THINGS WHERE MIDDLE CLASS WASTE THEIR MONEY

The majority of the population in India comes under the "poor" or "middle-class" category. We have been middle-class for decades but why? Why aren't we becoming rich or at least having financial security for ourselves and our families? This is because we are wasting too much money on those things which are not necessary and some of them do not even make sense. A major part of our money goes into showing off. We are earning well but we are not using the money to bring up our standard from the current level. If we utilise that money in a proper way, we can definitely be better in forthcoming years. So we are not going to discuss how we should utilise the money because it will vary from person to person but we will discuss the things where we waste our money.

So here some things are mentioned below on which we spend a lot of money for nothing. But all the things are related to each other in a way of "SHOWING OFF".

01. Marriages

We all know that people want to have a special wedding so that they can remember it for life long. And they do every possible thing to make it unique, extraordinary and different from other's weddings. We want approval from relatives and friends that the marriage function was amazing, extraordinary and one in a million and after doing everything and spending all the savings (or sometimes have to take a loan) what if they don't like it or suppose they liked it and said it was amazing, so what? Nothing!!!

People don't even care, they are going to forget it the next day so what is the point of spending all of over life-long savings on a day about which people don't even care. Sometimes we do these things to show people our fake life whom we don't even like. So much drama for these people? Is it worth it? Definitely NOT!!! Why do we need to prove to someone that we have so much money (fun part: we all know that we don't have as much as we show), people who come to a wedding, all know how much we have and how much we are showing up. Or even if they don't know why we need to show them.

Youngsters are inspired by Bollywood movies and want to be like actors and actresses, they buy very expensive dresses to show the people which cost more than the monthly income of the entire family. We waste a lot of money in photoshoots to create memories but the reality is no one is going to watch these albums in our entire lifetime and memories are not bound to photos, they must be in our minds not in albums.

Every boy's dream is to enter the bride's home on a horse to feel the feeling of being special and feel like a king. This is bullshit!!! We are not kings or princes, we just borrowed a horse for just an hour. We neither own that horse nor we are going to be a prince after sitting on a horse. If you really want to ride a horse, then do proper horse riding when you have money.

Another big part of money wastage is jewellery. Again we do this not for ourselves but to show the people and that is why it does not make sense. Girls are never going to put on jewellery on a daily basis so you just buy them to show people for just one day? Some people argue that it is an asset if we buy gold we can use it in future when in need and gold is going to be at our home so it's a good thing we are not wasting, we are investing. No!!! It is a good thing when you buy without taking a loan. If I ask you to buy a Helicopter because it's an asset you can sell it any time and in the end, it will be at your home, it is an investment. Does it make sense?

02. Big House

Having a large and luxurious own house is the dream of each and every person. Why do we need a big house? Again the reason is the same, to show others that we have better than yours. Sometimes we build a very large house and spend lakhs of rupees and we are only 4 to 5 members in the family. We all know the fact that we are middle-class people and we will have to spend all of over savings on that so why we don't make a simple and small house? If in future we have enough money to afford a big house then we can definitely upgrade the house. Why do we need to take a loan and then make a house which is way too expensive?

03. Expensive Cars

Vehicles are made for the purpose of transportation. For short distances we use two-wheelers and every middle-class family has one. So when do we need a four-wheeler? Asking the "WHY" every time while doing anything, brings so many answers to us and some of them are life-changing. If we frequently travel long distances then it makes sense to buy a car. But why do we need to spend way too much money on that? Why do we need to buy a brand-new car? We can use a 5 to 8 lakhs car for that purpose.

Now you will argue that oh RJ you don't understand the things I love Cars and It's my dream and I am not going to buy this for showing off etc etc. But the all things we are discussing here are because we are middle-class we don't even have 5 lakhs cash in hand for that either we will have to take a loan or sell any other thing which we already have. If you would have that much money then it would not be a problem because you could afford but the thing is we are middle-class so we have to step up not down from the current situation.

04. Study

So this can be a controversial topic because we always hear that we should not be misers when it comes to studying and we should spend as much money as we can on studying for a better future. But in the current scenario, we are spending way too much money on coaching and courses just for nothing. Remember one thing, Coaching institutes won't get you selected In any exam, it's you, it's your hard work. At present almost everything is present on youtube for free, renowned teachers are teaching for free and some are selling their premium courses for a minimal price. There is no need to spend money on a carrier option or a degree which won't get you any returns. If you are sure that your money is not going to be wasted if you enrol in the course and you are definitely expecting returns more than you will spend then you can do it otherwise it's not worth it.

