Finances with Parents.

Once as I fought my weekly fight with mum for my pocket money, I just gave up. I told her ‘Just give me the money!”. She gave me the money and said “Let me see how you react when your daughter fights with you like that.”

On that line I realized that it was true, that I would never react the same way as my parents did. Being the only child, my dad always wanted to spoil me rotten. But mum was the speed breaker. She always reminded us (me &dad) that there was a difference in spoiling and pampering. Since I stepped into college she took care of my finances. My dad always gave me extra money when she wasn’t looking! I always want a new dress for a party but she makes sure that I wear every dress to at least 3 parties before buying me a new one. In her language, we don’t have a money plant from where she can pluck and give me! But in simple words she always told me, “Think. When you start earning, will you or won’t you think before buying a 5K dress? Just because your dad is paying for it that’s the reason why you don’t think!” To some extend that is the truth. Okay, that is the truth. When you’re spending your parent’s money you don’t tend to check the price tags but that happens when you are spending out of your work cheque.

When my first pay came and I thought even before spending 100Rs over something, I recollected my mum’s words. After all, Mum’s always right!

My shop-ping experience!

As I walked in the medical store to take the interview of one of my favourite and the oldest uncles, it struck me that I never spoke to him apart from our regular chitchat over the counter while buying something. I realized how much he had changed since the time I was a kid, at which he reminded me that even I changed!

Speaking to him about the prices of commodities going up and down he said, “From years I have been handling the store and to a very large extend, there has been a particular pattern which works throughout the year. There has been some amount of changes in it given the changes in generations but on the whole it has remained the same.” On this I asked him that how changes in this pattern affects the commoner. He replied saying, “It invariably affects the commoner because he is the one who has made this change in the first place. Not directly but indirectly. His demand for certain things at certain point of time is the reason why we see a certain pattern. It’s all a circle. You demand, we get it, you take it. The change or a pattern is formed. But we are just the middlemen”.

I asked him more about this pattern he was talking about. He said, “Throughout the year there is a demand of typical medicines like Crocin, Paracetamol or the regular Pudin Hara. The demand of medicines which come by prescription are ongoing only. During Navratri and December, there is a rise in demand of Condoms & Contraceptive pills. If there is a sudden change in the season, there is a rise of medicines for fever. During winters, all-time rise for cough syrups and cold-related medicines and also lot’s of cold-creams. During the transition from summer to monsoons, there is a lot of demand for stomach infections. During summers, all sunblock creams. Through the year, we keep on seeing changes but there that particular trend which keeps on rotating.”

As I listened with rapt attention, I was amazed to know so much can happen in a simple medical store! But then life is a bag full of surprises!

Empty wallets!

I just went with my mum to the departmental store the other day to pick up groceries. I was shocked to see the prices of commodities. A normal bathing bar costs Rs.25! I mean what happened to the good-old 15Rs bathing soap?

After an entire series of reading various articles and blogs, I came to this conclusion that we are responsible for this nuisance only and we are only suffering! Our consumption levels have gone so high that the prices of commodities have also sky-rocketed. According to the World Food Price Index by United Nations says that by 2050, the food output will climb to 70% and the population will be 9 billion! The gap between the demand for food and supply of the same is just going to keep on increasing. Along with that the global weather is also under a scrutiny. Every year the temperatures are going to the extreme ends as well as the rains. Natural calamities all over the world are increasing and most of them go out of control. This is also going to be one of the major reasons affecting the output of grains. If the weather is bad, the food grains are going to consecutively suffer which will in turn affect the food output and which is going to come back to the same point of, increase in the prices of the commodities! It’s all in a never ending circle.

Save Me!! : Money.

As I Graduate this year from college, it’s going to get a whole new arena of working and earning money. No more asking parents for money for daily stuff. All your bills have to be paid by yourself. Troubled I asked my mum, how is it all possible? My mum said that once the paychecks start coming in, you start having to balance what is coming in and what is going out. Some things like electricity cost about the same each month, but then you learn to deal with things like car repairs and new computers.

There are applications for everything today, here is one of mine!

When starting a difficult task, it’s good to go all out for a while even if you run out of willpower eventually.

Have a ‘no-spending’ month. Even if you end up giving in at the end of the month, you’ll definitely save more than your usual monthly savings.

It’s important to see a direct connection between your actions and the results.

If you’ve managed to save 1000 a month, it should go in the bank. If you invest it and one day your 1,000 balance turns to 500, then it affects your emotions and motivation. You’ve just lost 5 months of hard work. With an interest-bearing savings account, the amount will always be higher than yesterday. These days it’s not much, but it’s still higher.

