Keeping up with the Jones'

At a recent family get together after talking about the economic crisis..my sister in law was angry.."Why can't people just live within their means?" "How come people are buying houses they can't afford?" She states that she & her husband are practically debt free. They pay a mortgage and utilities..that's it. No car payment, no student loans, no credit cards. If they want something..they save for it. My husband explains to her that she is in a very small percentage of this country. Great for them, but, it's not easy to get to that point. If everyone lived within their means, we wouldn't need credit card companies, right? Right. But, people don't. So, people spend, spend, spend. My mom used to refer to it as "keeping up with the Jones" Everybody has that feeling, once is while. How can they afford that and we can't? Why can't our kids have that too? It is jealously..pure and simple. So, they charge it and deal with it later. Until, all that comes back to haunt them in the charge statement. We are guilty of too, from time to time.
I find it interesting that people now are willing to tell you "we don't have the money". I think in the past, people wouldn't feel comfortable talking about their finances..now, I think it is overboard. Everybody is having trouble and wants to share it. I think people who don't even have financial issues say they do....to keep up with the Jones. It's the American way.
I find this insulting sometimes. My husband and I have never had money. I am a stay at home mom and he is a public school teacher. A great profession, but, let's face..teachers are underpaid...big time. That's a whole other blog post. It's what we have chosen for our life and are ok with it. But, now, people understand what we go through. A budget, tuition assistance, shopping second hand...they "get" it now. Yeah,ok. When this finanicial crisis is over, most people will go back to overspending and not look back. We will still be here..budgeting, tuition assistance, discount shopping. That's just the way it is. The American Way.