Lifestyle Inflation Choices

Although I am a proponent of buying only what I need, I recognize that I am not perfect:-) Here's a quick accounting of how I do in various areas.

	Did I Inflate My Lifestyle?
Category	Yes	No
Cell Phone	-	Don't have one, don't need one, don't want one:-)
Other Electronics	Laptop, high speed Internet, digital camera, and an IPod (gift).	No cable or satellite, video game console, or wide screen HD TV.
Personal Grooming	Powered Gillette Fusion (gift) and a Phillips Sonicare electric toothbrush.	-
Vehicles	-	Base model truck, manual transmission, manual door locks, with A/C as the only option.
Recreation	Pool table.	No gym or other club memberships.

Fortunately, most of my lifestyle inflation items were one time costs. The only item I chose with a recurring cost is high speed Internet. On the other hand, most of the lifestyle inflation items I avoided have (high) recurring cost. Hmm....I didn't realize this difference until writing this post and there may be a lesson in this analysis. Perhaps a topic for a future post :-)

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This is not financial advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

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