Books - did I hear you say books. : )  
 
Yesterday some ladies in my frugal-moms group were talking about a book by Judith Levine titled \"Not Buying It: My Year Without Shopping\".  
 
I did what I always do - checked the public library online and put a hold on it. I\'ll have it later today.  
 
They were also talking about Barbara Ehrenreich\'s \"Nickeled and Dimed On (Not) Getting By in America\". Most of the folks commented reflected what I thought after reading it - it\'s a shame it was so agenda driven. IMHO, it\'s also a shame that the person who chose to write it, though I do give her a lot of credit for trying, had no real concepts of basic frugality going in. In my experience, most folks who grow up as the working poor know how to do it in the long-term. Barbara\'s experience would more reflect, IMHO, those who came from a professional background, as she does, who had a change in financial circumstances which life had not prepared them for. Still, it\'s interesting reading.  
 
I\'m not convinced that the \"American Dream\" was ever maxed out consumerism.  
 
When we were growing up my mom always told us kids that we could have whatever we wanted in life, we just had to figure out what it was we truly wanted. It was a world of what you chose to have because no one got everything. Even if they could get everything, what in the world would they do with all that stuff? 
 
Which brings me to our tax stimulus money. There it sits in our savings account because the anticipation of what I/we could spend it on is so very delicious. I don\'t want to skip all the fun of having it sitting there while my mind sorts out all of the ways it could be best used.  
 
Truly, IMHO, it\'s too much money to just go to the mall or shopping with. A big chunk like that should be used for something that makes a material difference.  
 
I\'m so tempted in a number of different directions. The first being to pay a chunk on our mortgage. Last week I got our monthly mortgage statement and we lost a digit. I\'ve been doing the happy dance in a major way. It\'s under that magic $10K now and I know we\'ll have it paid off in the next year - but $1200 on principle would knock if down even faster. Such a delicious idea. To be completely and total debt free including our house. (See my eye light up at the thought).  
 
I know some folks believe it\'s a negative to pay off your house early or at all. I\'ve read all the explanations of tax savings and why it pays to owe money when you can invest the same funds elsewhere. But we\'ve never gotten any tax benefit from our house, not even the year we bought it. so that part has never applied. The second part goes against my whole theology of not biting off more than you can chew if times get hard.  
 
I think your right Pam. Times are going to get harder. We don\'t have alternative infrastructure in place to transition to alternative energy and there emerging countries are drastically expanding their use of energy. There\'s just not enough available for the world\'s use anymore. That reality will impact all of our lives for a number of years now.  
 
There\'s also the problem of China. For years American consumers have gotten used to cheaper imported goods. But China has an aging population. They\'ve had one child laws in effect for so long now that the vast majority of their population will reach retirement age in the next 15 years. Which means their demographic needs as a country will change and our trade deficit to them - well that\'ll be interesting.  
 
Good thing I love voluntary simplicity.

Thanks so much for your comment! Some of it just "jumped" out at me and made me SMILE - "frugal-moms group" - how cool is that!! "Not Buying it - My Year Without Shopping" - I jumped right on that and searched everthing about that - can't wait to read it or hear what you think of it! Gosh, growing up as the "working poor" - which I definitely was - were we the "blessed" ones - the "lucky" ones that are going to take all this a lot better - do it a lot easier - maybe even come out a lot more well off?? Never thought of it but sure could be right. I'm with you on the paying the house off and I've done many "happy dances" when I've gravitated to "money goals" or debt payoffs - congrats -you are definitely at at great point in your life financally - keep it up!! Last but not least I'm with you on the "voluntarly simplicity" also - makes life a lot nicer also!! You are fun! Have a great, peaceful weekend!

Our standard of living for \"basics\" these days is much different. I was thinking about this when a friend\'s son left for college. When I went to college I was fortunate - I had a car, a TV, and a popcorn popper. (remember those things!?!?) Now, when sending a kid off to college they need a laptop, high speed net access, a cell phone and who knows what else. They are what we consider to be \"basics\" these days.  
 
I love these techie things, but I realize just how fortunate I am to have them, and don\'t take them for granted.  
 
I grew up in the south, and much differently than most people my age - even within that culture. It was a very different circumstance than probably anyone who grew up in Hutchinson within the last 60-70 years could comprehend. It gave me a very different outlook on life and I regularly realize I don\'t \"fit\" anywhere. But I wouldn\'t trade it. And it definitely impacts my sense of value. 
 
I remember a few years ago hearing an economist saying that this generation was the first one of Americans that would not have it as good as their parents. Things seem worse now than they did then. 
 
But, I also think we can probably look at many times in our country\'s history when we had the feeling things were really awful and we pulled out of it. Lets hope this is a quick turnaround.

Pam, 
 
I love the subculture of frugal moms. : )  
 
I read "Not Buying It" on Saturday. I could have lived without her running political commentary but that aside, it's a fun book.  
 
She talks at length about her "smart wool" ski socks which she adores. How they make her feel, how she feels when she wears them, how closely they are mated to her enjoyment of skiing now that she discovered them. How she doesn't want to ski without them.  
 
She doesn't lose that spark of having special things that fit you as a person and that you love. More importantly, IMHO, she doesn't expect anyone else to give up the spark of having the special things that fill that need in them.  
 
But she does learn to appreciate them more and stripped of routinely having paid entertainment in her life, she finds a whole new enjoyment in things previously unnoticed by her.  
 
And...it has to be said. She cheats profoundly and deeply. : ) She and her boyfriend had a 500 foot extension of their Vermont home planned before they took on the year of not buying and they continued shopping for their expansion throughout the year.  
 
