Being Totally Honest...

LookingAhead

A lot of people have said we can't change things re: consumerism and I know it seems like an overwhelming prospect. If everyone says that, then no nothing will ever change.

But changes come about when people start to take action and people have to start taking action as individuals.

We're never going to be able to not buy anything, sure....but we can be better spenders.

You don't have to buy the biggest, newest, fastest & shiniest things around or the things with the kudos labels on them. If you do this, you just contribute to the cycle.

Buy fair trade, buy organic foods when possible (dairy produce is very competitive at the very least), buy second hand, buy natural products not the over inflated big store products in their shiny packaging (that don't work anyway!), buy lesser known brands (as DudleyBoy suggested), sponsor a child in a third world country, don't buy products where people have suffered in the process of making it...do good things with your money and you will be changing things.

In short just be an ethical consumer where you can be. I think we all have a responsibilty to the world to at least try.

Blimey.....I didn't realise I would go off on one there........<goes off to make cup of tea and calm down...... >

Scully's_Girl

Commercialism has put alot of pressure on people to spend recklessly. Since I came to this country in 2003 I have been bombarded by those with the obsession with living the so called American Lifestyle of Bigger & Bigger. When I meet a 16 year old girl in a shop they start gushing the minute they hear my accent, thinking my life in New York was Sex & the City. Americans have alot of debt too, not to mention many other problems with excess (we're very fat). However, there is a far larger population to sustain itself, hence I was paying 27% income tax on my salary there, compared to 40% here.
England is far smaller & so it takes more per person to sustain. My head spins with all the taxes we pay. But it is also an amazing place where we can reap the rewards of a strong economy & even stronger currency, but you need to get on the sunny side of the 0% marker to benefit from it.
There is no proper finance education in schools. No one sat me down & told me how money worked. I had to start earning & paying taxes (& interest) to understand it. But each of us on these boards have the very thing we need to improve our situations. Awareness. Think about the people who are still spending & accumulating debt with nothing to show. I'd rather spend my Saturday afternoon with ya'll fine folks.

System

I thought I'd add my tupence <sp> worth here.

Now I am an IT geek and I used to be gadget, gotta have it gotta have it, then 2 months later Id break it, loose it or loose interest in it. It always went on the CCard.

Now that I am "living through" paying it back, you realise the value of money and the fact that if you keep money, it rewards you.

If I look at myself now from say four years ago I have changed drastically. I can honestly say I hate commercialism, capitalism and the rest. I now view shops, banks, corporations etc as the enemy of public good. I now feel that i'm more in tune with real life, and my worries about the ecological distaster that is happening before our eyes makes me so upset. Yes call me a soppy git but its the truth. I can honestly say that once you rediscover the mend and make do side of life, when you do buy a new item etc, its that much more special and you dont get the guilt complex of "OMG I just spent £300 on a console etc/whatever" and I have to pay it back.

Once I am debt free (Soon yay) the only two things Id like is a holiday and a new car, thats it.

I also intend to invest my money ethically, and not to buy from Asda AKA Wallmart and the like (They treat their staff in the US so badly, over 1/3 of them have government issued food coupons because the pay is so poor. But they cannot get a job elsewhere because Walmart has destroyed all other competition.. check out http://www.walmartsucks.org/) to see how bad they really are.

I will get so much more pleasure from realising there are other things in life except money (dont get me wrong a nice meal out etc is still on the cards etc ) but money is not the be all and end all. The security from knowing you have money and know how to make it stretch means you have more security than most of the country, and the fact that the saved up money could allow you access to things you never thought of, ie the money to be able to retrain, to travel the world, to just not have to worry.

I can now go into Dixons/The link etc and see straight through the offers and shiny shiny bling bling that tempts other people and "interest free credit @ 29.9" rofl

When I walk into a shop its now mental combat between me and them for them to even try to sell me something.

A bit of a ramble but my journey to debt freedom, even though its not over has opened my eyes

amosworks

I've got to agree with mintymoneysaver. I too look at some of the stupid things people have wasted their money on and judge their sanity for it. I don't judge people in a nasty way and doubt I would really say (I think the only thing I did comment on was my shock at £85 for a haircut), but people do get in debt for different reasons. What winds me up more is when people start being stupid when it comes to getting out of debt and act like they really can't be arsed to take it seriously.

I hope people judge me because I think through people telling me I was stupid for spending money on this and that, it would make me a stronger and better person so I wouldn't do it again in the future.

lynzpower

I DO judge people on here, for sure. I judge them as a hell of better people than me, when they have got into debt, raising children, dealing will illness and disability and bereavement, redundancy and losing jobs. Whereas me, never been out of work and spent money on tescos finest this n that and drinks in snazzy bars. Makes me ashamed of myself.

Although Ive always been too tight to spend more than £30 on a haircut, but happy to blow £100 on booze. Horses for courses I guess.

CAFCGirl

I agree with a lot that has been posted from both sides of the argument. I do think we shouldn't judge people for how they got into debt, but also think it's sometimes helpful to know how they got into debt in order to tailor the advice we may give.

I have'nt been on here for very long but I've been trying to read as many threads as possible.Picking up hints and tips etc, but I'm also trying to find whats tailored more to my situation.

Therefore it does matter to my situation that half of my debt is due to shopping, but then within that the biggest issue is the emotional reasoning behind all that. My spending was to try and give myself a happy vibe, and yeah it was short lived because you get to a point where you cant afford the necessities because of the luxuries.

Now not only am I trying to pay back what I owe but I'm also trying to address the situation lurking in the back ground to make sure I don't do it again.That for me is going to be my biggest challenge!

So i think if we know why people are in debt, be it gadgets and gizmos, shoes or sofas, cars or consolidation, then we can all go a better way to help those people get out of their situations.

snoozer

No, I can't say that I ever judge people by what they spent their money on. Over the years I must have spent money on everything that others have, clothes, books holidays, books, kids music, books, household things, books, cars, books, gifts for family and friends, books, good food, books, eating out, books, wasted gym subs - you name it I've probably loaded it on to a credit card or a loan. But we will b debt free in April and I've well and truly learned my lesson (and hopefully will be able to keep OH in check as well) No more debt for us (except for mortgage which hopefully will be paid off in a couple of years.

Everyone else on here is struggling and I'm sure kicking themselves just as much as I did - we need to support them fully not look down on them for what we might think is wasteful spending.

There - got that off my chest - sorry for the rant.

tinkerbelluk

I am debt free and have been for many years however I view the debt free board daily – why simple because I find it an inspiration.

When I built up my debt I was 18 stupid and can’t even remember what I blew the money on (and yes it was a lot of money) – Anyway I had no one to talk to or give me any advice about it and I remember the additional pressure that it piled on. I look at people’s signatures hear and rather than thinking “oh how could you run up so much debt” – I think “good on you for facing up to everything” I wish I had been so honest at one point during my life.

ms_london

I dont think it's relevant what people spent the "money" (debt) on - the relevant part is that we are all here trying to do something about it!!

Like a lot of people, I run up the debt on bits and pieces & basically living above my income. If you are spending more than you earn (even if its on the basics!) you will end up in debt eventually - it doesnt always mean that you have been out buying extravagent goods!!

xx