alliance

The people who know me personally always give me a lot of grief about my wardrobe, or rather, the lack thereof. I keep turning up in the same outfits every single time. It’s not that I have a drought in the attire department, but rather I have a few favorite shirts that I keep on wearing.

This is compounded by the fact that I am an impulsive shopper. Worse still, I am an impulsive shopper who tends to get the urge to shop at totally random moments (usually twice a year) and comes back with a shitload of clothes, most of which I wouldn’t wear (see favorite shirts above).

I don’t go during sales or the usual periods people shop – I go when I feel like it. This is generally detrimental to my financial wellbeing as I shop on credit so when the credit card statement comes at the end of the month, my reactions range from being slightly taken aback to downright horror.

I have several credit cards but no debit card so when I saw Alliance Bank’s Debit Mastercard I decided to take it for a spin. I had an urge to shop and decided that a debit card would be a better one to use during my retail forays.

Yes, contrary to popular belief, I do actually shop for clothes – else, where would all my shirts come from?

I set RM 750 as my daily spending limit – no more RM 5,000+ credit card bills (happened to me a couple of times). I hit the shopping malls and got the stuff that I really need. I decided that this time I’m going to buy items that I will wear regularly instead of one off items like the RM 575 jacket I got two months ago which I’ve only worn once.

Quiksilver board shorts

This is one item I don’t have in my wardrobe. I have Speedos and Bermuda shorts but nothing even resembling board shorts. Why would a 29 year old who doesn’t surf need board shorts? Well, it’s perfect as beach wear! I had a string of beach vacations planned and I thought this would be a good investment.

Price: RM 269

DC skate shoes

Yes, I know I’m not a 16 year old skater boi anymore but can’t a man revisit the prime of his life? :p

Besides, I haven’t bought a pair of shoes in ages, I’m still wearing almost 2 year old adidas tennis shoes. I figure it’s time to change the tatty pair of smelly shoes for some new ones.

DC shoes is not a brand I would choose to buy but one of my ex-girlfriends really loved the brand and bought a pair of them back from Australia for me. I spotted the DC footwear line and decided to get a pair – it’s useful for weekends and it’s also a pair of sneakers so it’s quite comfortable to wear.

Mark and Spencer vests

This is an essential item in all men’s wardrobes. I didn’t know that until a recent image consultancy that I went for. I’ve never had the habit of wearing singlets or anything like that under my shirts.

To be perfectly honest, I think that practice is incredibly old fashioned and slightly repulsive as only octogenarians (like my late granddad) do that so he can wear his shirts more often without the need to wash it.

However, during my image consultancy, I was told that wearing a vest under your work shirt actually bulks you up and makes you look buff and more authoritative. I’m all for that so I grabbed a couple to wear when I go to work.

It’s RM 79 for 3 x 100% cotton vests so it’s a pretty good investment.

I spent less than RM 750 that day which is really good. That’s the benefit debit cards give you – you don’t spend on credit, you only spend what you have. Even better, I set RM 750 as the daily spending limit and the transaction bounced during the Mark and Spencer purchase so I took a pack of vests out. Nifty, eh?

I’m using the Alliance Bank Standard Debit Card under HYBRID savings and the best thing about this card is that you get instant 1% cash back on all your purchases. It goes up to 2% cash back for the Premium version. I also really liked the financial control the card affords you. You can set a daily spending limit like what I did so you won’t go over a pre-planned amount that you’re willing to spend.

With more than 1.4 million ATMs around Malaysia, you won’t have any trouble changing your spending limit too! Find out more at my.alliancedebitcard.com.