One day, as I was using the self-checkout machine for my groceries, the machine politely asked, "Do you have your own shopping bag?".
I pressed Yes, because it was just a stick of deodorant and I could to put it in my satchel (it is a Man Bag, ok? Not a handbag).
When I looked at my receipt, I found out that I received a ten cents rebate. Ten cents! I was so thrilled! Why? Because the supermarket started this rebate scheme to encourage people to use less plastic bags. Call me ngiao but ten cents saved is ten cents saved, ok?
When I got home and told my wife, she said, "Oi! Then our trash put where?" Oops.
Just then, my mother dropped off two 10kg bags of rice at my place. "Buy for you from JB one! Singapore money $8 only! Cheaper than here!" said Mom. It looked like she was feeding an army.
We used to buy our baby milk powder from across the Causeway too. And while we were at it, wash and vacuum car, buy chickens and veggies, and top up our petrol too. And if got time, get a foot massage. All in ringgit. When they announced that the ringgit has dropped to an all time 15-year-low of 2.5485 against the Singapore dollar, my first thought was to call Mom and say, "TIME TO GO JB LOH!"
It must be age. When you have a household to feed, and bills to pay, you become more conscious of your budget. I even started to count toilet paper at the supermarket to choose the one with the most value.
I started thinking about all the big and little ngiao things I do to save money. "Wait wait, I have the member card/discount coupon." has become one of my pet phrases.
Maybe I will ask my Twitter friends tomorrow to tell me the ngiao things THEY do too. That'd be fun.
