It was announced that Apple will begin production on the new iPhone 5 in July for distribution in September. That's fine and dandy for the business, manufacturing another product for retail sale. But I can't help but wonder how many people out there with iPhone 4's will go out and buy the latest model. Of course, with contractual restrictions, some may not be able to. But what about the one's who can? What's your reasoning for getting the latest model? Is it bragging rights to say, 'Hey, look at me, I have the new one!" Sure it would be encouraging to everyone to help the economy and buy whatever you can buy but I don't know too many people who have $300.00 extra spending pocket change to just go out and buy another phone when in all actuality don't need one. Yeah, I'll give leeway to the reason of someone having an older model or a broken phone. But what about those crazy people who want to get it just so they can get it? Yeah, I call them crazy and a I laugh and here's why.
Have you ever seen and heard someone give you every reason and excuse in the book to justify the actions they are doing? They're smoke screening you with every possible factor supporting their act, every reason but the plain, simple, honest truth. Sometimes admitting a mistake or showing their selfishness and vanity might be too much of a rude awakening to a person. I mean, who in their right mind would want to admit their flaws? Hello-- we're all not perfect so admitting your flaws is ok. So it's ok to admit the selfish honest truth when it comes to buying extravagant things for yourself. It's ok to say, "I bought it because I wanted it." There. It's simple. It's honest. And it will be end of discussion because if you're telling this to someone who doesn't articulate as much, they won't have a comment on such a direct and unexpected answer.
Too many times I laugh inside at the person telling me every reason why they are buying a new outfit, or a new piece of electronics or something. Cut the crap and just say you wanted it! It's a respectable, confident answer so don't worry about saying it. Don't go out shopping for a new dress and say, "Oh the pink one I have is strapless and I need short sleeves" or "the one out fit doesn't have sparkle on it." Geez, put a shrug on if you're cold or accessories with jewelry if you want some bling. Or just tell the truth and say you want a new dress and don't waste time with the bull shit excuses. Last year, I purchased a 40" LED/LCD television for myself. The tv I had prior was a 27" flat face box tv. By today's standards, yes, it's an old tv. It was made before HD ever existed and the screen quality, well, you remember. So the day came when I wanted to upgrade and get something that met my viewing expectations. Sure I had my obvious reasons to get the tv, comparing it to the model I had. But when it came down to it, when asked why I needed a new tv, I just said, "my tv is old and I want a new one." Done. No comment back because it was a direct, honest answer. I didn't do what most people do and start listing my reasons of why I HAD to buy the new tv when I had a perfectly operating one in my room.
Which brings me to back to the whole point of this blog-- why would you get something new when what you have is perfectly fine? With the money you have to splurge, wouldn't you want to get something you don't already have? A few weeks ago, my little brother received an iPad 2 from his wife. That's good for me and my other brother because now we don't have to worry too much about our iPad's getting "iPad-napped". But it's cool because he didn't have one and now he does. But how about this-- last night a friend of mine also got an iPad 2 as a gift. However, he was already an owner of a iPad 1 that had nothing wrong with it. Other than a SLIGHTLY faster processor, a thinner casing, and a webcam, there really isn't that much more difference between that and it's predecessor. Gift or no gift, I was just curious why he needed to have that. I can truly understand if he received an iPad 3 because by the time that model comes out, more improved advancements would have been made to the product. But that's 500.00. Wouldn't you want to get something else to enjoy? At least make some money out of it-- if you have the new model, sell the old one.
What people do with their money is their business. No one can tell you how to spend your money. They can suggest and guide you, but truly not tell you. But sure, people can question what you buy. I've always been the kind of person to get more bang for your buck. It does take some effort and time to become a practical shopper. But here's a direct question for you-- if you had $50.00, would you want to get as much as you can with that $50.00? Think about it. It's ok to have nice things. Everyone in the world deserves to have nice things. Let's just see how smart you are getting it. You may have to take time to shop online and find the better deal but when all is said and done, you'll be the winner. The challenge is to beat the system. You want the nice things, you want that new phone or new tv? Find a way to get a deal out of it. Don't feed into the company's frenzy and nourish them with your hard earned money. You're still giving them money, but you don't have to give them all of it. By doing it this way, if you want to do what some people may feel as senseless spending you can, just get some money out if it in the process.
