I live without most of them and my life is fine. Actually, it's better than fine.
My husband and I don't have caller ID, call waiting, or any other upgrades on our home phone. We don't have HBO or any extra channels on our TV either. My husband's big luxury is having regular cable because if left entirely up to me, I'd have the '12 channel' basic kind.
We finally got a 2nd cell phone instead of still sharing one and even then, I saved us $9 per month by knocking down our home phone to a basic Pay Per Call line. When we got our phones, we chose the antiquated free ones and stuck to the cheapest plan available. If there were still pay phones lurking at every corner, we may not have a cell phone at all.
We buy tech things light-years after everyone else has them when they are affordable (and I'm sure outdated already). I find it a bit over the top that we have a desktop computer and a laptop in one home. We knew we'd use a laptop more being portable but needed to have the other computer hooked up so we could have wireless access or else we would have only one. And we've only had the laptop for a year or two now, about a decade after they were getting common.
I don't have a text plan. I actually blocked internet access and in-coming texts to my phone to not spend the extra charges. I don't have a 'smart' phone. Mine is just smart enough to call the people I want to talk to.
I get teased (although kind heartedly) about how out-of-touch or old-fashioned I am with technology. My friends joke that they know it's me when the phone rings. But, I am totally fine with that.
We don't subscribe to Netflix, satellite radio or any other per month fee for music, TV, Movies, etc. I get nervous that we have access to ordering movies direct through the TV because I fear it makes it too easy to spend money.
So you don't get the complete wrong impression, we don't go entirely without luxury things. For example, I DO have an iPod! But, even then, my husband won it for me in a trivia contest. Because we loved the concept (and after all, we had Walkmans in the 80s and missed the convenience)...we did end up buying one because it was too hard to share. We get a TON of use out of them and have used them for years now. I am sure they are already way outdated but we love them.
The largest high-tech luxuries out there are probably cars loaded with GPS, satellite radios, TVs, and a dozen other upgrades that I probably don't even know exist. My husband and I both drive used cars that are paid for. I decided when I purchased mine 7 years ago that I would run it into the ground before getting another one and I'm hoping to get at least another 4-5 years out of it. Unfortunately, our second vehicle is not reliable so eventually we are going to have to upgrade to a less used car. I just hate the thought of the monthly payment so we are saving for a large enough down payment to try to keep our loan down.
Another reason why I think we're old-fashioned is that we bought our house on just one of our incomes. Which I'm assuming is the way it was always done when the mother (okay, there could have been a few fathers out there) stayed at home to raise children. This one decision gives us a huge amount of wiggle room so that if one of us ever loses our jobs, we could manage and not lose our home. I have to tell ya, it makes it a whole lot easier for us to sleep at night.
You may be wondering where our money actually does go. Or maybe you're not. But you've read this far and want to see how it ends. :) We spend most our money on our house. We feel it's our biggest investment and we take good care of it. We have hobbies such as skiing, golfing and hiking which 2 of the 3 are pretty expensive. Books, games, movies and music get another large chunk of our money. We feel that entertainment that you own that can be repeated is a good investment and they all can be shared with friends and family. We also love to travel. But we do so only as we can afford it. Which would be a lot less if we had all those other bills to pay. And Lastly...Food. We are willing to shell out for better quality ingredients and love to cook. What we cook at home appeals to me much more than restaurant food. Recently, we've been averaging only once a month for eating out.
I did some estimating and we save about $650.00 per month on things that most people have and/or do. These things included some things we've really wanted and decided against such as satellite radio, Netflix, HBO, caller ID, call waiting, getting iPhones, cable internet, eating dinner out twice a week, the iPad, texting plans, etc. (That doesn't include the $450-$600 per month we're saving on not having any car payments.) Not that we have all that money in our pockets, but it shows how fast people can live beyond their means just doing the things that have become a 'normal' part of life.
Everyone wants things. If I had unlimited funds, I would probably cave in and buy all the latest, fun, tech gadgets that are supposed to make life easier. But, I've discovered with our income, NOT having them makes our life easier and able to afford the things that matter most to us.
Forget the Jones's. They are in debt up to their eyeballs for sure. I had a great conversation with my chiropractor regarding choices in life. She said you must choose the path you want to take and stick to it feverishly. No one can have it all but if you decide what is the MOST important to you, you can turn down all the other options and maybe get what you want. Mine is to live simply, learn things that I am passionate about, and explore the world...one manageable, affordable vacation at a time. And if that makes me old-fashioned, I embrace it wholeheartedly.
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