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I started my work as a teacher in a secondary school at the end of July 2009.

Upon receiving my first pay, I went on a shopping spree - my attempt to realise all my childhood fantasies of being able to enter a shop and purchase the most expensive piece of clothing, bag, shoes... I was able to afford good food, good clothes, expensive buffet treats...

This went on for a couple of months... After which, I came out of my teaching job tired, stressed, materialistic and broken... I realised that all those material possessions no longer meant much to me...

Three months on... I was forced to take up tuition assignments and tele-marketing jobs to support my training at the national squad... As I was training every evening, I was unable to take on full time jobs... (the training normally left me exhausted and sleepy and I was unable to perform optimally in full time jobs)... My degree was rendered completely useless and I was forced to take up low-skilled low payed job assignments...

Looking back, something strikes me really significantly... If I had lived more frugally in my five months as a teacher, I would have saved enough money to allow me to train for a possible additional 3 months without worry...

As such, I was forced to cast aside my dream to get a proper job.

Looking back, I would have traded all those shoes, bags and clothing for an additional three extra months to live my dream...

Money can buy things... That's true... But for me, money is so much more powerful than that. Money can buy time... time to live my dream...

Though it is too late to turn back time, I have decided to live frugally from now on...

Money might not be able to buy you happiness.. But it provides a form of security and a shield from helplessness... What do people do when they are helpless? They give up their dreams...