuff at my local halal grocery, Iceland and Netto. Netto is super cheap, and they are Swedish like IKEA. :D Alhamdulillah Allah made it easier for me.

Anonymous said...

KKL, many of us live on £40-80 budget/month not because of being frugal, but just being prudent. I think in this time and age (what with pre-meditated war here and there) it is really, really wise that people selectively boycott certain outlets. My motto is if I cannot go 'berperang', I should use my money to level up my soft power.

Even if one do not want to boycott for religious reasons, there is always the moral issue to think about.

There goes my 1 minute preaching. (Saghah: clap! clap!)

mynn said...

KKL
"The first year I was in London, I spent a bomb boycotting everything under the sun" <- good pun!

dith
OMG, what could you possibly mean by "AGaknya bila Mynn dah jumpa Pycno, dia tergelak lagi tak baca comments? :p" <-- ???

tu kalau jumpa lah ...

anyway do people in the blog circle usually meet up with each other?

speaking about meeting up with each other, we're planning a trip to scotland sekarang ni (tapi at the moment susah nak cari bed & breakfast or cottage sebab fully booked). entah2 we could meet up with you FM (if you're reading this that is), kalau jadi lah our trip. btw FM, if you have any suggestions for any B+Bs or cottages we could stay in Edinburgh -- we would be EXTREMELY grateful. most dah penuh :( - 2 families are going: ours and auntie/uncle de's. plan nak pegi over the bank holiday weekend.

mynn said...

nnydd
im just curious, but where do you do your grocery shopping?

mynn said...

lupa nak cakap

bie
ala ... bukan i kisah pun, memang suruh pun you beli baju.

Mama Sarah said...

hahaha, tau pun i tandus eh bby?

Anonymous said...

icelands (mostly dulu), somerfield(mostly now sbb iceland jauh) and asda (very infrequently now since tuan haji izani balik msia) n local mamak stores. iceland bagus sbb no-GM foods n no zionist connection. i have to pay more for similar item from tesco or sainsbury but this is an informed choice so i dont mind.

i have reduce my chicken intake too due to recent huha so i am now mostly a fish-eater.

Orangkilang said...

I have been boycotting food lately because for some reason it made me look fat...

nowadays i spend a fortune mengayakan syarikat minyak. For some reason I think my car is addicted to petrol. It will not run if I don't give it some. Man... total addiction!

pycnogenol said...

Now Pycno yang tergelak baca response Mynn to DITH's comments.
To answer your question Mynn, people in the blog-circle dont have to/usually meet up with one another, however, Pycno can always summon you to see him. ;)

Jamil said...

OK

That was too funny. Thanks for the laugh.

mynn

It's true that you should never shop when hungry. Another rule which you should observe is to never shop when you're in the mood for it.

Mama Pongkey said...

Orangkilang
:( Don't like the idea of you going without food too often. Have I said recently how much I dislike your company? Not only are you 'mengaya-ing' them during your work hours, you are also doing the same outside of work by feeding your car's addiction.
Addiction is bad.

Nnydd
Re: frugal: When 80% of your expenses go on rent and transport to college you have to be. :D Belum lagi the 'wajib' phone calls to Malaysia...

Yep that is why I like Iceland too. Most of the stuff GM-free and veggie friendly. And murah!!

So you are now a demi-vegetarian or pescetarian.

Mynn
Somehow I knew you would appreciate the pun. Ahahaha.

mynn said...

nnydd and KKL
wah, kalau macam ni kena try iceland lah. hmm, tapi tak taulah ada iceland kat sini ke tak. urm, sainsbury pun tak boleh ke?
waitrose ok ke?

i used to love going to iceland when i was doing a-levels, also masa2 bujang dulu2 in cardiff :)

O-K
dude, i'm planning to go back to malaysia bulan puasa nanti - jussssssst before raya. nisak & kids tak ikut, so i'm going back to the UK, just before raya utk celebrate with them.

but, while i'm in malaysia - ada masa nak jumpa?

hiyoshi
i must be getting old dude, nowadays i've swayed from loving shopping (for clothes, gadgets etc) to being very frugal (don't read as stingy)

bie
you "tandus" eh?

pycno
wahhh, "summon" <-- woot. hopefully not involving pentagrams, candles and such. (that was a poor joke on my part, i admit!)

dith said...

Mynn-

Waahh...macam member cult buat seance jek..ni mesti kena badi Da Vinci Code..

Kang betul kena saman dgn Pycno, baru tahu!

mynn said...

pycno & dith
oooooooo baru i faham
"summon" = saman

hahahahahaha

me <- slownya! (ke i'm way off ni?) sorry blur lah hari ni.

KKL & Nnydd
but kat tesco & asda ada ayam & lamb halal tau.

Anonymous said...

Haha, mynn I won't rock the boat by disclosing what the huha is all about. AFAIAC, if I am to buy ayam at tesco or Asda, might as well beli kat independent retailers like the mamak stores.

Anonymous said...

salam mynn n PMS,
alhamdulillah, baru je balik edinburgh for a gathering with my 2 'families'...if B&B fully booked, InsyaAllah these families, can accomodate u '2 families'. which bank holiday? x baca calendar la..sorry :-)

tadi baru dijamu ayam...InsyaAllah not a stunned one.

alamak, teringat cerita ayam di Ktn yg buat saya tak berapa lalu nak makan ayam till now-'if not mistaken, the news goes like this..."ayam di kuantan tidak disembelih secara betul/halal"...any comment from Kuantanese?

Anonymous said...

Stunned animals, according to Shafi'i fiqh are makruhat (as it induces a level of unnecessary* pain to the animal), i.e. they remain halal as long as the two veins are properly cut and other requirements are met. The objection over chicken sold at supermarkets and fastfoods like KFC/McD is because the chickens are hung on conveyor belt and the cutting machine sometimes cut the chest (due to the chicken being stun-resistant chickens etc) and not the neck.

According to the Hanafi however it is strictly haram as they dont allow any measure of unnecessary pain.

As for the practice of slaughter houses in the UK, there is some doubts over chickens (good news to them!) but not over lambs or cows.

A Hanafi faqih here eats any meat but chicken. And Allah knows best.

*necessary pain includes the use of knife or arrow which necessarily will inflict some pain, and the tying up of a struggling animal like cows, etc.

mynn said...

FM
thanks for the help & offer, tapi alhamdulillah, we managed to find places to stay - hehehe :)

anonymous
many2 thanks for your input. helped answered some of my questions.

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