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CHAPTER 17Impulse Buying

Every summer, my family would take our annual trip to Cedar Point, a large amusement park in Ohio. We would set up camp there for the weekend and ride as many of the roller coasters as possible. One year, my parents gave my sister and me a sum of money to spend in the park. “Don't spend it all in one place,” was the quote we heard as Dad handed us a few twenties before the trip. Once in the park, I would not stop thinking about where I would spend this money (there was zero chance that any cash was going back home with me). I walked the park with this money – not in pocket, but in hand – thinking about hats, T‐shirts, and what value this cash would bring me at the arcade. The choices were overwhelming; I deliberated almost the entire trip and eventually settled for some cotton candy and a stack of useless tickets that represented my triumphs at Skee‐Ball. All that I had to show for this money was progress towards a few cavities and a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles pencil sharpener. Today, the sharpener is nowhere to be found … and of course, neither is the cash. Whether we're children or adults, sometimes knowing the best place to spend our money is difficult. As Andy Rooney once said, “We are good at earning money. We just don't know what to do with it once we have it.” I don't know if I earned that money during that trip to the amusement park or not, but looking back, I would certainly agree with Andy that I did not know what to do with it once I got ...