When Gail first asked if I could contribute to Impact, I was more than happy to. After all, I am a semi-intelligent mum genius who has somehow managed to get this far raising 5 kids despite the lotto gods forgetting about me. I must be able to contribute something. So with this in mind, I sat down to write up some pearls of parental wisdom so that we may all see life through as well as my husband and I…. and then it hit me, hang on. What exactly do I have to contribute?
I sat here on my bed, staring blankly at the screen trying to be able to explain just one thing that we do special to enable us to live well on low income. I finally came to the conclusion that either I am not as deeply involved in our monetary matters as I first thought, or we have been doing it for so long now its like second nature and I don’t really see how it is any different. I figure it can’t be the former because I remember paying the bills, and its certainly not the latter – my husband was working until April when his worsening carpel tunnel really drove home the point that daily computer operation was not in his best interests. So what is it then?
I was left with a couple of simple four letter words, and some a little longer.
Hope.
Love.
Optimism.
Family.
There is a lot to be said about technology. Some of it has been so wonderful for my family. The internet for example keeps us all close despite how far – something that used to be a massive consideration in both petrol and telephony costs. Now instead of Phone bills in the hundreds, we pay a fraction for the internet, and the phone bill is virtually non-existant. You don’t even need voip to be close. Family has been the most important factor in all of this for me. It seems no matter how things may look on the outside, just being able to talk with my siblings, or cuddle my son removes all doubt about the future.
As technology goes along, some will become cheaper and make our lives easier. Others will cause the Jones effect, something I left behind a long time ago. That was when I made the jones effect work for me.
My 11yo son recently got money from several relatives for his birthday – ironically cheaper to send to him than a present – but it amounted to $50. He bought himself a fantastic digital camera with it. Nope – not one of those cheap Chinese ones. It was a canon. He got it from eBay. There was nothing wrong with it – well, excluding the fact it wasn’t the absolute latest model with 12 megapixels and built in mobile phone, what its former owner replaced it with. A perfectly good, working piece of first rate technology for an absolute bargain, because it did not live up to the Jones standard. He knew to do this because he learnt it from us, for example when we upgraded our 50cm CRT tv with an 88cm CRT TV for a mere $120, no doubt replaced by something that takes up half a wall.
This is the first and biggest pearl of wisdom I can give anyone. Several small steps that can completely change your whole perspective.
First you must work out exactly what you need to survive. We are not talking about money here, but actual needs. You need to separate them from wants. Then you can break that down into what you will normally find is the cheaper alternative – and you don’t actually have to feel bad about taking it.
For example: I want a mobile phone. I only need it for people to call me. I do not need it to take photos. I do not need it for the free playstation 3. I do not need it as my primary means of communication. A $50 pre-paid mobile phone with a company that offers $10 cards is all I need.
Living to your needs makes living within your means far easier, and you feel much better about it because you know when you have what you need. Everything and anything above that makes you feel great, accomplished.
Feeling good about yourself and your situation is the greatest gift you can give yourself and your family, and only you can achieve this by refocusing your priorities. Release yourself from the Jones effect, and allow yourself to be happy with who you are.
