(ThyBlackMan.com) When most people purchase an item, the focus is on the monetary expenditure. Very few acknowledge the time sacrificed for a particular purchase. Numerous purchases, such as electronics, homes, cars, clothes, are made with the intention of providing comfort. Though if one analyzes the dynamics of the purchase one will find the item purchased really makes people uncomfortable.
A tactic I have used to deter purchases is calculating how much time a particular purchase will cost me. Despite mainstream media’s disregard for human life, a human’s most valuable asset which by the way is not replaceable is their time. Please, when time permits, calculate how many hours you had to work to purchase the junk sitting around your dwelling collecting dust not being used. You will see valuable, irreplaceable time wasted on the shirts sitting in the closet never to be worn again, or the workout equipment that is now used as a storage unit for other things that will not be used.
I am aware that the American Dream has been stuffed down the throats of the population who has all their thinking done for them. The infamous mortgage exemplifies time versus use. Homeownership is the epitome of the American Dream: backyard bar-be-ques, family dinners, movie night, entertaining guests, and all the other memories that come with owning a home. But how many homeowners actually have time to enjoy their McMansion when they need exorbitant amounts of money for mortgage payments and maintenance? How many hours does one have to work just to pay their mortgage, coupled with the stress and anxiety endured to keep their job in America’s current uncertain job market?
Many “owners” of items reach an unhealthy point at which the role
of ownership switches. The human is no longer the owner and, the item begins to own the owner. The change of ownership title happens very subtly. Once a person’s social status and self-worth are wrapped into the attainment of the material, the switch in ownership is complete. The material is the key to one’s social status the ego does not want to lose. The ego craves praise from peers or envy from enemies, and marketers are very knowledgeable of humans’ need for validation.
Unfortunately for the consumer, the items that provide us as a means for social acceptance and validation are extremely expensive. These items can be attained by a rigorous work schedule, which usually results in the neglect of other aspects of one’s life, like family relationships and one’s own physical and mental health. Americans profess the most important thing in their lives is family but their actions show, the most important thing in their life is what people think of them, willing to risk time, family, and health for social acceptance.
The next time you purchase that expensive cologne, designer shoes, or elegant dinner, please calculate how many hours you had to spend at work to cover the cost. Then ask yourself was this purchase or experience worth the hours endured at work. Hopefully this trick can deter you from making certain purchases.
One might counter my argument by asking “Why do we work, what should I do with the money?” This comment most likely will come from someone who lives paycheck to paycheck, who has had stressful experiences with finances due to their inability to resist purchasing items they do not really need. In no way am I promoting being a miser but we need discipline in our financial lives to reduce the amount of stress we feel when bills are due and bank accounts are on zero.
Staff Writer; Linton Hinds Jr.
Official website; http://Livity.info/