DAILY AWARENESS

Awareness of what one needs to achieve a sustainable lifestyle is important. It’s particularly an imperative in these modern times when people are being encouraged to spend money. The urge to spend is stimulated by government, business, industry and retail because the more that is spent, the greater the viability of both micro and macro businesses.

People are encouraged to spend in order to achieve self gratification. They are invited to go into debt on interest-free purchase plans and by use of all sorts of other devices to extract money from them – often money that they do not have. That can force them into a situation of becoming poor to the point of not being able to cope without support from help agencies.

A point of daily awareness that assists with sustainability is a practice that I have followed ever since my very early teenage years. I am 77 now. All those years ago my father said to me, “Henry, do not spend what you don’t have. Do not go into debt. Save up for what you need and then purchase the item.“

My father embedded within me a belief that to purchase impulsively, prematurely and by going into debt, that I would be paying far far more and be far far poorer than those who waited. I guess a part of this was his urging me not to worry about “keeping up with the Joneses” – but rather to be myself.

To this day I as a person and my family have been sustained by this principle of economic management. That has allowed independence and peace of mind to be ongoing.