I ran across a great post by Todd Ballenger of Borrow Smart Retire Rich. His post on Lifestyle Inflation today is very insightful. It breaks down how much we have to work at the average wage to buy typical household goods and compared today’s hours versus 1950’s. Pretty fascinating, check out the chart on the blog. Here is a little of what he said:
“Isn't it amazing, that we feel like we are working so hard for less. Yet, we've said before that the richest man in the world couldn't afford air conditioning. Who was that? It was Getty, and air conditioning wasn't invented in his life time. We take it for granted now don't we? It would take us almost 8 months of work to afford the same material goods in 1950, versus less than 2 months today. You would think we would be awash in 'free time', but our lifestyle inflates to absorb the new efficiencies.”
“Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace and gratitude.” – Dennis Waitley
“The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings.” – Eric Hoffer
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