Dollar Stretcher: What Do Costume Parties and Shopping Have In Common?

The Dollar Stretcher Blog
by Gary Foreman

Are you among those who enjoy costume parties? Seems like a lot of us do. Not only are they a staple at Halloween-time, but you'll find various theme dress parties throughout the year.

Ever wonder why that is? I think that I have an idea (not that it's terribly unique). For a few hours we get to be someone that we'd like to be, but are not in real life. You can be that swashbuckling pirate or the beautiful movie starlett. I get to be the daring race car driver!

It's a lot of fun. It's an accepted way for adults to play let's pretend without being embarrassed.
 
One reason it's so much fun is that we get the 'good' without the 'bad'. What do I mean? Well, the pirate isn't likely to really lose an eye or limb ("arrgh me pegleg matey!"), the starlett doesn't face 5am wake-up calls and I can avoid hospital stays after a serious high speed car crash.

The other advantage is that it's only for a few hours. We get to 'try on' the role without being stuck in it forever. For those of us who are limited adventurers, that's a good thing.

Ok, so what does all this have to do with shopping? More than you might think.

Let's take a little test. Try to remember your last 4 or 5 purchases. What were you thinking at the time? Was your only concern practicality? Or was there some part of you playing the starlett or race car driver? It's ok to admit it. We're all human and want to experience things beyond our normal boundaries.

The danger is that we tend to forget about the other aspects of the purchase: how much extra are we spending? will we be able to handle the payments? what if our income is cut??? And, unlike the costume party, those downsides don't disappear when we take off the costume. We're stuck with them. Whether we like it or not.

So I think that I'm going to try something different before my next major purchase. I'm going to delay the purchase long enough to mentally dress up as a race car driver. I'll spend about 4 or 5 hours in costume. Feel the thrill of victory (isn't the roar of the crowd great!).

But, then I'm going to take off the costume and consider the potential downside of any purchase I might make. Got a funny feeling that I'll avoid more than one high speed crash this way.
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Gary Foreman is the editor of The Dollar Stretcher.com http://www.stretcher.com/ website and various enewsletters.