Routine makes everything easier. Make fewer decisions.

There should be no decision as in should I or should I not save money. It should be a compulsion that savings have to go in the bank. Even if you feel bad, it should happen.

Keep supportive friends.

Have friends who will help maintaining this habit of yours not who will feel you’re being a fool by saving your money. Many a times we give in to peer-pressure about money matters. Instead of being sorry later, be safe before. Just keep such friends at arm’s length.

Money over Lunch.

While having a discussion with one of my uncles over lunch about how economy of the country affects common man, he crudely remarked, “It doesn’t make a difference anymore!” On asking why he told me the following story.

“There were times when the prices used to rise and people used to protest. During the 70’s and 80’s even if the vegetable or petrol prices rose by a rupee, political parties used to take up arms and there used to be riots. When was the last time that happened in this decade?” When I had no answer to this question, he further continued. “Now days the layman has become smart. He has realized that by protesting with these parties nor are the prices going to drop and neither will you come out of the riot unharmed. Who is going to pay for the injuries you might sustain during protests? Plus he has realized that all this is just the dirty game of the politicians who will have a party with the same people the next day. It’s just that the every-day man suffers.”

Then I asked, “But if there is no change in the prices even after protesting or not then again the common man only suffers!”

On this he smiled and asked me, “Do you know the labour charges in Mumbai? For a simple job of tiling work in the house the labour charges for a semi-skilled worker is Rs.800-Rs 1000 a day. If they do overtime, then extra. So roughly their monthly income ranges between Rs. 30,000- Rs. 40,000. Even a lower middle class family doesn’t have this kind of income but the so called ‘labour-class’ has! And off course there is another huge side to this whole story. The labour class is earning in thousands plus the salaried class is also reaping the benefits of our economy. Almost every salaried employee has had an increment in his or her salary in the last one-two years. When there is more purchasing and spending power in your hand, what difference does a change if price in petrol make? Yes, more money will go out but then your salary too is more. A layman thinks that if my monthly bills are going up by 1000 rupees more but on the same hand my salary is increasing by 5000 Rupees more, it really doesn’t make a difference. This ‘doesn’t-make-a-difference attitude has brought about this entire change of outlook in the new generation. You’ll will never get down from you’re a/c offices to protest for a rise in onion prices because you know that your purchasing power has increased. And that hasn’t only increased for people working in MNC’s. It has increased from the lowest rung of laborers to the top bosses. This is why it doesn’t make a difference anymore.” he concluded as we polished of a delicious lunch.

For the Love of the Game.

Yesterday, I went out with one of my best friends for Lunch at phoenix, a shopping place in Mumbai. Since India was playing with South Africa, we choose the eatery which had a LCD which was showing the match. The place was a semi-formal dining place with formal people coming in to have food. But as we both sat down for the meal, we realized that they was an over throw and it went for a four. A collective ‘Yes!’ went around the place; I realized I was in the room full of Indians!

As our meal got over we decided to do some window-shopping. We ended up shopping too! It was so much fun to try clothes and giggle for no reason. We then realized how expensive clothing has become! Rs. 5000 for a party-dress at Vero Moda! I mean, are diamonds stuck on them. Even food and toys are so expensive! As we decided to go to Palladium, an ultra chic mall at Pheonix which houses all the international brands. People who shop here should have lots of time and money to waste! We kept on window-shopping and giggling at over-dressed aunties who were there for their kitty-parties. As some time passed on we realized that there was a mob of people outside a shop. We thought maybe something happened so we rushed. After we reached there, we were facing an interior design store which had 10 LCD’s and a mob facing them. Sachin Tendulkar was on the verge of his 48^th ODI century! As we waited him to complete those last 3-4 runs, there was a feeling of oneness within all these people. We were complete strangers but we were collectively abusing Morkel for not allowing Sachin the single. Talking about stupid ads between the overs to praising Gambhir for giving Sachin the strike, we all became best of friends for those ten minutes.

Now remember, this is an ultra sophisticated mall where you would normally never see people standing outside a store, staring inside just to watch television. As Sachin made his century, each and every one of us burst into applause. The grand master deserved it. We loved the way he looked up to the sky to acknowledge his dad. But as I stood there watching it all, I realized that people with tons of Zara bags were standing along with people who came in to window shop. All for the love of the game and off course, Sachin Tendulkar.