Vijay Phanshikar, in the Loud Thinking column dated May 17, in his own wonderful way, presented a real life example to reflect upon the issue of unnecessary spending by moderate or even lesser income group. He demonstrated how curbing it can increase both our value and worth. It is appreciable that Mr. Phanshikar touches topics that are very close to our lives that matter so much to us yet rarely reach the columns of any publication. Today, the sense of saving that prevailed and passed on to generations as a traditional wisdom is on the verge of real extinction. Until some years back, saving was, in fact, practiced as a common sense by most people. ‘Save wherever you can’ the elders always told. Sadly today, the much needed sense is being heftily lost and nonsense spending is taking the front seat. Eager spendthrifts are crowding online and offline market places like weeds proliferating on unattended public spaces. The whole world looks to be on a buying spree with people buying things they really do not need, sometimes because of the ‘free’ or ‘money saver’ offers or the deceptive discounts.

 

Saving is out of fashion spending a vogue. Repair, reuse, recycle are old words ‘throw and replace’ the modern dictum. Many shoppers cannot resist the temptation of purchasing objects that appeal momentarily in the magnetic aura of a mall or a digital screen, but not needed at all. Sometimes, people buy things just because they have seen their favourite actors or even neighbours, relatives or colleagues using them. Some people just do ambitious buying aiming to lift their status. Some individuals indulge in buying because buying fills the sense of void within or relives anxiety or regulates emotions and hands over a temporary sense of joy and fulfillment. In extreme degrees, psychology professionals describe shopping addiction as a mental disorder called Compulsive Buying Disorder or Oniomania characterised by uncontrolled and excessive urge of buying which is globally on the rise. I remember money saved is money earned was a simple wisdom our parents taught us.

 

‘Save for the future’ they frequently urged. Economising was the soul of majority Indian households, including the rich ones. Leave saving, today we injudiciously spend even the money that doesn’t belong to us (borrowed money). EMI’s, zero percent finance, app and credit card loans and digital payments never make us realise that we are ‘stretching our feet beyond our sheet’ sometimes so much that we may be at risk of falling bare. It is time when we keep measuring the size our pocket and also inform the same to our family members, including our spouse, children and other near ones. The habit of saving can be simply inculcated in children by role modeling or rewarding them with money for saving or a reuse e.g. a child can be rewarded with some money if he preserves and reuses previous year’s Diwali toy gun. A child may be sent to the market to buy necessary things with an amount, promising him that whatever money he will save will be his reward. I also eagerly feel that we need to expand this sense of saving to save time, energy and attention we spend so much on unnecessary things. This I am sure will enhance our value and we will emerge worthier human beings. Let the sense of abundance be searched within and not outside. Let the saving sense prevail!