To be able to invest and multiply our assets, we need to understand ourselves first and, in particularly, our spending habits.
I will never forget a situation happened almost a year ago with my friends. We were sitting in a very nice and cozy Italian restaurant with 7 friends of mine after the ski day in mountains. All my friends work at good positions in big international companies for quite a long time. It was Sunday night, 24 th of February. When the desserts were served my friends began talking about staying a little bit longer and waiting before midnight. I asked if it was any after ski tradition or so. They replied that there was no specific tradition; they just needed to wait for a midnight, because it was a salary day and exactly at 12 a.m. in the morning their bank account would receive thier monthly wage so they could pay for a dinner….
Continuing the discussion started a week ago about how we are influenced by the society we live in (Friday vs. Monday people) let’s have a look at the consuming habits, problems and our ability to save.
Why do we spend money the way we spend them?
There could be many reasons for that, but let’s look at the most common ones:
1. Parents’ example. A lot comes from the childhood: our parents showed us with their example how to use money. For many people this way to spend money will remain the same till the rest of their lives.
2. Advertising. All advertisements motivate us to buy more and more. More shoes, more lip glosses, expensive cars, unique things and constantly taking a vacation! Have you ever seen advertising with a young man (of 23) going happy on the street in ok clothes, with ok watch, and all girls are getting crazy about him while he is opening the door of his Volvo 850 from 1996. And the thick subtitles below the picture are saying: because he is living the life he can afford to. Maybe good guy, but boring!
3. The movies and articles. The movies about beautiful life clearly tell us that with Volvo 850 owner no fun can happen in the life. You need to have a fast car, man! This guy will never appear at the VIP zone, drink champagne with pretty girls with long legs and duck faces. It does not matter how, but he wants to be a part of this. This is why the Lyxfällen program has 6 seasons on Swedish TV and many more to come.
4. We want to BE somebody. Coming out from the previous point, under the pressure of society and people around us we begin “buy things we don’t need with money we don’t have to impress people we don’t like.” (Will Smith)
5. Spending makes us happier. It is strange, but somehow it does works. The girls who put on new dresses, shoes feel more confident and happy at the date, party or even the job interview. Crazy, right?! But strangely, it works. The shopping process also makes us happier, we feel that we rule and that we deserve and can afford that (even if we don’t).
6. And the last but not the least. Because it is NOW. Yes, it superbly simple to go and buy a new sweater or a new pair of shoes – the short and fast way to get a result and be happy. It does not matter that you are already drowning in the number of shoes in your apartment. I does not matter that every time you open your closet, another pair of shoes falls down and hitting your head, hoping that this hit will cure the part of your brain responsible for consuming behavior.
Take a minute and think:
Why do you spend money and on what?
Do you go shopping when you feel bad and want to be happy?
Have you ever felt guilty afterwards?
Is the overdraft at your bank card account is higher than your next salary?
How to change the bad spending habits and have money left in the end of the month for saving and investing we will discuss in the next article. See you and have a great weekend!
And from Sweden with love…very classic today… ABBA