Our modern day culture thrives on The Want over The Need.
What do you need? Very few things in all reality: shelter, clothing, food, love and understanding. This list doesn’t include 5 versions of ESPN, 600 thread count sheets or the latest gadgets. Not that those things are bad, but they become toxic when the desire for such things brings us to the point of living beyond our means.
Things really get distorted when it comes to how you spend your time and making things convenient. Madison Avenue is genius in convincing us we need certain luxuries, a washer/dryer combo that cleans and dry’s our clothes in 14 minutes or a sports car that goes from 0 – 85 in 6 seconds. Yes, that may be nice, but certainly not a need.
Why Do We Want So Much?
- Keeping up with the Jones’ – Sometime we spend money just to keep up with those around us.
- Avoiding the truth – It is easier to be oblivious to mounting debt or overspending habits than to deal with the change needed in your life when reality hits. Fear keeps us form seeking truth.
- Counting the chickens before they hatch – We are often overly optimistic about incoming money and start spending before it is received.
- Plastic doesn’t feel like real money – It is much harder to part with cash than the second credit card swipe at the cash register. Watching cold hard cash disappear is much more difficult.
- Immediate gratification – Driving straight back to convenience. We create you to be frugal with your time with the drive-thru Starbucks and “Instant Credit “options. We expect to get what we want when we want it.
- Lifestyle maintenance – Typically your expenses will increase alongside of your income. This impedes your ability to save.
If you deal with these motivations and keep them in check, you have a chance to beat the game and start to rack up some dollars in your savings accounts. The first step is to define what you really need, which will include some, but not all of your wants. Once you’ve done this, every time you are about to buy something, ask yourself “Do I really need it?” Or replace the word “need” with “want” in buying situations to see how you feel. “I need new sofa pillows.” vs. “I want new sofa pillows.”
If you still have trouble, think about tomorrow. Retirement? College savings for the kids? These things must be dealt with and the time to do something about it is now.
It is warfare out there. Marketers are taught that success comes from selling wants, not needs.
So be strong and keep asking, “Doo I really need it?”. It will get easier and easier to say no.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
I found myself in the avoid the truth category. This article really hits the points.
It’s easy to do, and so a lot of us find ourselves in these categories at some point. Thanks for your honesty–that’ll really help you moving forward!
I, too, find myself in the avoid the truth category… but, what is worse, I also could fit into a couple of the other categories as well…”counting the chickens before they hatch” and “immediate gratification” are also categories that I can relate too. Today I find myself very discouraged by all of this and am slowly losing my grip on how to manage my life anymore.
I will be so out of money soon that I often wonder how I got to this point…66 years old and I am in worse shape than I was when I first started out. I am ashamed….
I get paid once a month, I am a veteran on a military disability pension. I used to run thru my money, by the time I finished paying the bills, if I could pay them all, and IF I had anything left over, that went for supplies and food for my cats for the month. I came last in the equation, Always, no later than the 8th of the month, I would be broke! Flat broke, with not two pennies to rub together.
I received an increase in my monthly pay so that helped some but all of a sudden, as if a light went on insidemy head, and I saw my bank balance in a different light, I actually felt jealous about it. As if, anyone dare touch or mess with it there’d be hell to pay, and when, I took advantage of my bank’s saving’s program where they take and round your purchases up and then the difference is placed in an actual savings account for me. I already have over $30 in it and I have not had to do a thing! They offer another program where any purchase made using the debit/credit card those purchases are also credited to you and I have close to $24 there and the bank also put those savings in a separate account so I can see the growth. Now, it is as if when, I see the growth taking place it is like seeing the first seeds poke their heads out of the ground in the springtime. Remember how it feels to look everyday to see if those little shoots have broken soil yet? Then as it grows you become more and more loath to spend it just as if it were your prize Rose and you just want to admire the beauty rather than cut it off from the rest of the plant!
My money now is just like that prize Rose, I want to watch it grow, so when the time comes to use it for something worthwhile or an emregency, it will be there and I will not have to worry about “where will it come from, because I will already have provided for myself! Some man the other day thought I was a “poor woman” because I said I did not need the financial support of a male person in my life to keep me secure!
My GOD keeps me secure!
Maureen