Like a baby when you cried, your mother or father would come running to take care of you. As a child, when you cried, your parents would hug you or talk to you until you stopped. When you were a teenager, when you wanted something, you talked very kindly and sweetly to your parents to get it. Throughout your life, you may have received instant gratification, so as an adult, it’s natural for you to believe you should continue to receive this treatment. Unfortunately, this attitude affects every aspect of your life, including your spending habits.
It can be hard to resist the lure of America’s instant gratification culture, which I call the “instant free factor.” Advertisers lead consumers to believe that everything is instantly available by creating instant cereals, instant coffee, instant meals, instant messaging, instant credit card approval, and online shopping. I have labeled this behavior as the “instant gratification syndrome” or “instant gratification syndrome”. To determine if you are a victim of “free instant syndrome” ask yourself the following questions:
1. If you see an item online or in the store, do you buy it right away?
2. Do you buy an item even if you don’t need it or the item doesn’t fit you?
3. Do you buy an item with your credit card even though you know you don’t have the money to pay the bill when it arrives?
4. Do you get angry or defensive when someone questions your bad spending habits?
5. Do you rationalize your bad spending habits by saying things like “I work hard, I deserve it”, “Why can’t I have it?”, “You’re not my father, I can buy whatever I want”, “I just had to have it “, “I don’t have to answer you”, “I want it now”, or “I can buy it with my credit card”?
6. Is your house full of unused items you bought or items that still have tags on them?
7. Do you go shopping with money already set aside to pay a bill?
8. Do you hide items you have purchased from your spouse, children or partner?
9. Do you buy new clothes every time you go to an event or meeting?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, you are a victim of the “free instant syndrome”. Here are 6 ways to avoid “Instant Free Syndrome”:
1. Make debt-free your ultimate goal
2. Stop listening to instant gratification messages.
3. Live your life as an investor
4. Surround yourself with people who are investors or who are in a better economic situation
5. Enjoy the little things in life
6. Stop being depressed
This behavior is difficult to change, but it can be changed. Don’t buy on impulse – think before you buy and determine if the item is a want or a need. Embrace the old values of working hard and saving your money to buy something. So the next time you buy something with a credit card, ask yourself: am I a victim of “instant free” syndrome?
