At the beginning of the month, I took my best friend Miza out for lunch at Senayan City. Afterwards, we usually go around for our ‘window shopping’. The usual list : jewelry stores, shoes shops, clothing lines… you know the works.
Miza is also one of my first clients. She and her husband have the discipline with money now. Yet, she is still the one person who can call me up in the middle of the day and say something like this
“Win… Felice lagi Sale tuh!”
“Sepatu yang lo mau itu, udah nongol di Metro.”
“Udah ke Mango Sale belum?”
Lucu banget nih.
Hari itu… gue ke-gap hadir di Zara Sale :)
Ada 3 orang Hard Rockers yang nyamperin. “Wina ya??? Kok datang juga ke Sale?”
Hahahah…. lho emang kenapa kalo hadir ke Sale. If you have to money from your shopping account, you can do all the splurge you want. The difference is, when I don’t have the money, I can now walk through a Sale without spending any money :P
A friend asked me this question: why do people have shopping problem? She is the control freak type, just like me. So she doesn’t get it when I told her that I actually have a shopping problem. This translate to = cannot control yourself when shopping, which shouldn’t happen to control freaks like us.
Emang kayak apa sih?
Oh it’s so stupid. I’d actually go walk into a department store and bought things. When I came home, I’d be asking WHY?
Tapi kan udah tau gak butuh, jadi kenapa dibeli?
It’s an illness. You don’t know what’re you’re doing.
Jadi gimana dong?
Have a shopping buddy who tells you how it is as it is. Gue gak belanja kalo gak ditemenin Dondi. Gue selalu nanya dia pantes apa gak, harganya ok apa gak.
(At this point, my friend wouldn’t take it. Why would a woman who cherish feminism let a man decide what she can buy?)
Itu kali dulu waktu lo jadi stay home mum? Tapi kan lo punya duit sendiri sekarang. Masak lo gak boleh belanja sesuka lo?
It’s not like that. Hey, I’m the financial planner here. I actually control our money, where and when it should go. Don couldn’t be bothered with such details.
He wouldn’t care how I spend the money. But I admit I have had shopping problem in the past. I’d buy things I don’t need. I’d spend carelessly. Gak bisa gitu lagi sekarang, karena taruhannya uang sekolah anak-anak.
Gue ngeri banget kalo udah urusan uang sekolah. Jadi sekarang kalo mau belanja, gue selalu minta ditemenin. Karena udah sering kejadian, gue naksir baju. Tapi begitu Don ikut liat, baju itu jadi gak keren lagi. Jadi gue cuma lapar mata aja…
So what do you do if you (still) have a shopping problem?
The STEPS to coping with shopping problem :
| STEP 1 : | Get to know the symptoms Beli barang yang gak perlu, tabungan tipis, dll) |
| STEP 2 : | Admit it! You have an illness. |
| STEP 3 : | Get a shopping buddy Bukan yang bisa diajak belanja, tapi yang bisa saklek) |
| STEP 4 : | The power of waiting. Kalau naksir barang, tinggalin deh. Ajak shopping buddy untuk datang lagi dan kasih komentar. Ini untuk tes : apakah cuma lapar mata atau emang barangnya keren. |
| STEP 5 : | Have a shopping account. You can spend as much as you want from this account, provided that you keep a good balance to it. |
By the way, Miza tried on 5 dresses. I flipped through more than 7 stacks of clothes. We both walked out empty handed. Why? I was tempted to buy a long sleeve sweatshirt. I dare not to buy it. It’s too scary for me :)
The truth is, Don & I have gone through our entire shopping account with the Bali trip and some shopping at Plaza Senayan in December. So there is no way I’m going to spend anymore money that day.
I got this quote from a friend’s Facebook status…
Everything is going to be all right, when you stop buying things you don’t need, with money you don’t have, to impress people you don’t even like.
You ARE Responsible For Your Own Finances!
Ligwina Hananto
