Our Readers' Opinions
September 19, 2014
Vincentians need to live within their means

Fri Sep 19, 2014

Editor: There is much discussion on the economy and state of things in this beloved country of ours. If we are honest we would admit that times are hard. However, if we are also honest, we would realize that we have contributed and continue to contribute to the hardship around us.{{more}}

What we need is to prioritize; for example, many persons would purchase expensive and brand name items which would rob them of purchasing other items. If we look at the amount of cell phones and types we have in this country, surely we know that life is not as hard as we make it out to be. The problem is that when we have spent so much money on these items, we are not able to purchase school uniforms and books and even then pay our bills correctly.

The amount of money spent on clothing, phone credit and entertainment again shows that there is money. Not that these are not necessary, but if we prioritize we would ensure that our bills are paid first, our groceries bought and our children’s needs are taken care of before we spend on these other items.

The list can go on. The problem with us is that there is not enough money, but we don’t prioritize. If we do prioritize, we would be able to live more comfortably than we do. We can at least make a budget of our spending and our needs. If we should formulate a budget and see how we spend our money and make a list of things that monies are to spend on first it would at least save us a couple dollars more.

If we should cut back on the amount spent on things that are not so important and also avoid spending so much on brand name items and spend rather on items of quality, but not necessarily those that are considered top brand, we would save more money.

An important observation is that those in our society who are more advanced economically seldom wear brand name shoes and clothes, but rather are adorned in simple, modest dressing. Whereas it is the poorer set of persons amongst us who seem to pride themselves in purchasing brand name items and are the ones who do most of the complaining and begging.

Yes, if we have plenty money then it can lend itself to such a lifestyle; but we all know that it is economically hard all over, thus it becomes necessary to discipline our spending and only purchase things that are necessary and also purchase items of quality, but not necessarily top of the line brand name, when that same money could have given more items.

Kennard King