海角大神

Feeling good about bad financial decisions

Making unreasonable financial choices, like buying lottery tickets, can give you a rush. But is it worth it?

A few weeks ago, I had to go inside to pay at a gas station. A lady in front of me in line purchased $20 worth of scratch-off lottery tickets and began scratching them immediately, moving off to the side to let me pay. I鈥檓 of the math-oriented belief that lottery tickets are not worth your while, so I was just polite when I asked the lady if she has good luck playing the tickets.

鈥淣ot really,鈥� she said, 鈥渂ut it鈥檚 just so much fun.鈥�

On some level, I understand that reason. The rush that a person gets from an exciting moment is a powerful one, and in this case, it was obvious that the lottery tickets created an exciting moment for that lady.

The problem is that the cost of that exciting moment is quite high. She spent $20 鈥� with a slim chance of recovering some of it 鈥� for a five minute endorphin rush.

That can be fine on a rare occasion, but when you make a routine out of it, you鈥檙e damaging your family鈥檚 financial future.

It鈥檚 also important to note that I鈥檓 not just talking about playing the lottery. The same idea holds true whenever you spend money on something you 诲辞苍鈥檛 need and feel a huge emotional rush from it. It can happen when you buy books, when you go clothes shopping, when you buy a video game, anything.

When you have that type of pleasurable peak tied to any activity, you鈥檙e going to want to repeat it. It is in that repetition of a negative activity that you can find some real financial problems. Even if you can 鈥渁fford鈥� it, you鈥檙e still sacrificing your future for a rush.

I consider it a waste of time to tell people to stop chasing that rush. It feels good. It鈥檚 not inherently harmful, either, except for the costs associated with finding it.

The key, then, is to not walk away from that sense of feeling good. The key is to find that same rush in things that 诲辞苍鈥檛 cost money.

This was a long and arduous process for me. There was a time, not long ago, where my rush came from opening packs of trading cards. It came from buying several books at the bookstore. It came from opening the package of a new gadget.

The rushes I would get from these experiences were powerful. I鈥檇 ride the crest of pleasure from buying the item, but the resulting valley was painful. The new would wear off and I鈥檇 realize that all I was left with was less money.

It was very hard to break that connection, though. In fact, it was probably the single hardest thing I鈥檝e done during my financial recovery.

How did I do it?

Quite simply, I replaced the rushes I got for poor financial choices with rushes I got for choices with no real financial impact. Here are some examples.

I started exercising. Although my exercising routine comes and goes, when I am actively exercising, the rush at the end of an exercise session (once I catch my breath and towel off) is enormous and more than a little addictive. It also has the kicker of not costing too much and it helps with my long-term health.

I built a regular 鈥済ame night鈥� with some competition. Once a week, I play games with a few friends. Those games are competitive (but still friendly) and we all strive to win. Because of that, the gameplay becomes much more of a rush than before. Even better, because we鈥檙e usually playing board games or card games we鈥檝e all played many times before, there鈥檚 almost no cost to this.

I started setting aside time solely for other people. Volunteering for community groups. Playing with my kids. Playing a game with my wife while we chat. Over and over again, I find that when I set aside time solely for others, I feel tremendously good at the end of those periods of time.

I spread out the material peaks. This doesn鈥檛 mean I abandoned the rushes I used to get. I just started spreading them out. Instead of going to the coffee shop each day, I go maybe once every two months. What I鈥檝e found is that the rush of these experiences are much more intense than before because they鈥檙e not something I do regularly. It鈥檚 a lot more fun to do these things because I 诲辞苍鈥檛 do them very often.

Even if the peaks aren鈥檛 as high, the valley is certainly not as low. Many people argue that making such choices is not as fun as the rush they get from buying. For me, honestly, I can鈥檛 really tell at this point. What I can say, though, is that the 鈥渧alley鈥� after the peak is gone. I no longer feel bad or regret what I鈥檝e done. I no longer have a sense that I鈥檝e made a mistake or that I鈥檓 digging a hole I can鈥檛 escape from.

Find a new channel for your emotional highs that 诲辞苍鈥檛 involve money and you鈥檒l soon find yourself in a much better financial place.

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