Watch What You Spend On – Don’t Get Trapped by The System and Culture

One of my goals this year is to watch what I spend on and see where necessary make cuts and translate that money into little amounts that can grow then eventually invest it, my spending must be purposeful and reasonable.

  

When we try to impress everyone, We need to know that people really don’t care, all they think about is themselves, you will probably say in your mind, how will people see me if I don’t have or do this, we need know that we shouldn’t do things to impress people but only to serve them. To live to the applause of people, that shows how trapped an individual is.

You will buy the latest iPhone and everyone will be like wow!! however, we need to  remember in a few months a new one will be released and the *wow* effect will be no more because the one in your hand is now old. The psychology used by the developers of these things is to keep us wanting and not really needing. 

The culture of spending is so ripe that people have put aside reasoning to tone down on expenditure, a wise man said that the adverts we see are geared to stir up emotions that cause discontentment in one’s life and they create in us the need for the advertised product with the promise that the product will bring about satisfaction. 

The business people thrive on the culture of consumerism and that is how rich they get while at the end of the day you have spent on something you did not need, people make money off us because we don't have proper plans and lack knowledge, our ignorance is their playing ground, the pressure to keep up with the status quo is pushing someone to say I have the best or I had the best. Howver, having the best will only remain in people's memories but have an impact on your financial future.

In December last year, a friend of mine told me of how they were going to cut costs in regards to a wedding he was going to attend. First of all, a digital card would be made and invites sent on WhatsApp using that card. 

I thought that was a brilliant idea in cost cutting. For the wedding, the things like decoration that take a lot of money, they would go for an open heaven with a few accessories here and there. They saved a lot of money instead of paying the usual $1300 which is equivalent 5m Ugx for decoration. Any way their choice was theirs but also smart, they were thinking about the marriage future instead of just a one-day event. 

I think we need to embody such mindsets as much as there is pressure to impress, remember people don’t really care even when the culture will say you can’t have a wedding of less than this or that. People are getting heavily indebted because of wedding costs, Our marriage counselor told us, save for your marriage and not just the wedding, those words made us plan wisely.

These powerful statements from a book I read recently have given me a much stronger resolve to be disciplined and plan my everyday life.

“The consumer culture in the world is part of the system. The world constantly bombards with things you need to spend money on. Products are packaged in attractive ways to appeal to your eyes. Advertisements, both obvious ones and the subtle ones, are constantly pushing you to spend money, enticing you with your own desires.” – Sunday Adelaja

With the culture of consumerism, an individual’s value is driven by material symbols. In this way the system ensures, no matter how much more you keep making you cannot satisfy all you want. 

The desire of the good life is pushing people to the edge because if they don’t attain this or that, they are aren’t a somebody. One of the worst things happening to some, is that they even save but then save to consume and not invest. People spend a whole year thinking of that summer holiday or vacation, they will do whatever it takes to have that money, when it is all spent, they are back to zero. 

We need to calm down and humble ourselves to understand that our lives are not worth what we possess, the richest things we should embody are values, our worth should be in eternal things, when we have such a mindset we won’t fall into the trap and choose to grow steadily but surely. We have messed up our futures because of instant gratification. But all hope is not lost, we can change the course of events by doing the right thing by starting to have a plan and living by it, is it saving, budgeting, knowing your expenses, investing, etc. Check out this article for more.

#Impact #Empower #Transform