The Effects of Consumerism on Your Life:

Maybe a better title this posting would be, "The Effects of Advertising on Your Budget." Over the memorial weekend I was talking to a friend who has been studying up on non-western ways (subjects like Buddism) as a means of simplyfying his life. He explained to me that for many years he was caught up in having "lots of things." He liked to own the latest gadgets. He owned a big home in a nice area, drove a new car, went on great vacations, and enjoyed many things others cannot because he made "really good money." Despite his monetary success, he felt like something was lacking in his life; all these "things" didn't seem to make him feel like he had really "made it" and he discovered that his happiness was not tied to the material things he enjoyed accumulating. With all that said, I turned the topic to consumerism and that is what this posting is about. I would like to remind my SMTM! students, and other readers, that advertisments and salespeople (as dedicated and needful as anyone) are in business to take away your hard earned money. Everyone wants to convince us that we need a newer cell phone (because the one we have is so inadequate - LOL), that we need to see a movie the first week it comes out, and that all good parents take their children to McDonalds to eat weekly. Dollar stores are popping up on every corner, as are payday lenders, and storage facilities! Why? Because they are GREAT businesses that feast on our percieved needs. We buy more stuff (that we often really DON'T need), then we need more money to cover our debts and bills, and lastly we need a place to store all the stuff because we ran out of room to show it off. We have stores for spending, for lending, and then for storing...that's America! A student from Caracus, Venezuela once told me, "Coach, only in America can someone go to a store (like PetsSmart) where everything in it is for animals!" I concur - we have everything we need, and much that we don't. I wonder how many people "think" they can't budget because they "think" they don't make enough money? I want you to consider that advertising affects each of us, more than we know, every day of lives. TV ads and big signs tell us, "You earned the right to drink a $3.75 latte!" The first fix is simple: Take a moment to ponder over what you can do to keep more of your money working for you, than for someone else. Go to David Bachs Latte Facotr site and see how much all your extras add up to - then let the online calclautor show you how much you spend on your extras in a year...and how much it would be worth to you to set that money aside by investing it. This is your challenge - if you don't know how much money you waste, find out! One of my students was shocked to discover that his energy drink fix was going to cost him about $1200 a year. Before you question me, "No, that is not a typo." Yes, advertisers pay big money to hire focus groups (an ordinary group of poeple) who tell the company marketing directors what they need to do to get people to buy their product, even when they know people don't need "a new phone." Why do you think celebrities get all those freebies? Exactly! They get photographed with the newest Coach handbag and then every teenager wants one. Yep, that's how it all begins. Consumerism at it's finest. Personally I prefer to make my own choices, and save the rest of my hard earned money for myself; retiring at 52 sounds like a good plan to me. Do you have a plan for the rest of your life?