Fear the Catalog!
As I returned home the other day from dropping my daughter off at school and spending the morning working at a local restaurant, my son rushed out to greet me in the garage. Ahhh, that’s so nice, you say, your son is happy to see you….well, not quite. As he ran past me toward the car, he asked "is the catalog in the car?"
The object of his desire was a simple catalog that we received the day before. In fact, I don’t have any idea what the name of the catalog was. All I know is that the catalog had "stuff" in it that, apparently, four year old boys and six years old girls really like….a lot.
Everything is so shiny and pretty
This all started the day before when my son burst into my office with catalog in hand. He proceeded to sit down on the floor and show me the numerous items that he had circled. He had chosen all manner of stuff (most if it really expensive for a four year old boy) was circled from this thing. When he (finally) got to the end, he said, "ok, so you go ahead and order these for me, ok!" and went to walk out. "Hold on a minute!" I said and tried to explain to him how these catalogs actually work. "You have to pay for this stuff." "Can I use my money?" "You only have 2 dollars." (He had recently splurged on a pirate set and drained his Bank of Mom & Dad account). "Is 2 dollars enough?" "No."
This behavior went on for days
Preceding the story above was the trip to school for my daughter and her friend. My daughter took the catalog with her and she and her friend paged through it the entire way to school asking each other what they liked and wanted. Then my son spent way too much time looking through this thing and talking about it over the next few days. He so wants what is in it that he is now beside himself because Christmas doesn’t come for another 4 months - "I just can’t wait until Christmas!" (yes, we told him he could ask for some of the things for Christmas).
I can not believe the influence this catalog has had on them
I am shocked by this random catalog’s effect on our family. We talk about these items A LOT now. But let me frame this for you - this is really out of ordinary behavior for them. Sure, they ask for stuff when we’re out, but they don’t constantly obsess over "stuff" and continually ask how long until Christmas (at least, not four months out!) In fact, I have overheard both of my older two kids at various times tell each other "you don’t need it, you just want it."
The more you look at catalogs, the more you want to buy
In the book I’m currently reading, Your Money Counts 
Personally, I really agree with this statement. I am usually fairly good at avoiding coveting, but when I look through a Performance Bike catalog, or walk through Home Depot, or drive through a nice neighborhood, I am all of the sudden not as content as I was a few minutes before. This is just something to keep in mind when you’re planning your budget or trying to cut expenses (or when you’re just bored). If you’re having trouble with your spending, don’t participate in the activities that will trigger more spending: Don’t watch TV, don’t read catalogs, don’t go to the mall. For the most part, I think that "out of sight, out of mind" really works for some spending issues.
Random only-somewhat related thought stuck on the end of the post
Yikes - a thought just popped into my mind: If you take the above statement as true, then how bad is it for a married man to be looking through a Victoria’s Secret catalog? That’s like a double whammy of spending more and entertaining impure thoughts all at the same time.
photo credits: futureshape and raindog808
PS: Wow - Chuck Norris has his own catalog?!?
Book Review: Your Money or Your Life
Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Achieving Financial Independence
by Joe Dominguez & Vicki Robin
BFN Book Reviews
Over the years, I have found it tremendously helpful to see what other people with similar interests have been reading on the topics of personal finance. That is why I am periodically publishing my own reviews. I hope to give you a brief overview of the book and the authors, touch on the good and bad in the book, and finally, give you my personal recommendation for whether you should borrow the book, buy the book, or act like the book doesn’t exist. Click here to continue reading…
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