I always consider myself as a thrift, a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone. I've never had problem with shopping for my entire life. I always wear old socks, worn-out blouse, ragged shoes and fade-coloured trousers. I eat my own cooking, I read books in library, I watch my friends' DVD, and buy presents in second-hand charity shop. I run at my my back lawn for a sport. So, I can say that I'm a very good example of person who will survive the credit crunch. Until.
Until I discovered how to shop online. There are some online shops which sell used items for a bargain. It opens 24 hours per day and 7 days per week. No annoying shop assistant, no buss pass needed, no worry whether it's raining and you will wet all your stuffs on the way back home, no heavy bags that you have to carry around. No kidding.
It started this Christmas. I feel like buying few Christmas presents for family and friends. Due to my long working hour, it is quite impossible for me to shop during day time in workdays. Shops are closed at 5 pm in winter and I am too lazy to spend my day off only for shopping (in my opinion, shopping is a hard work. Imagine how to make your little money stretch for buying your thousands necessities. How to compare price. How to know that things you buy is a good value of money. How to be a decision maker. Really hard work!). It took a considerable amount of time for me only to decide. To buy or not to buy that is the question.
That's why I can't shop with my female friends. Firstly, they will affect my judgement. Secondly, they are very good supporters for the whole consumerism in the world. They love me buying things: "It looks good on you," "It's like made for you," "You are very lucky to have that size," "It is so you, I can't believe it,"(I wonder where they learn all of this remarks, I bet they worked at the shop discreetly). Thirdly, they will lend me cash if I get short. See, this is how the world starts to get into recession. You spend more than you earn. But I would not fall to those tricks. I always believe that neither a borrower nor a lender be. I'm too stingy to be a happy-go-lucky shopaholic girl. Until.
Christmas was approaching and I hadn't got a single present. I had no time to go out to a shop and regarding my slow movement in drawing my cash from my wallet, it was quite impossible to buy something before Christmas. I was free from 9 pm and all I did is reading a book, went to a drink with friends or watched an old movie in the sitting room. No time to shop. But there was always time to get online. In amazon (it's similar to e-Bay), you can get practically anything with a single click. And the price is amazing. Because they don't have to pay for displaying items and paying tax and rent for shops or hiring a shop keeper, they can sell stuff with incredibly reasonable price. For instance, A Khaled Hoseini book, A Thousand Splendid Suns in hard cover, costs 2.90 pounds. Compare with its price in Waterstone, it's near to nothing regarded that you still have to go to the shop and you have to be there at their opening time. So I sat in front of my computer, did bargain hunting and "windows shopping" until I realised that I had fallen to the trick.
You spend a lot of money online because you don't really feel that you keep withdrawing from your account. And also you have to pay the shipping/packaging price per item, which sometimes is quite expensive when you add them up. Even if the shipping is free, you are still entitled to buy something expensive (to cover the shipping price). And there is one most horrible fact that we should be aware of : our card's details now has gone online. Although it is secure, it is almost like internet banking. Risky business.
Although there is, of course, the best part of it. Receiving a package feels like receiving present. When you see this beautiful package sitting in your mailbox, you feel excited. But then it wasn't a surprise at all because you know exactly what it is, even the size and the colour. And most of all, you know exactly the price (and shipping price). Online or not online, that is not the question. The addiction to shopping is not very good, especially if your salary is so small that you can't see it with the naked eye. So then my new year resolution is: stop being a member of amazon and start being a member of "ending the poverty" organisation, which remind you that there are billions of people struggle for water and food. Not because I want to be a hero and save them, but merely because I don't want to join them. At the end of the day, a desire to buy things is like a sin, just like Kristina said, greed. After a while, I think it's quite good to have Christmas only with friends and a cup of tea. Merry Christmas everybody. Don't shop! (say what you want to a friend, they may give it to you as Christmas present, ^_^)
One can not build life from refrogerators, politics, credit statements and crossword puzzles. That is impossible. Nor can one exist for any length of time without poetry, without colour, without love. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
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About Us
- Sri Riyati Sugiarto & Kristina Melani Budiman
- pindah2..tergantung mood, Indonesia
- Sri Riyati Sugiarto (aka Ria) adalah cewek kelahiran limpung..(pinggiran kota Pekalongan)..habis sekolah di SMU St. Bernardus Pekalongan trus kuliah kedokteran di Undip Semarang..sementara Kristina Melani Budiman (aka Kristina) juga lahir di Pekalongan trus satu SMU ama Ria dan kuliah di Atma Jaya Jogjakarta. kami kenal di kelas 3 SMU tapi mo duduk bareng selalu ga bisa gara2 terlalu cerewet dan kalo duduk sebangku selalu bikin keributan karena hobinya menggosip jadi terpaksa sampai sekarang tidak pernah duduk bareng..untungnya kita ga satu kampus :p
2 comments:
ini artikel yang lucu. menurutku kowe gpp sekali2 belanja yo secara kowe dari dulu itu ngirit banget. anggap aja dulu kamu ngirit2 sekarang waktunya untuk menuai buahnya (mengirit2 dulu boros kemudian). aku juga jarang belanja kok. malah aku paling males jalan2 cari baju. menurutku lebih menarik ke toko buku or toko dvd bajakan :p. jadi selama ini kalo mo beli baju tinggal kasih uang ke adekku buat beliin baju. belanja baju menurutku bukan hal yang memuaskan buatku. o iya..aku paling suka lagi adalah wisata kuliner. makanan lebih mengundang selera ketimbang baju2 modis. jadi ria..gpp belanja selama dirimu menikmatinya. jangan sampe ngabisin duit tapi kowe ora puas...kuwi luwih rugi2 maneh. kaya pedomanku soal makanan itu. ngapain makan yang kita ga suka..udah bikin gendut...ga puas lagi :p.
btw aku sibuk terus ki. hiks...satu lagi yang kupelajari dari kantor baru: kerja santai bayaran juga santai. tapi bayaran gede ga mungkin kerjanya santai...dan yang paling melaske adalah yang bayaran santai dan harus kerja keras :p
koyoke kuwi aku Kris. Kerjane rak keras dalam arti mikir tapi keras dalam arti dhek isuk tekan mbengi. Kerjo koyo kebo. Kebo wae bar Magrib liren rak nyambut gawe maneh hhuiks2. Bayarane rileks. Tiga jutaan kuwi gede nek ning Kalongan, lha ning kene teh wae regane 20 ewu secangkir (cepet entek maneh rak koyo StarbucksE dewe sing mbiyen). Met Natal yo Kris, aku ning Marseiile ki, teh secangkir 30 ewu. &*&*)&*&E$%@!!!!*!
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