Hitting home

I touched briefly on this topic yesterday - the higher cost of living. In recent months, New Zealanders have seen the price of petrol and food, especially vegetables, climb to exorbitant levels. One friend reported seeing a cauliflower priced at $8.

When Stephen and I finally qualified for the pension 18 months ago, we were delighted. I had been sick for the previous two years with virtually no income, and Stephen had been much the same. We were forced to live off our savings during this time. So, receiving the pension was a blessing. We both felt incredibly rich with this regular income appearing in our bank accounts fortnightly. But the reality of living, yes, the pension is sufficient for day-to-day costs, is that with increasing prices for so many items, there is nothing left over for extras, such as the dentist or car repairs.

Both Stephen and I have savings. We are the fortunate ones. But what about the elderly who don’t, or the people raising a family, paying mortgages. And there is talk that these will be increasing as well. The price of houses has forced many people to have whopping sized loans. They are probably barely managing in today’s climate.

Back in the 80’s, Paul, my former husband, and I bought our first farm. We were young and mortgaged to the hilt. The interest rate was seven per cent. Virtually overnight, this increased to 23%. Many farmers were forced to walk off their land as bankrupts. Paul and I were lucky, in that we found a buyer for our farm. We did not have the income to support the higher interest rates, even though Paul supplemented the farm-income with shearing.

That episode taught me a huge lesson. For the rest of my life, I have been wary of big loans because I know interest rates can climb as they did back then. But in the intervening years, that has not happened, which in turn, has created a confidence in the younger generation, who are not afraid to take out massive mortgages. Let’s hope prices don’t rise anymore.

My father lived through the two Great Depressions, while my mother went through one, plus both endured the shortages that came during the Second World War. They instilled in my brothers and me, the importance of not wasting food. My father had a massive vegetable garden and orchard. Clothes were mended and handed down. Items such as stoves and fridges were not replaced until they could no longer be repaired.

Times have changed. I don’t think today’s items would last like they did once and with the price of clothes so cheap, of course we are going to buy new ones. But I am hoping that my grandchildren don’t have to learn the lessons my parents did, the hard way.

I know that the souls living now have chosen this time to be born into. Perhaps they will come with the solutions needed. But I also know that while there is fighting and greed in the world, then the problems will keep happening.

They say the path to abundance is gratitude. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if everyone could just be happy with what they have. The wars and the greed would end and harmony would be restored.