My Daily Bread.
July 22, 2007 by der-prasiden
IBM Eats My Greens!
I’m preparing my coins for tomorrow’s return to work. As you can see I have little piles lined up, ready to go with a 10 ringgit bill.
Each of this pile consists of a couple of double quarters, a few dimes, a penny and some nickels. Probably I’d have to head over to that sad place called RHB. 2 trips per-day. One round trip in the morning and another in the evening.
On my first week, I took my car to that garbage dump. Each trip cost me an average of probably 5 bucks. This meant 10 bucks a day. I took out my calculator and did my math …
1. 10 bucks a day, 5 days a week means that my car expenses alone eats up about 200 bucks monthly.
2. I don’t know what percentage of my total salary will go to transportation fare (although I am right on clear I get a claim on mileage 40 Gs a day. errr..40 bucks a day hehehehe) because, honestly, I absolutely know what my salary is. That was never part of what I had to consider when I had joined IBM though. Wait, did I even think?
I paused here to scratch my head. Yep I know your scratching too. I am confused and when I am confused, I need someone to be confused so both of us could probably be in the same confusion right now. 
I set aside my calculator and did some more thinking … 200 greens is not a joke especially when you think about what other people earn. A household helper easily earns about 0.5 to .6 Gs a month (maybe even less) for a job that requires them to work at least 12-16 hours a day. (Proves that I am in total lost, I am comparing my job to a daily maid)….. Plus, I am sure, they set aside most of what they earn to send to their families in remote towns or municipalities. When it gets there (or, I am sure, some family members visit them monthly to "collect"), will it be enough to put decent food on the table? I am thinking long-term here. I could probably get married next week so long term planning is crucial.
I have other practical (and self-serving) reasons: I can no longer drive because, given the condition of my lazyness now, that would be too risky (and painful), so hailing a cab would probably spew up more of my good greens.
Sighhhh. Tomorrow, I will be ready with my coins. They are my "daily bread".
It’s so easy to take it for granted, but, we never realize that sometimes one man’s frugality is another man’s necessity.
Whenever I have coffee at Starbucks or even McDonalds I would think how much I would’ve saved if I just had 3-in-1 or brewed my own coffee (way way less).
dude wat the heck dude. wat the heck. ya IBM dude. wat the heck ya wanna save money for dude. that too calculative dude. it no wonder ya single LOL LOL! comon dude. if i were you dude, i gonna show all the money to the girls and say look I am working in IBM, this a loaded company. I can buy ya a home and a porsche. Dude ya know dude, one of my buddy he working in IBM USA and the company giving him nice banglow home. really nice. and he just 28 years old. just 28. already 3 years in IBM. really an awesome company. I sure ya gonna get a happy life dude. ya just wait. the stupid girls will come for ya. just ya wait. they gonna realize it ya a loaded dude now. dont be calculative too much dude. LOL! now i the one need to get a job dude.
hahaha. isn’t that too much? Amigo’s right. you don’t need to save in IBM. They give you everything you want. Even if you don’t have the cash, I wouldn’t mind having you. Cash don’t appeal me young man. Not all every girls out there sees the money. It’s the look and the heart.
I got this habit from my mom to list down everything I spend and when I look back at the end of every month, i can’t believe how much I spend on transportation too, considering I don’t live far from work and school and we’re in the province. you’re right,the amount we spend on simple things like that means a lot more to those who earn much less than we do.