Less is More

Met two girlfriends for dinner after a long day. I felt like I’ve talk so much the entire day. 

Upon arriving, one gf was just saying that she finally managed to get a bag from the famous H brand, despite it not being the design or range she had wanted. She had after all, just returned from Europe. The other gf was saying that she had to queue for 2hrs just to enter the store in Paris and despite buying some accessories there many years ago (coz I’ve heard this story so many times 😝), she is still on “the waitlist”. And even a recent visit to that same shop to replace the battery for her watch also meant having to queue for more than an hr just to do this errand. 

I was speechless. Have we all become blinded by the brand? Or slaves to it? I almost fell into this trap too, at the Istanbul airport when an SA offered me the same bag!! (that my gf is proudly talking abt now). I wasn’t keen to get it though it did crossed my mind. Entered the shop to help a friend c if there was any chance of getting the prized possession for her bday. (I wanted to clock miles, so that’s why I’m helping all my friends get their bags / luxury goods). And honestly, in the weeks that followed after the trip, I too, became so obsessed of wanting to own one! But thankfully, I stumbled upon a few articles which made me snapped out of it. So thankful man!! Lol… 

Anyway back to my story.. so at the dinner, I could see how both my gfs were proudly displaying their respective “status” and the things they needed to do in order to be on top of the list etc. Really seems like 包包的奴隶。And they are not the only ones, let’s be honest. The whole world is promoting it, via influencers, social media and advertising where one needs MORE & MORE. It’s never enough. Like why we definitely need to get another of this or another of that, and it really doesn’t matter what price it is at, as long as it’s from a particular brand etc

Glad that I snapped out of this rat race. Not loving leather goods coz they make carrying my work stuff so heavy. In fact I’ve arranged for a secondhand store to pick up my bags coz I would very much like to sell them. Loving my current light snoopy cloth bag.

Decluttering

Following my post on minimalism, I decided that 2023 will be the year where I want to declutter a few areas of my life:

1. Food 

- Realize after doing 2 weeks of my expenses that I/my household simply spend too much on food. And I’m not even talking abt proper meals. I’m referring to the occasional kopi break ; tea snack; cakes and pastries that I can every now and then. All these adds up. Also going to cut down on the number of cups of coffee I buy outside. I used to get a cup every time we are out. So for now, I’ll reduce it to 3x a week and eventually to none outside. 

2. Bags 

- Going to sell some of my recent purchases coz I realize that I don’t enjoy carrying leather bags. They are too heavy when I put a laptop and iPad in. Yes they are pretty. But I don’t need them to validate anything. Getting rid of the old stash as well. Going to sort them out this weekend.

I do enjoy such cute bags a lot more to be honest. Lightweight with lots of pockets. 

I think that’s the two main areas I wanna focus on for now. 

Why do I wanna do this? 

Knowing the why is v impt. Coz it helps to remind me why I’m going thru this and what I’ll see at the end of the (rewarding) journey. 

1) Less clutter; lesser things to store and lesser things to clean up 

2) lesser calories 😝

- truth be told, the twins have gained so much weight in the last few years. And as much as I dote on them and wanna let them try all the super nice desserts / food; it’s not helping them in their self esteem or waistline. Mayb instead of an indulgent snack every now and then, we should go do an exercise instead!

(Easier said then done but we will get there!)

3) self discipline 

- I think it’s a mental exercise for me. To cultivate the habit of self discipline. To exercise the mental resistance.. haha. Chim hor.. but I do feel that every now and then, money slips out ever so easily and it’s not even going to things that we notice. And what happens? We end up needing to work MORE in order to provide for what we think is necessary. But what if we can live with less than necessary, and then we can save MORE or work LESSER ? 

Okie I’ve reached the office. It was a struggle to walk past all the coffee shops and not get a kopi or atas coffee. 

Yeah to small wins! 

Me time

Source: Less Stuff by Lindsay Miles

I only managed to read chapter 1 today coz I got distracted with my phone. But I just wanna pen my thoughts for the future me now. 

This reminds me of what JM spoke earlier abt “帐单自由”. In my trade, we all know that it’s never abt how much we earn but how much we save. One can earn sky high but becoz of poor financial decisions end up not saving even a penny. And there are others who have humble jobs but the savings they have in their bank are jaw dropping! Note to self: Don’t be caught up by the brands in the world. There isn’t a need to buy anything just to prove that I’ve made it. Learn to live with less. Be contented with what I have. It’s sad if I need to buy more to make myself happier and in order to afford that kind of lifestyle I need to work longer and thus be more stressed and more unhappy? Work should b challenging and fulfilling not stressful and unhappy.

