On Shopping, Sacrifice and Goal Setting

For Lent, I gave up shopping. I even wrote it down. “My official Lenten Sacrifice is no shopping – Zara, TopShop, Mango, Dorothy Perkins, Greenhills Tiangge or any bazaar, any department store, Warehouse, LaSenza or any other clothing store. No Group Buying.” I was pretty specific, no excuses, no loopholes. The only exceptions to this rule are 1) Deal Grocer 2) basics, essentials and toiletries and 3) exercise purchases. Even my exceptions have limits. I’m only allowed to spend P10,000 for each exception.  So far I’ve been good. I haven’t set foot in any of the aforementioned stores nor purchased any articles of clothing. I swear. It’s been two weeks.

Unfortunately for me, once March rolls around, I’m more inclined to begin window shopping. It’s my birthday month and I become more self-indulgent than usual. My Lenten Sacrifice is about to become more difficult. Today, for example. I was walking by Lucerne (the premiere watch store) in Shangrila. Without realizing it, my brisk walk slowed to a leisurely stroll upon which, after pacing the storefront for a few minutes, I gave up fighting and walked right in. Nevermind that I have no money, nevermind that I looked ordinary, I walked in there like I owned the place. My mother would have been proud.

(Photo taken from : http://www.valoriemarie.com/?p=2761)

Okay — before anything, it doesn’t count as shopping because this word (to me) means that I can afford the items for sale. However, I can’t afford anything in Lucerne so even if I wanted to buy something, I would not be able to. Therefore, the action of shopping cannot and will not take place. (my loophole)

Now most people feel embarrassed to walk into a store where they can’t afford anything. Not me. My mother always said that looking is free, so what whether you can afford it or not. I guess that’s why I’m fearless when it comes to stuff I can’t buy. I’ll get it eventually. I like to call this window shopping process — “goal setting.” Others call it motivation. This is how I work —-

1. I look at expensive things and mentally note the things I want.
2.  I Wait.
3. Over the next couple of days/weeks/years (depending on how expensive it is), I work and save to get to the point where I can afford to purchase said item. My formula is “SRP x 2” – obviously my bank account can’t be empty so I need to have double. The higher the multiplier, the better.
4. In reality, so much time will have passed that I actually don’t want the thing anymore. Simply the knowledge that I can finally afford it will be enough to tide me over until I find the next (more expensive) thing I want. Rarely does my desire for an item last longer than 3 months. If my longing survives the test of time, then I will probably end up buying it (assuming I can). In short, I don’t buy as many things as people think I do. I want a lot of things but I have better self control than most people give me credit for.

So back to Lucerne. There I was, walking around, taking my time admiring different watches. It’s nice to be underestimated because it allowed me to browse in peace. I started with TW Steel (the watch I purchased over Christmas) and made my way up to the expensive stuff.

I found a nice Hublot Big Bang 38mm watch with a ceramic bezel and a carbon fiber face. Php1,026,000. After discount, Php769,000. I really liked it, it was edgy and different. However, my mom didn’t like it because she finds it too industrial, masculine and “hard.” Dad said that I might as well check out Audemars Piguet since their styles are very similar with AP being a better brand.

Saw this Patek Philippe. Not sure what it’s called but I was instantly drawn to it. It’s a stunning timepiece with the diamond encrusted bezel, white leather strap and baby-blue tinged mother of pearl face. It’s a beauty. My mom would like this one. She wouldn’t like the price tag. From the looks of this photo, around Php1.9M

Also checked out this Jaeger-LeCoutre Rendez-Vous Night and Day. I like the night one but I would definitely change the strap.

After my stint at Lucerne, I went to Rustans to stock up on my cosmetics. Okay, the Creme de La Mer was a splurge on my part but Rustans let me pay lite so I kept within my Php10k budget.

All in all, it was a good window shopping, goal setting day. 🙂