Curb your spending cravings
You want it. You can鈥檛 stop thinking about it. You聽must聽have it.
You keep visiting websites about it. You find it for sale online and your finger hovers over the button. You see it in a store and you almost can鈥檛 tear yourself away from picking it up and holding it in your hands.
Whatever that item is, you crave it. You want it so bad you can almost taste it.聽
However, giving into that craving without planning ahead for it is a sure way to disrupt your plans and your budget and your positive financial progress.
For me, the craving often revolves around books. I want to read the latest bestsellers. I want to take some of my most-loved and most-thought-provoking books and actually annotate the pages, almost as if they were a journal. I want to read and re-read books that I love and share them with friends.
I recognize the craving for what it is. It鈥檚 just a strong desire for something I don鈥檛 really need that, if I鈥檓 not careful, can grow out of control and cause me to toss aside sensible financial principles.
You might crave something else. Maybe it鈥檚 video games. Maybe it鈥檚 clothing. Maybe it鈥檚 fine wines. Maybe it鈥檚 craft beer. Maybe it鈥檚 hunting gear. I know people who crave all of those things.
Whatever that material item is that you crave, it鈥檚 a potential danger to your personal finances if you let it go unchecked. Thankfully, there are several steps you can take to curb that craving.
Don鈥檛 shop recreationally.聽Don鈥檛 go into a store without a specific purchase in mind that you鈥檝e already considered carefully and researched. Pick the item you want, buy it, and get out of there.
Stores are designed from the bottom up to encourage product desire and encourage you to buy things that you shouldn鈥檛. Recreational shopping amounts to begging the stores to take money from you for things you don鈥檛 want. Just avoid it.
Don鈥檛 watch television without a specific program in mind.聽Sure, there鈥檚 ads, but the problem is actually in the programs themselves. Almost every program on television is laden with product placement, from the beverage someone is drinking in a sitcom to the logos all over the place on sports programming. It鈥檚 all there to remind you of products and keep them in your head.
Don鈥檛 web browse without a specific purpose.聽Again, the ads are the obvious part, but there are so many 鈥渟tories,鈥� particularly on news sites, that amount to little more than advertisements for a product. They glow about the latest gadget or the latest food product and make it sound like anyone who鈥檚 anyone must have it. Keep your web browsing to a specific purpose and minimize this junk.
Seek out entertainment that doesn鈥檛 involve material possessions.聽Go to free concerts. Get involved in charities. Read books or watch movies from the library. Host dinner parties for your friends. Practice meditation or prayer. Dig deep into exercise.
All of these hobbies and activities are enjoyed without having to have 鈥渟tuff.鈥� The more you can do without 鈥渟tuff鈥� being a requirement, the less you鈥檒l desire it.
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