I've been listening to some music from the early 70s, lately. It brings me back to the 6th grade, when life was so easy.
Back then, my mom bought my clothes for me. All I had to do was choose what to wear each day. I never thought, "will this make me look fat?", "will this make me look thin?", "will this bring out the green in my eyes?", "will this be in style?". I think my only criteria in what to wear was whether or not the garment was comfy, and in my favorite color.
My room was my domain. My mom did her decorating, then I did mine. My decorating consisted of posters on my closet doors. These "posters" came out of magazines, so I didn't even have to spend money on my "decorating".
Food was provided, and just showed up, either in my lunch bag or at my place at the table. I never thought "what should I have for dinner?" My mom took care of that for me.
I never thought about retirement funds, medical bills, whether the price of milk was high or low this year, how expensive college tuition is, or how we will make ends meet with current inflation. I just existed.
I received 50 cents per week for allowance, in exchange for doing some chores. But I didn't have to buy groceries, clothing, housing or pay for utilities with my allowance. Allowance (after tithing) was strictly for my "wants", which was primarily candy, small toys or games and an occasional Saturday matinee at the movie theater. A Hershey bar cost about 10 cents and a movie ticket was 50 cents. (Check out this link for the price of a Hershey bar through the decades. Other food prices included on this page. If you're up at the top of the page, for Hershey bars, click on the Hershey prices link in upper right section, or scroll down about 3/4 the way. http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodfaq5.html#candybar)
My "wants", now, are more along the lines of a professional haircut, new shoes, or drapes for the family room -- all things that were provided for me as a child, not things I had to pay for with my allowance.
My thoughts about life were simple when I was in the 6th grade. I wasn't striving for a better financial picture. I wasn't pondering when would be a good time to "downsize". I didn't have to reconcile our expenditures with our income.
I simply lived. Oh, for the good old days. 6th grade, I miss how simple you felt.
