After I left school, I joined one of the high street banks – and I enjoyed seventeen years of employment in it. Back then if I was consulting with a customer over the scale of their overdraft, we would look at expenditure compared to their income and work out why their bank balance always seemed to be on the red side of the spectrum. We’d then look at the things they deemed to be essential and hence not able to be cut from their regular day to day costs. Perhaps unsurprisingly, satellite TV, cigarettes and catalogue shopping seemed to crop up regularly – these were pre-internet times.
Now though, life is markedly different, driven by technological change and seemingly a shrinking world with limited instead of unlimited resources. Climate change and sustainability issues aren’t luxuries for others to deal with – they are essentials for us all to address if we are to pass on a planet capable of sustaining future generations. We might not like it, but it is the challenge of our time. So what could we do reasonably do without?
It’s a hard thing to establish. Choosing to go without something which has been customary to us feels like a deprivation of sorts. And yet, look at the existences that certain Ukrainians have, bombed to near extinction by war. Look at the lives of certain Americans, burned out of their homes and jobs by recent wildfires. Look at some Northamptonians, repeatedly flooded out of their homes by the banks of the Nene in recent years. Have their lives changed materially? Absolutely. But in the process of rebuilding, what might they do without, given the choice? I suggest it’s less of a challenge. We all aspire to the things which make life easier, more comfortable or more secure - those things are increasingly available as modern day enhancements lead us on, perhaps to the detriment of our bank balances and credit card limits. For many, if we want it, we can have it, and the global economy says ‘thank you’ for the business.
But is that sustainable? Do we need to re-evaluate our material possessions and rebalance our longer-term outlook as consumers? Perhaps.
For many years I harboured (!) the desire to have a boat. My grandparents had a tiny one with an outboard and as a child I recall the excitement of taking it out on the sea near their home in Devon. My family went on a narrowboat holiday when I was a teenager – the memories remain bright in my mind. Last year Lois and I enjoyed a long summer weekend on the Thames on a large cruiser. The experience rekindled that material desire but in my heart of hearts I know I won’t get one. Why? Because I’m pragmatic about costs, I’m a realist, and because it’s a luxury I know I can – and really should – go without in these uncertain times. I can still dream though…
Flights of fancy aside I know the reality of my situation and the need to be sensible, if not restrained. I have a love of gadgets – so I channel the money I earn into equipment I need to be able to make radio programmes, podcasts and the like. I like photography – so I use my phone to take pictures and edit them on my PC. Beyond food, drink and energy, those really are my essentials because using them I can try to earn a living which helps fund everything else.
Earlier this month I went to see a charity food larder in action in Towcester. Not a food bank which works differently but no less essentially, it helps its members to make their cash go further, put wholesome food on the table and nourish their families. It’s supported by a variety of benefactors – including some retailers – and is clearly an essential for the local community. It encourages prudence and indulges canny thinking. It gave me a valuable lesson in keeping my feet on the ground. We could do with more of its example I think – so good luck to them and their users.
In general, we are hugely fortunate to enjoy the material world surrounding us. From time to time though perhaps it would be good to take stock and re-prioritise needs from wants. It might be a timely exercise which the world thanks us for.