They say it makes the world go ‘round. There have been at least 68 songs written about money according to the great Google. We love it. We hate it. We want it. We shun it.
There are folks that claim that if our idea of money is that it is evil and we want to stay away from evil; we will never have it. Because subconsciously we think it is bad or we don’t deserve it. Others tout we emulate our parents idea of what money is and is not. Still others claim you can essentially wish your way to financial success.
I am not sure that any of those ideas apply. What I am certain of is that we are bombarded with advertisements everywhere. We buy a car and advertise the brand for the manufacturer (in the form of the hood ornament). We WANT that Mercedes, Cadillac, Range Rover, Tesla or whatever the trending vehicle is right now. We pay an obscene amount of money to wear a T-Shirt from a “designer brand” with their name on it! …to what end?
A few years ago I heard or read that we are exposed to somewhere in the neighborhood of 3,000 advertisements per day. After a quick internet search I found a CBS News article that states we are exposed to 5,000 ads per day compared to about 500 back in the 1970s.
What am I driving at you may ask? I am asking do you really need that $700 vacuum? Or that $400 blow dryer? Wait, wait. How about that $80 diffuser? Yes it would be great to have a robot vacuum but to spend $700 on a vacuum where I still need to put forth the effort myself? Blah. There are perfectly fine—even good blow dryers for fifty bucks. Hell, I was a hair stylist and none of us used such an expensive contraption. Want to make your place smell like lavender? Get a small dish and a candle. Less that that; get a small terra cotta container and hang it in a window where the sun shines.
Sure I like nice things. Some of the things I like are expensive. But I don’t buy them because they are the latest greatest gadget or thing to prove how great or trendy I am. (I am so not trendy.) I buy things because I LIKE them. I try my damndest to avoid looking at ads other than to get a deal or to make fun of them in a blog post.
When you want something that is out of your budget or something that is seemingly ubiquitous, ask yourself if you want it “because everyone has one” (or is doing it) or because you are choosing it for you…because it suits your needs.
Ried Rants 