Mmm... post lion city trip,I gathered a whole new insight in to managing my micro finance & savings. This new outlook on figures printed in currencies wasn’t there in me before.At least three out of every 10 penny that I spent didn’t enjoy their true worth,I felt.And the fact that I spent more than usual money when compared to my regular monthly expenditure because of my trip,I opted to be tight fisted for next couple of months to strike a balance in my savings account.Suddenly the sense of value for money was surging in me like never before.So I began this project naming it ‘Piloting Criman’.Before tossing a rupee out of my pocket I asked myself twice if I should let this currency go.If I strongly felt yes then I would simply let it go. Apart from paying my rent & mobile bill,I was putting every other thing on hold or procrastinated it as long as I could.Hey hey ... don't jump in to a conclusion that - me a miser.Am actually not one. Know what ?it was like a sneak peek in to the whole new world of being a miser. Oops should I say being simple?Being in Silicon Valley of India,one knows how difficult is it to retain an extra penny in the pocket until the month end.Anything and everything that’s labeled as fun or frolic comes with a unique exorbitant price tag Am unable to believe those huge shopping malls as a place to chill out & relax.It only appears to me as a two monstrous money scooping malls.One can easily make all hard earned bucks vanish in less than a mad second in a moment of tempting joy, being there.Only to realize later that we could have very well lived without it.Not worth, I realized.
Come weekends.... I prefer to be under the blanket these days, the whole 48 hrs rather than stepping out even a lane away.The money in the pocket doesn’t seem to be very happy staying in its place.If saving is the only agenda then we tend to miss colorful quotients of having fun & sometimes some good moments that’s stays as residue in this mission of spending money like water.What to do ?Too much of saving and not spending at all. And too much of spending and no savings in all.Ooffff ! Both happen to be lose –lose situations.I was revealing to dad some months ack about my ‘Penny wise - pound foolish’ attitude.I would save and save on the few hundreds that I draw from the ATM but was stupidly generous to swipe my card that scooped out huge money invisibly.Oh fo ! what am I up to’suddenly a bulb glowed on the top floor, recently.So this CRIMAN project was born as my brain child. I chose to keep myself away from these shopping malls for a couple of months at least until the year ends. So when the month began all weekends at home reading newspaper for long hours, relaxed ablution,washing clothes to my best, cleaning cupboards, watering plants, unwinding the day with some soft music, gripping a good book to end the day & to catch some really good sleep.
Come weekdays, am happy for reasons many. Almost the whole day in office and free googling on anything & everything on the mind. And no penny for any phone calls.U know,am paid a four digit wage everyday for just googling & giggling ,sometimes.Sometimes for forwarding few critical mails too.Then to reach home late evening, have supper & doze offff.Wow! five full days of great savings each week.To buy a single missing grocery, let me tell you visiting Fabmall & Nilgiris are not the best options on earth unlike my earlier assumptions.All under one roof is an agreeable fact.But bringing home a bill that contains units of tempted items more than the essentials can't b the price that one can pay for visiting all under one roof malls. Isn’t it ?.The other day a team mate of mine offered a help to book a train ticket online from his pc in the office. So there was a page where I had to enter my bank’s credentials for an automatic money detection. Being not so sure of the next immediate page to be displayed,I enquired him. He said 'Nothing to worry. Your account balance will not be displayed’.
Scanning each others thought we chuckled. Once the ticket booking procedure was over,he asked me innocently 'How you able to save this meejj maany’. In fact he was spell bound knowing my account balance displayed at some corner of the main transaction page which I foolishly missed out.He revealed to me a week later that I became his source of inspiration to save money from that very moment which in turn inspired me to save more.He listed that he stopped visiting his regular weekend destination - Balaji Bar just because of me.Maa use to say - people who spend less water will spend less money.Actually very true, I discovered.Though my pilot attempt on CRIMAN project is coming to end in a week’s time, I realized that I was only enjoying this process of spending less & saving more.And that true happiness doesn’t dwell in the act of spending more money or hanging out but on those priceless solitary moments being at home.An interesting book costing one hundred bucks did spill more joy than a three hour movie costing five hundred bucks.And that a home cooked meal stands more satisfying than a candle lit dinner shelling out around a K in the dim light.And the coziness in wearing a bargained on the platform sweater doesn’t seem to derive from the newly bought branded jacket.Simply a sweet smile costing zero bucks does spread more happiness & joy in unseen ways, I realized.During this pilot attempt I was inspired by a distant bro who lives in the same city of mine earning in lakhs every month,chose to travel only by 2nd class during any train journey of his for the straight fact that he believed only in simplicity.And earning in lakhs did not change him & his life style in any way.There were so many interesting learning that came out of this CRIMAN attempt. And know what? I managed to save around a K :) in these two months time from 1/3rd of my wages that I drew out each month. And more surprises stood @ the end of this pilot attempt - a couple of my colleagues were crazy about the company’s jerkin that they gave us a year and a half back, fortunately when they had not joined. I got in to this surprising deal of a K for my old jerkin.I couldn’t believe it.Want to know where these are going in to?The piggy bank that Rohit promised me.Rohit you are getting me one to save these, right?
