Page 88 - Making It To The End Of The Month

MAKING IT TO THE END OF THE MONTH
Think about it: companies constantly flash their products before our eyes, endeavouring to make a sale. Realising the difference between a need and a want will help us determine when we truly need to spend and when it’s wiser to save. The virtue of patience also plays a major role here.
A vital question we must ask ourselves is: How much is enough? It’s very similar to the question posed in the Tolstoy’s story about Pahom told in chapter one. Finding answers to this question is not easy, but we must look at our individual circumstances and determine what is enough and what is excess.
The question of how much is or isn’t enough is with us every day. It is a kind of default setting for our thinking, especially regarding money and possessions. We’ve all seen something we want that we can’t afford. Initially, it is usually a pure expression of desire, but if we haven’t answered the question of how much is enough, it can evolve quickly into dissatisfaction and unhappiness. We can wrongly believe that we need that thing, rather than merely want it. Unfortunately, feelings of dissatisfaction give way to the urge to spend more. This is because, ultimately, our capacity to either spend or save (and, therefore, our ability to control our wants) is directly linked to how we see ourselves and how we believe others see us. Coming
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