Does the clothes/shoes/bags I use reflect the status I am or are they a reflection of the slave I am?

Random

Had a long chat with uncle pig that night, on housing. If we were going to continue renting this place forever; or sell the two properties and move to a place of our own. And if moving, are we going to look at condo/cluster/landed? *hdb is out of the question for now bcoz I think my household needs at least 3 toilets 

Actually to me, our current place is fine too. It’s near to town; walking distance to 2 mrt stations; and Joy list of future JCs are all within a few bus/train stops. It’s also near the twins present and future schools as well. Unlike a lot of people, I’m quite comfortable renting. To me, this is my home leh.. I still regard it as my home, my house, not 别人的房子. So I’m completely cool with continuing this current arrangement. We have the space, enough toilets etc. N it doesn’t disrupt all financial plans. 

But if we were to get a place of our own, then we are constrained by space. New condos are either too tiny, or not enough rooms. Old condos will have the problem of increasing maintainence costs as the lifts /overall development needs more upgrading costs etc. Uncle pig is not keen to look at cluster houses bcoz he feels that eventually it will b borne down by the hefty maintenance fees as well. If we were to look at landed, then the price tag is going to be expensive. I mean can buy la, but that means die die need to continue to work and pay mortgage. 

While having this discussion with my BFFs, One of them brought up a v important point. “In life, some people strive to have a landed; some want to stay in a condo; and some wish to have financial freedom; or the freedom to pay bills (帐单自由), the freedom to shop and buy anything without feeling the pinch.. what then is the most important priority for me? What is my bucket list?” She actually made me write down a list of the things I wan for my house; and a list of good to haves… 

And after my convo with uncle pig, we concluded that financial freedom is what we valued as most impt. I don’t need to own a super expensive house ; a designer house etc. I want to have the flexibility of not needing to work to pay bills, like now. If I decide to stop work for the year , fine.. bills will still be paid. If I continue to work, that’s fine too. But it removes the stress of working to pay bills. And that’s what I think is most important to us now - financial freedom. 

Penning it here so that if I ever be tempted to get a much expensive property / car, I’ll be reminded again by my thoughts here. 

What I learnt/did during the Circuit Breaker

Its been abt 6weeks since the start of circuit breaker and if things go on track, it's only 2 more weeks left. To be honest, 6 weeks seem to fly past so fast. I've learnt/done so many interesting things that I wont be doing if it was the normal work schedule.

1) Urban Farming 

- I've grew 3 rounds of bean sprouts thus far. Its probably one of the easier veg to grow and I thought it would b interesting for the girls to see how beans are transformed into a dish in a span of days..

This was my first time doing (then) and the girls got so sick of tao gei for a while that they forbade me to grow so much at one go! I really enjoyed the time when we all just pluck the tao gei together.. lol.. it reminded me of my growing up years when we had to do it..hahah

2) Work emails 

- I managed to download all my work emails and achive them based on each individual client.. yeah! It's one of the good to do tasks but not urgent things that I could clear during the CB..

3) Writing Cards

- When was the last time we wrote a card / letter to a friend? Or made one for them? I took this time to mail out short cards to my friends to wish them Happy Mothers Day.. inspiring mothers whom I wanna thank for guiding me along the way; mummy friends who were in the journey together with me and amazing mothers who I hope to send an encouragement to! By the end of this drive, my hands were aching from the writing..lol.. but it's a small gift of love that I hope my friends would like.. 

4) Zoom 

- By now most Singaporeans would have mastered the use of Zoom / video conferencing. The girls definitely picked up faster but I'm glad I know how too! Also managed to finally mastered screen sharing and do my presentations digitally. Havent close my first sale yet but I know it will come!

5) Digitalizing my drawings into ppt

- I'm a dinosaur.. and most colleagues / clients know that too.. I present with pen and paper and even though I scanned all my drawings, the problem with drawing is i would need to re-draw for each review. Since I had so much time, I converted all my drawings to ppt! Close to 90% of my existing clients..hahaha.. ticked ppt off my list and feeling a huge sense of accomplishment. It's a learning curve for a dinosaur like me, but it wouldn't have been possible if I didnt have so much time to figure out and port all over. 

