People spend money on various things in life and the usual ones are on basics like food and transport. However, some go on to spend on indulgences like clothes, shoes, bags, entertainment, decor and technological gadgets. My weaknesses are books and magazines, and wherever there are discounts or sales, my eyes and legs never fail to draw me there.
My bookcase is already full due to my extensive collection of literary texts as an undergraduate. Ever since chic-lit came into the market, I've bought scores of books and despite the pile of books that I've not even unwrapped from their plastic covers, lingering on my table, I fall into temptation to buy new ones. Sigh. I've also started buying Chinese books on self-improvement. I have actually graduated in taste from books on days of long ago in various countries. Oh, how am I going to squeeze my new books into the bookcase?! I think I've to create a top layer on the existing piles.
I also get enticed by magazines. I used to buy local ones which are cheaper but with age, I've started to buy foreign ones as well. My magazine racks are full now. So when I do buy, I give them away. I try to control my buying rate by being more critical of the content featured on the covers. If it's irrelevant to me, I don't buy it.
Yes, foreign magazines are more expensive due to the exchange rates but I buy the cheaper ones. Still, I find that local magazines are trying to catch up with them in terms of content, which is more mature and yet immoral. Though it is the order of the day with progression of minds, progression can also be decadent as well, because it embraces liberality of attitudes. I'm forced to buy magazines suitable for the younger age group as a result.
The Restoration period was known to be licentious and we seem to be harking back to it with the type of content found in magazines nowadays. This is definitely history repeating itself!
I rented a few dvds for my viewing pleasure and they included the collection of the British comedy 'Mind Your Language'. It is about a group of foreign students who learn English from their teacher and the madcap antics they do, peppered with linguistic jokes. It really brought out the guffaws in me. The collection, together with other dvds, certainly cost me a bomb.
Thus I've promised myself that I won't buy any more books till I've finished the ones I've bought and any more magazines or dvds for a long time. What is more, I still have my literary collection to peruse. I didn't do every single text in it when schooling, since we had the liberty to pick and choose our texts.
My bank account total has been slowly but surely decreasing with each purchase I make. It's quite heart- wrenching to see that. I'm trying to be more controlled in my spending nowadays and as far as possible.
I often go to the library and take advantage of the DEAR campaign each year. I also patronise second-hand book sales at Thomson Plaza, The Concourse and Bras Basah Complex. They are much cheaper than new books but the thing about new books is that they are really interesting and are those on the literary market.
No comments:
Post a Comment