A couple of days ago, on my commute to work, an accident almost happened right in front of my eyes. I slammed on my brakes and craned my neck to see why the cars in front of me had stopped. What I saw still raises my temper today. There, crossing the street ever so nonchalantly was this woman who barely looked at the three lanes of traffic she had frozen in place. She did not scurry faster nor did she address all the courteous drivers who decided that even though she was preventing them from getting to where they wanted to go to on time, that her life was worth sparing.
Entitlement
One of the main reasons we do what we want within our sphere of influence is because we feel that we deserve certain things in life. We deserve a raise. We deserve a bonus. We deserve material things to buy with our deserved bonuses and raises. I think this sense of entitlement is actually one of the reasons why impulse spending occurs.
Acting without thought
We quickly rationalize the purchase of some material thing and within a split second, it is in our hands. Most of the time, people will say that they bought things simply because they wanted them. This is a statement that could very well be true. But the want is usually rooted in some sense of entitlement. For example, person A sees person B with the latest iPhone 3GS. Person A decides that they want one too even though they have a cell phone already and goes to the store and buys an iPhone. Why did person A get an upgrade? I believe that they deemed themselves worthy of having this cool device and as such they deserved it.
Losing money
Because of this sense of entitlement, I myself have found that I rationalize some of my extraneous expenditures based on my supposed deservedness. I tell myself that I can eat out once in a while because I have worked hard the past week and need a little treat. But little treats add up and saving money becomes impossible. Use Mint.com to really see how much your little personal treats really are costing every month. Look at the total sum. You might be surprised to see how much you really think you deserve.
Still feeling special?
To make matters worse, I know that the number I see on the pie chart could have really been a lot more useful if I had used it with just a little bit more wisdom. Maybe an extra share of AAPL, few more bucks in the emergency fund, or even help someone out. Now that the impulse is gone and I have more time to reflect:
What the heck made me think that I’m that special?
(Photo: stopdown)
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