The Happiness Project: July 2015 (part 2)

The Happiness Project

July 2015

Buy Some Happiness

MONEY

Part Two: Buy Needful Things

There seems to be two approaches to buying: over-buying and under-buying. I tend to be an under-buyer. As an under-buyer, I put off making purchases or buy as little as possible at a time. I don't stock up, even on things I use every day and then have to pay full price or run out. I take FOREVER to make up my mind on something (especially big purchases), then end up getting nothing, hence the side chair I'm still talking about but still haven't bought for the living room.

Peter and I are complete opposites when it comes to buying. He has a purchase in mind, researches it, and buys it. He also shops differently than me. We go to Walmart and if he needs, say, deodorant, he buys at least 5 (at least) of the brand he loves, I, on the other hand, buy 1 (of whatever is on sale). But, I don't envy over-buyers, in fact, I wonder what they do with all that stuff! I think I tend to under-buy because I don't like the clutter.

I think there is a happy medium somewhere. I think you should buy things that you need and have an adequate supply. This not only saves money, but keeps you from stressing from being unprepared.

Part two of this chapter focuses on buying needful things. Keep a supply of everyday things you use on hand. It can be things like stamps, address labels, make-up, batteries, groceries, detergent, etc.

I used to to be a big coupon user and always had plenty of stuff on hand (and got LOTS of stuff free). My grocery shopping habits have changed alot over the years, and I'm still working on a good system. It's just the two of us most of the time, so I don't buy in bulk much. I find myself running out of things more often than I used to, so this will be my new goal...buy needful things and be more organized.