I haven't slept since 6am yesterday, which means it is closing in on 29 hours awake. This is not by choice of course, it is that Smallsteps had a high fever over 39C (102F) and I spent the night up with her. It is okay for me to take the time off from work with a sick child, but the timing couldn't be worse, as this is the end of the quarter and I have designated most of the week to finalizing my tasks in order to hit bonuses. If she gets better soonish, I will have a chance to make it - if not, it is going to be a costly illness, at a period where the bonus would be very welcome. But, if it is not in your wallet,
It is not yours.
I can't rely on the bonuses, because once I do, they are no longer bonuses, they are salary. Once reliant upon an income stream, it gets far more painful if it gets reduced or cut off. But, if an income stream is considered "extra", then losing it is painful, but not daily life altering.
It is very hard to practically apply this thinking though, as once that stream is coming in even semi-reliably, it is incredibly easy to start considering it as the norm and adjust behavior accordingly to include it. The way we position our income is important, which is why so many people have problems saving money, myself included.
For example, when salary income comes in a lump sum monthly, if some of it isn't "automatically" put away up front, it is easy to use it with the intention of saving what is left over. But, "what is left over" is more likely to be spent because it is available. Even moving a portion into another accessible account automatically and then spending from there if needs be adds a barrier to daily usage. Better though, would be to have a " consumer cooldown period" for spending, where there is an unlocking period which reduces the chance of impulse buying.
Creating barriers to spending can be very useful in changing spending behavior, like for instance, using cash. There is a mental difference between using a card where the money isn't "real" and using cash, which requires withdrawing the money and physically moving it from a wallet to the vendor. Handing over that money, especially for larger sums, gives a sense of loss and watching the cash dwindle in the wallet, gives a physical reminder of the spend.
As far as proponents and beneficiaries of consumer spending are concerned, the lower the barriers to spend, the better. But for those who are looking to improve their financial position using their disposable income, the more disposable income that remains "undisposed", the better. And since it is hard to make these often emotional decisions multiple times a day, creating the hurdles act as a reminder and can temper the emotional buy responses, as well as set up the conditions where in order to opt-in to the purchase, you have to opt-out of something else specifically set up and desired. This creates a clear delineation- for opportunity-cost to be seen and emphasizes the "loss" in spending, because in order to buy, the savings is lost.
Quite basic mechanisms are in play here, but how many people actively do these kinds of things in order to hack their own behaviors to be less hackable through consumption influence? I suspect not a great percentage of any general population, but likely, a pretty high percentage of general investor-class populations, as it is this kind of behavior that feeds their investor mindset and gives them the positive response feedback as they work toward their investor goals.
The area of the brain used for this positive response from consumption is likely the same, while many people get it from buying the latest gadget, others get it from investing into a generative asset - both are purchasing decisions and both have intentional emotional outcomes, but while one is burning spending value, the other is looking to create more of it.
Every decision we make in the way we use our resources is a consumer behavior, and since we are driven by the emotional feedback we get from the spending outcomes, "all we need do" is swap what we spend on. However, in order for this to work, we have to change what we value also, which is the largest challenge, as we are encouraged and programmed to consume useless, not invest. And, for many who do invest, the core reason is so that they are able to spend more on useless in the future.
A lot of people think they are not influenced by things like advertising, but the truth of the matter is that we all are influenced, because there are so many points target consistently, we can never catch them all. And, because these targets are targeted by people like behavioral psychologists who know how we operate better than we know ourselves, even when we catch some of the manipulations, we can never know how many slip through the defenses to nudge us.
The only way to mitigate the risk of manipulation, is to set up automatic barriers that do not rely on our emotional state at any given time to work. But, to maintain some level of practicality for resource expenditure, there needs to be a balance between "locking it up" and "saving it away", so the barriers are rigid, but porous when required, but "required" comes with an active decision and a strong sense of understanding of what is being undertaken with each spend.
Each spend.
It doesn't matter if it is money, energy or time - it all has an impact on our outcomes. If they way we spend is not conducive to getting to where we want to go, even if it feels good to spend, we would have to adjust, otherwise we can feel good, until we realize that what we want, is now a long way, or impossible to reach. Then how do we feel?
We seem to be more willing to create barriers to get to where we want to be, than build the habits that get us there.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
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I was given a lesson by an economics teacher when I was in high school. If I have money, then I have to divide it into 3 parts; 1/3 for my consumption, 1/3 for my savings, and the last 1/3 for investment.
I can only really implement it since I work and have my own income. But only the first 1/3 of the section actually runs. The last 2/3 of the sections fail a lot because I don't know what to use. Deposits often leak and investments often fail—to be exact. You've talked about being cheated when investing, as I recall.
In my opinion, consumption and saving are actually the same. Only use what we need and leave what we don't need. If it is a need, then we must fulfill it; if it is not a need, then we must endure it. There is a stash that I don't touch at all, and it becomes my hold when I get stuck. Everything is possible, right?
There are also savings that must be diverted to the area of consumption, and that is often well planned. Save for consumption. I have to enjoy my life, a happy life, by enjoying the things I deserve to enjoy with my family. My fragile barrier.
Do you have an effective concept and are willing to share it to manage all of this, Sir?
