I was thinking about what we call the “Keeping up with the Joneses” disease — it is this idea of being afflicted with this sick, compulsive need to keep up with this fictional family (or couple) that we all know who just seems to have it all on a shoestring.
It’s exhausting, financially draining and more of everything, never seems to be enough!
The disease is not quite so simple as wanting to keep up with the family. I think it could actually come in two strains that I’ve identified so far:
- Upgrade-itis
- Accessory-itis
We are all Jonesing for a fix when we are affected with Upgrade-itis or Accessory-itis.
The strains are similar, and by no means exclusive, but they are all dormant, and present in each and every one of us.
Upgrade-itis
When you buy something new, suddenly everything seems old in comparison, doesn’t it?
You buy a new pair of shoes, and suddenly your wardrobe is the pits.
Picture this:
Your kitchen taps finally break, and you’ve been cursing at their cheap quality and make for YEARS!
When you head to Home Depot to buy a new set, you decide to go ALL OUT this time.
You buy a set of taps that are made to last forever, from a well known brand name and pick a very modern, sleek style that doesn’t really go with your kitchen as a whole, but are your dream set of taps.
You spend a whopping $350 on them, and but are satisfied because they won’t break again. That’ll teach ‘em!
When you get home to install it, you do a fabulous job. It looks like a professional could have waltzed in and charged you an arm and a leg for the job.
Everyone who pops in your door, makes a gushing comment about your taps..
“Wow! They’re so cute.”“I LOVE that new, sleek modern look”
…but then the comments (either in your head, or spoken out loud to others) morph into…
“So, are you just going to stop there?”“What else are you going to do in this kitchen?”
“You need to revamp this whole place because you spend so much time in here!!”
And pretty soon, the whole kitchen looks shabby in comparison to those sexy new taps.
Your peeling wallpaper, grungy backsplash.. or no backsplash at all, melamine countertops when you are lusting for granite… and so on.
Pretty soon, you’re replacing the sink, updating the kitchen towels, putting in a new backsplash, changing the fronts on all of your cupboards including the handles.. and $10,000 later, you’re done.
Finally.
FINALLY! A brand new looking, gorgeous kitchen that could have stepped out of House & Home.
.. But .. wait. You’re doing dishes one day, and you look out into the living room.
“Has that couch from Aunt Mae been there forever?
Wow, it looks so old.
And kind of ugly, I won’t lie. This kitchen is so cute, but.. it looks like it just doesn’t fit with the rest of the home.
It all looks so…… outdated. People are going to think it’s weird.“
You see where I’m going with this.
$100,000 over 5 years later, and you’ve updated the entire home. All for the want of some sexy new taps.
This may be an extreme example to you, but it happens all the time. Hell, it happened to my brother! LOL
He bought a brand new half a million dollar home, and the FIRST thing they change, are the brand new cupboards in the kitchen because.. get this.. “They’re too white“.
$200,000 later, he has a newer, sexier kitchen, a completely renovated basement and brand new furniture in every room of the house.
Accessory-itis
This second strain is just as innocent and unassuming. You start a new hobby and before you know it, you don’t realize how much you’ve spent until you’re totting up the numbers..
Stacking Pennies did a post on something similar to this, where she bought a book for $12.98 and it has since costed her thousands of dollars in equipment.
I am very, VERY guilty of this one. Whenever I buy something, I
used togo crazy when I’m excited.Macbook? Hello new case and cover for the keyboard.
iPod? Need new headphones.
Biking as a hobby? I need good biking shorts with a padded bum in a bib style, plus leg coolers from De Soto (they really work) to stop me from developing a biker’s tan and so on.
It starts off so innocently, and then snowballs into “I’ve gotta have……. too!“
The 5-step prescription to inoculate against Jonesing…
5 simple questions are what I ask myself:
- Do I really need or want it?
- Why?
- Do I have anything at home that could do just as good for now and work as a substitute?
- Is the quality & the use I’m thinking for it, worth the pricetag?
- Do I have to, or could I be using the money for a more pressing need?
I don’t even make it past #2 sometimes.
By the time I hit “Why”… sometimes I’m totally stumped as to why I’d need yet another hard drive (for example).
I don’t know what I’d use it for, even though I want it badly because the price is $125 instead of the original $180 tag from a couple of months ago.
And it takes some practice, but in the end, it filters out 90% of my purchases, and the 10% are golden ones.
It isn’t foolproof (I’m the fool here), but it stops any impulse purchases.
I tried to even avoid buying the item, and coming back in 3 days or a week if I couldn’t sleep without seeing it in my head.
ABSOLUTE TORTURE!
But that didn’t work, because I’d get frustrated having to get into a car, or on the bus and go back an hour and a half just to pick up the item, when I could have cross-examined myself with the 5-step procedure above and either picked it up, or stopped torturing myself about it forever.
Then, I’d feel even stupider for having waste 2 bus tickets just to get to the store again, when I could have just bought it the week ago in one fell swoop.
ONE FB GIVEAWAY THIS MONTH!
- Major Holiday Busters Part 1
- The Idiot is now going to Mexico for an extended vacation
- Shopping strategies to save money, time and space in your wardrobe!
- The Idiot Strikes Thrice
- Why do you rent instead of paying for a home?
