Based on this NYT article:
Unprecedented times call for unprecedented measures.
Growing up, we all have been taught to live a rather frugal life: We spend mostly on daily necessities and are exhorted not to splash out on luxury items.
Still and all, this COVID-19 conundrum has set folks off splurging instead of tightening their belts.
And when push comes to shove, the fresh-faced are in the vanguard of this "save less and dish out" attitude, putting the possible repercussions on the back burner.
With the anti-frugal sentiment percolating through the young, I feel this new mindset cuts both ways.
I do commiserate with them over their grievances as I understand we should not let COVID-19 ride roughshod over us. Why should be stay seated and pull the plug on our goals and dreams all because the unrelenting nemesis is encumbering and imperiously rattling us?
Some of my family members reside in the United States, and they, too, feel we should still enjoy life to our heart's content in the teeth of this calamity that is bound to stretch even further into the coming few years. I haven't seen them for years and I certainly feel the need to reunite with them in my neck of the woods. Plus, our success is never a flash in the pan. Our unfaltering resolve will enable us to plow on in spite of formidable obstacles.
Be that as it may, we will come a cropper if we continue spending and splurging it now. The pandemic has ineluctably made our lives precarious given a multitude of workers are either furloughed or sacked. Clinging onto the same spot and expecting to ride out the storm by spending unwisely is no different from squaring the circle. We can spend a tad more at time, but on the condition that we monitor our spending and savings constantly.
After all, through-the-roof inflation and a long-drawn-out economic crisis are par for the course.
Overcoming challenges and tilting your savings towards your passions are both perfectly fine and expected, provided fortuitous opportunities to chase your dreams are few and far between. But knowing your priorities well appears to be the better way forward as the world struggles to clamber its way out of this abyss.
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