A "Brand" new day

This morning as I was driving to work I actually had a good look around me at all the people and their cars and the unnecessary things that was stacked up as accessories to their overly-expensive cars and SUV's.

These days its not about buying quality anymore, its all about keeping up with the Jones' and keeping up appearances. At the end of the day we have to ask ourselves is it really worth all the stress from the banks just to look like you can afford a BMW and on top of that just because you now look like you can afford one you actually go and buy one! Its a vicious cycle which I don't know if we are too stupid or just too naive to realize we are in and will be stuck in as long as we follow blindly the trends and the images being forced onto us by the media and huge marketing firms. I am not saying I have a problem with marketing because without it how would we know what our dentist (allegedly) or doctor (some actor they paid) recommends.

Now we are forced to look at our spending as a result of the recession that attacked us like a malnourished wildlife park lion. I for one cannot say that I am now debt free as a result of this because lets face it no bank will even help you if you do not have some kinda debt on your name. The concept is that they will not give you debt if you do not have any debt (Comedians probably invented that policy).

Coming back to the point of how a brand really "improves" your lifestyle by having it. If you really think about it, how is a air infused micro chip embedded pair of trainers going to help improve you taking your child to the park? How will a SUV with hill assist 4X4 going to help you drop off your kids at the school which is less than 5km's away from your house?

Do we really need all the things that the adverts claim we have to have or do we just want it because the neighbor across from me hasn't found the dealership yet, regardless if I really cant afford it. Stop overdrawing your checque accounts and overcharging your credit cards and start thinking about what happens when you cant pay these things anymore.

Lets face it we have a cupboard full of things we don't need and we hang on to them simply because it cost us a fortune and we wanted it first. Its a hollow victory because your wallet is hollow now because of your stupidity.