Hi! I'm a Sainsbury's basics guy.

Those of you who are not living in UK might feel a bit clueless with the title of this post. Nevertheless, those who had the experience living under the same roof with me, like Mus or Ijan, or close friends like Fezal, might have noticed this before. And of course, my beloved family, including my aunt and my cousin, Nurul, who on several occassions had advised me to pamper myself a bit more and be less stingy.

Does this picture do any help? Hehehe

I don't know when and how I picked this habit up, but I can't resist myself from buying, not only own-brand products but the lowest end (read: cheapest) of own-brand products.

Wait a minute... I guess I must have picked this trait up when I started to shop at Carrefour way back in 2003. I think I can blame Fezal for driving me to the Carrefour stores, be it the one in Wangsa Maju or in Maluri.

But the funny thing is Fezal didn't buy the things that I bought. I bought, for instance, Carrefour's own-brand detergent which only cost less than RM7. A saving of RM5, if I were to buy my usual detergent i.e. KAO Attack! And I save another ringgit by buying own-brand biscuit.

My "obssession" was further supported by the opening of Tesco Ampang, which is really "sepelaung" from my rented flat. Moreover, with the arrival of my beautiful NEO into my life made every thing more smooth and less painful. It was painful because my "obbsession" had caught the attention of Fezal and Mus. Therefore, by going shopping alone, I will be spared from their teasing eyes.

I even bought Tesco 250g toothpaste, which is only RM2.99 instead of my usual FreshWhite, which costs me almost RM2 more. My list of own-brand products beginning to grow even longer - facial tissue, juices, bed linen, etc.

And another funny thing is I only buy these products for no one but myself. Hmmm...

Now, although I shop at different hypermarket i.e. Sainsbury's but I still buy its own-brand products. I even bought the Sainsbury's health supplements and paracetamol! I guess I never change and remain true to myself.

Money! Money! Money!

To all non-ABBA people, do not worry because this posting is not about that infamous song. But it is about what concern me right now.

I don't want to sound proud and neither I want to be naive, but I really, really miss those days when money was never an issue to me. Don't get me wrong and trust me I don't come from a wealthy family. And thank God for that!

It was long time ago (sorry, I'm exaggerating again). Although I made a few hundreds below RM2,000 but I led a great life. I had enough to eat, save and spend and still managed to send a big portion of my salary home. And thank to Allah, I always have money in my pocket/wallet as well as in my savings account.

Fast forward to present time, I'm now earning almost triple of what I got in six years ago plus the monthly living allowance (in pound sterling) for another 10 months. Income-wise, I am much better off now. Alhamdulillah.

But, what puzzle me is the feeling that I'm currently have i.e. I don't have enough. I repeat, I don't have enough, money of course.

Before you accuse me of materialistic or ungrateful, allow me to explain.

I still have enough to eat, save, spend and send home although the amount is much smaller in percentage-wise. Plus I managed to maintain the monthly deductions for my Graha Residen and Neo. But my Maybank al-wadiah account is not as "fancy" as it used to be in the first two or three years of my employment.

In addition, I also experienced a number of leakages (not the embarrassing joke by those irritating YBs in our august house!).

First, it was a couple of close friends who disappeared after obtaining loans from me. Then, gone hundreds of ringgit for traffic summons. Plus a couple of bucks here and there for petty (and of course unproductive) expenses. And now, I'm about to fork up a few thousands for a mishap that happened to one of my beloved ones. O God... am I being tested?

Hmmm... wait a minute. Have I pay out enough zakat, haven't I?