Just one step at a time

Apparently we in Britain are all miserable. Or so says Oliver James in his new book The Selfish Capitalist. Mark Greene (from LICC), has a Christian view on the book. I myself haven’t read it, but would like to (must go to the library and order it).

One of my non-New Year resolutions was to spend less. And avoid M&S, which is where most of my money seems to go! I have plenty of stuff, plenty of clothes, and if I plan my meals in advance I can spend less on groceries. ‘Stuff’ doesn’t make me happy.

We hear a lot nowadays about spending less, consuming less, having less. James calls it Affluenza - we’re unhappy with our stuff. Money doesn’t make us happy (though not having enough and being unable to afford the basics doesn’t make us happy either). So though society is calling us to have, to buy, to own, to update, we’re being encouraged to mend, repair, share, borrow (stuff that is, not loans to go on fancy holidays), be responsible.

But things like Fair Trade require us to purchase in order to help others. I know very little about economics, but I’m sure that if we all stopped buying things then the Economy would crash and we would all be in very difficult situations (I’m talking about us in our Western, capitalist countries. I am aware that many countries already have an economy crash - if of course they’ve not already been bombed to the point of almost oblivion). Money does make the world go round. But at the moment it seems to be spinning on debt.

But I’ve digressed a little. Our purchases enable others to have a better life, is the theory of Fair Trade. But does that mean we make sure we’re buying fair trade groceries, or should be we buying more stuff for ourselves, our homes, to make us look and feel better by owning them?

How do we counter the call to be less of a consumer with encouraging Fair Trade? It’s almost a Catch-22 situation. I guess we can only resolve this by buying responsibly when we do buy. And hope that in buying less, but giving more through our choices, we can regains not necessarily happiness (because happiness is subjective), but joy.

Hmm… not sure if I’ve captured everything I wanted to in this post, but the basics are there.

The plan for 2008 is to try and stick to a budget. I’ve done the basics: after all those things I ‘have’ to spend during the month (food, rent, utilities, charities, insurance and so on…), what do I have left to ‘play’ with?

Can I be strict with myself? Can I make my own lunches? Can I avoid Friday night in the pub so much? Can I avoid the lure of books, DVD’s, clothes? Can I live cash only most of the time? Can I face up to my bank account regularly and put aside the ’spare’ money at the end of the month and save it for something special (maybe a holiday as haven’t had a proper one in over a year) rather than feel the need to spend it? Can I put aside bills money rather than let it drip out of the ATM in the months I don’t have to pay the bills (only to find myself short when they’re due)?

I get paid 15th each month. My budget starts then. Lord, give me strength!