Oct 21, 2018

Cory Diary : Saving Rate

Pride

Always pride myself about personal saving because I don't really have to plan for it. Being an engineer before, I always have a better gauge feel of manufacturing cost and the quality of the product before I buy. Even after,  I will still think for a while. I would take a walk around the shop or do something such as striking a light conversation with the sales. Interestingly, I would often decided not to buy after. Quite a number of times I found the specs are not to my expectation. Another major reason is I dread of another thing to manage at home. And every time the thoughts come in this is enough for me to say no many times. Maybe I have this minimalist potential.


Value

Going back to value. There are few things I look out for. One of them is weight. Generally a metal object is more sturdy and harder to produce vs plastic materials. So it will often costly to make. The surface of the product is another factor I look into. The texture, pattern, smooth or old plain design. Some has water flow marks or poor plating. I will give a poor rating for non-branded plastic products use in food.

How the parts are jointed is a good indication of the design and the manufacturing process. If you buy a notebook with gaping holes between parts, and to make it worst, unevenness as well this could give an indication on the overall quality managed by the product team.

To go deeper, I would looks for design, durability and usability. But I would rather exchange for "disposable" products which is like 2 to 10 times cheaper rather than getting an expensive pen of high reliability that I hardly ever use unless the purpose is for decoration purposes or significance. The final is servicing. A recognize brand do command a better premium that I am willing to have more cash to let go. How large is up to individual.

Of-course is not always the same exact criteria. But this habits and what to look out for helps to contain my spending habits. Year 2018 is special because of a number of big ticket items. Excluding Pension/CPF and Stock dynamics into the equation, just take home salary, is about 30% saving rate. This is markedly down from 40% to 50% range previously but is all worth it because is for Immeasurable Value.


Cheers

Cory
2018-1021

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