She also decided that a trip to Montana for her niece's graduation was a given "cheat" weekend. And around the election (she covered 2004 in her book), she was clicking on that donation button online quite often and traveling out-of-state in her quest to support her candidate.  
 
Still, no ones perfect and I appreciate both the honesty and the journey. It's a good read.  
 
Absent the political aspects she reminds me of my sister-in-law who went to NYC 25 years ago with her degree in art and who ended up in publishing. The stereotypical New York City "arty" outlook.  
 
I agree with you Pam - we are the blessed ones coming from the working poor. We see the world as filled with possibilities and cause and effect are as natural to us as breathing.  
 
I've gotta tell you about the perfect present I got for my MIL for mom's day last month. For years she loved her Coach bags. But now she's in her 70's and she's found they are too heavy for her to carry comfortably now. She's gone more for crip linens and canvas in recent years.  
 
Before mom's day I saw the purse I knew she'd love in the Palais Royale sale ad. A Tommy Hilfiger blue ticking (like old style pillows) linen with Navy canvas trim in the medium size she likes to carry so she can take her needlepoint when they travel. PR is an outlet store and the sale was for 50% off their price so I went and got it for $30. It was exactly the right thing for her.  
 
When Johnny (my hubby) talked to her on mom's day she said, tell your wife I've been carrying that bag everywhere. Then she teased him asking if he even knew what we sent. : )  
 
It's a bonus that I found the perfect gift for $30 but price isn't what makes things our own. IMHO, Voluntary Simplicity is about not cluttering up your life with all the things in the world that are just "stuff" and refining your life to enjoy the heft and the bulk and the substance of the things that truly fit you.  
 
Oh yeah, I bought the same purse for myself for Mother's Day. I love that thing. I carry it everywhere.

I think we're both missing our parent Patsy. In your csse, your mom. In my case, my dad. No matter how far we lived from "home" all these years, they connected us to our past and with their passing, that link, that constant in our lives is no longer defined by a person we can reach out and touch, talk to and be welcomed home again by.  
 
I've come to the conclusion it's a natural part of the grieving process.  
 
From time to time in the past I've felt how far I was from where I began but a quick phone call to my dad and it was wiped away. Now that's gone.  
 
It's a loss not just of the person but to part of who you are as an extension of the years you lived with them.

Hey, Jolene another topic that we are "close" to - lost my mom last year to cancer - yes, I'm missing her also and talked to her every day - it is the grieving process - WE ARE SO MUCH ALIKE!! We were like best friends and I totally believe I really miss that link in my past!! You are special Jolene - wish you were closer - thanks for the info on the book also!!

We really are so much alike Pam. : )  
 
I can still picture you mom holding your hand, crossing the street with your piggy bank in your hand. It's so vivid to me. It must be because she's still so alive to you in many ways. I know you loved her so much.  
 
It is such a loss to have them gone. My dad passed in February. I don't think my dad ever met a stranger and talking to him was always like walking the pathways of America. A gentle procession of unfolding lives, experiences, knowledge and intelligence.  
 
I hope you like the book Pam - I'm glad I read it. 
 
We'd have fun going to lunch if I was closer. You are such a sweetheart.  
 
I look forward to your next column. : )

I agree with the comments. I don't think the American dream is getting squeezed just consumerized. I think our technology and cheap imports of them have made it so we think we can have ever thing we want, that isn't the American dream the way I remember it. 
 
The American dream to me was that no matter who you are or where you are from, if you are seriously able to put in the hard work (another thing some in Generation Y are not ready for) then you can make a good living in the United States. 
 
That might mean you drive a car that is 12 years old, your house may not be totally updated but it's going to be yours someday. You can take a Family vacation once a year, and then start saving again for next year. Your food might not pass muster on Emeril but Rachel Wray is fine with it. Your family has phone service and electricity and health care needs are met. 
 
Now it seems, that if everyone in your house doesn't have cell phone with internet service and the latest phone, and your car isn't the newest model with the newest gadgets and your house hasn't seen new furniture for 15 years and you eat hot dogs and macaroni & cheese once or twice a month, then you have somehow failed as an American. 
 
I say you have only failed as a Consumerican. So I think the American Dream is still there and achievable, it is just that the Consumerican Dream is what people are really striving for now. Unfortunately I don;t think that is going to change without something like a depression. Which I am not advocating or wishing for. 
 
I am just as guilty too, I love my things but I feel stupid sometimes when I am obsessing over how soon I can get it. I think some Americans have lost respect for earning the life they have. 
 
Peace!

Oh I like that - can I borrow the term "Consumerican Dream" from you Bobulele?  
 
We live in Houston which is a minority majority city. There are so many different races here that no one race is a majority. It works amazingly well. The racial tension of other places we've lived is absent here.  
 
We also live with a lot of first or second generation immigrants My son's best friend was born in Vietnam (and is obviously Vietnamese) and his girlfriend is Chinese. She was born in the U.S. but her parents and older sister are immigrants.  
 
They have the American Dream that you described in your second paragraph. The American Dream that no matter who are you or where your from, if you seriously put in the hard work (and both they and their families do) then you can make a good life for yourself.  
 
They aren't massive consumers - what they earn they put back into building a business (in his girlfriends family's case) or helping build up the larger extended family (in his best friend's case). They build for the future and they see it as a lifelong process.  
 
It's not about spending for them - it's about building. 
 
IMHO, that's what our country was founded on. Building.

Jolene, 
 
Sure you can borrow "Consumerican Dream" just make sure and put the empHAses on the right sylLAble 
 
Like CONSA-merican 
 
Or whatever! 
 
And your comments are right on!