Spending Basket

Spending decisions are mostly about trade-offs. Some people are in the luxurious position where answering the question “do you want this?” is just related to the this in question. Most people have to look at the full basket. What are the consequences of the this? I have been at a table of people discussing the unaffordability of rent in Cape Town. They were saying it was hard to find somewhere for less than R10,000 a month. I knew one of the people at the table was earning less than R1,000 a month. He kept quiet. Another friend told of offering (while travelling) to buy dinner for someone who said they couldn’t afford to come. The person still refused because the dinner (in USD) cost more than a month’s income for the potential guest’s family. How you make decisions is often impacted by if you have somewhere to turn, or if you are the last line of defence. The way you make decisions is very specific to the way you interact with the world. Value is contextual. Price is not value. It is just the point at which someone is willing to give you something from their basket for something in yours. If what is in your basket is all you have, each decision takes on significantly more weight.