consumption

so...a couple of things have caught my attention and started me thinking. among them the fact that i'll be fifty-five soon ( doesn't that qualify me as a senior citizen? doesn't feel like it) which, by itself, doesn't mean much, but it does help explain why i've suddenly ( at least it seems sudden) realized that seventy-five percent of the children don't live here anymore ( the youngest still does, but he turned twenty-one this month and his days are numbered, i think) and my spending is down for almost everything...the mortgage is still the same, but things like utilites, automobile insurance, and groceries have dropped off quite a bit. this may have come at a fortutitous moment...i work in an industry directly related to housing and things are a bit slow...we've been working four day weeks since february, and my income is down by a few thousand compared to last year, which brings me (finally) to my point...i don'treally miss the income, counter to engineered societal norms i don't need more. four days? okay. i'm still solvent ... i have a 401k and an ira and a savings account...they're still getting their regular deposits, my outstanding bills are being paid on time, and i'm still eating...so if i didn't really need those missing thousands, where did they go when they were here? spent on stuff i didn't need as far as i can tell. it's true i'm addicted to books, but at an average of twenty dollars a week that's still only a thousand and forty bucks a year, and because of my declining dependents i paid the feds last year, but that still doesn't cover the difference. it must've gone for innumerable items i cannot discern amidst the clutter derived from the consumerist utopia...i look around and find myself asking "how much do i really need?" how much of this stuff was impulse buys and how much do i really need as opposed to how much i was told i needed? it's time for some physical and philosophical housekeeping ( and so the nom de guerre of this blog)...time to explore what i have and why...look for better alternatives...easier on the environment...easier on me...look for parameters...find limits...examine the whys behind desires and see if i'm working from need rather than someone else's agenda.