Great blog post by Mr. Money Mustache. His best insights are related to unconscious habits of our total life: getting up, having breakfast, working all day, shopping at the same stores, eating out, watching tv, etc. etc. This is the perfect set up for consumerism addiction–buying impulsively–because there is no time to think. Thinking is consumerism’s worst nightmare. Advertising industry success is keeping you from thinking, from asking questions and from exercising your common sense.
Here is a perfect example: Our local Palm Springs newspaper reported an uptick of new car purchases, relating to the economic recovery. 1300 new cars were sold in March! That is a lot of cars for our area. So I read the article to find out what was going on to cause this sudden demand. Sadly, its the same old story. They interviewed a young couple who just had a new baby. You know where this is going, they HAD to get a new car and this is what the buyer said: “It was an impulse…” IMPULSE! I KID YOU NOT! Those folks will be getting up, having breakfast, working all day, spending time with their family and then make a MAJOR purchase, only second to a house, costing tens of thousands, on impulse!
I am truly amazed how easily people spend their hard earned dollars over impulse buying. You might say that you won’t do this on a major purchase, but think about all of those expensive and shiny electronic gadgets, new clothes, cosmetics. Did you know that the expensive $70 per once lotion has the same ingredients as those costing a few dollars per ounce? Look at the ingredients.
Multiply this over millions and millions of Americans. It’s truly sad. I personally don’t know how people can spend every dime they make, when the solution is straight forward. Ask yourself this question on each purchase: “Do I really need this item?” 99% of the time, you will forget about the item the next day and save yourself some bucks. It works for us and will probably work for you too.
Dan and I are frugal, but unlike Mr. Money Mustache, we had to work till our sixties. I never bought a new car till last year. It is a Leaf, the electric car, to save on power bills and not pollute the environment. Yes, we are comfortable now, but it required working a full career till our sixties because we did not desire to live as sparse a life as Mr. Money Mustache lives and we did not start saving till our late 30s.
Bottom Line: When good economic times return, do not return to your usual spending habits, keep your frugal habits through good times too.