6) Cross stitch 

- I ordered this when I was done with 2) and I still had 4 or 5 weeks before CB ends. I really wanted to do something for ME. Though i may not know how to bake or cook or do chores, this was one of my fav past time when I was young. I used to do this a lot during sch days but stopped doing when we humans got too engrossed with mandate work activities. I managed to find many designs on qoo10 where it could b shipped easily.

But it was still a pain when I was going thru this. The squares were too small for my eyes and I should have started with an easier design. 2 thoughts went thru my mind while doing it.. I either finish it before the end of CB or risk it being a half completed job for a loooooong time when work "reopens". 

Its finally completed to which I'm thankful. I really enjoyed doing it, after the initial difficulties. It's like my escape away from parenting duties..hahaha..The girls were also curious to learn. So I've ordered new sets for them which has the design printed and hopefully easier for them to learn.

7) Ironing out with Joy

- After that last entry, Joy and I cried so hard that day... words cut deep, especially when it comes from loved ones. I know she doesnt mean it, but we all could learn from this episode. I told her abt my struggles being the sole breadwinner. We all have strengths in different areas, which is something both of us need to know and recognize. I need to be more confident of myself so that such remarks wont hurt me as much. I need to stop doubting myself. She needs to know and learn that her choice of words is a sword. It can kill. And it has alrdy affected her friendships to a certain extent. We both learnt from that episode and if anything, she is even more sticky to me these days..

8) Exercising 

- We started exercising everyday via the exercise videos on YouTube bcoz Joy has to complete at least 1 video a day to "maintain" her fitness as required by her CCA. It's nice to sweat it out with the girls. Through this, we can also see who is the more sporty kind and who is the one that has mobility disability..hahaha.. I need to get more yoga mats! Hopefully we continue this even after CB ends.

9) iPad and apple pencil 

- I bought the apple pencil when govt announced CB in view that I would do more presentation / drawings digitally. But to be honest, the pencil has been so underused for work, if any. Angela suggested sketching / digital art with it. I've tried a few times..but art is not my cup..hahaha..

I've just started to use it for journaling and taking my church notes recently and hopefully it can relinquish its white elephant status by the end of CB. Mayb this shall be the next skill I conquer.

My after thoughts 

I'm quite thankful for this circuit breaker. If anything, it has allowed me to complete/master things that I otherwise wouldn't have been able to do so. I told my BFFs that I'm actually enjoying my life now. Do a bit of work here and there, spend a lot of time with the kids, do bible study, eat and sleep. Mayb I will have a different stand when the cases/$$ are not coming in subsequently but for now, I'm enjoying the peace and my simple life. 

Shall make a list of the things I wanna do (tom) before the end of CB. Coz there's only 2 weeks left...lol

Back in April when my fringe is stil short..  

You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.

Isaiah 26:3 NIV

https://isaiah.bible/isaiah-26-3

Life without wheels

The replacement car came yday (FINALLY!!), almost 1 mth since the accident happened. I thought I wouldn't say this but having gone car-less for 4 weeks, I've concluded that we probably need the car much more than I thought.

Though it is still a lot easier to commute by public to office and a  few places, there are also a couple of places where car-less is an issue. E.g. picking up Grace mid day from her childcare for her kkh follow ups or when she had the high fever a few days ago and had to be picked up...we try to take public (not cabs) most of the time and let the kids experience what life is without a car.

The car repairs are still in the midst of it. If we are fortunate, we would be able to see her before 2019.

Nevertheless, this encounter has at least confirm that we are still car-dependent, at least til it expires. I hope it also allow the girls to appreciate the "tiny" car they have, (Coz they were pretty upset when we downgraded to this car) coz it beats having no car. Probably will aim to go car-lite and hopefully we can achieve car-less by the next cycle.

P/s: the replacement car is only for 10 days before we go back to normal. But at least we can finally bring the newspapers to Ikea for recycling; gigi to the vet; return the luggage to my mama and I have a packed working week so the car will come in handy.. thankful!

Looking forward to our staycation with the kids end Nov and our mini moon in Dec!

Brought the girls down for a swim today while papa choo is busy preparing dinner.. enjoying my pockets of me- time while recuperating from my cramps..

I'm thankful that they have each other to play with while I can just watch them fr the bench.. May their sister-ship grow over the yrs so that they have each other to rely on, even after me and papa choo are no longer around.

Next week is a light duty week for me, primarily bcoz J is overseas and I would have to manage my own paperwork if i close any cases. Will take this coming week to bring the girls for late breakfasts, fetch them to school and enjoy the slow pace. Was just telling William this morning that I hope to scale back my workload in the years to come and his reply was "already very slow pace already , what to scale back?"  Lol.. guess he can't stand me sticking around him..lol.. 

