Shopping & bonding time

    Last Wednesday, I took advantage of the opportunity to ask my sister to come with me and go shopping for a day. Actually, I was asked by my father to buy materials he needed.

From Balintawak to C3

    After one and a half hours of traveling under the heavy rain, and after we purchased what we actually came for we rushed to the mall to check what's new.

    Every time my father asked me to buy materials needed for the products we sell, I always go to malls, especially Victory Center Mall, and buy something interesting, and this time I'm with my younger sister.

10 pesos store

   We've been into this 10 pesos store. I love this store. Every items were so unique and affordable. I know there are lot of 10 pesos store everywhere, but this store is the best because above all the store with the same theme, it is the only that differs from the others because of the interiors they have and the sales personnel are friendly and they won't welcome you with a frowning face. Their store is always crowded (you could already imagine like you were in a sold out concert because of the overwhelming crowd).

    Checked out this 50 pesos belts and Neon frames. The buckles was really good I wanted to buy one for my younger brother the next time I go there. The sales lady in this shop was so jolly I forgot to buy what I was about to buy and got all the attention to her.

fashionable price: Belts for 50 pesos

Nice buckles

Frames in neon

    I passed buying through this ship. Their items were pretty good, but I don't like the sales personnel here. I know it is not good saying something bad about somebody else's store, but if you were in the good mood and you were like in the mood to buy whatever you are going to see, you might have a change of mind if you saw a sales personnel frowning at you and showing you how bad his day is.

   The flops they're selling were good and suitable for the rainy days.

    We've finished shopping for almost an hour. Good thing is that the mall was about to open when we arrived that makes it easy for us to walk around because the mall wasn't still crowded.

It's still early. It'll be crowded afterwards.

    She bought a charcoal pencil, a spray bottle and an earring while I bought nothing. I just don't feel spending much during that day and because I was the one who paid all that she bought -_-. It doesn't matter, anyway that has been a good day that we had a chance to bond together.

Important tips when shopping on a market

   Not all the people are expert on shopping, especially when it comes on buying goods. I found that forgotten simple dos and don'ts are very destructive. I have been in a group work on my culinary class last semester and they are (I don't really want to say it but...) the worst group I've ever seen. Most of them don't know how to buy GOOD ingredients and always goes to the market, but don't have any idea what they are going to buy. So I came up with the idea of making "to do" list for shopping.

   Here are some of the thing that you should remember before and during the shopping that are commonly forgotten by some:

Before leaving: 

• Before going on a market (Super markets or public markets), make a list of the goods you NEED to buy. 

•  If you are always assigned to do the shopping, take note of the prices of the goods you already bought and is always needed (Previous receipts will help).

• If you are aware of the prices, make a computation of all the goods you supposed to buy in advance. This will help you to adjust with the budget (If ever you're in a tight budget). 

• Bring pen and paper so you can do a manual computation. Or enlist the things you are planning to buy in future just in case you found interesting things along the way. 

• Bring Calculator with you.

• Bring an extra shopping bag (Tote bags for shopping are available anywhere). To avoid buying plastic bags just in case you needed one. 

Photo source: Baguio Public Market

While on the market area: 

• Buy what you NEED. If there's an extra change that's when you could have what you what. Buying things that are unnecessary and or buying other goods without completing the list will cause to shortage of budget. 

• Make use of your discount coupons. 

• Always check the expiration date. 

• Check the items condition before buying a discounted item. Some items that goes in packages don't always have a good quality (I'd experienced buying a tray of pears once, and I was really disappointed when I opened the container and noticed that the spoiled part of the fruit was hidden under.)

• It might be tiring and takes a lot of time, but try to roll from stall to stall to find better goods. 

• Compare prices of brands, but consider the quality of the goods.