Sunday, November 10, 2024

How are you living your life?

Often times, when we hear the word ‘lifestyle’, we automatically think of expensive things.

Maybe it is because all the lifestyle magazines and TV shows on lifestyle only show things that are on the expensive side and praise them as what lifestyle in this time and age should be.

I was hyped up and excited to go all green and do my bit in saving the environment so I started to watch travel and living to see how I could make my home more green.

I was outraged to learn that all the green homes they showcased on the show were ridiculously expensive and I could not even afford the windows to any of the houses because they would cost twice, even three times, as much as I would pay to build a whole house.

It’s not just the buildings that are expensive, even the clothes are priced outrageously or maybe it’s just that I love a bargain.

The shoe you are wearing has to have a label and I’m not talking Loxion Kulcha or Soviet, if it’s not a Gucci, a Loubotin, a Prada, an Armani or, at least, a guess or Nine West then it’s not worth wearing, let alone talking about even if it’s of the same design.

We have taken what was a simple concept and made it into a nightmare that most of us can’t pay their way through.

Lifestyle is the way a person or group of people lives, including the place they live in, the things they own, the kind of jobs they do, and the activities they enjoy.

Lifestyle includes but is not limited to health, food, parenting, gardening, travelling, fashion, culture, wealth, home and living.

But we as people have a tendency of concentrating so much on one aspect of our lifestyle that we neglect the others and end up less fulfilled with life than we should be.

Lifestyle is not just how somebody else lives or how TV and magazines dictate how you should live; it is the way you live your life and manage your finances. Your lifestyle should be fashioned in a way that is accommodating for you otherwise it’s not worth it.

First, learn to buy things because you need them, not because you want them for no other reason than that they are the latest trend.

Secondly, even if you are buying because it’s a trend, make sure that your finances are in a state that can allow you to be spending on something that is not a necessity. I don’t know if it still happens, but a few years ago, it was the in thing to own a BMW but most people could not afford it. You will find someone who drives the latest model of the car renting a small room in a shabby and dodgy looking neighbourhood and you wonder why they didn’t invest in a house instead.

Live a life that you can afford and you will see your whole lifestyle will not be in shambles; you will be able to afford more stuff, thus improving the quality of your life.

Like someone once said, there is no point in spending money you don’t have on things you don’t need just to please people you don’t even like. Let’s go back to basics and plan our budgets well, be our own trendsetters, take better care of our health and move away from the notion that lifestyle only encompasses clothes, make-up, cars and restaurants.

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