Beat Thy Neighbour (and friends and family)

Posted:Abigail Andrews - Sunday, March 9th, 2008 at 8:47 pm.

The 11th Commandment?

Do you feel you pressured to wear the latest fashions? Do you feel the need to have the latest mobile phone or gadget? Is your car costing you more than you can really afford? You are not alone, the cost of keeping up with the Joneses is driving more and more Britons into massive amounts of debt.

Keeping up with the Joneses

With the term "credit crunch" (a sudden reduction in the availability of loans/credit ) all over the news, many people may have a nasty wake up call in the next few years. ‘Buying on credit’ has become the norm in recent years, but why? I blame at least some of it on the desire of most people to "appear" to have money even if they haven't. Many people are spending thousands of pounds more than they can afford, just to keep up with their neighbours and friends. A survey by www.CreditExpert.co.uk showed that one in five adults were overspending because of peer pressure. People are so desperate to fit in with friends or appear richer than they actually are, that they are willing to get into massive amounts of debt just to "look" wealthy.

So why is it that we feel the need to show off? I understand that it is human nature not to want feel pitied and not to want to look like the poor family in the street, but in recent years it appears people have become increasingly snobby, furthermore, greedy. I blame some of it on the availability of cheap credit which has allowed those that would not normally be able to afford designer to buy it and pay later...much later in some cases, even never in others. The buy now, worry about it later attitude is self perpetuating, one friend buys designer clothes, the next buys designer clothes and has botox, the next friend wants to do one better so buys designer clothes, has cosmetic surgery and buys an expensive sports car, and so on and so on. Each friend driving the next further and further into debt. Only a few years ago this would not have been a possibility because people could only spend the money in their pockets. Spending money you didn't have was unheard of never mind a reality!

Competitive Spending

The recent phenomenon that is "competitive spending" due to peer pressure will lead many young people into debt which they may never recover from, and a credit rating which may see them never be approved for a mortgage, a loan or a credit card ever again. Trouble is, many don't realise the trouble they are in or are heading towards.

The phenomenon that was labelled "keeping up with the Joneses" has now turned into "beat the Joneses come what may!" Buy why do we do it? You know the feeling. Them next door always have a newer car, nicer garden, luxury holidays and a newer kitchen or bathroom. So what do we do? Compete. Why? Think about this for just a minute; Is the fact that they have more than us just an illusion? How much of the life-style can they really afford? How much debt have they accrued to have the things they have? If you knew what debt they had would you envy that too? I bet not! Nowadays its not only our neighbours, its our friends, even our families who we complete with. STOP!

Granted, I would not want anyone to think I was poor, but I certainly don't care whether I "appear" richer than the next person. We should be spending because we want to and not because we feel pressured to do so. I know I only buy because I want something and can truly afford it, not because I want to appear better or richer than the next person. I have no loans, I bought my car with cash, I have an old kitchen simply because I do not yet have the money pay for a new one, but I refuse to get into debt to afford it.

Final thought, has the massive amount of personal debt in this country been influenced by the cheap availability of credit or is our growing obsession with beating our neighbour and "appearing" richer than our friends, the real reason! Stop buying what you can't really afford, stop trying to live a popstar's life when you don't earn the wage, stop caring whether you have the best car in your street, and next time when your friend shows you that they have just bought the newest i-phone, pity them as they probably cant really afford it!

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