Spending Habits Essay Example
Spending Habits Essay Example

Spending Habits Essay Example

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  • Pages: 4 (904 words)
  • Published: May 14, 2017
  • Type: Essay
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The Compulsive shopper and The Thrifty Shopper

Have you ever met someone that was born during the Great Depression, or someone born during the Baby Boomer years? They are bound to have different spending habits. I’m a product of the Baby Boomer Generation. A time when things were plentiful; my mother was born during the Great Depression Generation when things were not so plentiful. I love to shop and spend money; my method of spending is with credit cards.

My mother on the other hand, prefers not to spend her hard earned money, nevertheless when she has to, she chooses to use cash. I received my first credit card right out of high school. My first purchase was a pair of black leather boots. After that first purchase I was hooked, I would

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buy things: clothes; jewelry; shoes; and electronics. Simply because I have the credit to buy the things I want right away and pay for them later. It got to the point where I would buy things that I didn’t necessarily need.

My closet is full of clothes and shoes that still have the tags on them. I continuously clean out my closets only to fill them up again with newer purchases. In spite of that when someone calls and says let’s go shopping; my reply is certain to be when and where. I am an impulse shopper if I see something and it catches my eye I buy it; one pair of shoes can easily become four pair of shoes. I justify my sale purchases by stating to no one in particular it’s on sale look how much cash I saved.

I buy things when I

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am happy or sad it doesn’t matter. As long as I buy something when I am shopping: a pair of earrings, or a large purchase like a computer I am satisfied. Being a Baby Boomer has allowed me the opportunity to be frivolous and spend, spend, spend. I Grew up in a household were there was plenty of everything. I never had to go without any of the necessities. I never knew what it was like to simply get two pair of shoes a year, one pair in the winter and the other pair in the summer as my mother did.

I got shoes all throughout the year. Which is the reason I do not think twice about pulling out my credit cards when I see something I want to acquire? Having lots of credit cards equals having a good status. I never had to experience a lack of money as the people born during the Great Depression had to endure. The freedom to spend freely has allowed me in my opinion to have a different view towards spending habits. My mother on the other hand is very thrifty when it comes to spending.

Her spending perception is if you can’t make a purchase with cash perhaps you don’t need to make that purchase. Surviving the Great Depression caused my mother to be frugal, she saves everything for fear she may need it again in the future. My mother knew only too well how it was to grow up in a house where there was never enough food, and adequate clothing to go around. She knew how to make do with what she had. Which is why

I believe that she has the type of spending habits that she has? My mother does not trust banks therefore she keeps her cash at home is a safe deposit box.

My mother also despises credit cards she believes owing someone is a sign of weakness. She has clothes from every style of clothing possible; I can hear her saying: if I wait long enough this dress will come back in style. Hence that dress will sit in her closet year after year awaiting its entrance back in to today’s style of fashion. She has dresses from the 1930’s straight through to 2012. My mother makes all her purchases with cash with the exception of major items such as a house, or a car everything else is cash as usual.

My mother uses coupons for everything from her entire wardrobe, to that twelve pack of soda pop that she only purchases around the holidays, because that is the time when all the stores put their soft drinks on sale. My mother has a perfect credit score of 900, which allows her the best interest rates available, on those rare occasions when she has to buy something on credit. My mom is often teased by my siblings and me that she probably has the first dollar she ever made. Her reply to us is it never hurts to save for a rainy day, because if you live long enough there are sure to be some rainy days.

My concept of shopping differs from my mother’s we were born in different times I, am a Baby Boomer from a time when the economy was thriving. My mother was born during

the Great Depression when money was scarce, when you were taught to save and not be careless with your money. I am frivolous when it comes to my spending habits, I do not have a problem parting with my currency; on the contrary my mother is thrifty when it comes to parting with her finances. What kind of spending habits do you have?

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