The Chinese say that people born in the year of the dog are prone to ups and downs in life. The will be periods of good fortune mixed with bad.
The British expression: ‘It’s a dog’s life’ is all in all a negative statement.
I’m a dog, but I consider to have had a comfortable life, even though my family are not at all well off. I have always had good fortune when it comes to money. Perhaps I live by the Chinese proverb which says that money must flow; it must go out before any more is to come in.
Even as a poor student I never went with out.
Once spent 6 months paying for a coffee table which I wanted. One Christmas, spending a staggering £500 on family presents back in the early 90s. Though I do remember the time when my friend Emma & I survived the 3 weeks purely on potatoes. We couldn’t afford to buy cigarettes but had sought for loose change and managed to buy a pack of 10 ciggies. We wrapped every single ciggy in cling film and hid them around the house. The idea was that when we had reached insufferable level we would look for the ciggies. To our horror, one ciggy was placed in an empty wine bottle which had residue wine at the bottom. The wine soaked through the cling film and the ciggie. Arhhhhhhhh! We pitifully dried it in the oven and smoked it.
Since then, life had always been good. I’m a kind of a person who would feel comfortable in a super luxurious 5 star hotel, or in a dingy guest house. When I have money, I will spend spend spend. When I don’t….I wait. And will spend at the first chance.
You would expect that having kids would make one more responsible. This is true. In many sense I have, but when it comes to money I’m just not capable of saving. My kids have never gone without. They have had more than most kids. Few years ago, little Maxine said that we never stay in hotels when we go on holiday, even though she did not realised that I had spent £1500/week to rent a beautiful Dorset cottage that year. So how did I react to Maxine’s comment? I splashed out on a luxurious weekend in 5 star hotel in Venice. That weekend cost me over 3000€. Money well spent I’d say.
Business was booming before 2008, and I had no reason to economise. Suddenly sales went into free-fall. March 2009 I started my first ever finanical forecast! I needed 27,000€ in the next 5 months! Two years ago, 27,000€ didn’t seem to be a huge amount of money. But when you have no money, it appears to be mountain.
So having moved back to the UK, I have mentally trained my brain to economise. First call was getting some furniture. I splashed out on 3 new beds and mattresses, justifying that sleep was important and one should never compromise on a good quality mattress. Next was the furniture. I expected to buy decent solid wooden second hand furniture, but getting around to see them was a hassle. So the port of call was Argos, Tesco Direct or Ikea. I spent hours flicking through the catalogues and websites. Adding things to my shopping basket. But my soul revolted in protest. I’ve never bought anything from Argos, and I thought Tesco only sold food and cheap apparels. Cheap and not cheerful came to mind. Yes, but I’m on a budget. I’m now resigning myself to Ikea, though have now in two minds as to which collection I should go for. Few days ago, to my delight I found a Laura Ashley shop down in my high street. I walked in, browsed, picked up 2 leaflets and walked out.
I confessed my achievement to a friend; she congratulated me on resisting Laura Ashley. But in one of the leaflet it says 0% interest credit......and they have half price sales. Ah!
The other day, I went shopping in Tesco for food. My brother in law drove me and I took advantage of the car to buy more than usual; I spent a staggering £145. Upon returning home, my younger sister Dong asked me if she could see the receipt. Total to pay £145.45, Total savings £2.38.
The British expression: ‘It’s a dog’s life’ is all in all a negative statement.
I’m a dog, but I consider to have had a comfortable life, even though my family are not at all well off. I have always had good fortune when it comes to money. Perhaps I live by the Chinese proverb which says that money must flow; it must go out before any more is to come in.
Even as a poor student I never went with out.
Once spent 6 months paying for a coffee table which I wanted. One Christmas, spending a staggering £500 on family presents back in the early 90s. Though I do remember the time when my friend Emma & I survived the 3 weeks purely on potatoes. We couldn’t afford to buy cigarettes but had sought for loose change and managed to buy a pack of 10 ciggies. We wrapped every single ciggy in cling film and hid them around the house. The idea was that when we had reached insufferable level we would look for the ciggies. To our horror, one ciggy was placed in an empty wine bottle which had residue wine at the bottom. The wine soaked through the cling film and the ciggie. Arhhhhhhhh! We pitifully dried it in the oven and smoked it.
Since then, life had always been good. I’m a kind of a person who would feel comfortable in a super luxurious 5 star hotel, or in a dingy guest house. When I have money, I will spend spend spend. When I don’t….I wait. And will spend at the first chance.
You would expect that having kids would make one more responsible. This is true. In many sense I have, but when it comes to money I’m just not capable of saving. My kids have never gone without. They have had more than most kids. Few years ago, little Maxine said that we never stay in hotels when we go on holiday, even though she did not realised that I had spent £1500/week to rent a beautiful Dorset cottage that year. So how did I react to Maxine’s comment? I splashed out on a luxurious weekend in 5 star hotel in Venice. That weekend cost me over 3000€. Money well spent I’d say.
Business was booming before 2008, and I had no reason to economise. Suddenly sales went into free-fall. March 2009 I started my first ever finanical forecast! I needed 27,000€ in the next 5 months! Two years ago, 27,000€ didn’t seem to be a huge amount of money. But when you have no money, it appears to be mountain.
So having moved back to the UK, I have mentally trained my brain to economise. First call was getting some furniture. I splashed out on 3 new beds and mattresses, justifying that sleep was important and one should never compromise on a good quality mattress. Next was the furniture. I expected to buy decent solid wooden second hand furniture, but getting around to see them was a hassle. So the port of call was Argos, Tesco Direct or Ikea. I spent hours flicking through the catalogues and websites. Adding things to my shopping basket. But my soul revolted in protest. I’ve never bought anything from Argos, and I thought Tesco only sold food and cheap apparels. Cheap and not cheerful came to mind. Yes, but I’m on a budget. I’m now resigning myself to Ikea, though have now in two minds as to which collection I should go for. Few days ago, to my delight I found a Laura Ashley shop down in my high street. I walked in, browsed, picked up 2 leaflets and walked out.
I confessed my achievement to a friend; she congratulated me on resisting Laura Ashley. But in one of the leaflet it says 0% interest credit......and they have half price sales. Ah!
The other day, I went shopping in Tesco for food. My brother in law drove me and I took advantage of the car to buy more than usual; I spent a staggering £145. Upon returning home, my younger sister Dong asked me if she could see the receipt. Total to pay £145.45, Total savings £2.38.
‘Oh Van, you’re so crap’ she said.
I realised that I had a lot more to learn and really had to drum into my head the words:
‘I’m poor, I’m poor’.
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