Inventory Management: When & How to Shop Wisely?

Assalamua'laikum wbt & Good Day,

It is not wrong for us to fulfill our material desires as part of self rewards. In spite of being a frugal lady, I still allocate few amount of my money to buy things that I love; handbags, sandals and of course, flight tickets. However, since this post is about inventory management, I'll not touch about flight tickets.

As an active traveler that is not born into a silver spoon family, I strongly believe that I can't get all I want at once. Hence, I need to prioritize my need and desire based on my important resources: time, money and energy. That is why, I rarely have my lunch and dinner out as having it by preparing it by myself is more economical, healthy and indirectly enhance my cooking skills.

King's Park, Perth, Western Australia

In lieu to above factors, I need to plan wisely my groceries shopping. On top of groceries, other stuffs that I need to frequently buy and make it readily available at home are self-care products and dairy products. Sandals and handbags may not fall under this frequently buy items, but in order to keep my motivation alive, I will reward myself with these items at least once a year.

For groceries that I frequently need and use, I usually buy it based on the special offer and the expiry date. For items with early expiry date, I just buy it according to my needs, but for items that still have long time to expire, I will buy it based on my availability in the town where I reside. However, for self-care products that usually expire 3 years after it was manufactured, I will buy it up to the next one year usage during my birthday months as I will get extra 5 time points at my first purchase within my birthday month. 

Oh, becoming a member to any groceries market or any malls that you usually go to buy your stuff is necessary as well! Do understand the terms and conditions in order to allow ourselves to fully utilize the benefits of being a member. In the environment whereby every items seem to be pricy, we have to be really frugal and make use of any benefits or advantages that exist. However, as for myself, I do buy from small market or shop for items like eggs, raw meat, fish, vegetables, spices, onions and garlics as part of my personal social responsibility to help local people. 

Jewel Cave, Augusta, Western Australia

In summary, below is the way I plan my personal inventory in order to fully maximize the benefits upon joining any membership at any malls, supermarket, pharmacy and etc:

1) Daily cooking helps: small local market.

2) Dairy products: buy as much as possible during offer if the expiry date is still long way to go based on my availibility at the town where I reside.

3) Self-care product: one year ahead of stock and buy during my first purchase within my birthday month.

4) Handbangs/ sandals: during my birthday month upon receive an email from the shopping mall on my special birthday gifts. Usually, they give a very good special offer. 

5) Books: fully utilize the RM 1000 entitlement for tax exemption in a year.

6) Clothes: I give myself a condition whereby my clothes cannot be more than three wardrobes in my house. If I wish to buy a new one, I must make sure I have choose any old clothes that is still in good condition to be given to the needy. 

Have a nice day :)

Wassalam