by Lyn Lumanlan-Elloso
Consumed with Consuming
It has been said that Christmas is the biggest consumer festival time of the year. While Greta Thunberg may be screaming of her lungs out to get her message across and save the earth against climate change, I wonder how she feels about not having a single present in this season. This holiday season is the most expensive and world’s greatest environmental annual disaster each one of us should be responsible for.
This time of the year also leaves everyone buried into debt with the endless swiping of credit cards. Many of you wanted to create magical memories for your loved ones by buying the most expensive gifts and seeing them overawed in fleeting satisfaction. But as the New Year comes in, you realize all the financial stress that this holiday has put you through, worrying how you can make ends meet.
Why are we so consumed with consuming things that we do not need? Is it human nature to be so avaricious that nothing satisfies? Why do we keep accumulating things we do not need and hoard supplies like there was no tomorrow? Have you been in a position where you end up throwing things you cannot use or food you cannot eat because they have expired?
Like a drug or alcoholism, shopping is a fix. Many people get the adrenalin rush and desire to buy! Buy! Buy! These people get the thrill for the hunt. I know of many who would spend hours on shopping websites or marketplaces looking for a good deal for just about anything. The instant they decide to buy, they feel good with a rush of positive emotion. Similar to a drug addict or alcoholic, they suffer intense feelings of guilt after indulging. Yet this feeling is momentary — as they would be looking for the next fix.
The invention of credit cards is a nexus with evil. Credit cards entice humans with a false sense of security, before eventually drowning them in an ocean of debt. Unlike cash payments, you can see the decrease of cash in your wallet or bank account. But using a credit card makes you feel less guilty because you are spending money that you don’t have.
Some resolved to using credit cards with a limit. At first, they are determined to use the card only for emergency situations. However, only a few people have total control and financial discipline to stand by their decision to see it through. It will start with little things, like a birthday treat, a small purchase and then moving onto extravagant stuff like exotic vacations, expensive gadgets and even cars!
I have heard people justify their actions by saying that they will avoid credit card pitfalls and interest by paying off the debt within the thirty-day credit period. They swear that they will leave no outstanding amount lying around for the bank to charge hefty sums. But all this changes when the urge to shop is looming.
The worst part of having a debt is not the repayment. The worst situation is when you end up in a real emergency and have no other way than to swipe your card. You have exhausted your credit limit and start playing with the over the limit game. The next thing you will be facing is bankruptcy proceedings.
We were once drowning in debt and could not surface above. The interests were choking and all our income went to paying off debts. Oh no, this wasn’t due to extravagant shopping. We owed so much on legal fees. My husband and I decided to consolidate all debts and cease using credit cards. We are now debt free for years and would only spend what we can afford. We have stopped dreaming big and instead decided to living simply and comfortably.
So once you have gotten rid of your credit cards, how do you discipline yourself from falling to the same routine of consumption? I for one am not tempted by sale merchandises and I am very careful what actually ends up in my wardrobe. I also do a pretty good job of shopping within my budget and I never purchase something that doesn’t last long or cannot be worn in most of the seasons. My modicum signature clothing are gifts and I never buy anything branded unless it was on a 50-percent discount.
It is ideal to put away money in savings as your emergency fund. Everyone needs a fund to dip into those times of emergency — it helps you cushion the blow when life gets tough. Many people live in a financially demanding lifestyle and this is one of the main reasons why it is difficult for them to save up or stop using credit cards. Changing your lifestyle and getting over the need to spend on fleeting fashion and gadget trends are just two signs of financial maturity.
My last advice is this: there is an incredible power in contentment. Choose simplicity because it means you are contented with less, with a simpler life, rather than always wanting more, always acquiring more, and never being satisfied.
Finding contentment with the stuff you have and with a simpler life can lead to buying less, to buying things you need instead of want, and to only spend on what you can afford.
We are not rich by what we possess but what we can do without.
