"You don't just spend money anyhow, you make sure your spending is needed and necessary."

I like to say to friends and family, “Buy Value.”

Buy the things that have value for yourself and your family. Value implies that the product will have usefulness. Most overspending happens, especially here in the US, when people do not give much thought to what they're buying because they're usually buying on impulse, and that doesn’t give them enough time to properly evaluate if they’re actually going to use the thing that they're buying.

It is kind of like buying a boat, because you love the idea of sailing, but never have the time to use it (because of work, family or other obligations), so it sits in a harbor, as you are paying for maintenance costs, renting the harbor space, and paying the debt service payments because you bought the boat on credit.

If people buy what they actually use, and save and invest the rest, people would have much more wealth.

Great post @gloriaolar.