Is it all in your head?

[vanillabean]

Your Worst Money Problems Are All In Your Head
http://www.kiplinger.com/magazine/archives/your-worst-money-problems-are-all-in-your-head.html

The Case for Lying to Yourself

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443343704577548973568243982.html

[Anonymous]

Interesting especially the one on self deception. I remember hearing about a book once titled "Mistakes were made but not by me" and it is about self deception and also trying to convince yourself and talks about how people try to convince themselves and justify decisions they made when  deep down they know it was a bad decision.

Thinking of buying it to take on airplanes to pass the time.

I know you see that a lot especially with purchasing a new car. For the average middle class american a new car is a huge investment and the total price of the car sometimes even approaches your yearly salary. You will see people justify buying a new car by saying the new one gets better gas mileage, except they had to take on an entire new car loan to get that better mileage, or will say something like it is not running well, or on its last legs, when a simple change of spark plugs or brakes would do the trick, when the truth is they are trying to justify a want for a brand new car and trying to convince themselves more than anything that it was a need instead of a want.

[webhopper]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Interesting especially the one on self deception. I remember hearing about a book once titled "Mistakes were made but not by me" and it is about self deception and also trying to convince yourself and talks about how people try to convince themselves and justify decisions they made when  deep down they know it was a bad decision.

Thinking of buying it to take on airplanes to pass the time.

I know you see that a lot especially with purchasing a new car. For the average middle class american a new car is a huge investment and the total price of the car sometimes even approaches your yearly salary. You will see people justify buying a new car by saying the new one gets better gas mileage, except they had to take on an entire new car loan to get that better mileage, or will say something like it is not running well, or on its last legs, when a simple change of spark plugs or brakes would do the trick, when the truth is they are trying to justify a want for a brand new car and trying to convince themselves more than anything that it was a need instead of a want.

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 I agree.  People deceive themselves into doing things they want by pretending they "have to" or they are "smart" by doing them.  If people would step back and ask themselves how this purchase affects their long term goals, they likely wouldnt be buying the newest hottest car, or the newest gadget, or that closet full of new clothes from the boutique. My parents enable my older brother's irresponsible behavior. Its sad to watch people who haven't saved enough for retirement dole out mountains of cash for a person who makes poor choices.  I try to have a healthy respect for money and savings. I am a saver, my husband is too, but we do take the time to plan out major purchases so that we are still getting enjoyment out of our money.  We pay cash for these things.