How long has it been? I don't know. Hahha. Because, I'm typing at Open Office word document, and didn't bother to check out. Hahha

Okay, so today is another post about... not my life, but something that I thought of, because of some 'incidents' (sounds negative, but it isn't).

Not to long ago, I went to Times bookshop, not to check what book to buy with the $50 Times voucher in mind, but to find 'Animal Farm'. (Actually, I still went to look around for suitable books). Horrors of horror, the thin 'Animal Farm' actually cost $25 (that's the cheapest; there were other editions which cost $28 or so). Okay, an exaggeration, there no 'horrors of horror'; I actually knew the price beforehand – I had checked it on the internet.

Although I had bought books way above $25 before, no way was I going to buy that book; its' too thin, meaning that there's no economical sense in buying it. So I toyed with the idea of applying for Times membership card, since there was a 10% discount on things bought if you were a member. I got the pamphlet, and looked at the cost - $10 for a year, $15 for two.

But even with a 10% discount, I would only save $2.50, while spending another $10 at least. With this in mind, I left the store without buying anything, but bringing the pamphlet home and still pondering whether to apply for membership.

After some thoughts, I realised that it's not worth it for me to apply for membership. I would have to spend either $100 per year, or $75 per year, depending whether I applied for a one-year or two-year membership. As to why is this case, I will explain the 'formula' later.

At the same time, I also have a Popular card, and I've concluded that it's worth it. Hahha...

Okay, so the 'formula' is:

If the membership fee is $10 for one year and discount is 10%, it means that the 10% needs to be equivalent to $10. Why is this so? Let me show you the sums.

Let's say you buy a book which cost $45. With the 10% discount, you would have paid $40.50. Now, that might be a saving, you might think. But remember, you paid $10 at beforehand for the membership! So, if you bought that one and only book that year, you would have paid $40.50 + $10 = $50.50, instead of $45 if you were not a member.

To actually save, you need to spend at least $100 or more in a year. Why so?
Let's say you buy a few books that cost $123. With the discount (10%), you would pay $110.70. Plus that $10 you paid for membership fees, your total cost for that year (assuming that you went to that bookstore only once that year) would be $120.70, instead of $123 if you were not a member.

Therefore, before you apply for any membership or privilege card, think!

For Popular, it costs you $5 for a year, so you need to buy at least $50 worth of stuff a year.
For Kinokuniya, it costs you $18.53 a year ($55.60 for 3), so you need to buy at least $185.30 a year.

Any more membership cards you can name? I checked Isetan, but it does not give discounts, I think. (Only some reward points)

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*Edit: So the formula is: Membership fees per year / 0.1 = 100% (minimum sum you need to spend)