Articles/Reviews > More Articles > Spending is spending - you can go broke saving a fortune
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Spending is spending - you can go broke saving a fortune Over the last few weeks I have been doing a series on attitudes about money, where these attitudes (beliefs) come from and how those beliefs influence how you handle money.Your beliefs about money and everything else have been formed in four ways. 1) From the things you hear. 2) From the things you see. 3) From the individual experiences in your lives and 4) From your parents, culture, society, media, teachers, and the advertising and lending industries.
Clever marketing has changed our perception of reality. We say statements such as “I bought a pair of shoes which were half price for so I saved $50.00. Your belief (I saved $50.00) would have been formed from the advertising you or your parents have been exposes to over the years.
I have been thinking back to a holiday I once took to Singapore, Bangkok, Hong Kong and Manila many years ago.
When I arrived in Singapore I was overwhelmed by how cheap things were, especially electrical goods, so I went a bit crazy spending money thinking I was saving money.
 At the end of the day I was comparing purchases with others on our tour. One of the guys on the tour said to me something that I will never forget – “Singapore is the only place in the world that you can go broke saving” money”. His comment really made me think and reassess what I was doing. I thought – he is right, if I spend more than I have then I am going to end up broke. I won’t really be saving because how can I be saving if that will make me broke.
One of the dictionary descriptions of the word “save” is to accumulate money and one of the dictionary descriptions of the word “spend” is to pay money. Our thinking (our belief system) is lying to us if we think we can save money while spending money as these two words mean the opposite of each other.
In this day and age I know this may seem a bit pedantic (too concerned with what are thought to be correct rules and details for example in language). I am prepared to be thought of someone who is a pedantic because of the sad situations I have seen as a budget advisor for people who have got themselves into debt thinking they were saving money by spending it.
Our thinking and our speech need to be transformed. We need to speak the truth out loud. Instead of saying I saved $50.00 by buying my shoes on special, say I spent $50.00 less than the original price by buying my shoes on special. You can not save money when you spend money. What you are doing when you buy something that is reduced is spending less than if you purchased it at full price. Silbo Systems, conduct money lessons for parents together with their children in small groups. For information contact us.She is also available to speak with community groups and give tips on how to raise financially savvy kids. |
