Adjusting to the simple life

Headline: Adjusting to the simple life

The boom years were some of the best this country ever saw, it bore a highly skilled workforce, ambitious entrepreneurs, zealous career women and a wave of materialism. It meant bigger houses, upgrades of mobile phones and cars, like they were throw-away commodities, three holidays a year and a copious number of weekend breaks in the capitals of Europe. We really took the upturn for granted? And now the big 'R' has rocked our comfortable and luxurious existence and sent us into a tizzy. How are we going to re-adjust?

Well for some there will be no re-orientation , just plain old acclimatizing to the downturn. Millenials has been on a technology-propelled ride which has dumped us into the first recession of our working lives. We twenty-somethings have only seen the
good times and now we are in for a fall from grace.

So say goodbye to skinny mocha frapuuchino's and mid week shopping spree's to River Island and BT2, because the tiger has bitten back and has left a mark that is visible to see by all. Speaking about the road ahead, with my father, who set up a business in the last recession, he with an air of wisdom told me if he could ride out the 1980's, this recession shouldn't be a major ordeal. But of course, this my debut to Ireland in financial turmoil. Ever since I was born in the late 80's, I have been exposed to a ever- improving economy, where money was never an obstacle to getting what we wanted, whether it be education or material possessions. Millenials have had an easy time of it, and all the more reason why we are in for a shock. And there will be no soft landing!

People today spend a ridiculous sum of money on things they do not need. We are the greatest generation for buying for the sake of buying and being as good as the neighbour up the road, or the sister in New York. We have to have a laminator in our home. Why? Just in case we need something laminated. We have to have a Play Station Three, because the PS2 is a few years old and therefore dated, you have to have Sky TV because any one can have terrestial TV these days and most of all we have to have something so it can be an indicator of 'how well we are doing' to others. To be honest we could do without a lot of our possessions. We do not need three bathrooms in our homes, or four televisions but we seem to have these nonetheless. I know I can live without my new jacket, but I purchased it anyway and that dress I got for an upcoming party, I know I could have spruced up the several others I have that are getting mouldy in the wardrobe.

Are we willing to buy more expensive items in a attempt to keep up with the Jones's? What difference does it make if you have a imitation leather bag that you picked up in Spain or the latest 'Guess' bag? Both serve a purpose, the only difference is the €200 price tag. Now, when I go shopping I ask myself, 'Do I really need that?' I loathe having to justify the spend, but it does curtail me from 'consumeritis', as I call it.

With cigarettes at almost €8 per packet, they are one of the biggest expenditure in young peoples budgets. €100 a week easily could be spent on cancer sticks, while rent could be less than that for a week. So is the vice essential? While my female friends are still staunch advocates of their nicotine addiction, some of my male associates have attempted to cut down and abandon them due to the cost they impose. “If I lived in Poland, my poor lungs would be destroyed, from how many I could smoke for the price I do here!” exclaimed one of my male friends. Even if you are not a smoker, a few good nights out, at €60 a pop – you could easily see €200 more out the window and then there is eating out and take-aways when your too lazy to go to the shop or put the oven on. Our social lives and social habits are costing us a small fortune. A trip to the cinema needn't be a costly affair and yet twenty quid could easily be blown on the ticket, popcorn and a drink.

A bit of panic has set in and we are now hearing the fears of the twenty something and the disappointment that thirty-somethings houses are worth less now than they paid for them, yet their mortgage is crippling them. When the economy was booming, I never heard my friends discuss money, now it is all we talk about. Most of my friends are worried about their employment opportunities. I count myself very lucky to have gained employment in a lucrative industry, when a large number of my fellow university chums are on social welfare. It can be excruciating and soul destroying when you slog and finance yourself through third level education oly to find out there is no career or job for you at the end of it all. Unfortunately many Irish twenty-somethings are finding themselves in this situation. Now is indeed the time for millennials to pump cash into their current accounts to stay afloat if their job disappears.

Hordes of youngsters are applying for visas and hoping to start afresh in places like; Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Some of my friends are waiting till Christmas, hoping that they might get a job in the meantime, others are playing with the idea of jetting off and some are not wasting any time in making a mass exodus out of the nation. The CAO are advising young people to pick a course that will have job prospects. The numbers entering teaching and engineering have soared, while business and humanities have fallen in number. People are beginning to realise that they need to put fantasies of becoming a celebrity, a multi-millionaire or a successful writer aside and focus on the practical side of life: a good pensionable and stable job. Many of the older generation think that youngsters are over-reacting to the economic climate, but I do not think we are verbosely reciprocating, we are just alarmed and in a state of consternation. This is a cloudy time for those who thought they could have all their hopes and dreams and now have been demoted to the simple life. Alas, perhaps it will take some time to adapt to a life without material wealth, but maybe then we can relax, knowing that the 'simple life' will keep you out of debt, and that the old belief of "keeping up with the neighbors" is finally put to rest.