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I was talking to a friend of mine the other day and he mentioned another friend of his that recently lost his job. This guy was a VP at a financial services firm and walked away with nearly seven figures worth of golden parachute. They immediately went out and bought a brand new Lexus. Then had all their closets professionally remodeled. My friend figures they’ve spent about $250,000 on stuff. Then they bought a donut franchise. After I heard this story I was sick to my stomach. If this would have happened to me I’d be done. Debt free with plenty of money to live on for the rest of our lives. But not this guy. I see this as just another example of wretched consumerism and fiscal irresponsibility.

While I was having this conversation my wife was out to dinner with one of her friends. She came back with four trash bags full of girl’s clothes. Among this stuff was 27 t-shirts, several coats, many pairs of shoes, 11 tanktops, and loads of skirts. There are literally enough clothes that our daughter could wear a different outfit each day for at least 2 months, and we wouldn’t have to wash anything. Why does a child need so many clothes? I was disgusted looking at the pile of clothes that covered our family room floor. And the worst part is that all these clothes came from a family that complains about lack of money. Now, some of this was hand-me-downs that have now been handed down to us, but not all of it.

Our neighbor was talking about hand-me-down clothes the other day. They have given us lots of clothes from their daughter as well. She believes that things should just be handed down once though. It’s “disgusting” when clothes get to the 3rd or 4th kid, and besides, by then they’re “out of style.” Out of style? For a three year old? Give me a break. This from another family living pretty much paycheck to paycheck, but with a lot of stuff and every intention of acquiring more.

The more I try to live frugally and simply and pay off debt and save, the more I’m disgusted by the amount of excess all around me. We live in a fairly affluent area in one of the richest counties in the nation so I’m surrounded by this stuff constantly. People I work and live with don’t see any problem with it. The guys at work try to get me to go out to lunch every day, which I don’t do. “C’mon, you can afford it! Don’t be cheap!” The peer pressure doesn’t work on me. I live for the day I can retire young while they’re still slaving away. I can’t wait to see the look on their faces.

The excess bothers me but I do my best to not let it affect my life. I live the opposite as much as I can. I’m firmly convinced I’m on the right path here, and my family will be better off for it.