Moral - CRIMAN was a fantastic pilot attempt.Since I loved saving every penny out of it, am engaging in it as a DF(dedicated facility) from the new year.I know I still have a long way to go in this CMS project of mine & this is just the beginning.You just read a tyro’s write up on Crisis Management Simulation.
Come weekends.... I prefer to be under the blanket these days, the whole 48 hrs rather than stepping out even a lane away.The money in the pocket doesn’t seem to be very happy staying in its place.If saving is the only agenda then we tend to miss colorful quotients of having fun & sometimes some good moments that’s stays as residue in this mission of spending money like water.What to do ?Too much of saving and not spending at all. And too much of spending and no savings in all.Ooffff ! Both happen to be lose –lose situations.I was revealing to dad some months ack about my ‘Penny wise - pound foolish’ attitude.I would save and save on the few hundreds that I draw from the ATM but was stupidly generous to swipe my card that scooped out huge money invisibly.Oh fo ! what am I up to’suddenly a bulb glowed on the top floor, recently.So this CRIMAN project was born as my brain child. I chose to keep myself away from these shopping malls for a couple of months at least until the year ends. So when the month began all weekends at home reading newspaper for long hours, relaxed ablution,washing clothes to my best, cleaning cupboards, watering plants, unwinding the day with some soft music, gripping a good book to end the day & to catch some really good sleep.
Come weekdays, am happy for reasons many. Almost the whole day in office and free googling on anything & everything on the mind. And no penny for any phone calls.U know,am paid a four digit wage everyday for just googling & giggling ,sometimes.Sometimes for forwarding few critical mails too.Then to reach home late evening, have supper & doze offff.Wow! five full days of great savings each week.To buy a single missing grocery, let me tell you visiting Fabmall & Nilgiris are not the best options on earth unlike my earlier assumptions.All under one roof is an agreeable fact.But bringing home a bill that contains units of tempted items more than the essentials can't b the price that one can pay for visiting all under one roof malls. Isn’t it ?.The other day a team mate of mine offered a help to book a train ticket online from his pc in the office. So there was a page where I had to enter my bank’s credentials for an automatic money detection. Being not so sure of the next immediate page to be displayed,I enquired him. He said 'Nothing to worry. Your account balance will not be displayed’.
Scanning each others thought we chuckled. Once the ticket booking procedure was over,he asked me innocently 'How you able to save this meejj maany’. In fact he was spell bound knowing my account balance displayed at some corner of the main transaction page which I foolishly missed out.He revealed to me a week later that I became his source of inspiration to save money from that very moment which in turn inspired me to save more.He listed that he stopped visiting his regular weekend destination - Balaji Bar just because of me.Maa use to say - people who spend less water will spend less money.Actually very true, I discovered.Though my pilot attempt on CRIMAN project is coming to end in a week’s time, I realized that I was only enjoying this process of spending less & saving more.And that true happiness doesn’t dwell in the act of spending more money or hanging out but on those priceless solitary moments being at home.An interesting book costing one hundred bucks did spill more joy than a three hour movie costing five hundred bucks.And that a home cooked meal stands more satisfying than a candle lit dinner shelling out around a K in the dim light.And the coziness in wearing a bargained on the platform sweater doesn’t seem to derive from the newly bought branded jacket.Simply a sweet smile costing zero bucks does spread more happiness & joy in unseen ways, I realized.During this pilot attempt I was inspired by a distant bro who lives in the same city of mine earning in lakhs every month,chose to travel only by 2nd class during any train journey of his for the straight fact that he believed only in simplicity.And earning in lakhs did not change him & his life style in any way.There were so many interesting learning that came out of this CRIMAN attempt. And know what? I managed to save around a K :) in these two months time from 1/3rd of my wages that I drew out each month. And more surprises stood @ the end of this pilot attempt - a couple of my colleagues were crazy about the company’s jerkin that they gave us a year and a half back, fortunately when they had not joined. I got in to this surprising deal of a K for my old jerkin.I couldn’t believe it.Want to know where these are going in to?The piggy bank that Rohit promised me.Rohit you are getting me one to save these, right?
Moral - CRIMAN was a fantastic pilot attempt.Since I loved saving every penny out of it, am engaging in it as a DF(dedicated facility) from the new year.I know I still have a long way to go in this CMS project of mine & this is just the beginning.You just read a tyro’s write up on Crisis Management Simulation.
