MSN Money - Luxuries you can live without -- and should
My husband and I have explored this idea quite a bit lately. We were the last ones in our rural community to get a microwave, and we certainly didn't have the premium model. However, it was soon hard to live without.
Having been raised by the "Depression babies," both of us were used to the "use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without" philosophy, and it served us well in early marriage. Later, though, we too became caught up in the "gotta haves."
Now that we are looking toward retirement, we are rethinking our strategies. For instance, neither of us anticipated that medical expenses would eat up so much of our income or that insurance would cover less and less. I don't know if we have to go back to early marriage, when we ate out once a payday (that would be really hard since retirees get paid once a month), but we probably should eat out less, for both financial and health reasons. Secondly, I did not anticipate the conflict between wanting to help our adult children so badly versus letting them be adults. It is a hard line for me personally to draw. I don't need $200 jeans, and my grandsons probably don't need all of the clothes or toys that catch my eye, but it is a struggle for me not to buy them.
Some of the happiest times of my life were when my husband and I did without to achieve long-term goals: paying off the house and vehicles, for instance. I think that, for us, we need to establish long-term goals again, and we are working on it. Is that the reason society has come to this point? That, in general, people don't have long-term goals?
My husband and I have explored this idea quite a bit lately. We were the last ones in our rural community to get a microwave, and we certainly didn't have the premium model. However, it was soon hard to live without.
Having been raised by the "Depression babies," both of us were used to the "use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without" philosophy, and it served us well in early marriage. Later, though, we too became caught up in the "gotta haves."
Now that we are looking toward retirement, we are rethinking our strategies. For instance, neither of us anticipated that medical expenses would eat up so much of our income or that insurance would cover less and less. I don't know if we have to go back to early marriage, when we ate out once a payday (that would be really hard since retirees get paid once a month), but we probably should eat out less, for both financial and health reasons. Secondly, I did not anticipate the conflict between wanting to help our adult children so badly versus letting them be adults. It is a hard line for me personally to draw. I don't need $200 jeans, and my grandsons probably don't need all of the clothes or toys that catch my eye, but it is a struggle for me not to buy them.
Some of the happiest times of my life were when my husband and I did without to achieve long-term goals: paying off the house and vehicles, for instance. I think that, for us, we need to establish long-term goals again, and we are working on it. Is that the reason society has come to this point? That, in general, people don't have long-term goals?
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1 Comments:
I agree with what you said about material possessions. Especially as a young couple.
Beth and I rarely, if ever, have arguments over money, because of the philosophy you described. And for a military family that makes peanuts, married nary over three years, and raising two young children, I believe that is a large accomplishment.
We are ahead of our peers because of this philosophy. We have what we need, and some wants. We do not have much, but we are secure. We have a decent "cushion" in the bank. (Which is really nice with the upcoming move.)
You should take satisfaction in the fact that because of the philosophies you follow, not only your children, but you grandchildren will be well cared for.
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