I forgot about the phone. My sister and her husband fell for that trap. They went further into debt and locked themselves into an expensive family plan for 3 ye

I forgot about the phone. My sister and her husband fell for that trap. They went further into debt and locked themselves into an expensive family plan for 3 years for their new iPhones. We live in a really odd time. The concept of money is abstracted away in virtual credit cards - at amounts our parents never had access to. We buy computers and cell phones - things our parents never had. The very idea of spending that kind of money for what you get in return would have been entirely inconceivable for their generation. Today, these things are considered as necessary essentials rather than luxuries. Good on you for your hard work. I can attest to the fact that it is extremely difficult to ignore conventional modern consumerism. It took me a suicidal "early life crisis" 4 years ago - at the age of 27 - to "get it". I went from being severely in debt (no student loans, just a voluntarily repossessed car and maxed out credit cards), to responsibly paying off every penny. For the first time in my life, I actually have a savings account with some money put away. My spending habits are still not ideal, but I'm doing far better now than I ever did before I hit bottom.