Be content with what we have and try not to follow other

3 Easy Ways to Learn How to Stop Keeping Up With the Joneses

I remember what my father told me when I was young on the golden rule to manage our finance is: "Spend Within Your Limit"

You may have heard somebody tell you to stop keeping up with the Joneses. Or you may have heard it for the first time, it is important to know that this isn’t a positive comment at all.

Keeping up with the Joneses is a popular expression referring to people who try to look good or want to be perceived as good by trying to be as good as other people by obtaining the same things as their neighbors.

Simply put, keeping up with the Joneses is a sign of envy, which can be detrimental to your personality or even your social and economic life if not curbed.

Here are some ways to stop keeping up with the Joneses:

1. Be content

Be content with what you have. If you find happiness and contentment with whatever it is that you have, then you really don’t have to keep up with the Joneses. Of course, some people are just born lucky but it doesn’t necessarily mean that you will never have your day.

Just be thankful with what you have right now and if you aim to, at least, experience a little more advancement in life, then save up for your future and work harder. Envy will just lead you to nowhere. Try to live within your means.

2. Save more

At some point, you may have the money to spare and you may even have the capacity to buy what your neighbors can afford. However, it isn’t right to assume that just because you can afford to buy things, you can splurge and try to keep up with your neighbors or your friends.

Some people tend to keep up with the Joneses as a way of maintaining a good status symbol; trying to appear as somebody who can afford a lot of things. But try to realize that this isn’t a healthy habit. You have to save something for your future. No one knows what will happen to tomorrow.

3. Don’t use your credit card

With this plastic money, splurging on things will be way too easy for you. And trying to keep up with the Joneses can become a bad habit for you. It is better to live within your means and eliminate everything that will motivate you to buy unnecessary things.

Sure some people may be like the Joneses, those who can afford to buy everything and still live a worry-free life. But each person has their own individuality and your future will always be uncertain. Just try to remember that.