These days, wallets are tight for just about everybody but a select few. The American recession is starting to make its impact known more and more, and making decisions about where to spend what resources we do have is becoming more and more challenging. This entry is designed to explore some of the thinking behind those choices and is inspired by a conversation that a member of the Postconsumers team recently had with friends and shared with us.
The conversation in question was about, specifically, food, but it could be applied to many, many topics. The Postconsumers staff member in question is a very dedicated organic vegetarian. She was discussing this food choice with longtime friends who are more conventional eaters. In the course of the conversation, those friends stated that a huge part of their aversion to the movement toward organic food was that it was more expensive. Our staff member agreed that was, largely, a drawback of eating organically. She then proceeded to ask the following questions. “What cell phone do you have?” “What cable plan do you have?” “How much money did you spend last month on dvds, music downloads and video games?”
The list went on, but at the end of the conversation, our staff member pointed out that, for most of the people involved in the conversation, they could reduce the amount of money that they spend on “technology luxury items” (yes, she really speaks like that) by less than half and make up the difference between that cost and the increased cost of eating organically. She said, simply, for her, the value of her body and her health was worth more than an extra dozen cable stations or the like.
Now, we’re not saying that the Postconsumers staff member was “right,” because there is not right and wrong in this situation. What’s important to her may not be what’s important to others. However, we think that the logic behind what she’s saying is a philosophy that can, and should, be applied to everybody’s quest to learn to find the satisfaction of enough (be it with a little or a lot). There is a need to think about where your money is being spent and whether that spending aligns with where your values and the things that will make you feel happy really are.
The first step to this is to figure out where exactly your money is going (if you haven’t already). Look at a month and write down (or use a spreadsheet if you love Excel like we love Excel) exactly what you spend your money on. We actually mean itemize it! Then, at the end of the month, look at those things that you spent your money on and mark whether they truly reflect not only what makes you happy but what falls in line with the person you want to be and the lifestyle that you want to live.
Chances are, for almost everybody out there, there will be a discrepancy between what you purchased and what would really make you feel satisfied. That’s okay! Knowing is half the battle, and now you can begin to make choices about what not to spend as much on and where to spend that money instead. Who knows? You may even find yourself spending more money on organic food … and that would make one Postconsumers staffer very, very happy!
What’s the point here? We all have less money these days (or at least it seems like it), but we’re so wrapped up in habits of where we spend that money that we haven’t paused to take time to think about whether where we’re spending it is the best place to spend it. You’ll be doing yourself a favor if you take the time to do that!
Have an idea on a way to evaluate if what you’re spending on is what you should be spending on? Friend us on Facebook and tell us about it!
