I need a new watch; the one that I need to
replace has done its part. It’s so old I remember that I drove to Costco
in a K-car to buy it. After 15 or so years, it just isn't keeping time like it
used to. I think a sprocket has worn down and things are slipping
inside. I want a new $800 Swiss Army automatic watch; I'm a 40-something
guy going places, I've earned this.
But who, in this day and age has $800
(+taxes) lying around? I don’t. There are two methods to pay for a
watch like that: credit cards or find the cash. I try not to use credit
cards unless it is the only option (ex. renting cars, buying plane tickets,
reserving hotel rooms, etc.. when I travel). When I starting looking into
how long it would take me to get this watch, I started looking on-line.
When I found the watch I wanted on-line, it cost half the retail price I
saw in store. Great! Now I only need to find $400 (+taxes). Buy today, ships tomorrow, perfect! I still
have the problem of where do I get the money. I budget pretty tight (6%)
for personal spending. In addition to working on the ’52 week Money Challenge’, I'm paying for this watch out of my personal spending. I have
to decide where I want to spend my remaining finds. That means I have to
find the money and that requires me depriving myself of something else; suffering a privation.
Privation is to go without the comforts or
necessities of life. But what are “comforts” or “necessities” of life:
The latest model of 60” television? Leasing cars every 2 years so you
always appear affluent? Choosing to eat out
(or ordering in) because it’s easier than cooking? The list goes on. Too many people today
believe they are entitled to everything they desire and it is available right
now: just
put on the credit card; buy now, pay letter; use our easy in-store credit plan,
get a pay day loan; whatever you need to get it NOW. There was a short period when I
worked at a food bank; I would frequently see people come in to get help and
then climb into a $60,000 truck. There was no sense of control when it
came to what they actually needed versus wanted. You want to know who some of
those people are look down the street on garbage day; they always have
the largest pile at the curb, relative to their household size. You can literally see who's trying to keep up with the Joneses.
Privation isn't necessarily a bad
thing. A healthy diet doesn't mean you have to do without all of the
treats you like to eat; it means doing with less of it. You want to lose
weight? You require a caloric deficit; eat less or exercise more.
How you achieve it is up to you, as long as you do it in a healthy
manner. Studies are even showing that intermittent
fasting, either prolonged daily fasts (longer periods without eating but
consuming the same amount of calories) or shorts periods of severely
constrained caloric intake, may be beneficial for the body. When it comes
to intangibles like trips, self constraint can be even more rewarding. My
wife wants the two of us to go to Las
Vegas Las Vegas
Privation can also serve as a lesson in
delayed gratification for your children.
I have three kids. ‘Peanut’ is an absolute spendthrift; she makes
sure she gets every penny owed and then has to turn around and spend it. She bought herself a new IPod about a year
ago. She couldn't find it one day, she
swore she looked everywhere for it; she thought someone at school had stolen
her IPod and insisted she had to replace it. So she spent everything in her bank account to
get another one (6 months later, during spring cleaning, she found the first
one behind her bed). The second, ‘Pun’kin’,
could care less if she has the newest something; her 3DS broke and she couldn't put game card in it; she didn't care, she still had games downloaded on it she
could play. When the control buttons
finally broke then she decided it was time to look at getting a new 3DS. The third, ‘Puddle’, is a mix of the other two,
he could care less until he sees something he wants then he has to get it and
all the accessories he can buy.
Going old-school with an envelope with my goal written on it and progress after three weeks, including throwing in any spending money left in my pocket the day before payday.
Ultimately, privation
is about self –discipline; being willing yourself to go without one “necessity”
while you work to acquire something you see a need for. As for the old watch, it holds a lot of
memories (I've been half-way around the world with it); maybe it can be saved,
I’ll see if the worn part can be replaced. Maybe I won’t need that new $800
watch just yet after all.
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