I spoke too soon.
Digital banking in Finland is pretty safe and secure, but it is very reliable. Apps work, transfers work, the legislation is met. In all the years, I think I have only had two pays that haven't gone in on time - this month, and last month.
This is exceptional.
While it does put me out a bit, as I had to pick up €700 worth of medication today, it is not the end of the world and I will pick it up tomorrow instead. It is just a logistical problem tomorrow, since my wife will have the car and work late. But, our Payroll and the head of our People and Culture are dealing with some fallout, even though this isn't their fault, it is the global service provider that is delivering the payments. This is their second attempt, their second screwup.
Third time lucky next month.
But, what this situation has again highlighted, is how close to the edge some people seem to live their incomes. Last month, we were having an afterwork drink on a Friday, and a couple people couldn't get their own, so had to be spotted. This month was likely the same for the same people, but hopefully they were more prepared, just in case.
However, one thing that did come up a few times was how many people have their bills to come out of their bank on payday, which means that today there was no money there to draw on for most people. As said, this is an exceptional circumstance in Finland, but it also shows how reliant we have become on the assumption that things are always going to be reliable.
I am old enough to be one of the people who would get a "pay packet" once a week when I was young. I was working at a supermarket and on Wednesdays, I would have to go and pick up my earnings, which came in a small, yellow envelope, and had the amount inside written on it by hand. Not only that, it was in cash, not a check, which meant there were coins in the envelope as well.
Inconvenient, but practical.
Getting paid meant actually *having the money in hand, which had a far more visceral emotional attachment to it. It felt to get paid, and it also felt to spend that money on something, seeing it disappear from the wallet. It also increased the intentional use of money, whether that was to spend it, or to save it, as saving meant actually going to the bank and depositing it into an account. Decisions were made transparently, unlike today, where money is hidden behind cards, proximity payments and automatic transfers, so we don't see what is going out - like all the subscription service costs.
The methods of using money are like those little nudges, that impact on our behaviors. When it comes to most things "out of sight, out of mind" is in play, and money is continuously being taking out of our eyeline, and as a result, we are spending it more freely. We barely even realize at times how much we are spending, because most of us don't audit ourselves well. We might want to save money, we might want to invest more, we might want to curb our enthusiastic spending - but are we actually keeping track?
There should be an app on the phone that we can set our goals as to our finances or health, and before we make a purchase, it recognizes that what we are going to buy is not in line with our goals, and shocks us. Or, better yet, puts a cooldown period on our accounts, so that we are unable to make the purchase before having a long, hard think about it first.
Do you really want that chocolate bar, Taraz?
Am I willing to wait ten minutes for it, rocking back and forth like an addict wanting my next fix? At least for me, that short gap would likely be enough to either make me rethink my purchase or, force me to walk away due to time constraints. For people who are increasingly impatient and are therefore spending more, perhaps that impatience can be "used for good" instead of consumption, by making people walk out of the shop because they don't want to wait for the cooldown period.
If we want to change our outcomes, we are likely going to have to change our behaviors. This has become increasingly difficult to do intentionally, since there is so much influence from convenient goods and services that make our lives easier, but not necessarily better. It is easy to eat junk food, but at least in excess, it doesn't enrich our lives. It is easy to get the dopamine kick from a new gadget, but again, a lot of us will have buyer's remorse, as it doesn't live up to the hype and expectation we assigned it.
Rather than drive for convenience, if we engineer our world to force a delay in gratification, we might be able to recondition ourselves to be more mindful in the way we spend and what we consume. Like not getting paid on time, having the interruption in our buying behaviors, might be just enough to slow our thinking down, and think again before spending.
Do you buy it?
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
Posted Using InLeo Alpha
