You are just back from an aggressive speed cycling (spinning) session at the Gym. Next to the Gym is a big  fattening American Eatery. Your ego tells you “one burger and coffee will not kill you..you just burnt 1900 calories”.

You are a doctor and have Rs. 55L in your savings account (never mind you redeemed Rs. 28L from your PPF) your mind tells you “you are a doc with 20 years experience, YOU deserve a Merc go and make that full payment”

You are a 30 year old executive who has just changed his job…and your provident fund balance of Rs. 450,203 beckons..”take that foreign honeymoon that your wife always wanted..before you get into kids..housing emi…etc”.

Have you been like everybody else ever been pulled by the good guy and the bad guy inside you?

did you hear the following too?

Idiot yesterday you have loaded the fridge with veggies..no eating Maida now?

Car? Hey doc you have the clinic loan pending of Rs. 2.3 crores…the Rs. 55 lying here has to be used for repayment.

Honeymoon? hey this is retirement money..remember what Subra said in the Retirement Workshop at Chennai? Stop dreaming.

We have both the good guy and the bad guy pulling us in opposite directions. This is one of the reasons why financial discipline is difficult.

What does your bad ego make you do?

  • eat what is tempting rather than what is good for your health
  • make you buy NOW instead of saving and then buying
  • buy a car while still repaying a difficult personal loan taken for hospitalisation
  • buy a car to keep up with the Joneses
  • show off at a kin’s wedding
  • travel lavishly when a cheaper mode is available

this, while you have been reading Subramoney for 11 years and know that you should be paying yourself first, spend less than what you earn, be environment friendly when you consume, do not buy things that you do not use, de-clutter….blah blah….

Why does this happen? Well that is difficult for me to say, but let us admit that the best among us succumb to the bad alter ego. I do not succumb financially, but I can fall for a bhel puri, a gulab jamun, or….so even bloggers who give gyaan are not above succumbing to temptation. Let me be the first to admit that!

What causes it…?

  • good habits are of course important, but so are good systems. You need a bill payment software which will trigger the payment on the due date from your savings or money market mutual fund
  • you underestimate your retirement / other important goals
  • you ignore inflation while making projections, and you are a little mathematically challenged
  • your short term brain (30 secs satisfaction) for the gulab jamun feels more attractive than 30 hours of gym effort to take it off
  • you have a wrong set of friends who make fun of you instead of supporting you
  • you need a good ‘guru’ who will counsel and reprimand you for deviating from the plan

 

 

  1. Sir, as a regular reader/fan; I’d like to contradict here and somehow agree with falling to that “negative alter ego” at times.. we are humans and not robots.. what use is sticking to the plan and not eating an occasional ‘cheat’ gulabjamun/ maida when our body can afford to do it? what are we saving this body for? 102 not out?

    similarly, even that foreign trip at 30 (- kids phase) is worth it every penny spent. I love my 5-year old to the hilt; but traveling with him now at 35 is very different to traveling when we were just a couple. You can’t go pubbing, late-nights, extreme cold/ rough places etc with a kid with you. By the age a kid is allowed, you are well past your 40s or even early-50s. So that “expensive, over-the-top” trip does make sense when you are 30.

    I think one should be allowed to listen to their alter ego once in a while, as long as it doesn’t tell you to pickup a gun and start random shootouts just to get over your frustration 🙂

  2. Stitch in time saves nine, it got me thinking to re-evaluate that big spend. Best way is stick to 10% rule, whenever there is extra earning like bonus etc keep aside 10% for the alter ego. It’s much safer model to be spending without getting on slippery slope.

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