Here comes another frugal confession, I miss the finances of the past. This past weekend, I lost a very good friend in an accident, when something like this happens of course, you are flooded with memories.
I have fond reminiscences of spending Saturday afternoons browsing the shops and when you wanted to buy something that is over your budget you would put the item on Layaway. If you are not familiar with Layaway, it is when you put a deposit on an item and physically make payments until you own it out right.
The anticipation of getting your desired item made saving the money even easier. A girl would forgo meat, take out coffees and even public transportation to pay off that the coveted something, which usually in my case was a pair of shoes.Years ago we did not rely on credit cards, they were just for emergencies and buying a pair of shoes was never considered an emergency.
Super fast fashion did not exist so there was not the urgency in buying something because it might be gone in a week or two. That was when fashion only had two real seasons Spring and Autumn and the clothing in the shops corresponded much more with the weather outside.
I like to feel we were more innocent in some ways. We did not yearn for designer gear as it was out of our price range. We were more interested in having great style and the idea of going into debt for fashion just was not the way we rolled.
Modern times have brought designer clothing and accessories to the masses and more debt. The cult of celebrity has a lot to answer for. Us regular folk do not have the resources to live the celebrity lifestyle but everyday we hear about young people, mostly young women, getting deeper and deeper into debt to look like their idols.
I say we should say no to the cult of celebrity and say yes to bringing back Layaway. Rant over thanks for reading.