THE basic needs of man are food, clothing, shelter and entertainment. Today, most of us have graduated from needs to luxuries. When the newspaper headlines were screaming inflation at 11.9 per cent, it became a topic of worry. Today, the challenges are not just high standard of living, high commodity prices, it's job loss too. How do you deal with meeting your basic requirements with less means to buy them?

While eating just one meal a day is good for Yogis and is a nice way to cut down costs, that is not what I'm suggesting. Instead, Try something simpler.

1. Eat at home
Eating out can be expensive. If you are spending Rs 200 on eating out compared to Rs 50 at home, you would be surprised to know the kind of amount you are spending. A systematic investment plan of Rs 150 (200-50) a day saved for 30 years can give you returns in excess of Rs 5 crore!

MUST READ: Retire rich with Rs 40 a day!

2. Know what you are buying
Plan your shopping. If you fill your cart with everything that catches your eye, chances are you will be spending a lot more. Instead, plan your meals for the week ahead and make careful note of what you need to buy. Purchase only the items on the list, avoid the rest.

3. Wear your blinkers
Stores are designed to make you go through a long walk to reach for your most basic items. Reason -- you can tricked into buying what you don't really need. Most basic commodities are found towards the end of the store. So, the next time you go shopping, you could skip the other outlets and move towards your destination.

4. Shop on a full stomach
When you're hungry and shopping, you may end up buying lot of things that look like food! You might also pick up what you don't really need. On the other hand, you can easily avoid unnecessary shopping when you're a full stomach.

Also read: PV Subramanyam's blog

Illustration: Abhijeet Kini

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e-mail: PV Subramanyam

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