When I started working at GE right out of college in 1992, they offered me an opportunity to join the Christmas Club.
Choose an amount. Usually small. A few bucks a week automatically deducted from my paycheck and sent directly to the Christmas Club account. I couldn’t touch it till it matured in November.
Save first, spend later.
Today, we usually do the opposite. Swipe now, pay later.
As a system, neither is right or wrong. Neither is good or bad. This isn’t a post about how our culture and ourselves have become greedy, impatient, or entitled.
It’s about systems.
The Christmas Club system baked in the save first, spend later behavior. We followed the system. Today’s system encourages the spend now, pay later behavior. We follow the system.
If you want different behavior, design a different system.
