To spend or not to spend...

Been a while since I had my regular paper tosei, and since my vocal lesson time was swopped to an earlier slot of 10:00am, I thought I would indulge a little bit at 9:30am. Need the energy to sing muh, otherwise cannot last the entire class. Never knew singing can be tiring, eh? Need to work those abdominal muscles. But alas, not sure why I still don't have my six-pack!

However, what shocked me was that for a small glass of teh tarik and a cone shaped paper tosei (and I noticed that it has gotten to be a smaller portion or shape), the bill came up to RM4.20!!!

Me: HUH!?! Empat Ringgit Dua???
(translated: HUH!?! Four Ringgit and Twenty???)
Foreign Waiter: Ya! Ini (pointing at the paper tosei) Tiga Ringgit.
(translated: Ya! This (pointing at the paper tosei) is Three Ringgit.
Me: TIGA Ringgit??!! [almost shouting, but trying to keep my voice down as I saw some other customers looking my way]
(translated: THREE Ringgit??!!) [almost shouting, but trying to keep my voice down as I saw some other customers looking my way]

I duly handed him the money but was aghast at the escalating cost. Last time, as in 2 years ago, it cost RM1.50. Last year, it cost RM2.00, TODAY it cost RM3.00!!! My goodness!!! That's like a 100% increase in price since 2 years ago (and the portion has gotten smaller too!). And here I thought commodity prices have come down. :(

But when I think about it, I can sometimes go shopping, and buy a nice tie which cost RM90 (cheap! on sale muh!), and am not appalled about the cost, yet, when it comes to paper tosei, I baulk at the price. Is this then a case of "Penny Wise, Pound Foolish"? But then again, I don't buy a tie that often anyway, well, at least not as often as I could consume a nice portion of paper tosei, but the point is that I am more conscious of the little stuff as opposed to the bigger ticket items. Like for lunch, I would notice that certain outlets in the foodcourt tend to overcharge for a plate of mix rice, and I would boycott that shop, yet sometimes, I wouldn't think twice about "premium" items, especially when there is a sale going on.

I suppose it is the regularity of it all, since the spending on the smaller stuff are on a regular basis which can really add up over a period of time. But at the end of it all, the more fanciful cup of coffee, or that nicer looking shirt or tie going for a bargain, can also hit the wallet in the same way.

And when I hear about people holding two jobs to earn extra pocket money, I do feel a tad guilty. I guess I can only console myself that I also sing for various occassions and earn those little extra angpows to supplement my regular income. Not that it amounts to much, but hey, every little Ringgit helps to pay for the higher cost of paper tosei!!!, and my occassional shopping spree.