Venus Cow says, "Money does not make the world go round."
Our culture today is all about the money and what it can buy us but the truth is money cannot buy us happiness.
Venus Cow says, "You have to be happy poor to ever be happy rich."
It would be a really good exercise to sit down at your journal and make a list of every penny you spend or waste on stuff you really don’t need or want. We all have bills and essential things we must take care of in order to survive but many of us have bought into status anxiety, fuelled by ferocious subliminal marketing every way we turn. Buy this sofa and your life will be transformed. Buy this subscription and you will find the man of your dreams. Buy this cream and you will look 10 years younger. Buy this stock and you will become a millionaire. The truth is you cannot buy a life in any department store or shopping mall, only stuff to go in to a life.
Getting yourself into massive unmanageable debt when you cannot afford to pay it back will only cause you stress and unhappiness, leaving you stuck on the treadmill and downward spiral to becoming broke, broken and potentially bankrupt. Stop shopping in order to make yourself feel good. As Venus Cow has said before, trying to fill the big empty void will bleed you dry and never leave you satisfied long term, no matter how much your appetite tells you something different.
Working hard all week to just get by is brutal of course and the moment we have some extra cash we end up thinking about treating ourselves to something nice but the truth is, there is no point in having a designer dress if you have no life and never go anywhere. Looking at celebrity though TV or magazines, the way they live what seems like a dream lifestyle, appears very appealing, but can leave the rest of us feeling envious, jealous and dissatisfied with our lot. What we have to remember and analyse when looking at this dream lifestyle is that they can afford it because they have worked hard to earn it, us on the other hand cannot and will have to pay for it in the long run, one way or the other.
Managing debt can actually be quite empowering and fruitful because in truth we don’t need that much to survive if you take away the marketing machine and the constant bombarding of fake advertising, air brushing and clever misrepresentation. Do some research and find out which are the real money saving deals on offer and which are "bait and switch" promises that amount to nothing more than a big con to get you hooked. Buy one get one free is a good idea on things you use a lot of like toilet paper, washing powder, toothpaste but forget it when it comes to those things you don’t need everyday like chocolate, biscuits, booze. You will just end up eating and drinking more.
Venus Cow says, "Spend one week living on just £50 and see how far you get."
A top tip is to go and do a big shop at your local fresh food market at the end of the day when they are clearing away and pick up fruit and vegetables for a fraction of the normal price, then cook individual meals, freeze them and make that food last all week. You will be amazed at how well you survive and also you will begin to become a savvy shopper, making you richer instead of big business pulling at your purse strings.
If you find yourself buried under mounting debts, are so addicted to shopping you cannot imagine your life without it, you have to get some professional help to manage this problem. If not, sooner or later like anything unsustainable, you will end up paying a very high price and have nothing but a headache to show for it.
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