I’ll have one of these, two of those, and I really “need” a couple dozen of those when in reality – no, you don’t “need” any of this stuff. The only difference being you “want” them. And now suddenly we find this country transitioning from having an abundance of “indiscriminate” cash to tightening the belt within the context of a new runaway inflation scenario. Remember back in the day, when you hadn’t enough “stupid money” available to make that shopping spree [in my opening sentence above] happen? Instead you had to plan carefully to purchase luxury items, or at least put them off into the future… I think that’s most likely where we’re going back to across the country as it’s looking more and more like the days of cash raining down from nothing but a blue sky is quickly coming to an end.

This is really the way the world is supposed to work anyway. Working hard for what we have creates gratitude and builds personal satisfaction as opposed to something just dropping to our feet out of the sky. Although nice to have, things gifted to us do not/will not carry the same “utility” inside our heads. It may be due to the inescapable part of the human psyche which divides the things we earned, from those we possess and never really [earned]. In addition to that, I bet the majority of Americans have in their possession right now way more than they need, and in many ways. And I believe that there are very few real “minimalist types” in this country today. However, there are some “frugal” types out there, my Dad was one of these but he grew up during the Great Depression so that left an indelible impression on him. Then there are a few super cheapies out there as well. These are the kind of people that will drive for an hour to save $1.50 on the purchase of something when a gallon of gas costs well over $3.00. Makes sense right? Wrong! But in their defense I will say these are the same folks that can adapt quicker to changes during economic downturns.

There’s another term used in economic circles that is important to mention here, the concept of “substitution”. Consumers will begin to substitute items as they discern their purchases during times of runaway inflation. [This is important to note because the consumer makes up 70% or more of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and when you and I aren’t buying much, guess what happens? When consumers rein in spending things can get kind of ugly, and rather quickly. So we “need” to pay close attention to that Conference Board “Consumer Confidence” number, published the last Tuesday of each month, and by the way the number has been falling lately.] You may already be practicing “substitution” in your individual household. I like the way one person recently described the practice of “substitution” in higher inflationary periods. He said, “Steak eaters switch to hamburger while the hamburger eaters have now switched to buying hot dogs”. That sums it up pretty well I’d say. 🙂

Personally, my attitude on spending falls somewhere in the middle. On consumption, I practice what’s best described as “practicality”. I do splurge on items but I stay cognizant of whether that was a “need” or just a “want”. Thus my “wants” are often shot down as I try to keep some kind of balance between the two. At the same time, I never ever concern myself with making a special trip to find something sold cheaper elsewhere. I rarely ever use coupons or buy things on special promotions and I get along just fine practicing “practicality” combined with allowing myself some “splurge”. Suffice to say I am not in the camp of seeing how many things I can accumulate before I die, consistent with my understanding is that I can only enter Heaven with my pockets empty. 🙂