It is now 2009. Perhaps 2008 brought you a pay cut, loss of 401K match, and the disappearing of a bonus you had come to love. Harsh yes; the end of the world, no. It is now time for some common sense. Every person, like every business, must learn to keep expenses in line with income.

Think back a few decades to the day of your parents. Did they spend their time glued to electronic toys? No. Ok, most of those toys did not exist, but the point is, they lived and they lived happily without it. Fast forward to modern day. Is there a child without a cell phone? Hardly. The marketing folks have taken care of that. Are many without an iPod? Hardly. The marketing folks have taken care of that. They have convinced you that your child would somehow not live without it. Now, it is time for reality.

I started with not much and was mortgage free by the age of 35. How? Common sense. For literally EVERY purchase decision of my life, I asked myself the same question. Do I want it or do I need it? Yes, the iPod is a cool device, but do I need it? No. I can turn on the radio.

There’s a cool new movie out that I can see for about $10. Do I want to see it, or do I need to see it? Clearly the answer is “want.” Well, instead of $10, I can wait and rent it at the grocery store for 99 cents in a few months. That’s a 90% saving. Or, if you’re lucky, you can check out movies for free at the local library. That’s a 100% savings!

Now let’s talk phone lines. Do you have a home computer hooked to the internet? Do you have relatives out of town that are long-distance? Forget the long distance fees and call them for free on Skype. (www.skype.com). [No, I am not affiliated with Skype. I just love how much it saves me]. I have used it for several years to call relatives outside of the country for free. I send them an email as to when to meet me online for a free chat. I haven’t paid a dime for long-distance in about 4 or 5 years! In fact, I don’t even have a phone line in mu house!

Forget the purchase of cutesy things for the home. You know the ones you picked up at Pier 1 the other day. If anyone were to look at my home, they would discover that there is not a single “nick-nack” on any piece of furniture. For one, the clutter would drive me crazy. Two, add up all the little things you’ve bought over the years and ended up throwing away, calculate what you would have had with compound interest by investing that money for years and I guarantee you’ll be in the thousands. Sure could use those thousands these days I bet.

Now let’s talk teenagers. If you’ve just lost your job and are down to one household income, do yourself a favor and get rid of the kid’s cell phones! They do not NEED them. You do NEED the money you would save from them. It never killed us when we were kids to use and SHARE the home phone line. Really, it won’t kill them. Seriously, it is a different day. And a time goes on, I think you’ll see more people come to their senses and start eliminating the expenses of items you do not NEED.

What do we really need? Food. Water. Shelter. Family. Everything else is a luxury.