How much is enough?

I have recently asked myself this very question. And I am not sure of the answer.

I don’t think I have ever really over-consumed, but in this modern day we are all consumers of one sort of another. No matter how we live, we end up paying for goods and services that our ancestors could have only dreamed of.

Modern Technology

Modern technology has crept (sometimes exploded) into our lives and that has driven up the costs of day-to-day living.

I am old enough to remember not needing to pay either a mobile or internet bill each month – because those two items hadn’t been invented yet (or at least not for mass consumption). But now, I spend roughly $80 per month on these two items alone – and I know that’s on the low end of what most people spend on them.

And new gadgets and technologies are coming out all the time. I see at least 2-3 people on the train now with ebook readers or iPads. Something they wouldn’t have had the opportunity to buy (or thought they needed) even 2 years ago.

I don’t want to use this article to bash technology, but it does serve as a good example. Another one is food.

Food

I remember when I was a kid and my Mother staying home full-time and spending her days cooking and baking – a cheap way to feed a family with 5 children. Now I see smaller families fed on microwave meals and junk food – all expensive when compared to the base ingredients that my mother used to use to make her meals and treats – now all fitting into a single isle at the supermarket, besieged by more and more packaged and processed foods.

But maybe I was lucky, or just “poor”. I do remember going to school when I was older and swapping my homemade cakes and buns for processed chips and lollies with the other kids. Mainly because we never had that stuff in our house, and they never had home-made treats in theirs. We never had soft drinks either. The closest we got was cordial.

Childhood

But I had a great childhood. I received lots of toys at Christmas time and I spent my days computer games-free, living for the most part in my imagination, and outside.

That’s not to say that kids today don’t have great childhoods or any imagination, but obesity is on the rise (thanks to too much processed food and lack of physical activity), and people are actually starting to live shorter lives than their parents – and that’s even after smoking rates have plummeted.

Modern Living

I cannot help believe that modern living is partly to blame for many of us not making ends meet. We seem to have fallen into a rut of consumption.

While there are hundreds of websites and books now teaching us to become more frugal or on how to save more, we keep living the same lives as we did before, living day-to-day and still struggling.

Agreed, housing prices in many cities have risen sharply over the years, and electricity and petrol have as well, but so has the average wage. Australia is now one of the richest countries in the world, and yet many still struggle.

Conclusion

I don’t have all the answers, but I know that lifestyle plays a huge role in how you spend your money and what you spend it on.

Maybe it’s time that each of us looked hard at how we live and see if there is a better way. Or at least some small changes we can make. Something that lifts us out of this rut of consumption, to a more secure, safer and more enjoyable life.

What are your thoughts?