My motivations to spend less (Part 2)
I’ll pick up immediately from where I left off in Part 1 in my previous post. The second group of motivations for me to spend less is ‘ideals’. The following may sound ‘too perfect’, that’s why I call them ‘ideals’. But they’re something that I aspire towards and TRY to embrace partially, if not totally.
The first is that Islam encourages moderation and not be wasteful (bersederhana dan tidak membazir). If one has excess wealth, it’s better to donate to the needy or spend them in the way of Islam (sedekah dan infak) rather than spend on unnecessary luxury items. Of course, there’s always a delicate balance because it’s not easy to define what is considered as ‘unnecessary’ or ‘luxury’.
Secondly, I want to avoid getting trapped by the consumer lifestyle (consumerism), where marketing and advertising constantly bombard their audience to keep buying and buying, convincing consumers that they really need this and that items. I want to go back to basics and try to have a simple lifestyle. I don’t want to have the urge to always have (buy) the latest, the best, the nicest, the biggest etc.
Thirdly, consuming less means a ‘greener’ lifestyle. The things that we buy and consume take a lot of resources to produce and leave more waste, too.
I believe in:
- Treating/Rewarding oneself and others (occasionally).
- Delayed gratification.
- Wise spending.
- Function over brand or beauty.
- Experiences, not stuffs.
6 comments:
buy what you need.
wealth doesn't make you less pious/more pious. ingat Nabi Sulaiman a.s., he made a dua untuk Allah berikan kekayaan yang lebih dari orang sebelum dia dan selepas dia. abd rahman auf used to wear his clothes only once before donating it away. I believe we must find a balance between dunya & akhirah :)
I agree with your post.
I'm the only one among my peers who is iPhone and BBM-less. Just make sure you have the fundamental things in life. The rest is frills :-)
Baguslah mynie.... :)
Sebenarnya kan, saya nampak perempuan sekarang ramai yg 'materialistik'...maka terpaksa bekerja disebabkan 'peer pressure'. Sedangkan betul, tanggungjawab mencari rezeki ialah suami. Jika isteri cukup dgn apa yg ada, dan suami sentiasa berusaha utk memperbaiki kehidupan dgn doa & sokongan isteri (bukan memaksa), maka saya rasa, kita boleh kembalikan institusi keluarga & masyarakat yang lebih baik. Bukanlah anti wanita bekerja....sebab saya pun bekerja. Tapi saya selalu terkilan bila dgr drp mulut isteri, bahawa dua-dua kena bekerja kerana 'tuntutan hidup' (duit), terutama di bandar. Bagi saya, wanita boleh bekerja, tapi ada batasnya....dan alasannya tidak boleh kerana gaji suami 'tak cukup'. Dayus & lemah sgt ke lelaki di zaman ini, atau sebaliknya keinginan wanita terlalu banyak, sehingga lelaki hilang 'kuasa'? Phenomena ini secara tak langsung, menghilangkan figure 'bapa' sebagaimana sepatutnya di mata anak-anak, dan saya bimbang, jika ia berterusan, maka anak-anak lelaki terutamanya akan terus hilang 'kelelakian'nya....sorry kalau agak terkeluar topik :P
ummu auni afif,
islam menggalakkan kesederhanaan tapi tak bermakna tak menggalakkan kekayaan. the more wealth, the more can be spent on the 'right' ways (the word right is open to interpretations, as usual haha).. agree with you, balance is key..
asma,
i have nothing against iphone, bbm (blackberry?) etc.. kalau mmg diperlukan, digunakan, dimanfaatkan, worth it, boleh afford - why not? asalkan jgn beli sbb peer pressure or ikut trend :) i like what you wrote in your blog profile tu.. sthing about you are not what you own but what you are or sthing like that :)
ummuahmads,
tak lari topik, mmg ada kena-mengena tu :) saya pernah terbaca harus seorg suri bekerja utk menampung nafkah keluarga tetapi tidak (makruh? not recommended? not sure) kalau utk bermewah2. but this itself mmg open to interpretations. mmg kos sara hidup skrg tinggi. but what is considered enough? what is considered bermewah2? mcm persoalan yg pernah sy mention dulu, pasal bekerja supaya dpt masukkan anak ke sekolah private yg bagus. sekolah gov not 'enough' ke? tapi ni topik lain pulaklah.. you're right that kdg2 the wife ada keinginan mcm2, but sometimes it comes from the husband side jugak. the husband yg tak beri isteri berhenti kerja (apa ertinya ni bila husband tak beri isteri berhenti kerja). and i think we are aware that ada byk kes dlm masyarakat kita yg isteri lebih byk tanggung kos sara hidup keluarga walaupun suami kerja.. could be both ways lah..
Mynie,
I have a tip on to spend wisely too. But this one gravitates more towards sundries.
1. See the price/weight. Eg: A can of Tuna: RM4.10/225 gm or RM 3.80/200gm. You can decide if you want to buy 2 cans or more, you can choose either one, it's up to you. But beware! There are some items that are being offered that costs more in bulk rather than individual item.
2. For goods that are being offered buy 2 free 1, I would rather see the need for it first. You wouldn't want to buy too many things that only finishes in 2 months right? Eg. Deodorant: Even though they say RM11/for 2 per pack, I'd say you better buy RM6/pack. That way you save RM5 by not spending on unnecessary items. But if it is something that you consume daily, then I'd suggest you buy the 2 packs for price of 1 or etc.
3. List down the items you need to buy. Trust me on this one. Once you list it down, by the time you got out of the supermarket you'll only be buying half of what was on the list if you practice item 1 & 2.
4. For cooking ingredients that are seldom used but sometimes you need it, don't buy in packets. Eg: curry powder, kunyit, etc. Buy at the counter where you can weigh the content yourself. This is way much cheaper! Because sometimes those sold in packets cost more than RM2, while those that are sold by weights sometimes cost less than RM1.
That's all I guess. But these tips may be such a hassle as you got to spend time to scrutinize everything
kak huda,
thanks for the tips ;)
saya rasa saya mmg mengamalkan semuanya.. no 1 & 4, related, which is to compare unit prices (not absolute). i go for refill packs jugak sbb usually the unit price is lower. watch out for offers, use coupons etc etc hehe... bila dah jd habit takdelah rasa mcm hassle sgt... although sometimes tak ikut jugak, kalau ada reasons lain..
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