When it comes to spending money - priority is what matters

I've always heard that an idle mind is the devil's workshop. When I was younger, I used to imagine a black-skinned, heavily built man, with horns on either side of his head, roaming through workshops, looking for what to spoil or disorganize. However, it was in August 2022 that I got the true meaning of that saying.

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I was sitting idly in my mother's house, since neither my mom nor siblings were around to send me on errands. There was no power supply, so I turned to my phone instead, going through posts on Facebook timelines and WhatsApp statuses.

It was then I saw a friend of mine, Glory, who had just purchased a sleek wig and was showing it off to the camera. It was smooth looking, bouncing off the comb she was using to brush it continuously.

I allowed my imagination to take me into a realm of my own wishful thinking. I pictured myself putting on that exact style of hair and showing it off to the camera, just like Glory had been doing.

It was then it occurred to me that I didn't have a wig I could call my own. I hadn't seen the need to own one until I saw Glory's video. When I returned from the land of fancy imagination, I sent Glory a direct message.

She responded almost immediately. We exchanged our greetings, taking time to cajole each other on how chubby and more beautiful we had become. It was after this drama that I asked where she got her wig and the amount.

It was not expensive to me; it was just 17 thousand Naira. I did the math in my head. If I saved up for two months, I would make 20 thousand; that was enough to pay for the hair and the waybill. It wasn't such a terrible idea.

I didn't consider then that I was not a fan of wigs or elaborate hairdos. I went ahead to asked for the contact of the wig vendor and sent her a message too.

I didn't need to save up for two months to get the money for the hair. I walked up to my older brother and asked if he could support me with some money, the vendor said she wasn't certain the hair would stay in stock for two months.

“My hair doesn't stay for up to two weeks but since this is your first time and you were referred by my good customer, I'll save it for you till the end of the month.”

How amazing that sounded to my ears! My older brother who could barely resist my pleadings, helped me with the amount I asked for and before the end of the month, the order arrived at my doorstep.

I could barely contain my excitement as I walked to the gate to meet with the delivery guy who was sent to me. My roommate too was bubbling with excitement. When I brought it into the house, we both rushed to tear the packaging apart to see what I had gotten.

I could tell from looking at it that it was completely different from what I saw in the video she sent to me. It didn't have a lustrous texture and the length was a couple of inches shorter.

“This hair isn't going to last for a year before it sponges up”, my roommate said while we assessed it. I knew that too; I just didn't have the courage to say so.

That was 20 thousand gone.

I made up my mind there and then to never indulge in impulse buying again.

It took me some time to get myself together after that. I had not been so good at getting things for myself, but it became worse after the wig incident. It took a lot of cajoling from my roommate before I agreed to get a pair of AirPods for myself.

“You know you work on the road sometimes; you need it to shut out noise so you can concentrate. It's one of the items you've been meaning to get for yourself all along”.

I eventually became grateful that she talked me into getting it because just as she said, I was fond of working outside; in school, on the road, and even in public vehicles and I needed to shut out the noise in those places to concentrate.

It's been almost a year already since I got it, and it still serves its purpose without stress. I cannot say the same about the wig.

I have concluded that when it comes to spending money, priority is what matters and not the item. If it's really useful then I would go for it, but if it isn't, I would push it over to some other time.