Page 17 - Workbook1E

PRINCIPLES OF FINANCIAL FREEDOM
You often end up making unplanned purchases and spending more than you can afford. The spending habits of many people have little to do with needs. It often falls into one of two categories:
Therapeutic Shopping or Consumerism
Often people use shopping as therapy to relieve stress, boredom, loneliness, or depression. Shopping makes them feel better for a time, but the feeling rarely lasts. Buying things doesn’t help the real problem: a cute pair of shoes won’t improve a bad relationship. It causes new problems if you spend money you can’t afford—on things you don’t need—sending you deeper in debt.
Consumerism is a preoccupation with obtaining
things. The conditioning process begins early in life. Our culture promotes the habit of seeing, wanting, and buying. Young children watch television commercials designed to teach them happiness is having a new toy. Teenagers see friends wearing designer clothes and believe that’s the only way to be accepted.
Relentless advertising and social pressures can help put you into debt. If you’re not careful, you can get trapped in the see-want-buy cycle. Credit cards make it easier and more dangerous by helping you get caught in the see-want-BORROW-and buy cycle, leading to more debt.
“The art of living easily as to money is to pitch your scale of living one degree below your means.”
~ Sir Henry Taylor
Evaluate Your Spending Habits
Check “YES” or “NO” for each of the following questions:
YES NO
1. In the past month, have you gone shopping at a mall or store without planning to buy a specific item?
2. Have you lost interest in or thrown away something you purchased during the past six months?
3. Do you keep an outstanding balance on one or more credit cards?
4. In the past month, have you bought anything because you saw someone else with it?
5. Have you gone grocery shopping in the last month without bringing a list of things you needed?
6. Does buying something for yourself usually make you feel good?
7. In the past year, have you taken money from a savings account to buy something?
8. Does comparing yourself with others make you feel unhappy about your home, car, clothes, computer, etc.?
9. In the past six months, have you ever just paid the minimum amount due on one or more credit cards?
10. When you go shopping, do you feel better when you spend more?
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