[fabsroman]

There are plenty of far east countries that are making money off of us. Sure, there are some billionaires in these cultures, but most of them are still poor. They are working to merely put food on the table. Americans are working for their 3rd car, vacation home, 5th TV, etc. If most people in this country had less wants, we would all be doing a lot better as a whole. The norm in America 40 years ago was a 2,000 sf house, a car, and a TV. Now, the 2,000 sf house is considered a shack by most, to have a single car in a family is unheard of, and to only have a single TV is unheard of. Between my wife and I, we have 4 cars, 3 TV's, and a 1,800 sf townhouse. I am not going to buy another car until one of these is beyond repair or they will not fit the kids in them. We are not going to buy another house until we have too many children to fit them in this house. Funny thing is that I am getting pressure from my parents, her parents, and friends of mine to buy a bigger house. Then I stop and think about it. Right now, I pay $15,000 a year in mortgage interest on a $300,000 loan, and while we could afford a $600,000 loan for the bigger single family house built in the 70's but located closer to my wife's work, we would be paying north of $30,000 a year in mortgage interest. No thanks. We'll just save money over the next several years so that we don't need as large a loan.

On top of all this, I am lookng at a carbon fiber bike frame on e-bay for around $2,000. Problem is that I already have 5 bikes and there really is no need for this new one except for that I want it. Hence, I have decided that I am not going to buy it and I am going to keep the $2,000 in savings.

In today's day and age, there will always be something else to buy. There will always be a new gun, a new car, a new bike, a new motorcycle, a new gizmo. Companies make these new things because they need to keep sales going. I almost broke down and bought a Benelli SBE2 a couple of years ago because it had a larger trigger guard for gloved hands and a new recoil reduction system. Before pulling the trigger on that purchase, pun intended, I came to my senses and figured out that I never had a problem in 8+ years with pulling the trigger on my current SBE and I coul put a recoil reducer in the stock for $40. Sad thing is my wife gave me the green light on that purchase and I passed on it anyway.