SOMEONE ASKED, “HOW ARE YOU?” I REPLIED, “I AM MORE IN MY CONTROL THAN EVER BEFORE”

The above sentence is as symbolic as this article’s title. It’s been a while since I wrote something, so I have many incidents and observations to share. And trust me, they all lead to a common point. This blog is not about deducing a moral from an anecdote or a story which my article usually comprises. This time, it’s more about an absolute, overflowing and pure desire to express what I have deeply felt. It’s a short quick read this time.

The past few days, my LinkedIn account was spilling over with income tax and inflation related feeds. I completely agree with the category of people “protesting” against income tax slabs and the fact that middle class are in a way, exploited. There are numerous ways to offload the country’s expense burden from middle class to rich people or HNI’s (High Net-worth Income) but that’s not my focus for this article. I believe that inflation is a problem which we should jointly resolve with the governing body. I feel the root cause (and hence the solution) of inflation is the same in India, US or globally. Coming straight to the point, one of those many LinkedIn posts also suggested that instead of crying for not getting a raise we deserve, there are ways to reduce our unnecessary expenses as well.

I am completely aligned to our aspirational and ambitious goals. I know why we need money and our plans to rightfully (hopefully) use that money. But we must also understand that there are unnecessary expenses which we transact willingly or unwillingly because of FOMO, peer pressure and similar reasons. I have been meeting so many people who insanely shop apparels in terms of quantity and price both, eat outside food every now and then, re-décor their home after say half a year, attend extravagant concerts, etc. Just because we can, doesn’t mean we should. We leave no stone unturned in criticizing concerned authorities for ever inflating food or fuel prices (despite knowing that the prices are also the result of global situation), but we do not hesitate to spend in breweries, pointless movies and the list goes on. This proves that there is certainly enough room for us, as consumers, to cut down on the extra expenses. Money can buy comfort; not control. It is always on us to decide where do we want to spend.

It is high time to realize that we are not cliche if we choose peace over party, spirituality over sculpts, old friends over new connections, home-made food over outside food, travelling to places over concerts, and home over ANY place on this earth. In fact, we should respect people who are bringing this much needed balance. The only way forward is to choose what’s needed and important, and not what is trendy and futile. The foremost rule of saving money or not wasting money is to have controlled expenditure. Being passionate about buying and collecting a few items is absolutely fine because that’s what makes life interesting, but restricting yourself to those few things is mandatory.