05. Luxurious Items

Premium smartphones, smartwatches, very expensive laptops, branded shoes and clothes etc. are the things which are not mandatory to have. I know many people, who can't even afford a 20k smartphone, bought an iPhone to show off. We buy things not because we need them but because it's a trend. And I repeat, trends are for rich and super-rich people not for us. Buy an expensive thing if you can buy 3 more like that without hesitation and thinking too much otherwise it's simple that we can't afford.

We all know the reality of the textile market. A 500 shirt can be sold for 5000 just by adding a premium logo and we never know that because we are not experts but I can assure you that we are not also fools so there is no need to buy branded clothes. It's you, whose personality matters, whose mindset matters, clothes don't make us an attractive personality, but it's inner you who does that. It's not iPhones or expensive gadgets which make you better, it's you.

06. Birthday Parties and Festivals

Should we wait for festivals to be happy, or should we wait for birthday parties to make the day special? Why can't we make each and every day special by working and doing the things which make us happy? I know that people die on their birthdays, I know many brothers die on Rakshbandhan, and I know that people die on a festival, I know fire burns out in people's beloved shops (can be said as the medium of living) on Diwali, People kills each other after drinking and taking drugs on Holi, why? Festivals do not make sense. Sometimes we don't even the history of why we are doing this. We celebrate Diwali to express the happiness of bringing Mother Sita to Ayodhya after killing Rawana. But after one or two years Bhagwan Ram left Mata Sita (she was pregnant at that time) and the people of Ayodhya stopped celebrating Diwali after that incident. Why are we doing this, why we are not sad about the tragedy which happened to Mother Sita?

But the point is, we are spending too much money on things which do not make sense, Brothers do not need to wait for the day of Rakshabandhan to love and care for and support their sisters. Help them whenever they are in need. We help them just to show the people that hey look I am giving my sister more than you gave, you are a loser (#Maayra). We never ask our sisters usually if she is good or not, or if is she having financial problems.

These days people spend as much money on their birthday parties as it can be used as a complete one-year of school or college fees. Deep down in our hearts, we all know that we never enjoys these days of festivals and parties because we are not rich so anyone else would do all the things for us, we have to do all the decorations and preparation on our own and at the end of the day, we are so tired that we can not enjoy anymore.

Solution

The best solution is to ask questions ourselves. And questions could be like as follows:

Why I am doing this? Is it necessary or not?
If not, why I am doing this? if yes, why it is necessary?
what would happen If I do not do that to save money?
Is it really a valid reason for doing this or just societal pressure?
How can I change people's perspectives?
If people are afraid of initiating, why can't I initiate?
Why should we bother about people's opinions who do not like us nor we like them?
and so on...

If you ask yourself questions, there would definitely be an answer, if not, find the answer to raise our family, get financial security, stop striving for people's appraisal, stop wasting our money on unnecessary things, and step up from middle-class tag. It will definitely take some years to save money and pay existing debts and then invest it in a proper way but one day it will be worth it.

I know many people who do not seek a cure for their disease just to save money for their son's or daughter's marriage. Our parents work hard day and night to make us successful so it's our (youngsters') responsibility to save money and do all these things when we have enough money, not now.

Having too many expensive things or special things doesn't make us happy, but a Burden-Free Life makes us happy. we don't need to express our happiness to others, we need to feel the happiness inside.

So cut down the expenses;
Marry a girl or boy who really likes you, not your fancy things (Large house, Car, Attractive Job etc..); do a simple court marriage;
Instead of celebrating festivals enjoy a day when you want to or when is your mood;
Use the extra money to help people;
Do not waste money by giving dowry or expensive gifts to someone, to show other people that look I gave it;
Especially boys please have some self-respect and do not take any money from a girl's father who brought her up, gave her education, and gave her hand to you, it's not dowrying it's bagging.
Work very hard while studying instead of wasting too much money on coaching institutes.
And do not follow the so-called social media stars, Bollywood celebrities and useless trends.
Always remember that clothes and gadgets do not make you a good person, it's you and your mindset and your behaviour which matters the most.

Happiness is directly related to Simplicity, when we make our life complex by doing useless things, it's definite that We won't be happy.

thendraj