Wants vs Needs
A strange thing is happening in America. For the first time in as far as I can remember, it appears as though we are getting some of our priorities straight.
I was listening to the news in my car recently and there was a local story here in Los Angeles about a program that the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Dept has run the last three years during the holiday shopping season called, Gifts for Guns. (From LA Times: http://tinyurl.com/93qc77 )
People were offered their choice of a $100 gift card to either Best Buy, Target or Ralphs supermarkets for every gun they turned in. This year, they collected nearly 1000 weapons (including 2 hand grenades!), smashing last year’s record of 387.
Clearly the economy had a lot do with record number of people coming forward. There’s no surprise there. But how about in regards to which gift cards were chosen? In the past it has been Best Buy & Target. This year, however, they said an overwhelmingly large majority chose Ralphs.
For years we’ve let our “wants” become our “needs”. Today’s economy is correcting a lot of things. This is one of them. Everywhere you turn it seems people are making smarter personal financial decisions (even “hoods” on the street).
Obviously it would say a lot more if this were a change that was not brought on because of an economic fallout, but I like to give people credit for making the right decisions no matter what the circumstances are. For many this will just be a short term correction, but for the few lucky ones who are able to find happiness in living within their means, they will have found the secret to a life of joy and contentment.
-Evan Lowenstein
