Hummm . . .(Relative deprivation)

**katybug** · 10-23-2008, 12:50 PM

[ame]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relative_deprivation[/ame]

My dad originally introduced me to relative deprivation and I thought I would share with the rest of the class. It bugs me because I'm pretty sure relative deprivation is what gets a lot of people into spending problems. It doesn't help the credit has allowed people to buy things that they otherwise couldn't afford and giving the appearance of wealth. I mean think if we could only buy what we could afford in cash, I don't think the Joneses would be would be very appealing to keep up with, KWIM?

Also T.V. shows I think are the worst at this, where the characters live lives that are so unrealistic it isn't even funny. (I've never been one to believe everything on T.V. but I can see how one can if they don't get financial education somewhere else).

Anyways, just another thing to think about when you are getting motivated to do things within reason and possibly against the norm!

~KB

P.S. and then I get to the very bottom and it links to the article "Keeping up with the Joneses" Hehe

**madhen** · 10-23-2008, 01:07 PM

I get that sense of unreality every time I see a t.v. show where the single guy walks into an immaculate home and tosses his mail/jacket/etc on the nearest surface. Especially if the guy is supposed to be some maverick, lone ranger, law enforcement type guy.

**Momof3girls** · 10-23-2008, 01:18 PM

I had never heard the term, thank you and your Dad

**joyofsix** · 10-23-2008, 01:20 PM

I've said that about t.v. for years. I think its' gotten worse with HGTV and other cable channels.

**katybug** · 10-23-2008, 01:34 PM

It is just a "More you know" type thing!

**Momto2Boyz** · 10-23-2008, 02:17 PM

I thought maybe it had to do with actual "relatives"...I was thinking I don't get enough "depravition" from my relatives! Hahahahahahaha

Oh, I mean...just kidding!

I'm sure it has ALOT to do with why people overspend. DH and I spent a few years doing this after we first started out. We learned our lesson really quickly. Now, the majority of our friends have come around to the frugal side, but we still have some who always have the lastest gadgets and stuff, yet they are constantly complaining that there isn't enough money in the bank at the end of the day! It irks me to hear them complain, but at the end of the day, all I can do is smile and look in my bank account and see where the money for all of my "gadgets" went!

**cheapskate 49** · 10-23-2008, 03:30 PM

Thank you for that post, it should be required reading in schools.If we just realise how much we have in comparison to our parents or even a good percentage of the world...we live like kings and that's still not enough for some folk.

**Newsnerd68** · 10-23-2008, 10:41 PM

Originally Posted by madhen

I get that sense of unreality every time I see a t.v. show where the single guy walks into an immaculate home and tosses his mail/jacket/etc on the nearest surface. Especially if the guy is supposed to be some maverick, lone ranger, law enforcement type guy.

I'm with you on this one. I get so tired of seeing unrealistic homes on tv. It can make you feel bad about your own! There's a show on called 'Dogtown' and occasionally someone on the show takes a dog home to foster and it shows their house. These look like places I would actually live or some place I have lived! Real people's houses! What a concept!

**katybug** · 10-24-2008, 10:41 AM

Or how some of those houses are decorated. They look like the spent as much on the furnishings as on the house. The commercials for the direct buy company are the worst. Actually commercials are the reason I don't want T.V. anymore, they are SO bad, and I'm too cheap to get a DVR or cable or anything.