Thursday, February 23, 2012

Fiscal conservatism – Why it is essential in today’s society


Fiscal conservatism is a term used in political parley on avoiding deficit spending. In a national sense this is attributed to balance budget, reduction in overall spending, and debt reduction. There are several hot debates on the topic and varying views by political parties and think tanks, particularly in an election year in US. I am not going there.

What prompted me to write this note was the recent personal experience I had with my spiritual leader, who has been showing this conservative approach all along his life. I am not a spend thrift, but nowhere near the ideals set by this leader and  I learned few good lessons on how one can conserve while still balance the life and budget in a positive way. 

What’s a better approach? Borrowing and spending vs. living within the means. This is similar to a debate on nature vs. nurture. Borrowing is necessary and is a good approach for nations and individuals as long as the money is well spend for future growth. However, if we are trapped with consumerist tendencies and spend beyond the means, we’ll end up something closer to debt bondage, a form of modern day slavery.

Suze Orman, an American financial advisor, author, motivational speaker, and television host offers several financial tips on how to be debt free and lead a successful life. Suze started her career as a waitress in  Berkeley, California before becoming an internationally acclaimed financial advisor, shown through her own experience how conservation pays. Today she is helping millions of individuals and families on how to be fiscal conservative and debt free. 

We need to learn to plug holes and live frugal.  Before we swipe our card, think twice. Are we moving away from financial freedom or walking into a debt trap?

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4 comments:

Dr George Easaw said...

The savings of Indians is about 33 %, Chinese 50 % and Americans less than 10%. It also explains why your economy is floundering ..

Good advice through the blog to the people at a personal level to tighten their purses and to the country not to take you down the drain ..!

Saju Skaria said...

Thanks Dr. Easaw for the comment. The word of caution for our people of India is not get into the traps of spending. The US situation is best (worst!) example of that.

KK said...

Excellent Blog Saju. Keep going. Very interesting read and well written. KK

Saju Skaria said...

Thx KK, watch for the weekly postings!