There ain't no end/Got to get a bigger place so I can move in/More Stuff

[veleda_k]

Normally when I post articles, they're political in nature. World or national news, or commentary on whatever sexual sub-culture has caught a reporter's eye. Today is slightly different. Today is an article on money and finances. It's not very useful. Why am I posting it, then? Because never before has one article summed up what's so very, very

Comments

[veleda_k]

Reading the post, I ignore emotional needs, which I shouldn't. I sometimes go shopping to help lift myself out of depression, because getting myself something that I like makes me happy. And I understand the feeling of the woman quoted who buys $22 dollar lipstick because it makes her feel good about herself. It's important to feel good about ourselves and it's important to have psychological rests.

What really gets me is the author's selfishness and her inability to set limits. She can't put money in her child's college fund because she needs to get her hair done at a fancy salon and buy expensive makeup. I find that morally wrong.

And while there's nothing wrong with treating or refreshing yourself, you need to be able to understand limits. The author claims to needs fancy hair, and expensive makeup, and three dollar coffee, and grapefruit scented hand wipes. That might be all well and good, except she then says that this creates money problems. That's where I get annoyed. I find it difficult to believe that she's honestly psychologically dependent on every one of those things, and if she is, then I don't think it's healthy. But I find it more likely that her insistence that every one of those is a need is more likely the result of a culture that has told us that we should get every last thing that we want, and that there's something wrong with us if we don't.

I'm not sure I'm on board with your logic here.
They aren't saying that they need everything, only the latte - you're talking about indiscriminate want and there is clearly a line demarcating the latte

That bit of logic is indeed unclear and messy. Some of this is hard to express in words.

That was mainly a criticism on how the article is written. It's presents the idea "to save money, don't buy what you don't need (or at least don't buy everything)," but it fails to support that idea because the article never differentiates between emotional needs and passing desires. (The woman who buys expensive lipstick to feel good about herself vs. the daughter's desire for a Hello Kitty toothbrush, which she didn't even want before she saw it.)

And article about emotional and psychological needs in today's world, or about balancing what makes you happy with what you can afford would be interesting and worth reading. However, the way I see it, this article is nothing but the glorification of excess.

I see absolutely nothing wrong with buying things that you want. I just want people to take a little responsibility.