Like Lambs to the Cash Register....
We wants it. We wants it now. My preciousssss. Shiny. New. Gotta have it! Our lives would be over if we didn't purchase it right now! This instant. Even if it means going into debt to do it.
Yes, the latest blingy, popular, trendy, cool, new and exciting product that the adverts tell us we simply must have or we won't be cool. New phone, new computer, new car....etc etc etc. And like lambs to the cash register, off we trot to buy it.
Why? Because owning this product will change your life! You know you want it.... If you don't have one, why then you're a nobody! Besides, all your friends have got it, so if you don't follow along with the crowd then you'll be unpopular.
But do you actually need it? Do you really?
If we all curbed out spending a little and made our perfectly good phones, cars, TV's etc last a little bit longer, then we wouldn't be drowning in debt. We would have money in the bank. We could pay cash for our purchases. We wouldn't owe hundreds or thousands in interest. That's the way things were done "back in the old days". You didn't buy anything new until the old one wore out or broke, and then you saved up and paid for it outright. So why have we turned into mindless greed machines, intent on instant self-gratification? No wonder the world economy is in such a state.
How many times have we been sucked in by advertising into spending money we don't have, or could spend on something much more useful or helpful, like paying off debt (or paying the rent!) - just to be one of the cool people? So you bought that latest phone. And did your life change? Become better, cooler, more efficient? Are you one of the "in crowd"? Do boys/girls hang on your every word, lust after you because you drive that car?
Thought not.