Why do people buy things that they DON'T need thinking it will improve their lives and make them happy?

Question

My wife and I live a comfortable life, we don't have any money problems because we live in our means and splurge only on special occassions.

We are in our mid 30's and will have our house and cars paid off in less than a year due to hard work and MANY extra payments.

We would like a bigger house, a newer car, etc. but we know we we need to be happy with what we have instead. So we save our money for a future child and prepaid vacations that will give us memories.

Its really hard to be happy with what you have, and it seems like many people think buying a bunch of stuff will make them happier.

My friends had a nice house, but had to sell it to buy a bigger one that costs twice as much. They are still not happy with their house and now they are in major debt with all their equity loans.

Why do so many people have so much stuff, like cars, expensive houses, gadgets, clothes, etc. when it doesn't make them feel better about their lives?

Why are we like this?

Answer 1

Its the nature of the culture we live in. Americans are bombarded everyday with advertisements saying SPEND! SPEND! SPEND! - ITS THE ONLY WAY TO ACHEIVE THE AMERICAN DREAM. EVEN IF YOU DONT HAVE THE MONEY SPEND ANYWAY

Very few of us are taught to be happy with what we have. Generally that kind of guidance is recieved from your religious institutions. But capitalism how found its way into the religious intstitutions as well.

It starts with the greed of big business. They want to increase that bottom line regardless of the cost. So they encourage the consumer to live well beyond their means in order to increase profits. Increasing profits keeps rich people rich.

It ends with a consumer that wants to have it all without really working for it. Even though they are not rich, they want others to believe that they are. People maintain appearances to compensate for un-dealt-with emotional issues.

To make things worse, most Americans dont really know much about managing personal finances and dont seek information about it until its too late.

As a result, you have a country full of people who are up to their eyeballs in debt and a house full of crap they dont need. And in the end they are probably less happy than someone with none of that stuff.

Answer 2

It is an insatiable desire, and a deception as well because, generally, we are deceived into thinking that once we have more, we will finally be happy. But come to think of it, even the richest man/woman in the world still wants more. We've all been through this and we've served as witnesses to other people's lives like you did with your friend.

But I do commend you for being practical and realistic.

And not to sound too religious or preachy, no amount of wealth, fame and power could fill the void that we have. It is only through a deep and intimate relationship with God that thirst can be totally quenched.

Answer 3

it's keeping up with the joneses i guess. people see other people like themselves that have this and that and think that if they have that they'll fell better about themselves? my husband and i are not in a lot of debt. we basically just have our mortgage and computer to pay for. today's standards say do what you want to do now. there is no such thing as delayed gratification.

Answer 4

i guess for the same reason why girls who are already beautiful buy clothes, make-up etc to make them look more beautiful

Answer 5

pinkworld.com
desipapa.com
worldsex.com
etc