Thank God for membership cards, credit card rebates and amazingly supportive parents/friends, because every cent saved is every cent more for me to survive that much longer on my journey! (I think I have been saying that a lot lately)

Recently, I finally bought myself the Osprey Farpoint 70 backpack (comes with a lifetime international warranty which goes to show how confident Osprey is, about their products) that I have been eyeing and researching on for a while, and a few other travel necessities along the way.

I was ecstatic to find out that with my “Passion” card, I could get a 10% off for my backpack if I buy it from “Sports Connection”, the only group of stores in Singapore that I know of that carries and distributes Osprey travel backpacks (FYI, my infatuation with Osprey is a very personal thing and might be very different for one individual to another). Also, because I have already collected rebates from my Citibank credit card, I managed to throw in a couple of add ons, namely a money belt and a check in bag (so your backpack won’t get ruthlessly scratched or torn when you check them in at trains, ferries, buses or airports) at only an additional cost of 9 bucks in total. How cool is that?

I made a trip down to the army market at beach road as well (where they sell travel ware and backpacks at wholesale prices) and bought myself a few stuff, like a strong LED torch with a rechargeable battery and charger, a travel medical pack (both of which my dad offered to pay for because I was extremely apprehensive about the prices, being the penny-pinching person I have become. Love you dad!), an inflatable pillow for desperate no-pillow situations, a pair of ear plugs for noisy nights when I need to sleep, a marker for me to write signs on cardboards to indicate the places I wanna go when I hitchhike and a good black pen for general and lasting usage. Total amount of money spent for everything – another 9 bucks. Yay!

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To many budget-conscious travelers around, I understand first-hand that seeing your money ringing off the bell from the cash register might not be the best feeling in the world. It pains me too but i knew I had to consciously remind myself that the things I am buying (after proper research that is) are actually worthy and practical investments to splurge on. While it is good to always be prudent with your spending, there is a need to know that there are certain things that one should absolutely not scrimp on, for practicality sake.

For every good investment you make, the money you’ve spent actually goes a long way to help you curb back on unnecessary expenditure to replace or repair in the future. I’ve learnt that you don’t always have to go for the best (unless you can afford it), but somewhere around mid range might just be good enough. The decision to purchase certain items also heavily depends on the type of trip you are making, the countries that you are planning to travel to, which seasons of the year and the length of time you are going for. Chances are if you paid too little for them, they probably won’t last very long and if you paid too much, your heart may break when they get lost, stolen or damaged while you are on the road. Therefore, striking the right balance is very important.

A general rule of thumb that I have been following is to always do a good amount of research (quantitative and qualitative) and weighing out the pros and cons before taking the money out of my wallet. I also tend to ask myself three self-imposed golden questions. Do I need it? Are there alternatives? Are the alternatives something that I can live with? Ultimately, making a purchase is a very personal decision and only you can make the final call.

So happy shopping for those who are also preparing the same journey as me and if you need help, feel free to let me know! Will be more than willing to offer my penny-worth. 🙂

One and a half more month to go… Can’t wait!