The economic factors and prevailing attitudes affect how many people handle their money. As most of you have probably observed, those that were affected by the Great Depression are in their late 80's and 90's and are extremely frugal. I knew a person who used to pull the plug on her electric clock, when she left the house, to save money. The fear of being destitute must have been so intense that it changed their spending behavior for the rest of their lives.
Nowadays, people think they should have everything before they earn it. They end up paying much more for everything, and miss half the fun of looking forward to owning something after they have worked for it.
Also it baffles me to see people thinking they wouldn't be happy with any house that is less than 2000 square ft, when no matter how small the space, the human brain will automatically adjust to make it comfortable in a short period of time. Some are starting to realize this, with the advent of the "mini houses" being built with only a few hundred square ft.
Also I see people thinking that if something is more than 10 years old, it must be due for replacement. Just look at the number of things in landfills that still have good use left in them.
In order to keep up with the Joneses, many think they have to drive an expensive car, when the sum of the intitial cost, the fuel, the insurance, and the maintenance is killing them financially.
I can't believe how much people spend on being continually entertained. Whether it's the internet, phone bills, movies, eating out, etc., it's keeping many people poor and unable to save for "rainy days" or retirement.
The unusually long period of big wages that came with the $100. oil in Calgary only helped to reinforce the above attitudes. Those that didn't realize what forces were acting on them, and that history always repeats itself, are doomed to suffer the consequences.
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