Actually what I meant was I hope that in time to come, I won't be working bcoz I need to pay the bills. Dont get me wrong, I do enjoy my work but working without worrying abt the bills takes the pressure away.

I find it very stressful when I was struggling to pay the bills. It's not like I have a lot to spare now, but I'm definitely more breathable now than a yr ago. And bcoz the last couple of yrs have been extremely tight for us, we started to streamline between what's necessary (need) vs what's ideal (want). It's funny that given my profession, I should have known abt this long ago. But like all typical Singaporeans, we tend to want more in life; a bigger house ; a bigger holiday; a bigger car etc..and over time, the Wants always seem like a Need that needed to be fulfilled. And it was exhausting just trying to breathe, to be out of the rat race. I'm not trying to shame blame anyone but I'm just sharing my current thoughts.

 J always shudders when she tally my expenses for the mth. I can only say that it was by pure faith and trust (God) that we survive. Bcoz the last few yrs had been so tight for us, (plus I'm not the kind that will pressure the clients to get a plan bcoz my pay depends on it), we really cut down on a lot of things. I started to measure the cost of buying based on the cost of my working hrs. E.g.  Buying another toy meant that mama needed to work for another hour in the office; eating out on an expensive meal meant 2hrs; going on a big trip meant that I probably need to slog for 2 weeks etc..  and over time; I realize that rather than buying another toy to compensate the kids for my away time ; buying an expensive gift for myself to "de-stress" ; why not cut down all these frivolous spending?

I end up with more time for the kids; less stress abt the work bcoz I don't have so much credit card bills to pay.

The goal for the choos or at least for me, is to live simply. And that is what I hope we can teach the girls too.. to always be thankful for the Presence and companionship of one another; and may they appreciate the blessings they have in life.

Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law. - Psalm 119:18 

And as I splured my hokkien mee on the 2nd leg back to sg, I can't contain my happiness.. I'm finally heading home.. hahahaha.. 5.5hrs more.. yes I can do this.. shall listen to Mariah Carey and Celine Dion for the rest of the flight coz I can't decide what movies to watch.. Hahaha..

The mini moon was great..but probably too long..  I missed my comfort food, my kids, my bed and everything abt sg..

We didn't buy a lot of stuff..  some food to give, mainly clothes for the man and the kids. I gotten 2 blouses for myself and 2 pairs of earrings and that was it.. Hahaha..

The colleagues bought branded goods coz it was cheaper than sg.. some more than others..  I had wanted to get a pair of pink jelly shoes fr a big brand but stopped myself coz it was $200. Expensive considering that it was jelly shoes.. lol.. but cheap (according to the branded friends) bcoz of the brand it was from. In the end I decided not to bcoz I had enough shoes and I wanted to b out of the brand race.

I am contented with all that God has given to me and didn't feel that I needed anything. This post isn't meant to put anyone to shame but simply to remind myself that God has blessed me with so much so much that I'm contented. There wasn't a need to buy a piece of Italy to make myself happy. I am full of joy.

Of coz I wasn't always like that. When I was younger, owning a piece of Prada or Gucci or xxx was like the much needed accomplishment. I didn't know if it was to satisfy my own trophy list or was it to show the world that I'm able to afford it. But I believed then that if I could just make it mine, I would b happy. And every trip to Europe meant bringing a piece home.  It was always chasing a bigger brand or a more expensive bag and it was never ending. It was overwhelming. And over time, the obsession meant needing to work even harder to support the lifestyle. It was stressful. And it was silly. I told William 2 days ago, while we were eating ice cream that, I used to believe that if I earned $10k/mth , I should b entitled/allowed to spend $3k on things that make me happy. 辛辛苦苦赚钱就是要享受的啊. The me now believes that as long as I'm happy, it doesn't matter how much i earn. I am Okie with earning $7k if that meant I was happy with the work I do and time for my family.

I'm not sure what or when was the change. But indeed God has changed me over time.

It might sound cliche but no amt of buying can bring happiness. Only contentment gives joy. And joy comes from within. Joy comes from God.

In fact, I didn't even realize it if I hadn't thought so long over the jelly shoes..lol.. it was something I could easily afford. But do i need it ? Probably not.

Thankful for the many blessings in my life and the many lessons God has taught me over the yrs.

May I always remember to be contented.

Silent night..

It's Christmas and everyone are sound asleep.. and I am the only one still wide awake..

