Reasons We Spend

I was pondering some the dumb purchases I’ve made in my lifetime and what motivated me to make the decision to part with my hard earned dollars.  I had often watched in wonder as other people had expensive “stuff” and wondered why I didn’t have the same.  I guess I began chasing what they had and undertook to increase my income and then proceed to buy more in a way to demonstrate I had the same resources as those people I was admiring.

About 15 years ago I wasn’t getting any closer to this undefined goal and began looking deeper at what the differences between what I was doing and what others were doing.  I then had an epiphany and realized that I was going about it all wrong.  I was perusing conspicuous consumption instead of saving and investing.  The people I was admiring were probably deeply in debt and had little savings.

Changing Habits

The first thing I had to do was to change my attitude.  My issue with money had been a combination of my desire to “keep up with the joneses,” a lack of patience, and power.  Each of these is intertwined but I focused on my lack of patience.  I had to ask myself if I really needed what I wanted to purchase and if it was expensive I forced myself to save for it.  This exercise alone gave me more gratification than the instant gratification from just buying what I wanted.

Related Articles

Here are some related articles on this topic:

• Buyers Remorse
• Top 10 Reasons People Spend More Than They Earn
• Reasons Why You Spend Money
• Richer Than Rockefeller: Putting Wealth In Perspective

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