Upgrade, Update: Materialism, Our Own Worst Enemy

Hello everyone!

Today is Throwback Thursday and, in spite of getting a very late start on this, I have a topic that has been pressing on my mind lately. The other day I was talking to my parents about the world today and mentioned that we truly do create our own money problems. You might think that I'm wrong. After all, how can we expect to make it in this world today if we aren't paid enough, right? I realize that the average household income has gone down in the last twenty years. But I also realize that we tell ourselves we need things that we don't really need.

We tell ourselves that we need a big house or at least one that has all of the bells and whistles. If you turn on any show on HGTV you will hear, "It looks a little dated to me" spoken with a turned up nose of unsatisfaction. Why is it that we're so used to upgrades that we now deem it a right instead of a privilege? What happened to gratefulness?

We tell ourselves that we need a cell phone - but not just any cell phone, a top of the line, newest model cell phone. What's wrong with having an old version. Wasn't that the top of the line last year or the year before that? Why are we so concerned with having the latest phone out there if it will still do all of the things the other one does, but it's $100 cheaper? Think of all of the things you could do with $100 extra. The new iPhone 8 is coming out soon and people are already guessing it will cost around $1,000!

We tell ourselves that we need the newest laptop, in the best color and with the biggest screen and with all the bells and whistles. Do you even use all the things it can do? Isn't that giant laptop a little heavy now for lugging around now?

We tell ourselves we need a tablet, which is basically a large phone and a small laptop. But, we need it. When our large laptop becomes a stable desktop and out phone isn't big ENOUGH or have space enough for our tablet needs, we feel the need for a tablet. But, why?

We tell ourselves that we need digital cable, after all, if it's not digital than your large High Definition TV will be useless, won't it? We tell ourselves that we need a cable box in every room and that our lives will somehow be much better spent flipping through a thousand channels with nothing interesting to watch. But why?

We tell ourselves that we need a pool in our backyard because who can stand to go through a summer without a pool? Where will you tan if you're not on the deck of your pool? But, the upkeep to having a pool is very expensive and can have many issues. But, after all, what would your summer be like without your own pool?

We tell ourselves that we need an expensive new-ish car. If it's not brand new it's only a year old. We have to have all of the technological specialties of that newer, shiner, vehicle that is more expensive than the one without all of it's gadgets in the interior. We look at what we drive as a status symbol and don't even realize it. Think about it. If someone asked you to buy a lightly used car from 1990 instead of a 2016 vehicle that looked like everyone else's on the road today, would you? Most likely you wouldn't. You would have a cassette player instead of Blue Tooth and a boxier style, rather than a more rounder style of vehicle, which is more common today. But, no matter how well it would run or last you, the answer would probably still be no. But, doesn't that car get you where you want to go?

We tell ourselves that we need all of the new technologies of today to keep up with the Jones and the trends and to stay on the path of where the world is going today. We coast along life, collecting this new gadget and that new toy, telling ourselves that we aren't satisfied until we have what our peers think is acceptable.

It starts when we're young and our friends have things that we don't. It becomes important to us that we have what others think we should have and it soon becomes what we think we should have. We upgrade and update until we're thousands of dollars down the drain and surrounded by our things. And yet, we still complain about not having enough money.

We eat out as though it's the only way of living and rarely cook for ourselves. We deem this as normal because we "don't like to cook." But why weren't we taught how to cook and made to cook? Why is it acceptable to complain about a person working in food service getting a decent wage, when we won't cook for ourselves, but expect others to earn less for cooking for us? Why do we need to treat ourselves with expensive restaurants continually instead of preparing the healthier, cheaper food at home?

As we get older, we're no different than we were growing up, only we now don't have anyone to tell us that we don't need to have a cell phone or a fancy car. We can buy what we want, eat where we want, make upgrades where we want and still sigh when we see how little we get paid.

We love to blame the government, who takes away a ton of what we make on taxes - and that is the case. We love to blame the world today and how we don't make enough, even with our full time job or our three jobs. We love to blame everything except for our inability to say "no" to ourselves.

All of these things I listed above are wonderful luxuries and I have many of the things listed. I'm not opposed to having the upgraded technology and the new updated kitchen with the big pool in the backyard. If you have the money and you want to do those things, more power to you. If you want those little gadgets and things in life to make you feel better, it's all your choice. But, my point behind all of this is, we have a greedy world today that says we need the best - that says we're entitled to the best.

Think about your grandparents and great grandparents going through The Great Depression. They scrimped and saved and made due. They reused, not upgraded. They were grateful for what they had and didn't feel entitled to have what someone else had just because. They did without and they worked hard for their belongings and their land and their house. They taught their children to also work hard for their money and taught them how to save their money, not throw it away on the next gadget that came on the market.

Advertisements over the years have changed the culture of the world and has told you that your life will be better if you have their product. This has continued again and again over the last century, making people think they needed the latest and greatest items to be like everyone else.

Sure, it's easier to use a GPS instead of a map. But isn't a map just as good?

Sure, a cell phone is handy and convenient, but our parents and grandparents remember a time when payphones were readily available or you simply called when you got to your destination. Because most of Americans have cell phones we now see less pay phones around, but there used to be a lot of payphones able to be used. No one worried about having an upgraded payphone. They were all the same. You didn't have to pay $300 for a top of the line cell phone. You put in your coin(s) and you made your phone call.

When there was TV, it used to be a tiny screen with only 3 channels, which were fuzzy and black and white. When new versions came out, sure some people got the newer TVs, but most people remember being told by their father that they weren't able to afford a new TV. "What's wrong with the old one?" They would hear. We're from a very wasteful, greedy era that says, "If you want it, get it." Whatever happened to our grandparent's saying, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it?" I'm not saying, don't discover new things and try to improve on the world. I'm simply saying, we made our own problems by telling ourselves that we need instead of saying what I have is good enough. What's wrong with the old one?

Again, it's everyone's personal prerogatives as to how they live their lives. I have no problem with new technology and gadgets, nice things, new updated homes and items. I'm simply giving another perspective on what our lives have gotten accustomed to today.

I'm saying, there's nothing wrong with telling yourself that a almost $200 cable bill is too much for your wallet and decide to go with something cheaper, like Netflix or Hulu, or no cable instead.

There's nothing wrong with saying you can't afford that newer car's monthly payment and you need to go with one a few years older than that. Does the car work just as well?

There's nothing wrong with saying, I don't need that expensive hand bag by that particular designer. What's wrong with one that's $150 less expensive? Don't they look similar?

These are things that have been weighing on my mind lately. I thought that maybe you would see my point of view as well and begin to wonder a bit about your own lives. The more I have thought about what we do today that our grandparents and great grandparents didn't do, the more I have considered changing my ways.

Our generations before us weren't nearly as wasteful as we are today. Ziploc bags, for instance, didn't really hit the market until the 1960's and these are now one of the most used items in our everyday lives. We use tons of these little baggies and then throw them all away. They're made to make our lives more convenient and more disposable. But when we think about the money that we throw out on a daily basis, it blows my mind. Our grandparents used to put items in a reusable container and wash it out afterwards. This saved them lots of money and the environment much waste.

I'm sure you get my point... Thanks for reading this lengthy diatribe of mine and maybe it even made you think about your own life and ways that money is seeping out of your fingers as well. Times are tough and any way that we can save a few dollars is worth it.

Have a great night, guys and I'll see you tomorrow for Foodie Friday!