Being creatively lazy can save money…yes.

Laziness Even though these are not very creative words, if used appropriately, they can be used in a way that can help you save money. No matter how the day, month, or year changes, I will still be the one writing this column.

Let me start the article as usual: “I am not a financial guru, a life coach or anything like that. I am just a former financial professional who worked in the private sector.” It is believed that we need to be financially prepared when the day comes when we do not have a salary or regular income or when there is a necessary situation.

The last time I wrote an article was at the beginning of this year and I took a long break. The reason (and excuse) was that after retirement, I was still finding problems to do, struggling to find work. However, I did not want to work for a business like I had done my whole life, but I changed to work to help society. This is probably because I like the concept of Ikigai, a simple word that focuses on living a meaningful life, doing things that are beneficial to others. I believe that I will be able to use my knowledge and skills from over 3 decades of working experience, and use my seniority to lead my life through various stories that could still be useful and be in the right place and on the right path, so that I do not feel like an old man, wasting my breath every day.

This kind of work is new and keeps me energetic because I have to learn and take some time to adjust. I also have a determination that I set since I was working, that when I retire, I will do… What I promise myself is no less important than what I promise others.

Therefore, when I have time, am in good health, can walk, get on and off a boat, go on a trip to various places as I have intended, and most importantly, have enough money to support my intentions, I must hurry up and do it. And I intend to save that money. When I save it, I have to let go, not spend it, not buy many things to exchange because I am a middle class person to the lower class. I believe that I am like many readers. I cannot want to have, be, buy or spend everything I want. And when I retire, even though I still have things to do as I have mentioned above, sometimes I feel that my life has been quite tiring and exhausting. I also feel tired and exhausted. I want to just lie around and be lazy at home.

In the past, when we were lazy, we might have felt bad about ourselves. But today, I have discovered the benefits of being lazy and saving money in an incredible way. Try thinking about it and doing it.

Try not to leave the house on Saturday and Sunday, and just lie on the sofa. But don’t just scroll through your phone because contents, especially from influencers, can tempt you to spend money. Instead, pick up a book you bought and forgot about, and calculate how much the total cost will be if you leave the house today… Starting from when you leave the house, gas, travel, food, coffee, etc. Put the money you don’t have to spend in a piggy bank.

Try to be lazy about shopping both on-site and online. Try to be lazy about ordering food and searching for something in the fridge to cook something easy to eat. Be lazy about scrolling through your phone. Don't go looking at the IGs of celebrities so that you don't want to dress like them or go places, etc. Don't worry that you won't be able to keep up with the trends when you're away from your phone... Really, just stop and be still, you don't need to know anything. Your mind will be calm, you won't be distracted, it's good for your heart, it's good for your health too.

Although I would like to offer an opinion on this matter that may not be consistent with next year's consumer trends, regarding the Lazy Economy, the laziness of consumers, so they are willing to spend money to solve any problem in life, but I strongly agree that consumers are tired and exhausted, giving in and asking to bow down sometimes, especially salaried workers, because work and life are getting harder and they are really tired.

I am interested in laziness and intention to do nothing, which is more in line with the concept of the Dutch philosopher Niksen, called A Dutch concept. Because if you are lazy and do not want to do anything, you have to go all the way... sit still without thinking of taking a single cent out of your pocket... and this includes not transferring money to pay for anything. Even if you meet a scammer who comes to trick you, you are too lazy to enter your bank account number to transfer money to them, and you will not lose money. Some people may call the condition of being lazy and sleeping or sitting in the same position from morning to night "sitting stupidly at home". But we can change the way to call it to be cooler: sitting still and doing nothing intelligently.

One of my favorite Korean books says that it is a way to truly recharge your batteries and restore your energy. The main idea of ​​The Power of Doing Nothing is to let go of joy in everything around you, which we almost never pay attention to. In this state, your body and mind can rest, and your wallet will remain the same. But what’s more, if we take the money that we would have spent if we didn’t stop… and turn it into savings, and train ourselves to do this often. I once read an article somewhere that said that just by not drinking coffee from a famous shop a day, we can save thousands of baht a month. And think about it, if we were lazy and didn’t buy or spend on unnecessary things in our lives each month, let’s just say that if we let it go for 3-4 months, we might have thousands of baht in savings.

Don’t worry that if we don’t spend or spend less, it may cause the country’s economy or GDP to decline. Don’t worry, there are still many people who don’t earn much but still want to spend more than they earn. I have a close friend who works in HR and told me that his boss wanted to help his employees who were in debt and called him in to talk about ways to reduce expenses. My friend said that everyone is on one foot and that everything they spend until they become debts is necessary and cannot be cut out… It’s hard to help. Instead of worrying that if we don’t spend, the country’s economy will decline, change to thinking that saving not only gives us money to use when needed, but it also helps the country in another way because the biggest economic problem of our country for a long time is that people save money very, very little.

And if you are thinking of saving and want some good advice at the end of this year, there is still the year-end financial expo, Money Expo 2024 Bangkok Year End, at Hall 5, Queen Sirikit National Convention Center, from December 19-22. Go find knowledge from good seminars and learn about various forms of saving from experts from various financial institutions. I guarantee that going to an event like this will make you want to save money rather than spending money on unnecessary things.

It's almost the end of the year. I believe that every year, people want to give themselves a good reward. This year, try to be lazy and not give anything. Is that good? Because during the year, I believe that you have been indulging yourself all along. It's better to change it to saving money. Happy New Year 2568!

#SaveMoney please…