Constantly challenged to buy, to have

[joel123]

It seems pretty hard to me to not be tempted on a regular basis. Don't get me wrong...I'm not anti-money or anti-things. In fact I like both. But its hard not to be swept away by it all. To tease out what I need from what I want, and if I'm successful with that, to not feel I'm an outsider or envious.

[regenbogen]

the things we want. We are being push to want, want, want. To the point that people get a bit confused about the difference between "needs" and "wants". Of course this is very personal.
I think it takes a concious effort to make this "need-want" issue turning to our benefit, and not against us.

[sonic]

I agree with the "needs vs wants" dilemna. Our culture, so consumer-driven, market-based makes it difficult to differentiate between the two.

I love quotes. Anyone got any quotes about "needs" vs "wants"?

[tricky88]

There's nothing wrong with being "tempted" to buy things. I'm tempted non-stop. But I have gotten pretty good at overcoming the temptation. One of the best ways is to figure out how much of your time these purchases are worth.

There is an eye-opening book called Your Money Or Your Life (check the readings page, I believe it's there), that suggests we figure out how many hours we have to spend at our job to pay for the little luxuries. It can be much more than you might think, especially if you also have credit card debt, which means your purchases cost you even more, after interest payments.

If I start thinking that this product "X" is only $100, sure I can afford it. But after taxes, I worked several hours to make that $100. And I'll have to work another several hours to replace that money in my savings. Is product "X" really worth that much of my time?

Usually the answer is no, and I move along. Now I know that that $100 in savings is working to help me NOT have to work for my entire life. It gets me a little closer to the freedom of doing what I want to do, rather than punch a clock 50+ hours per week. The goal of being financially independent can be a big motivator in not throwing away our hard-earned money on "wants."

[redshoes]

I think that most of time we are tempting to buy just to become 'someone else'. Most of the time, we imagine ourself being in power buy owning a very big house, an SUV to win the world from above. How good do we feel when we have friends over our houses and they think we are so fortunate to have a big house with lots of space that we do not need anyways? I think we should not blame the world for what we buy - we are the first to be blamed.

Did you all feel so great by owning something that it makes you be in top of the world?

[z350]

As I had worked in the industry of presenting what you all buy, I feel that a lot what is offerd out there is a fake. You trully think that this revolutionary shampon is going be the cure for your dry curly hair. It is not going to be. You will not have a prettier hair than if you were to use your shampon you used for ever. I am so surprised when I hear that I have done a great job by presenting a product as the sales went up by 60%. A few years ago, I though this is just a job that is well paid. Now all I feel is that I made your life even more miserable.

[paddleon]

I agree with Redshoes on this. I think alot of people do buy and accumulate to impress others and make themselves feel good. I really couldn't afford to do that even if I wished I could. But there have been times when I buy something I wanted and I got a rush out of it, at least for a little while.

[Traveler]

Many times I wondered why some of us feel so good by buying a fancy car, expensive electronics, shoes etc. And why not work just to afford traveling? Well, personally I agree with redshoes, but there are times we buy very small things and still feel good. It is just we want everything now, or the pleasure of immediate consumption. The future is uncertain. I also consider that the “evolving” needs are a response to our desire to live longer and healthier than our predecessors.

[sonic]

Can you tell me more about what you mean by the last sentence in your post Traveler.... "I also consider that the "evolving" needs are a response to our desire to live longer and healthier than our predecessors." I'm interested to understand what you are saying.

[Traveler]

What I meant was that we have more and more needs as our life is longer and longer than our grand grand parents. For example, people spend lots of money on health related services/products. People live longer and therefore under social pressure for a longer time than before. probably that's one reason why counseling is so beneficial for many people.

[chicagirl]

It seems pretty hard to me to not be tempted on a regular basis. Don't get me wrong...I'm not anti-money or anti-things. In fact I like both. But its hard not to be swept away by it all. To tease out what I need from what I want, and if I'm successful with that, to not feel I'm an outsider or envious.

This is alot like the way I feel. It amazes me how easy it is to get swept away. In some ways I'm glad I have a limited income. I have to save for the things that are really important to me. If I had more money I think I would be more likely to buy things that are not really that important.