Temptations, temptations

Preparing for our trip to China, I've been doing quite bit shopping recently, mainly buying gifts for family and friends. Each time before we went to a store, James would ask, "Can I buy something?"His face fell upon hearing my response "What do you want to buy? You don't need anything." If he sees something (a toy) that he really likes, he goes on begging, "please, please, please". One time, I did allow him and Daniel each pick an inexpensive toy because they were behaving well that day.

The store is full of temptations. Yes, not only for the kids. On one of my recent shopping trips, a nice wallet caught my eyes. Don't ask me why I ended up looking at wallets even though they were NOT on my shopping list. I easily came up with a few justifications: my old wallet is 13 years old and does not have a see-through window for picture ID and does not have a coin pocket; this one is good-looking, the right size, very functional, and not so expensive ... Well, you got the picture. Before we walked to the checkout line, however, I decided to put it back. It's the question of want vs. need. Do I want it? Yes, just like James wants a new toy. Do I need it? Not really. Especially now that we're living on one moderate income, what I need is to learn to adjust to the new life style.

Here's a story my dad told. Before China's open door policy, in the factory he worked as an engineer, everybody was equally poor. Even if you had money, there were not much selections in local stores in the median sized city. Occasionally dad would go on business trips to Beijing or Shanghai where the selections of stuff in the stores were much better. One time my dad, who likes shopping or window shopping, called his coworker (also an engineer) to go shopping, but the guy said, "I never go to the store on business trips or even at home unless it's absolute necessary, because I don't want to spend money on things I cannot afford. If I go to the store, I'll be tempted."

Isn't this the solution or one of the solutions to this kind of temptation?