Last week I wrote about the current prices on the store shelves. I guess that is to say the items that are making it to the shelves. When talking to others and reading up on the rising cost of everything it seems the problem stems literally from the ground up. Feed for animals is higher, equipment for farming is higher, medicines and fertilizer is higher, and the problem builds from there.
Yesterday I left the store with three bags that cost us a whapping $73 dollars. As I was driving home trying to break down the cost of what I had purchased, I remembered when Clay and I had a house full of hungry little boys who ate us out of house and home. And aside from their ravenous appetites they were active and on the go, costing us every time we turned around.
Our plan back in the day was to pay our bills at the beginning of each month and then divide up the remaining cash into four envelopes with marked dates. We could only spend that cash within that week and when it was gone it was stretch time. If we had money left over after the four envelopes we could splurge. That seldom happened, but this process did make a difference.
The thought of doing this now is laughable. We have these little things called debit cards we just swipe. Can't stick that in an envelope. And if the funds might be getting low we have plenty of other plastic where that came from.
We can order makeup to be sent to us each month for a very low price so as not to go purchase this. We can order clothes to be hand selected for us for a low price so we do not have to go shopping. We can even hand select our groceries sitting at home in our office and simply go up to the store and have them load it into the back of our vehicle.
We can and do all of these things and still continue to spend by stopping by to look at those shoes on sale, or by browsing in the makeup area while our prescription is being filled. We always need that carton of almond milk or eggs for the Grands coming over. The truth of the matter is as I have found lately really looking at how we are spending is that we have become kind of programed to buy. And it seems the more times get tough the more we feel we need to go and buy for security.
I guess the quick reminder of the toilet paper craze will explain this best. The news has reported that even with these soaring prices spending in America is at an all-time high. People are buying more than ever even with stretched budgets and bank accounts. The lady doing my nails one day told me it was FOMO. This means Fear of Missing Out. It seems to be a real thing that has effected the psychology of our country's thought process.
She went on to explain to me that this is used when buying and selling stocks. I found this funny when compared to toilet paper, but it seems to be the same principle. We tend to buy more to plan to save more. Makes no sense, but we are doing it. The best way to change a health plan in your life is to begin writing down what you eat and when you exercise. This process makes reality black and white. Doing this with our spending would likely be an eye opener for us all. But are we too busy working and doing and buying to stop and find this out?
