So how many times have we said at one point or the other?
This is the last bit I am taking from a reserved amount of money to shop or spend otherwise
I will fast (in other words Starve) this week to get …..
I cant go out to parties, clubs, pubs or wherever it is we go to hang with our buddies this month because I have just bought…….
I wont pay for my Blackberry service this month so that I can buy….
And when we get whatever it is we want and find ourselves in uncomfortable situations or regret what we spent the money on, we say to ourselves
Next time I would……………..(fill in the blank mr./missy, u know what you tell yourself)
However, we know since we cultivated this habit the cycle hasn’t stopped. Some of us may have successfully reduced our impulse to get what we want at any cost, some others still struggling to curtail the habit and the rest, well they just wont stop.
Being a victim of this habit, my efforts to convert myself so far has been futile, well until recently. I have read books and articles from newspapers to magazines on how to rein in from being an impulsive shopper. I have different kinds of budgets, I can even advise my fellow impulsive spenders on how to limit this habit and save or invest (that’s how much of a guru I am on this subject). This is where a ‘follow your own advice’ speech to me would be appropriate.
Whatever the case, even if someone opens up my brain and dumps the smartest ideas on how I can better spend my money, if I don’t make a continuous effort to be more prudent with my spending decisions, I may end up where or doing what I won’t like to fix the consequences of my bad habit.
When I was in school I would spend and spend because I knew if I called my mum to cry about how broke I was she’ll reimburse me asap. I don’t know why but I believe everybody has to find their way of learning and teaching themselves to be who they want to be.
We would definitely need guidance along the way but in the end it’s still up to us to be our own teacher. I also don’t believe in doing things in one way (a one size fits all method….nah…). So to me, it’s ok for people to do ‘try and errors’ till they find out what best works for them. This does not mean practicing try and error for the rest of our lives. We should have some sort of plan where after a certain period; we seek more help from resourceful people so we break the cycles in our lives.
My days of pocket money are over and now that I am working and making my own money, for the past two months, I have been paying off debts. And I still have one month to go (thank God). At least after this I can enjoy my salary for the first time. I have already laid out my spending plan for the next couple of months since there are some things I want to get own my own. If I spend out of my means I would have to say bye bye to my plans.
But these are things I really want so I am making a huge effort to ‘stick with the script’. I am painfully aware about how it is to spend my own money anyhow. When I feel I am slipping back to old habits remind myself of all my past uncomfortable states. Every month I list all what I know I need for the next month and make a budget (and yes I leave reasonable room for miscellaneousJ). When I am making purchases and an item is not on the list I look away fast. I remember walking through the market sometime ago and looking straight ahead just so I dint see something I would have been drawn to purchase (one of my many tactics and it works a lot for me).
So considering the fact that I don’t have the time or the money to enrol in a shopaholic anonymous program I am counselling myself. My coaches are my past experiences and my present situation. So I am well aware that if I fail at this, I suffer the repercussions alone and have myself to blame.
I am AOI and I am work in progress
Signed: AOI
AOI is a guest blogger on dangel eyez and we love her "thursday, thursday" posts. :D