I was curious to know what i was blogging abt a yr ago and I saw this .. we have officially shifted over for 1 yr.. time seems to zoom past without me knowing.. all the little adjustments that we had to make with the shift, seems tiny now.. I'm fully adjusted to staying here.. and the only thing that I missed probably is the big fridge and kitchen that Mr choo used to have. I missed how he used to cook big meals and we would invite our friends over..  beside that, I think all is good here.. the tiny place makes cleaning a breeze.. we've managed to maintain what we have / need. All of us have lesser clothes now though I think it's still a lot. We see a lot of each other here.. hahaha.. the girls relationship have improved so much.. they have realized that we are all kinda stuck together for a while and let's all learn to compromise. Yes, I think the word here is compromise. They have learnt it well and I'm thankful for it.

Compared to the ungrateful brats that we have a few yrs ago , the girls have really improved so much.

They opened their presents this morning.. there weren't many bcoz I was tired of organizing Xmas parties and having gift exchanges for the sake of doing it. Christmas holds a very special meaning now to us , compared to the commercial gifting seasons that ads are trying to convince everyone to buy and buy. Less is more and Christmas is really abt Jesus, my Lord and saviour.

What matters to me now is having my family with me. I have nothing lacking and I hope that my kids will continue to appreciate the blessings they have and be willing to share it with others.

Merry Christmas to all my friends and may joy, peace and health be with you.

Family time

We went to Gardens by the Bay two nights ago..had wanted to bring the girls to the skywalk coz Joy has been asking for it for some time. And the last time we came over, it was closed for maintainence. 

It was beautiful, the lights and mid autumn decorations. We had to queue for about half an hr before it was our time to go up. 

We took many many selfies while waiting in the queue, and this is one of them.. Vera and her 鬼脸😜 

The twins sitting at the entrance of the queue, while waiting for us to reach. 看着她们的背影, 这是的我感觉到欣慰。我们终于熬过来了。虽然小时候的她们终是打个你死我活,现在的她们已经变成了好姐妹, at least for this moment in time. 😊

至少我还可以跟老公一起拍个照。。看他一头的白发。。他说不要染以为这样会看起来比较老, 我看起来比较年轻。。🤣🤣

The scenery while we were on the sky bridge.. it's beautiful isn't it? Thankful that we are living in this beautiful country, with good governance and stability. Thankful that we have the chance to appreciate what's around us, and spend time with the kids, not busying with whatsnot.. time to love the kids and not breathing down their necks to do homework etc...

May we always have time to appreciate the things in life, to teach the girls the purpose of life.. 

P/s: by the time we came down the sky bridge, it was too crowded and the kids started to fuss abt everything.. abt the hot weather, that they are hungry etc.. 🤣🤣🤣

Guess we still need some fine-tuning.. hahahaha...

It's time to say goodbye..

I've finally decided to let you go.. thank you for being a part of my life, when i was young and able to enjoy you. You guys used to be my favorite comfortable companions, so much so that I went to buy the same exact design, but of a different colour. But as I aged, I no longer am able to withstand the height nor yr weight. I considered keeping you till the day comes when I would be able to wear You again. But time and time again, it is too challenging to wear You and still be able to be a mama at the same time. You will be greatly missed..😢

P/s: My shoe count stands at 9

On being maidless (part2)

It has been 7 mths since the helper has left. Every once a while the twins will ask for her, or request for her to come back. To which I would explain to the twins given that we want to continue to stay at the current place it is challenging for us to find a place for "auntie" to stay in, although they have suggested the living room or their bed room etc. And it is tempting to ask her to come back. The thing I missed abt having her around most, is the chance to sneak out with uncle pig in the late evening for some supper or juz some paktor time. Or the luxury of us spending some time with joy outdoors while the twins are napping at home. Nowadays, we usually just b in charge of 1 grp..either I would b taking joy to her classes etc or he would bring the twins out .. coz of their age gap, it's quite challenging to find an activity that is suitable for all 3 at a slot. The few activities we have managed to do so are swimming classes and church.. lol..

Of coz, asking her to come back also comes with its cons.  The first con I can immediately think of is I probably would outsource the toileting/bathing tasks to her , and I would b privileged to be more reliant on her.. asking her to do tasks that I shld be doing but not doing.. over the course of 4 yrs while she was with us, I did become "lazier". Mr choo probably would hand over all the household chores to her too. And the girls probably won't have a chance to help out in the chores too. The thing abt not having her ard is that, no matter how exhausted we/mr choo is, the show muz go on. The clothes still need to b ironed, the dishes need to b washed up (God won't send an angel to help wash it while we are sleeping) and we stil need clean their poo. This is called responsibility I guess. It is that even if the world seems too hard to handle, we still need to suck it up, and do.

