Money is emotional - Part 1
Money is emotional because what we buy can carry expectations that have very little to do with the thing itself.
I learned that with my first Rolex.
I love watches. I’d worked hard, bought the watch I wanted and, somewhere in my mind, arranged a parade. Nobody turned up. People barely noticed.
A few weeks later, I was sitting upstairs in a McDonald’s in Knightsbridge, looking at my wrist.
“Do I like this watch?”
Yes.
“So what exactly is wrong?”
I was waiting for a reaction. The watch was for me, but part of the purchase was for everybody else.
That is an uncomfortable thing to admit. It is also a useful thing to understand about your relationship with money.
Perhaps your version is a car, a house or the restaurant you suggest when friends want to meet.
Enjoying good things is one thing. Depending on the response they produce is another conversation.
Before your next significant purchase, ask yourself: “Would I still want this if nobody ever noticed?”
You might learn something about what you are really buying.
