It is all about MONEY, honey!

It is that time of the year when my employer asks me to show the proof of investments I have made for tax saving; a gentle reminder that being a defaulter would lead to deduction of tax at source from my next month's salary. So, basically I need to part away with my hard-earned money- either park it in some financial plans (ashamed to admit, I'm yet to start with one) or let my next month's salary get shrunk post tax deduction at source. Even though I would be more interested to save the money and splurge it on myself, I'm bound to think about the terms like savings and investments (which is good somehow for a wayward investor like me!)

So, how an investor like me behaves in a year? In the first month of every new financial year, I'm high on hopes about managing my money well, taking wise decisions about investments and savings. Trust me, I take this resolution every year. On the first day of the first month of a financial year, I spread out my financial plan. After taking a look at my long-term and short-term plans and goals (yes, I'm talking like a financial planner!!!), I calculate how much I can save from my meager earnings. Not much, but optimism is in my blood. Savings targets are set and I promise myself to meet them diligently.

Now comes the difficult part- execution of the plan. And lo!! It is Friday! I struggle between my resolution to save and my inclination to shop (don't blame me, I'm a girl!!!). I try to recall the wisdom quotes about saving to keep my mind away from thinking about that beautiful black dress I saw the other day. I know, you can imagine me being trapped in the game of "See-Saw" with spending and saving at either ends. Weekend pizzas and alcohol, shopping festivals, holiday trips to home via flight as well as ever-increasing rent of accommodation, inflation, increasing onion prices....the hole in my pocket keeps increasing as well.

Execution is tough, but I refuse to get defeated. The review has not been that bad; at least for the last two months. I have saved a few thousand rupees and I'm aiming to save more..I think). Usually, my resolution gets strengthened as my cell phone beeps with an incoming message- "Salary credited" (The second most beautiful message in my inbox!!! ). With Pink Floyd's "Money" playing in the background, I'm in a philosophical mood. "Money can't buy happiness" but "There is no such thing as a free lunch"!

Comments

Being a "Housewife" and Baking Shit

Even though my mother and mother-in law are both successful homemakers and I have immense respect for homemakers who are unsung superwomen, I still find the tag of a 'housewife' as my identity pretty insulting. Blame it to the spirit of feminism that arises from time to time to attack my poor husband or the fact that I had worked for five years at a stretch before marriage and had led a very independent life, I never thought that I could be labelled as a housewife. Alas! God had some different plans. Early this year, moving to the U.S. on a dependent spouse visa made me the quintessential housewife. I bawled, shouted, and argued with my dear husband whom I held responsible for my plight. As if my feminist rants were not enough to torture him, I decided to exhibit my limited culinary skills to feed him, making good use of all the free time I had. The Birthday Cake August came and I started planning for my husband's birthday. When we were in a long dist...

When I Met Harry

Harry came to my life when I was in the eighth standard. A bespectacled young boy with ruffled jet black hair, green eyes, and a scar on his forehead; a boy to fall in love with. Don't blame me as I was a teenager who wanted a spell of magic in her life and to run away to the Hogwarts. I hated being a muggle and aspired to become another Hermione Granger. I imagined myself boarding the Hogwarts Express and reaching Hogsmeade, going to that magical school, and learning to wave my wand. I had once written a secret letter to Harry on Valentine's day and later decided to keep it safe in my diary. When I watched 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone' for the first time, I lost my mind (and heart!) over that young and extremely cute Daniel Radcliffe. I remember keeping newspaper cuttings of anything and everything related to him. I still have them, safely secured in my old trunk. Well, that infatuation lasted for a couple of years till I graduated from college. And...

Protective Mothers or Rape Deniers?

Who else can teach a young boy about the meanings of 'consent' and 'harassment' better than his own mother? (Image credit: Pixabay) I came across an interesting article in The New York Times last month about a group of mothers defending their sons who had been accused of sexual assaults at college campuses. In the U.S., the guidelines on campus sexual assaults had been pretty stringent so far. However, these guidelines have been blamed to presume the accused students as guilty, who are usually suspended or expelled from the college campuses for a certain amount of time. Needless to say, most of the accused are men. These mothers are on a mission to save their sons who, they believe, were “wrongly accused.” As protective mothers, they had compelled the college authorities to relook into their sons’ charges. Some of them consider themselves as feminists and hold opinions that how girls today have misconstrued the definition of sexual assault. ...

A Journey

Train number: 18610 Boarding Station: Lokmanya Tilak Terminus, Mumbai Destination Station: Ranchi Traveling long distances by trains is nothing new to me. However this particular journey in 2013 has been vivid in my memory. Thanks to my peanut salary and a last-minute travel plan, I could not book an air ticket for that trip. So, I decided to go by train. Cherry on the cake, I could manage to get a berth in the humble non AC sleeper class only. My journey started on a scary note when I found a drunken passenger next to my seat. Thankfully he got off at Kalyan, the next station. I heaved a sigh of relief and waited for my other co-passengers to board the train. One middle-aged woman came and sat next to me. A married couple followed her. Two college going teenagers filled the remaining seats. And my long journey of thirty-nine and half hours actually started. Sitting by the window, I enjoyed the view outside. Small talks followed. The middle-aged woman...

Books and Coffee

As ridiculous as it might sound, at the end of a long tiring day, a perfect date for me means a large cup of coffee and an interesting novel to read. Yes, you have the liberty to label me as an anti-social and a nerdy introvert! I find it pretty amusing when someone tells me that reading novels is a wastage of time. Or that someone likes to go through work-related books and not elaborate literary pieces. An introvert raised as a single child, I have always found solace in my books. My love for storybooks started with Snow White, Cinderella, Peter Pan, and Little Mermaid. My father introduced me early to the monthly kids magazines- Tinkle, Champak , Nandan and Chandamama . I do not know if these magazines still exist. Billu, Pinki and Chacha Chowdhary followed soon. The Famous Five and The Little Women too entered into my life. Being a true Bong, Anandamela was an absolute necessity during Durga Pujo. The lazy afternoons of summer vacations were sometimes spent on Tagore...

Lost & Found!

It was a cold December morning. I had to catch a flight to reach Mumbai by afternoon. As fate plays foul, due to foggy weather and delay by the flight to take off, I landed up in Mumbai by six in the evening. My destination was Pune, so the journey continued further with a cab ride. Finally, by ten at night, I reached. The next part was catching an auto-rickshaw to go home. I happily hired one and suddenly to my horror, I realized that MY WALLET WAS MISSING!!! It was late, I was alone, the road was quite deserted, the auto-rickshaw driver looked scary and my wallet was missing. All sort of random thoughts were flooding my mind. Three words to sum up my condition, I was the "Damsel in Distress". After taking a few deep breaths, I called up my "Knight in Shining Armour" (read my best friend , staying in another city) to rescue my money by blocking the debit cards left in my wallet. Somehow I reached home, borrowed money from my local grocery guy to...

My Diary Pages

Search This Blog