No doubt you have heard the phrase “keeping up with the Joneses.” This idiom has been around for decades and it refers to comparing oneself or one’s family to a neighbor or idea of someone who is doing better or keeping up a higher socioeconomic status.
When you watch TV these days you have to think that the Joneses must be doing pretty good for themselves. New cars, new iPhones and iPads, bigger and better vacations, houses, refrigerators, washing machines, delectable meals out at fancy restaurants… you name it, they have it.
But do you ever stop to think whether the Joneses, whoever they may be, can truly afford to keep up with themselves? And if you have someone in mind who seems to be doing very good for himself, have you considered whether he can really keep up with his spending? On TV commercials, the families that are portrayed would have to have an average discretionary budget (meaning their income after taxes, insurance, house payments) of over $200,000. Wow! The median (midpoint) household income in America in 2012 is $50,054.15 according to the Huffington Post. That is only ¼ of what it would take to be able to keep up with the TV advertisements that leave us always wanting more.
So how can they keep up? The simple answer is: they can’t. They are probably knee-deep or even neck-deep or underwater in debt. The average household carries over $15,000 in credit card debt (source is creditcards.com. With that much debt, it is impossible to truly own that nice car and fancy clothes outright for the average person in our country. In our country people used to take pride in ownership of things like their houses and cars. That was in a time when the majority of people truly owned those things, not the bank. These days the bank can repossess those items if you fail to make a payment. They don’t really belong to us, and so we have set up this fake reality, showing off our “cool” things to be admired by others and admiring their latest gadgets, while what we are really doing is setting ourselves up for a big fall.
What do we do then? The first thing is to stop trying to keep up. If the Joneses can’t even keep up with themselves, then it is not worth it. And do you really need all those things to feel worthy? Instead of the latest, hottest designs, do you think you could shop at a different store, even a Walmart or thrift store, and find something that you look good in without spending a small fortune? Do you think that instead of rushing out to buy the latest new phone, your old phone (yes, the “old” one you bought last summer) could last a little while longer? After all, it does make calls, and you can listen to music on it, check your email and Facebook, and take pictures still.
That takes us to the second step. Once you have stopped focusing on how Mr. Jones is doing and start looking at yourself, and this does take practice and time to feel comfortable with it, then you can work on a budget. Yikes, not the “B” word! Ah yes, a budget. It is not as scary or complicated as you think. In fact, it is quite empowering. When you create a budget, you can keep track of how much money you are bringing into your household and how much you are spending. It can help you say no to those items you just don’t need that have for so long been dragging you down into the depths of debt. It gives you something to be proud of. When you get your spending under control and down to less than you are earning, you can revel in that accomplishment and enjoy the knowledge that you really and truly own the things you own. The bank cannot come take them away at any minute. They are yours.
I would encourage you to get started on a budget today. If you have tried in the past and failed, do not give up hope. Try again. It is absolutely worth your future and your happiness. Let’s start turning things around in our country so that we can once again enjoy financial success and freedom.
![[Valid RSS]](images/valid-rss-rogers.png "Validate my RSS feed")