Money Saving Talk

I sometimes fall into this trap. I’m tired from work and I decide to drop by the grocery to pick up a few things. That’s the perfect recipe for wanton spending.

When we’re hungry and tired, our bodies and minds are at their weakest. We are more prone to temptation specially because an urgent need must be met – namely to satisfy our cravings.

First, you’ll see the nice and bright packaging with a picture of a scrumptious treat. You’ll then think about your experience with that treat and then proceed to make a quick and subliminal calculation with the following formula:

I’m Hungry + Ooh I love this Treat = I Need to Buy This

From there it goes down.

Originally, you planned to spend $100 for a weeks supply of food. You get the essentials, the toiletry and then those thoughts come into play. Pretty soon you’ll be digging into your bank account for more or worse – use your credit card.

With unemployment figures at an all time high, many people are forced to rely on their money wits to keep their families afloat. Even if you still have your job, it would be prudent if you knew how to save a dollar or two when you go to the grocery.

While it may sound obvious to most people who are reading this, the definition of the word “need” seems to have been warped by marketing and mass media. What you need to do first of all is to redefine the word itself.

What qualifies as “needs”?

A quick and somewhat brazen answer is, “it keeps you alive”. Defining the things that you don’t need could also help, “You don’t need things which you can be alive without.” I know it’s hard to change your mindset after years and years of conditioning. It takes a certain strength and a certain personal control to be able to think beyond how you normally would.

The thing is, mass media has been a very powerful source of conditioning for our minds. We’ve been fed with ideas that we need rice crispies, power bars, cereals and countless other so called nutritional supplements that we actually think that we are going to be sick if we don’t buy them.

Don’t fall into that trap.

Do a little more research. You could find a lot of the nutrition that you need in the basics like bread, rice, fruits, vegetables and meats. I’ll say it again, you don’t need a specially formulated concoction to give you Vitamin E!