This is the challenge, because the "needs" keep coming, but are they really needs? This is why making the division at the start can help, because it means taking out to act - a loss.
Perhaps everyone has always felt this way, but what has changed is the amount and cost of things we think we deserve. "I deserve an overseas holiday" - when not too long ago, it was "I deserve to have a day off". Quite a difference.
Yes, you are absolutely right, Sir. Quite a difference.
Needs a vacation, but makes a gaping hole to drain something deeper. You just need a vacation, you don't need something that makes you "tired" due to expensive holidays. Often, it's just a matter of prestige, and no one really needs it.
The use of a division in the beginning to measure the level of need and commit to what the division plans often fails, right?
If I understood what you said correctly - the division isn't the issue, it is the inability to evaluate our own needs in a way that we become active enough to commit.
I'm not sure if you caught my post on the UP banking app that has all sorts of cool features to curb and control and manage spending but it's insanely good, like a 'mayby" account - you add the thing you want via a pasted URL, and it works out how much you want to pay over what time and adds that to a saver for you weekly or whatever time you set. Usually a few weeks later I decide I don't want it after all and the money just goes back to the savings account. It also has a savings round up so if you pay say 25.25, it'll add .75 to savings.
Recently it added a spend lock, so you can set a timer of, say, three hours, and it'll only let you withdraw after a time limit, to help curb impulse buys.
Didn't see the post, I think. Though my memory at times is shoddy.
That sounds like a pretty decent way to with save for something or realize you don't need it after all. buyer's remorse is easier to handle - before buying :)
And yeah, the spend lock is what I was talking about as an idea. WE do it on Hive with the powerdown periods - seems to work for many - some will always powerdown everything.
Can't save them all.
Yeah just have a look at Up bank and all it's features. It's backed by Bendigo Bank. It's the fintech they should have thought of years ago... Lots of cool features. I totally admire the brainstorming behind it.
I forgive you for not eagerly reading all my posts 😂😂😂😂 just so you catch the ONE post I wrote on finance 😂😂😂
I think it is our own selfishness that creates those barriers. Yes, we spend time. But sleep depravity will shorten your life and cost you double in the end. Get better sleep my friend.
Sometimes I wonder - I know many people who live far healthier lives than me - yet it doesn't stop them from getting cancer. Nor does it mean they are fulfilled. Sometime I think we protect our lives, at the cost of living a life.
hope she gets better I would be great for her and you might be able to get sweet bonuses
She will get over it fast I hope - missing bonus will take longer to recover from :)
End of three-month periods is always a pain in many sectors, especially finance and accounting. I don't what your tasks are, but finishing works in time is not considered bonus here.
These are bonus tasks that lay outside of ordinary work expectations.
I've been thinking about this recently. I put up walls to myself all the time, I realize, but I still do it every day... Why? I don't know, probably because it's easier now. The brain is lazy...
The brain is lazy, but we seem to think that it is other people's brains, not ours :D
😅 !LOLZ That's true...
It is the reason I transfer money on autopilot each week. Then I invest it in assets of my choice and accumulate them for the long term.
This is the way to do it - an investor mindset.
You will have a good income from cryptocurrencies on the wave of growth, do not worry about bonuses. Good health to your daughter and your entire family.
I hope you are right on that - I feel that you are - but feelings don't pay bills ;D
Yes. Feeling is just a call to action. The right action can already bring profit. Let everything turn out for the best.
Feelings often lie - but are more accurate when there is deep experience behind creating them.
Often deep experience leads to the fact that a person begins to listen to his intuition.
This is why I gave up TV, all forms several years ago. I still on occasion watch a movie or show on Amazon, but only the free ones, so the advertisement I get is generally only product placement in the movies and shows.
I have pretty much all but given up on keeping up with the news due to the excessive amount of advertising, I still open an occasional news story from my phones news feed, but as soon as the ads and pop ups start I close the story and leave it mostly unread.
Have you heard that Netflix is introducing adds? So, the "on-demand" shows are released once a week, episode by episode and there are adds. Hmmm... isn't this where we started with TV?
Yeah, and part of the reason I hardly ever watch anything any more.
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Get well soon @smallsteps!
❤️
So true , manipulations tend to often occur when we become too emotional..
Our emotions manipulate us.
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All the best in the little one's recovery!
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I think that is the truth and there are a ton of people who prefer the easy way out. They don't really want to put in the work to get all of that working. Putting barriers is just one way of taking the easy way out.
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I remember a young friend of mine who was doing an amazing job saving...and then blew literally the entire savings because they decided they wanted an Xbox (which of course also needed to have games).
And then was stressing because they had mentally locked themselves out of that account and now that they "knew" it was accessible (they had always known it was accessible obviously, it was just the usual mental tricks with the added steps/"blocks") they knew they were likely to just dip into it again the next time they just wanted something nice to have because it was right there.
I only see this as a barrier for online shopping for obvious reasons. Otherwise I actually prefer using cash because it's much easier for me to track.
Does spending feel good? Is this why people like shopping so much?
YOLO why bother about a future that you might never even see when you can do/have what you want right this very second and live your best life to the very fullest amirite.
Completely unrelated is that a nipple mouse? XD
Sending get well soon vibes to Smallsteps!
Annabelle 🤒