Can I Afford That?

I reckon these days a lot of people see that question in a different way to me.

I look at my Facebook feed and what I see is holidays... and makeup, and expensive shoes, and drinks, and new cars, and fashion selfies, and new salon hair colours, and new phones, and electronic gadgets, and and and and. This is pertinent because the vast, vast majority of my Facebook contacts are former work colleagues, meaning I know what their salaries are and I know they're not well-off.

I think most people view that question simply in terms of whether there's enough cash in their bank account to buy that item and still cover their household bills for the month.

I don't reckon most people put any value on repaying debts. I don't think people see any point getting ahead on their mortgage. Why bother buying anything second-hand and saving the extra money, if the money is there? The student debt isn't due to be repaid yet so it can wait.

At some point in history, this cost less than your current salary.

We as a society have lost the art of sacrifice. When an older person points that out to the younger generation it's met with scorn; because after all, it's THEIR fault we can't afford to get on the housing ladder, they're sitting in the four-bedroom house that only cost a years' salary back in 1972 which is now worth over the seven-figure mark, and an average punter will now be in their 40s before they even save a deposit on a damp basement flat in a dark alley, etc etc etc.

How is this angst productive? At all? Do we really think that Mrs Peabody will suddenly become apologetic and donate her mansion to the nearest struggling millennial who has already given up prosecco, avocado toast and all hope? No. It's not going to happen. Blaming any other generation, even if you think they deserve it, is like pissing into the wind. As one particular songster said, start with the man in the mirror.

We live in the here and now, and we are conditioned into dealing with the here and now and the people around us who are all doing the same. That's why we have so much credit. That's why it's normal to buy now and pay later. To finance a car. But imagine we approached every purchase not with "Do I have the money right now?" but actually by asking whether we can afford it.

You can head off such mental discussions with a few simple words. Chief of those, in my mind, is: "People with debts don't do/buy _____." If you tell yourself that every time you're tempted into buying a takeaway, you then start thinking of alternatives that you CAN buy, things that are ok. For example, it's ok to buy a supermarket pizza, chips and ice cream, for a weekend treat, instead of going out to a restaurant.

If you're normal, these temptations probably hit you for very small things, like grabbing a coffee when you're out, or visiting a vending machine for a coke. But small things add up to huge amounts. Personally, because my belt buckle needs to be exceedingly tight right now, my own personal mantra is even more strict. Broke people don't buy coffee. Broke people don't buy takeaways.

It eliminates internal arguments. I have accepted that I'm currently broke, so I don't get upset or feel deprived when I remind myself of this. Instead, I immediately switch to what I CAN have. There's a sandwich in my bag (and an apple, and some custard creams). There is my flask of coffee and there's a bottle of water. Truth be told, desperations are usually fleeting and gone in a few minutes.

Try it for a week. Start using it to say no to yourself. See how you go. Tell me how it went, in the comments. What did you resist by changing your mindset on that word "afford"?