Spoiler: I can.
I wrote about this store probably a year ago–without intending to create a review or commentary piece, though that’s essentially what it turned into (or so I recall). And honestly, I try to avoid retail stores like this one where they have lots of cute stuff inside.
You know what James Clear says in his book Atomic Habits; the people with the best self-control are actually those who use their self-control the least. Something along those lines, and I agree.
So, when I know something might trigger a specific urge in me to some extent, it’s better to just avoid it altogether. No way, this blog is getting a bit serious again lol. I mean, this store is just an example–and also something that makes me reflect on my own behaviours or impulsive habits.
The last time I wrote about this store, I think I showed the various products they sell such as colorful water bottles, cute bags and wallets, notebooks and stationery, lovely storage containers, and so on.
Do you know what they’ve added to the store now? Snacks. There’s a huge variety–the kind I usually find at convenience stores–but now they’re also producing under their own brand.
I’ve actually been meaning to write about this ever since I first found out they were selling snacks. But a few weeks ago, I went to this store again with my siblings, so I might as well write about it now.
My youngest sibling is the one who always has a reason to visit this store, even when she doesn't actually need anything. But it had been a while since her last visit (I kid you not, she used to go there almost every week just to buy random things).
This time, before we left, I asked her what she planned to buy. She said she wants a cute pen, hair clips, and simple hair ties. That gave me grounds to get annoyed if she ended up picking out things that weren't on the list haha. So the three of us went together, including my other sibling.
I headed straight to the notebook section. The last time I was there, I managed to stop myself from buying yet another cute notebook, mostly because I still have plenty of half-used ones at home. But this time, there was a notebook that only cost IDR5.000 which is about $0.4 – like WHAT.
It was really just a cute little notebook that I didn’t even know what I’ll be using it for. But because it’s cute, and cheap, I got one anyway. The thing about notebook is that the covers are always so pretty which makes me feel I need to own it myself lol😂
I browsed around a bit more and almost bought a cute pet that I didn’t need, but I managed to stop myself. Meanwhile, my youngest sibling had already picked out 3 items within her budget. This beautiful pink hair clip with rose ornament below was one of the things that she chose. It costs $0.5 which is fine.
She was already holding those 3 cute items when randomly out of nowhere, she said “Oooh, I think there's a Tamagotchi keychain here!” Huh?!? And then she looked around for a moment and found it, but the price was over a dollar.
So I told her, “You’d have to put back everything you already picked if you want to get that keychain. If I were you, I’d rather have 3 cute accessories because what if the Tamagotchi doesn’t even work after you buy it?”
It was no joke to let her make decisions. She was back and forth, can’t even decide. We could actually afford them all–that’s the dangerous thing about this store; the prices are so affordable that could easily make us buy everything impulsively. But I forced her to choose so she wouldn't develop a habit of “we can buy everything" mindset every time we go shopping.
So she ended up buying the three items she had picked out, and then we paid. As for me? Of course I only bought that very cheap notebook and an inexpensive mung bean drink. Meanwhile, my other siblings bought quite a lot of snacks.
While the prices for common snack brands here are pretty similar to those at other convenience stores, their own label “Niceso” snacks are super cheap. You can grab 9 pieces of snacks with such cute packaging and they only cost you $1.
Yup, I’m not kidding; some variants really are THAT CHEAP. But it did get me thinking.. about the amount of packaging waste, you know? I mean, it’s obviously a lot.
But here’s our mini haul LOL. We all had our own budgets, so I could say that we successfully resist the urge to impulse-buy in this store. What about you guys, do you also find it hard to have a limit when it comes to shopping?
