Cognitive dissonance has often been mentioned in just about every damn book I’ve read since beginning college, so this is a subject I’ve spoke and written about a few times, but I thought I’d blog on it with a Holiday twist.

I personally know a few folks who can’t make a big purchase without feeling a bit of regret; however, I also know a lot of people who just love to run up their debt and don’t seem to give big buys a second thought.

I fall into the first group. When buying something big and or expensive that I don’t really “need,” I tend to quickly get over the post-purchase high, and whatever I thought was worth my cash at the time doesn’t always make complete sense later. A lot of junk loses its fun all too quickly.

The other group is the one I keep on seeing shopping all over the damn place. The type of folks who are simply impulsive, they are the same folks that must have the biggest, coolest, and newest… whatever-everyone-else-has.

Here’s my recent inspiration for the post: I was at Target this past week and a nice looking couple was shopping for gifts in the same section I was in. I could hear them go on and on talking, bringing up names and how much should be spent on each person to stay on budget. At some point the woman said, “Look at this, it costs more, but Rudy really wanted it.” The dude looked at her and said “The other kids are gonna’ wonder why he got the best gift.”� She replied, “But he’ll love it. What if they all get the same thing?” Some tension was noticeable in her voice, she almost sounded uncomfortable and cheerful at the same time. Kind of like Britney Spears turning down potato chips, (I imagine.)

At that point I moved to another section, (I can only checkout the tech-crap section for so long!) But I imagine they did get the kid whatever they thought would make him “happy.” I’m also pretty confident that in the end they wound up making themselves feel better by thinking that the happiness of others is more important than their own damn budget and possibly their debt.

I really don’t get people sometimes. I don’t get the ones who have a holiday spending spree, fully knowing they really are already too stretched financially. Everyone seems too in love with their credit cards to stop and think. No second thoughts, just a great Christmas. Although, I suppose the group who gets in over their head will eventually suffer from cognitive dissonance, but it won’t be until January or February when the bills come in.

How’s that for starting a new year?

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