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Home > I Find It Odd....

I Find It Odd....

November 6th, 2012 at 07:32 pm

Ok, I realize that everyone has their own philosophy on personal finance. And different degrees of financial responsibility. And I know that I am not perfect and have certainly made a lot of mistakes with my finances.

But...

I find it odd that when most people want something they can't afford, their first inclination seems to be to either go into debt for it, or ask other people for money. My perception is that those are frequently the first 2 choices, rather than try to earn extra money, or spend less money on something else that isn't a necessity in order to afford the new thing.

Several times a year we receive e-mails from friends/acquaintances for fundraisers for their personal things (adoptions, medical bills, summer camps). As we have 2 adopted kiddos and we know how expensive all the travel can be, we want to be supportive of others. But I find it odd that someone can be fundraising for something at the same time they are posting pictures of themselves on a big vacation, or consistently going out to eat, etc. Or posting on Facebook about the awesome cute outfit they just bought their child for $50 through Smockadot Kids while asking us for $10 to support their fundraiser. It just seems odd to me! (By the way, I'm talking about personal fundraisers for a family expense, not school fundraisers or mission trip fundraisers, etc.)

I feel like as a society we have become accustomed to think that certain things are necessities instead of luxuries, and many people don't even think about cutting back on those things in order to afford something else that might be more important.

I'm talking about things like vacations, smart phones, pre-school or Mom's Day Out programs for kids with a stay-at-home parent, designer clothes, dining out in restaurants, Starbucks runs....while those things might be nice to have, and maybe are a priority to people over something else, they are not necessities.

A friend just confided to me they might lose their house because they are behind on the payments. And just a few weeks ago I was looking through their wonderful vacation photos. Now I love a vacation as much or more than anyone else, but I can tell you that if we were in any danger of losing our house, the first thing we would do is cancel our vacation.

I just find it odd.

Posted in Budgeting, Debt, Personal Finance | 13 Comments »

13 Responses to “I Find It Odd....”

  1. SecretarySaving Says:
    November 6th, 2012 at 08:01 pm 1352232092
    1352232092

    I agree.

  2. creditcardfree Says:
    November 6th, 2012 at 08:20 pm 1352233250
    1352233250

    I hear you...I've been thinking some similar thoughts along those lines too lately. I don't know of anyone fundraising for personal wants however. I have heard many people about to file bankruptcy will go out on a spending spree just before because they perceive they won't be able to do these things later and they can just 'write it off'...ugh!

  3. PNW Mom Says:
    November 6th, 2012 at 09:05 pm 1352235919
    1352235919

    I agree with everything you said! It just makes you wonder.....

  4. Petunia in a Flower Garden Says:
    November 6th, 2012 at 09:26 pm 1352237202
    1352237202

    I had a friend who did a "personal fundraiser". It WAS odd and it bothered me a lot, for a lot of reasons. I didn't contribute.

  5. LuckyRobin Says:
    November 6th, 2012 at 09:38 pm 1352237889
    1352237889

    In many ways I think this ties in with entitlement. It's an attitude of "I want it, therefore I need it, and if I can't afford it than people should just give it to me." I think a lot of people who grew up during the good times were simply handed whatever they wanted, so when the bad times hit they never learned to adjust their attitudes. Of course getting whatever you wanted was so easy during the good times because banks were handing out credit cards and home loans left and right to people whose only qualifications for getting them seemed to be that they were breathing. Now that it's harder to get credit, those people have moved on to asking friends and family for stuff that they can no longer finance, because after all, they still "deserve" it.

  6. Ima saver Says:
    November 6th, 2012 at 10:09 pm 1352239747
    1352239747

    I agree with you too!

  7. North Georgia Gal Says:
    November 6th, 2012 at 10:56 pm 1352242613
    1352242613

    I have never heard of anyone doing the personal fund raisers...as someone who struggles financially, I would never ask my friends to contribute to my bad choices.

  8. baselle Says:
    November 6th, 2012 at 10:58 pm 1352242732
    1352242732

    I agree with you, except instead of "odd" I'd say "awful".

  9. MonkeyMama Says:
    November 6th, 2012 at 11:18 pm 1352243935
    1352243935

    I agree with the others - it speaks to entitlement, lack of priorities, and a basic lack of understanding of the difference between wants and needs. Which all seem to be rampant in our culture - worse in some areas of the country (like where I live)! & often, Facebook says it all.

    You can never know someone's true big financial picture, and FB can defnitely be a pretty facade, BUT sometimes you see enough to just scratch your head. I'll shut up before I end up on a rant, because I really could go on and on and on...

  10. FrugalTexan75 Says:
    November 7th, 2012 at 03:38 am 1352259523
    1352259523

    Wow, I'm not sure how I'd react to someone doing "personal" fundraising - especially if I know they've spent their money on non-necessary things.

  11. Looking Forward Says:
    November 7th, 2012 at 08:22 pm 1352319739
    1352319739

    Not just odd; crazy! And there are people doing it all the time. *shaking head*

  12. Joan.of.the.Arch Says:
    November 8th, 2012 at 04:41 pm 1352392889
    1352392889

    It might be my lack of social connections or my age, but I have never heard of this sort of thing.

  13. Jerry Says:
    November 26th, 2012 at 02:39 pm 1353940755
    1353940755

    This is now, sadly, the norm... and it is part of the reason that our society is upside-down. We had our daughter save her money to pay for half of her bicycle, and that alone lead some people (her friends, and some of their parents) to furrow their brows as if we were somehow punishing our child! There is no insurance against this nonsense, except within your own home, and I am determined to make sure my kids know how to save, how to use money as a tool, and how to be fiscally savvy.
    Jerry

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