There are times when I would b tempted to ask the village to move back to the old house and thus earn the right to hire a maid, but the possibility that I would b over reliant on her, juz tilts the decision back. At the end of the day, I do hope that my kids learn to do some chores together.

Learning to live a minimalist lifestyle

The man helped cut my fringe this evening, after some pleading from me bcoz he is currently v busy. Trust me, ever since we came back fr the cruise, there has been  juz loads n loads of washing , drying and ironing.. even now at 1am, he has yet to complete his iron duties. Note to us: remember to wash our clothes midway of the trip to prevent backlog !😊

Anyway, this wasn't the first time he cut my fringe..he has cut my plus the girls several times.. juz tt now that the girls all wanna keep long fringe, I am his only customer. 

Growing up, my mom has always been the family barber.. my dad, brother and I all grew up under her cutting skills.. so it was quite funny when we had to wait and "queue" while mama completes her barber duties.

N now this job has been passed on to Mr choo.. juz tt day during reunion dinner, my sis asked where I cut my fringe.. coz she wanna cut something like tt.. she say it's like the "空气流海"; some craze going on.. I burst out laughing n told her that Mr choo can help her cut if she wants.. hahaha

Anyway, today he didn't do a perfect job, but it's fine.. hair grow , and it's a hassle to go to thr salon juz to cut the fringe.. expensive too..been trying to convert to a minimalist lifestyle, which Mr choo is pretty into recently too..

Counted the total number of shoes I have that day.. til date, I hv 2 pair of slippers, 1 pair of sport shoes , 1 pair of boots and abt 9 pair of work shoes (6 black, 2 beige and 1 red) ! Omg.. that's quite a lot right..
Have been trying to wear them out and cut down the number of footwear I have.. I'm not a caterpillar..so I really don't need soooooooo many pairs.. lol.. to be honest, out of the 9 pairs, most of them belong to the not-comfy-to-wear category..the ones that are comfy have since been worn out and threw away... it's like a "headcount freeze" coz I'm trying to reduce my footwear and only buy/keep what I need.. praying everyday that my feet change and grow to like them.. how many shoes do u have? Let me know! 😚

How much do I need ?

While having dinner with my extended family on 元宵节， i was talking about going car-less when the current car expires; which would be in another 4 yrs time. My bro was quite shocked..so was a very close family friend. Both felt that with kids, having a car has become a necessity than a want.  My bro, in particular, felt that we should abandon that idea since "it's not something we couldn't afford".

Perhaps it's true.. be it traveling with kids, or be it in terms of the affordability aspect. But my thoughts were quite simply because firstly by then, the twins would b 10 yrs old and joy would b 15. Certainly by then the transport system would b even more robust compared to now. Secondly, becoz they r bigger, the Amt of barang barang that we need to bring would b greatly reduced..so the car becomes more of a want than a need. Thirdly, I would want the kids to be less reliant on cars. Maybe I think too much, but I don't want them to think that the car is a necessity when they start the workforce and thus be caught in the rat race. My bro is right in the sense that yes, we are more than able to still afford the car, but would our kids be able to afford given the increasing  cost of living?  As it is, most kids in sg has never seen the hard life that our parents or grandparents live in, and are unaware of how $$ comes from. My kids think that every time mama needs $$, she only needs to go press a few buttons at the machine aka Atm and $$ juz spurts out easily. 😂
This isn't what I want my girls to believe.
I used to live an extravagant lifestyle, only allowing William to bring joy to cafes or restaurants. To me, food courts were dirty and challenging to bring a toddler to, not to even mention hawker centres! Haha..Yes, that's me 7 yrs ago.. the-since-I-could -afford it, then y not ? After all, I certainly need some indulgences in life after working so hard, isn't it? Must we be living a lifestyle based on how much we earn or should we be living a lifestyle based on how much we need ? The me now believes in living a lifestyle based on need basis.. the only extravagant item that I'm still paying is the twins preschool, which will end in 2 yrs time. Yeah!😁

Anyway I've digressed..Haha.. lastly, it's for environmental reasons la. Let's all help cut down the CO2 emissions and lower the usage of energy. The family friend is a family of 4 and they hv 3 cars, my bro family has 2 cars..all 不环保.. hahaha.. I shall do my small part in saving the earth today..