Are you a Spendster? Maybe a definition is in order. A Spendster is someone, who in a moment of weakness buys something they think they really need and realize later they made a bad choice.
Don’t worry. There’s a little Spendster in all but the most frugal of people. Ebenezer Scrooge wasn’t a Spendster. And look at the tough lesson he learned.
I’ll confess to you right now that I’m a Spendster. It’s rare, but once in a while, I buy stuff I just know in my heart I have to have. Hearts are great for pumping blood. As for financial discipline, not so much.
The most recent example is one of those Rock Star video games. I’m a musician and the folks who make the game have great PR teams. There wasn’t a talk show that didn’t feature the anchors having a ball playing the game.
So…I bought one. When I got home, I realized it wouldn’t play on my PlayStation 2. I know, I should have just returned it. Instead, I went out for a PlayStation 3. Spendster 2.0.
I played the game just about every day. For a few weeks. Then, I simply lost interest. My only contact with it now is a duster. Heck, I was already a musician. Why on earth did I need a game to be one? Ah, hindsight. Far cheaper than the game.
I have a friend who did the same thing. In her case, it was a sewing machine. She still buys fabric for it once in a while. Which she piles on top of her unused sewing machine.
Maybe we should trade! I could go from Spendster to Seamster.
Both of us are good savers, the types you see in your office who brown bag it for lunch and make sure to sock away a few bucks every payday to our 401(k)s.
But we had a moment of weakness. We didn’t step back, even for a moment, to ask ourselves, “Self, are you sure you want this? Will you actually be using it a month from now?”
Clever marketers know which buttons to push to unleash the Spendster in all of us. They make the big bucks by getting us to spend the big bucks!
Being a Spendster means you’re human. Most of us are able to put that particular genie back in the bottle. Usually a look at your credit card bill at the end of the month is all the encouragement you need! (In case you’re having trouble doing that, check out my post on shopping with a checklist.
It’s ok to fall off the wagon once in a while. It’s getting back on, and staying on, that is the challenge.
As for the video games and sewing machines, thank goodness for Craigslist! Just about everyone selling something there is a Spendster.
Contributor: LitterMan
It’s ok to fall off the wagon once in a while. It’s getting back on, and staying on, that is the challenge.
I don’t usually have money because I don’t have time for a job. But also because anytime I get any amount of money, I spend it on random things. I’m in major need of consumer control!!!