Penny Wise and Pound Foolish?

The 7% GST hike kicked in today. oh well, all the public outcry over the issue has fallen on deaf ears and the 'gahmen' has implemented the hike nevertheless...

Over the past few days the newspapers have been splashed with advertisements along the lines of "Buy Now Before GST Increase!" "Beat the GST Hike!" Obviously this is a very good marketing ploy... I ask... is it worth it?

Say an item priced $1000
GST 5% = $50
GST 7% = $70

Savings = $20... But not all of us buys $1000 items all the time...

How about normal day-to-day goods... say clothes.. electrical applicances. Guess a conservative estimate is $200
GST 5% = $10
GST 7% = $14

Savings = $4... Not enough to cover taxi fare back home...

Maybe those buying car will really save... Price of car: $50000
GST 5% = $2500
GST 7% = $3500

Savings = $1000... Maybe you save on one year's road tax or something (As you can see I don't own a car, therefore pardon me if my figures are a bit off)

So, what for rush to beat the GST hike? It's simply what is called 'Penny Wise And Pound Foolish'.

Why not cultivate good habits to save instead?
1. Take public transport... No doubt car is faster but with a bit of self discipline, wake up earlier... the cost of owning a vehicle here outstrips that of taking taxi to work everyday...
2. Don't subscribe to cable TV, the normal Channel 5 channels are good enough... if you wanna watch soccer, the coffee shops are showing them (ok, i'm not a soccer fan myself, so flame me)
3. Don't watch TV (i don't... hahaz).. use the time to do more productive stuff like write articles on your computer (get $$$ for that)... or for students, shouldn't you be using that time to study instead? :P
4. Don't rush to get all the latest gadgets like now we have the iPhone... the price will drop like nobody's business a few months after the release. So why not get it after the price dropped? Better still, get from eBay or Yahoo auctions, some stuff is available for a steal there...
5. Having said that, buy more 2nd hand stuff off Cash Converters / Yahoo / eBay, some of them are still in relatively good condition and the prices are a fraction of that in the open market.
6. (this will probably not apply for the ladies) No need to buy clothes, maybe just during Chinese New Year for those tradition stalwarts... for me, my wardrobe is more than fully stocked, in fact i think i have excess... LOL! Likewise for running shoes, I'm still using SAF running shoes plus another pair which I got cheaply in Malaysia... and dress shoes are my SAF No.3 shoes :P No necessity to get new ones for the sake of keeping up with the Joneses yeah? (Though i guess a lot of army guys will resent wearing SAF stuff outside.. but it does come in a bit handy)

haha... any more suggestions can just add here...