It's been almost a week plus since I last posted something here, and it's unavoidable as I'm just too occupied with the extreme job hunt mentioned in my last post. When I say 'extreme', yes, you got that right, it's going all out looking for jobs 24/7 minus the regular routine of eat, sleep, bathe.
During this phase of my life, I did alot of soul searching in between times looking for a job. My own soul searching. It's been like ages since I last did my soul search and it dated all the way back to my 1st year in university at Terengganu. Which what explains the title of my post today.
Money.
Yes, money. The lousy sh*t thing that everyone needs to survive in this realistic and cruel world, whether you like it or not.
I come from an average family, surviving on standard income from both my parents. I have to say that during my younger days, I live like any other regular kids out there; playing cheap toys, love watching TV, dislike eating vegetables, and started wearing some crazy thick spectacles at a very young age. One thing is for sure, during that time, I don't give a d*mn on how do I get my hands on the stuffs I've wanted. It's like I have those mentality that 'money grows on trees' and my dad always get unlimited money from the wonderful looking machine located almost everywhere. It really sounds and look magical that time, and everything was so beautiful, life is so stress-free.
And this goes on all the way up to my teenage years, in which I began to find out where did the money needed to buy all my stuffs, came from. Nevertheless, I didn't bother about this fact, as I'm still studying and I do not need to earn any money to support the family.
Time flies. So is my university days at Terengganu. 3 years of undergraduate years just passed me by like that.
And now it's my turn to earn money.
I still remember, in between my SPM (during Form 5) up to my final year in university (in Terengganu), I've worked on several temporary positions in a few multinational companies such as 3M and Robert Bosch. Well, they are multinational companies which offer high pay, even to temp workers like me. As such, during that time, I earn quite a lot for a youngster as compared to my other friends. Which eventually led me to the dark side - unnecessary spending.
From that time onwards, I spend almost all my money on unnecessary things such as expensive high-tech handphone & gadgets, computer accessories, food, travel, liquor, and all other stuffs you can name of. This bad habit of mine carried on all the way, as long as my bank account's balance maintained at a 4 digit mark, or in other words, by the thousand's mark.
But...
It has all changed now.
Since 2 weeks ago, for the 1st time in my life, my bank account's balance fell to a whooping 2 digit mark. Yes, ever since I stopped working, my bank account's balance did not increase anymore. It just keep decreasing, decreasing, all the way as I went through my 'so-called-ultimate' travel & enjoyment plan around Malaysia to release my dissatisfaction towards my previous job. From 4 digit, it went down to the borderline 3 digit mark. And then...2 weeks ago, 2 digit mark. Now...it stayed at 2 digit.
And now I can officially proclaim myself....a broke person, with no job and no income. But wait, I think I 'bought' myself something even more valuable. Something that can't be bought by money.
Moderation.
Moderation in spending. Yes, that's it. But is it too late for me to obtain this meaningful lesson now? Never too late. Because during this 2 weeks, I manage to stay 'alive' with a mere RM50 in PJ / KL as I continue struggling to save as much money as I can to last longer until I land myself a job. In which I finally feel it myself as a poor person with very little money. Notice the difference when I had the money and when I don't have the money now.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
No more McDonalds,
but nasi lemak, instant noodles & bread all the way.
No more leisure travelling,
but the perseverance to keep put and work hard.
No more 'limau ais' or 'teh-o-ais',
but 'ais kosong' all the way.
No more long hours of sitting in cybercafe playing 'DotA',
but 'cybercafe package' all the way.
No more movies, bowling and arcade,
but sitting at home during weekends.
No more unnecessary outings by driving the car,
but outings by riding the bike & LRT.
No more excessive meals outside home,
but more meals inside.
No more topping up maxis RM60,
but topping maxis RM10 instead.
No more liquor or beer,
but more iced Chinese tea and plain water.
No more buying books,
but reading them in the bookshop itself.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now I finally believe when people say that 'You will never learn your lesson until you encounter bad things yourself'. It's so true on my case. I wonder, what will happen if my bank account balance stayed at the 4 digit mark? I'm pretty sure my lousy habit will stay on, and I will never learn my lesson to be thrifty and be moderate in everything. Initially, I've even thought of going to those REALLY EXTREME thrifty mode, but come to think of it, well, I can save even more money by doing that, but that is at the expense of my health, so why risk it?
Come to think of it, these things are actually stuffs we have already learnt since primary school, but we never succeed in executing them.
I guess I'm growing up already.
And this is just the start.
*sigh*
Enough with soul searching for today. Now, back to prepare for my 1st interview tomorrow morning. Wish me luck, friends.
Thank you for your kind advice and support, dai kah cher and the rest of my friends (you know who you are). I can feel it from here.
2 comments:
Good luck with the interview. About the money part, the bank account will definitely grow again when you get a job. I'm going through the same thing as you, spending more than I should. The worst that I went was to 3 digits and that to me is already very bad, considering that I've been working for about 3 years. Now the minimum digits in my bank account must be 4 and I'm aiming for a high 4. hehe
It's good to do some soul searching and don't worry too much about the money spent on travelling. I'm sure you gained so much more during your relaxing period than money can provide. Hoping to hear some good news from you soon. Take care and stay healthy! :)
No need to look for job la. Come join me become my criminal partner. We rob one bank and i can assure you no need to worry about money for the rest of your life. No body lose anything, the money in the bank is heavily insured.
Post a Comment