We buy a large amount of consumables, thinking it will make us happy. It will give you a temporary feeling of positivity, the thing you wanted to buy finally belongs to you. But consider whether or not you really need to possess it. A great example of this is do you need a phone upgrade every 2 years?
Consuming and investing are really quite similar, but they have a different goal in mind. Both of them want to create utility towards your life. Consumption generally focusses on short term use, investing is meant to create utility on the long term.
Mutual funds were created to make investing easy, so consumers wouldn’t have to be burdened with picking individual stocks. – Scott Cook
Investing is all about delaid gratificiation. This means that you prefer to hold off to being rewarded in the short term so that you receive more in the long term. With investing this comes from the fact that you will be consuming less, but receiving more in the future.
Take the next situation in consideration. Someone offers you one present now or the same present and one extra in a week. Will you go for the short or the long term result?
These results can also be transferred to investing. Would you rather use your money right now to get a new phone or invest it by buying shares? Be carefull with buying shares, keep money for emergencies and you will be better off in the future. Look at your investment as a long term plan, build up towards your retirement no matter what age you are.
By investing your money (wisely) you will learn to be happy with what you have. Preparing for later will buy you peace of mind, which is worth much more than anything that you can buy and consume right now.