If you are trying to impress, are they indeed being impressed??
By Dr. Moshe Zloof
Today’s fast life style of competition propels some to flaunt their "success" through material acquisitions. Instead of appropriating a portion of their income to savings and careful investing, they spend it frivolously on various consumer products like luxury cars (Mercedes, BMW), expensive vacations, or designer clothes, just to impress their friends, neighbors, and family members. In doing so, they are overlooking many factors that should be carefully examined:·
- The friends, who can guess at their income bracket, will not only be unimpressed, but they may resent them and view them in a negative light as non-responsible people. · In no way will these same friends help them financially, should that need occur sometime in the future--not after watching them squandering money irresponsibly. ·
- The burden of the excessive monthly payments can take a psychological toll on their families, especially in time of recession when one is constantly worried about losing his/ her job. In many cases family members feel drained, develop severe anxieties, and new marital problems
Advice:
Unless you are independently wealthy, or the price of a luxurious life style does not affect your financial status, try to restrain yourself from trying to impress others except yourself.
First strive to achieve solid financial security and then financial independence.
Once that is accomplished then you have the luxury to spend on your dream purchases. ·
Also, try to ignore what the marketing machinery of our society is trying to instill in us, namely the monthly payment mentality: “The car costs only $199.00 a month....the TV costs $89.00 a month;” figure out if you can afford the true price of the product, often hidden by the salesperson.
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