h2o
10-04-2009, 11:43 AM
Do you thrive on retail therapy?
Personally, as a kid in S'wan, mom did most of the shopping for us and she was a great money manager, so we mostly only got what we needed. Shopping was not really a culture.
During Uni days downunder, I hardly shopped except for essentials bcos of lack of time and $.
But when we moved to HK, the whole culture was extremely brand-oriented and materialistic and ppl judged you for what you wear on your body. If you wore simple unbranded things, you would be deemed 'loserish' or unsuccessful in life. People shopped everyday and if you didn't you would be idle cos there was nothing else to do except eat, sleep and shop, and maybe go to the gym. :D
But now living here in Sydney, I found that I have so much on my plate that I couldn't even go shopping until my kids outgrew their last winter gear, our shoes and boots are falling apart after being glued with supaglue a few times, etc. I just didn't have enuf time to hunt for things that we need. I haven't bought any household items for years (like lounge / dining / entertaining stuff eg, tv, art, table-setting, appliances.) Every Christmas and NY just use old stuff. Microwave and toaster kiau for years already and tak apa. No kettle for more than a year - just boiled water in a pot :laugh:
Recently, I had to take my daughter out to buy her some winter shoes and boots cos her toes were peeping out of the last pair she had (grew too fast and broke them). Went to a shoe shop for those quality comfy practical shoes ather than fashion ones and bought 4 pairs in one go bcos they were 33-50% off. Spent AUD$500 in one go!
I look back at my HK days and think, what a difference - that would have been a regular occurence there! Everytime we visit KL, our hosts would usually take us shopping for outings.
How often do you shop?
Daily
2-3 x a week
Once a week
Once a fortnite
Once a month
Less frequent than the latter
Personally, as a kid in S'wan, mom did most of the shopping for us and she was a great money manager, so we mostly only got what we needed. Shopping was not really a culture.
During Uni days downunder, I hardly shopped except for essentials bcos of lack of time and $.
But when we moved to HK, the whole culture was extremely brand-oriented and materialistic and ppl judged you for what you wear on your body. If you wore simple unbranded things, you would be deemed 'loserish' or unsuccessful in life. People shopped everyday and if you didn't you would be idle cos there was nothing else to do except eat, sleep and shop, and maybe go to the gym. :D
But now living here in Sydney, I found that I have so much on my plate that I couldn't even go shopping until my kids outgrew their last winter gear, our shoes and boots are falling apart after being glued with supaglue a few times, etc. I just didn't have enuf time to hunt for things that we need. I haven't bought any household items for years (like lounge / dining / entertaining stuff eg, tv, art, table-setting, appliances.) Every Christmas and NY just use old stuff. Microwave and toaster kiau for years already and tak apa. No kettle for more than a year - just boiled water in a pot :laugh:
Recently, I had to take my daughter out to buy her some winter shoes and boots cos her toes were peeping out of the last pair she had (grew too fast and broke them). Went to a shoe shop for those quality comfy practical shoes ather than fashion ones and bought 4 pairs in one go bcos they were 33-50% off. Spent AUD$500 in one go!
I look back at my HK days and think, what a difference - that would have been a regular occurence there! Everytime we visit KL, our hosts would usually take us shopping for outings.
How often do you shop?
Daily
2-3 x a week
Once a week
Once a fortnite
Once a month
Less frequent than the latter