A Spending Culture

Today’s American culture communicates one message very clearly: spend money! For every 60 minutes the television runs, there is an average of 25-30 minutes of advertisements. If you are listening to the radio you will be frequently interrupted by commercials. Driving down the road you will pass sign after sign of advertisements with the latest “thing” you’ve just got to have. It is nearly impossible to go a single day without seeing or hearing someone try to sell you something. Spend, spend, spend, spend, spend! And it’s not like what they are selling is going to save the world either, its mostly just stuff we do not really need, or even want for that matter. It would be a foreign thought to be bombarded with the message of “Save, Save, Save“, or “Don’t buy what you really don’t need“. It would be marketing suicide.

It is counter-culture to spend LESS than we make. A person is going against the financial grain when they set up a budget and follow it…for more than a month. People have bought into the marketing that says we “Need” something right now. We don’t need it, we want it. We don’t need a new plasma HD television to watch the big game. We don’t need a new set of designer clothes that are discounted because of the “2nd Tuesday of the 4th month, that comes once yearly sale”. We don’t need new a car or truck. And on and on the list of needs goes. We WANT these things. The only things we NEED are quite simple really: oxygen, food/water, shelter, clothing, God. That’s it. If you are reading this you’ve still got oxygen. The food/water/shelter/clothing issues can be quite basic really…frills not necessary (even though steak would taste great every night). God…well if you don’t have Him in your life then you really don’t have much of a life anyway.

Culture needs to change. We need to change. And to change we have to quit buying the lines we hear and the ads we see that tell us we “can’t do without” whatever it is that is getting pushed in our direction. Numerous surveys show that over 60% of Americans live paycheck-to-paycheck, and many more would be crushed in financial stress if they weren’t paid for two straight months. At the same time America is consistently rated as the most prosperous nation in the world. The average US family makes $42,000 per year according to a 2005 US Census report. While we are definitely the most prosperous, we must be close to the most spend happy nation. If the average family set aside 10% ($4,200.00) of their annual income and placed it in an investment earning 12% per year, the amount saved in 30 years would be well over $1 million dollars! A millionaire in 30 years by saving 10%! That is what we should be hearing in the media and in ads.

What if people started living on less than they made each month? What if people started saving 10% of their annual income? People would become financially healthy. They would experience the joy of living without the fear that a paycheck-to-paycheck lifestyle brings. For the record, there isn’t one negative thing that happens due to a person living below there means and saving. Not one! But the list is huge of the negative impacts that spending culture places on people when multiplied by years. Change your culture. Go against the grain. Start saving today and spending less than you make.

I’ll be writing a weekly blog on Monday’s that addresses cultural and behavior issues as they relate to our finances: earning, spending, saving, etc. On Thursday’s I’ll present ideas or things for thought regarding miscellaneous topics: investment, pro-con scenarios, Q&A, etc. During the week I’ll try answering as many questions as have been sent through. Let me know what your questions or topics are.