But would you? Over the years, I often find myself saying things like : “If I had the iPhone, I could take pictures of everything and share them with the world.” Sure, I could. But would I? Turns out, not so much. Here I am, the proud owner of the iPhone, and I don’t share very many pictures with the world.
“If I had a shiny new Macbook, I could work while sitting on the couch watching TV with my wife.”
Sure I could. But would I? I rarely worked from the couch when I had a functioning Dell laptop – what makes me so sure this time around?
Don’t fall into the “If I had this, I could” trap.
Chances are, you won’t do whatever it is that you’ve convinced yourself you will. You’re just trying to justify buying something, which is never a good habit to get into. If you find yourself making that dreaded statement, always follow it with “But would I?” I’ll bet you’ll talk yourself out of 90% of those types of purchases.
Who cares if you buy something else?
I don’t really care how you spend your money. It’s your money after all, and you’re entitled to spend it how you want. But you wouldn’t be reading The Simple Llama if you didn’t feel that Stuff was starting to take over your life. You wouldn’t be here if you weren’t interested in doing things differently, to hopefully live a better life.
If you really are going to do the things you say you will, great. If the purchase really does make some progress toward simplifying your life, then do it. Don’t buy it if it’s not going to simplify your life, if it’s not going to make things easier for you. You don’t need more Stuff to take up space and time. Remember, simplify your life, and you gain time – something you can’t buy at any price.
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If I had a penny for every time I said that…
Actually I haven’t been so bad lately. I can sort between my needs and my wants.
And I also try to keep a good mental inventory of what I do own, so I don’t re-purchase what I already bought another item for.
My phrase that is about equivalent to yours is “I’ll be happy when…” … I get a raise. I am dating someone. I buy a new outfit. The school year starts again. When it’s summer. The thing that I’m realizing is that I decide when I’m happy. And I don’t have to wait for anything to feel that way.
Great post! Most of the time you can do whatever you want without making any purchases. A purchase doesn’t change your behavior, only you can do that.