You have to pay your taxes and your mortgage. You have to buy food, gas and car insurance – but beyond meeting some of those basic needs, what else is essential to you? What spending do you continue even when the economy is making you nervous? And what don’t you spend on? A radio talk show was recently talking about the divorce rate climbing back up as a sign of the economy getting better. It’s definitely easier financially for two to survive together; many expenses are shared.
Consumer Reports found that no matter the economy, a whopping percentage of people (nearly 40%) still have to have premium, streaming or pay TV. It is an odd thing to go past impoverished areas with rundown homes and still see a satellite dish perched on the roof. But if you have no money for getting out, you may as well have good TV. And smartphones -- how can they even be considered a luxury anymore? They are a lifeline for anyone seeking work or exploring opportunities.
The next thing on the list was haircuts. I get that, especially if you are still in the workplace. But then the list went on to include cigarettes, Starbucks, gym memberships and mani-pedis. We are just a little spoiled. And thinking we need these little things is what makes it so hard to buy the bigger things – a new car or a single-family home. Whereupon we would then need to buy many other things.
This generation didn’t go through the Great Depression, but I think years of capricious corporate mergers and downsizings have really traumatized people and that’s why the economy languishes. We are always a little afraid that our number will come up next; that we will be in the wrong place at the wrong time. So we are more cautious than we used to be about spending. I was happy to see both of my stepsons buy homes in the past few years and not only that, homes in the suburbs. Happy because they have the ability to do so of course, but more happy because they are optimists. The future needs optimists.
Consumer Reports found that no matter the economy, a whopping percentage of people (nearly 40%) still have to have premium, streaming or pay TV. It is an odd thing to go past impoverished areas with rundown homes and still see a satellite dish perched on the roof. But if you have no money for getting out, you may as well have good TV. And smartphones -- how can they even be considered a luxury anymore? They are a lifeline for anyone seeking work or exploring opportunities.
The next thing on the list was haircuts. I get that, especially if you are still in the workplace. But then the list went on to include cigarettes, Starbucks, gym memberships and mani-pedis. We are just a little spoiled. And thinking we need these little things is what makes it so hard to buy the bigger things – a new car or a single-family home. Whereupon we would then need to buy many other things.
This generation didn’t go through the Great Depression, but I think years of capricious corporate mergers and downsizings have really traumatized people and that’s why the economy languishes. We are always a little afraid that our number will come up next; that we will be in the wrong place at the wrong time. So we are more cautious than we used to be about spending. I was happy to see both of my stepsons buy homes in the past few years and not only that, homes in the suburbs. Happy because they have the ability to do so of course, but more happy because they are optimists. The future needs optimists.