Just a random blog post. However, before I go further, I would like to thank each and every reader of this blog, it is just over a year since I started blogging and thanks for all the support. It has been a real adventure and I sincerely would like to thank each and every reader of this blog.

Today's post is inspired by an arduous process that every man has to go through in his life, the process of going into a shopping mall with someone of the opposite gender. The dreaded F word (Female). The last few years, I have been put through miles and miles of floor space on malls in two continents and women from all walks of life. Despite their differences, one similarity they have is their approach to shopping. When a man wants a tie from a store, the shopping experience will be pretty straighforward. Get into the mall, walk straight to the tie shop or shop most likely to be selling ties and get a tie. Simple, in fact according to my friend, the bulk of the time spent in the mall will be on finding a proper parking space.

For women on the other hand, it is quite different. Women are much more meticulous. For long, I wondered why they walk aimlessly around malls until it hit me, almost as if it was an epiphany. Women are not just walking aimlessly, they are just making sure that they have exhausted their options. A woman will visit all outlets in a mall that sell clothes and shoes, for some they can even give the global coordinates for a particular section of Truworths. Through her constant visits and prying eyes, she constantly makes judgements on price and quality. Many people say that women are too expensive or sometimes they are just cheap while they shop for bargains. I would like to differ on this, most women are neither cheap nor expensive, they just know how to decide on whether to splurge or go frugal. It is almost a quality/price ratio adjustment that they make in their brains. Once they do this, they will most likely go and sit in a corner coffee shop or juice bar and as they chat about, they will simultaneously decide on what they will buy in the second and last phase of their shopping.

Given that they have decided on their quality/price ratio's they then go with their budgets and shop on whatever it is that they wanted. That is if your frown has not persuaded them to give up on shopping. I must add that I am a pretty good frowner and often convince the opposite sex that the shopping is not worth my wrath. The whole process ensures that the woman leaves the store with little or no post-purchase regret. A warm smile then ensues as she walks out of the mall.

You see it is these qualities that lead me to think that if women took to finance the same way they take to shopping, they would by far be the wealthiest people on earth. The same process is useful. With a fixed or variable float (their budget), they would scour the world of stocks and with their mental arithmetic, they would regularly be making value based decisions on the stocks. Like an investor making price/earning ratio calculations mentally, they then add in other factors like how well would this stock fit in with my portfolio, would it be complimentary or not. We have all had women talk about how they don't have anything that can go with these shoes. The value bit comes in as Warren Buffett is often quoted as saying that "It's far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price" what this means is that value is more important than price. Women understand the value of clothes, that is why they wouldn't blink while buying a 2,000 USD Louis Vuitton bag and at the same time haggle for dollar sandles. If most could adjust this orientation of value towards companies, then they would go far. After the analysis and the shopping, they understand that thay have purchased something good and are happy with it.


For the man on the other hand, although it saves you time. If you spent an extra 10 minutes, you may have noticed a similar shop that sells much better ties at half the price. However, in a nutshell. I am simply saying that women are built with the qualities of a good investor, every woman has a Warren Buffett in her, they simply use it in malls rather than in stock markets.