There are not many places in the world where on your way to work you can see cars at a traffic light with a cumulative value of R5-million. The streets of Beverley Hills would certainly sport their fair share and perhaps the parking lots of The Ritz in London could display a few Bentleys. But move over folks, South Africa’s golden highways make you look like poor cousins.

How do they get all that money? Maybe we should rather ask, how do the get all that credit? Or have these 'imagites' merely fallen prey to the media hype on what success should look like?

A good place to go big bucks car spotting is your local northern suburbs gym. As you lock the doors of your economy car a twinge of envy may creep in when witnessing the vast array of automotive excellence before you.

Those cars are monuments to the success of their owners: the top dogs, the achievers and the lucky few... But don't be fooled, there is a good chance that they have no savings, angry creditors and sleepless nights.

4X4s that never leave the tarmac

Advertising and peer pressure have tremendous influence on how we spend our time, money and energy. It is almost as if millions of people have been brainwashed to believe that they must act, dress or live a certain way in order to be successful, to fit in or to have friends. Adults own 4X4s that never leave the tarmac. Teenagers who don't play basketball must have R1000 basketball shoes. Preschoolers must have the toys from the latest movies...

Most of these people never realise that they have been subtly brainwashed to overspend. They think they are exercising a free choice, yet the statistics to the contrary are overwhelming. The average person spends six hours per week shopping. Shopping was reported as the favourite activity of 93 percent of teenage girls. For many people, their spending is out of control.

How can you regain control of your life and your spending? How can you make sure that you are spending for your goals and not someone else's?

• Recognise effects on others.

• Look for underlying advertising messages and its flaws.

• Decide what you really want.

• Make conscious spending decisions.

• Be a little eccentric!

The first step to deprogramme these advertising messages is to notice their effects on others. Once you become aware of how advertising (or peer pressure) subconsciously affects others, it is easier to recognise similar patterns in your spending.

Will drinking a certain kind of drink really make you popular? Of course not!

The second step is to consciously look for the underlying message in media advertisements. Then, look for its flaws. Will drinking a certain kind of drink really make you popular? Will a perfume really make you sexier? Will you really be successful if you drive a certain make of car? Of course not! These are just a few examples of the flawed messages in advertising.

Conquer advertising pressure by becoming aware of its flawed messages.

The next step is to decide what you really want. What are your values? Your true needs? What is very important to you? To your family? Once you clarify these goals, don't let peer pressure coerce you to become just another sheep following the current spending fad.

Next, make conscious spending decisions based on what you really want, not what others expect of you. Look at the purchases your family feels it must have. Begin with your younger kids. Then move to your preteens and teenagers. It's easy to see how they are influenced by media marketing hype and peer pressure.

Now look at yourself. Are your purchases being influenced by peers and friends? Be honest! If everyone in your office recently bought a new car, don't you start thinking about buying a new car too? Is that what you really want? Are you sure that is the very best use of R100 000 in your life? Your friends probably won't understand. They want you to spend the same way they spend because that validates their spending! When you make decisions based on your goals, they subconsciously feel threatened. As a result, they want you to change.

The final step to overcoming advertising hype and peer pressure is to be a little eccentric. Your friends will think you're eccentric anyway, so why not take pride in your eccentricity! Make it a source of your own uniqueness. Years later, when those same friends are complaining about college costs, you can say, "Oh, we saved for that. It's not a problem for us!" Then sit back and enjoy your retirement, you’ve earned it.

Do you agree that we're being brainwashed into overspending and debt by advertisers preying on our hopes, fears and insecurities? Leave a comment below...

RSS

Digg

de.li.cious

facebook

MORE PERSONAL FINANCE

What we waste money on `What do you waste money on?` Most respondents in a new poll seem to agree...

How to budget The disease? Overspending. The cure? Drawing up a budget. Kabous le Roux on how to do it...

Taxing retirement funds The tax considerations of various retirement funds before, upon and after retirement...