Here's the deal. Inflation is causing people great misery,
and if you want to have extra cash for whatever reason, you can
either earn more or spend less. My advice is to do both, but my
purpose here is not to advise you how to generate money.
Some background information: I'm a first-year university student
and I spend less than S$200 a month. I still have a life, and I'm
just as happy as when I was spending $300-$400 a month.
Anyway, let's go on to the meat of this edition: food. The
cheapest food (per unit mass) in Singapore's food courts is,
invariably, mixed rice. I've been eating mixed rice forever and it
gives me all the carbohydrates, proteins, fats,
vitamins and minerals that I need. Here are some tactics
in buying mixed rice that I found really useful for maximising
my eating pleasure while minimising my spending:
1. Choose only one meat, or none
Meat
is expensive, and contrary to popular belief, it's possible to live
healthy without copious amounts of cooked muscle and fat fibres.
Instead, opt for eggs, beans and beancurd (which are priced as
"vegetables") to fulfil your protein needs. The cheapest and
still-bearable combination is usually 3 veg. or 1 meat+1 veg.
2. When choosing meat, pick the one with greater
unit mass
This tactic applies if all meat dishes are priced identically. For
example, meat balls are less preferable than chicken wings. The
rationale is simple: vendors usually use thongs to pick up food,
and if they have to repeatedly transfer food on to your plate, they
would feel that they're giving you too much. The converse is also
true, so pick the chicken wings, pork chops and whole fish!
3. Avoid bony meat
Bony meat is not
only troublesome to eat but also has less meat than boneless
equivalents. This tactic might seem to contradict tactic 2 but how
to balance the two is your call.
4. When choosing meat, pick the one with a scoop lying
in its container
A scoop obviously picks up more food
than a pair of thongs.
5. If you have decided to eat meat, pick it
first
Have you ever realised that the vendors give a
lot of the first dish, less of the second dish and even
less of subsequent dishes? They do it most of the time, so
learn to adapt!
6. Take your time to pick your
dishes
Don't ask him to pick up your next
dish when he's busy picking up a dish. He would obviously pick up
less because you're rushing him.
7. Choose the right gravey
Gravey is free,
but you can get more than gravey for free if you choose the right
gravey. One good strategy to follow is to pick gravey that has
other ingredients in them. Clear sauce is less preferable to murky,
viscous gravey with small chunks of meat in them. Gravey from curry
fish head is my favourite because it usually comes with a cabbage
slice.
8. Choose the "left-overs"
When you notice that a particular container is almost empty and
has, say, one and a half servings in it, pick that dish. The vendor
is probably anxious to clear that tray and give you more than he
ordinarily would!
That's all I have for this edition; look out for the next where
I'll talk about how to shop cheaply for snacks!
--------------------Part 2 below--------------------
We're still on food for this edition, but I'll talk about how to
shop for and manage your snacks so that you reap their fullest
potentials. Just some preliminary information that is good to
know before we start:
1. Cheapest places to shop
Contrary to
popular belief, Fairprice really isn't the cheapest place to shop
for your snacks. Try Sheng Shiong, heartland supermarkets and
dollar stores instead.
2. Cheapest tactics to shop
This is a common-sensical approach, but always look out for
promotions at the end of each row at the supermarket. Another
common tactic that many people know of but do not practise
regularly is to look out for items that are not at eye level.
Obviously, items found within a comfortable reach are there
because a premium has been paid for to get them placed
there.
3. Cheapest types of snacks
In most places, snacks are priced as follows per unit
(ascending order):
1) Fruits (cheap)
2) Sweets ($1-$3)
3) Crackers, potato chips, nuts ($1-$5)
4) Cookies and biscuits ($1 onwards)
5) Chocolates ($2 onwards)
6) Yoghurt, ice cream, cereal, muesli bars (expensive)
As you can see, the cheapest snacks to get are 1, 2, 3 and
4. I have always avoided 5 and 6 as much as possible,
because the eating pleasure obtained per dollar spent is generally
poor. It helps to save money if you don't have a sweet tooth (like
me) and love the saltier snacks. However, I still generally go
for a good mix of 1, 2, 3 and 4. I would suggest that,
even if you have a sweet tooth, you try getting the
biscuits/cookies instead of chocolates and dairy products to save a
few bucks. An important step in keeping your budget
tight is to choose the correct categories of snacks that are
inexpensive yet still satisfy your snacking needs.
4. Cheapskate mentality
In deciding what
to buy, always remember that the cheaper an item is, the
better it is. This is an absolute rule. Even if the taste isn't
that good, the pleasure from saving tens of cents should more than
compensate for the lack of enjoyment in your snacks.
Now that you some prerequisite knowledge, let us now begin
the guide proper. The first thing that you should do when you
arrive at a supermarket is to decide on a shopping budget
and an expected period of time for the snacks to last. I usually go
with $10 for 2 weeks. Whatever it is, make sure that you set a
benchmark that you can commit to (something that is not too easy
but not too unrealistic).
After having your objectives in mind, you should be looking for
your shopping cart. Please use a basket, not a trolley, if you
want to keep your spending minimal. I can isolate three reasons
right off my mind:
(a) You have to carry baskets, thus they will feel heavy at some
point. Heaviness gives you the impression that you have picked up
too many items.
(b) Heaviness makes you tired -- more reasons for you to end the
shopping trip early.
(c) Baskets are smaller. You can't overload if there isn't
enough space in the first place. They keep you disciplined.
As you can probably infer, I don't like to shop for very
long. A typical shopping trip should last no more than 10
minutes. Longer shopping trips make you spend
unnecessarily. Another thing you should refrain from doing is
exploring the rows excessively. By the time you set foot in the
supermarket, you should already have a clear idea of what you want
to buy. You are there merely to execute your plan; all
decision-making should have been completed beforehand.
Once you've arrived at the relevant section (e.g.
cookies/biscuits section), start looking at price tags. Look out
for the $1-$2 items. My favourites are Chipsmore and Khong Guan
raisin biscuits for cookies/biscuits, Mamee Monster
for crackers, Fruit Plus for sweets and a bunch of bananas.
Note that each of their unit prices is below $2, and I still have a
good mix of all four categories that I've identified earlier. They
add up nicely to about $10:
Bananas - $1.20
Chipsmore - $1.60
Raisin biscuits - $2.00
Mamee Monster (2) - $1.50 x 2
Fruit Plus (2) - $1.00 x 2
Total - $9.80
Except for the Chipsmore, notice that it takes some trouble to
eat the snacks. The raisin biscuits are contained within
smaller packets, just like the Mamee Monster and Fruit
Plus. You have to peel the bananas individually too. The rationale
here is to make your snacks more troublesome to eat so
that they last longer. You would most likely finish a packet of
Ruffles in one session, but you wouldn't finish a ten-pack Mamee
Monster in one session. In the latter case, you would have to take
out the individual packets, crush the noodle, pour in the
seasoning, shake the packet and gingerly pour the noodle bits
into your mouth. I'm sure it's enough to discourage you from
snacking on it too often.
One last tip that I found useful is to snack only at strategic
times. Snacking right before or after meals is not optimum because
you inevitably juxtapose the taste of your snacks with your food.
You would therefore derive less pleasure out of your snacks or your
food, as opposed to when you juxtapose either with hunger.
I have applied these tips since a couple of years ago and
they've served me well. Try it out and see if they help you to save
up to tens of dollars a month!
