Tilted Cat Head
Administrator
Location: Manhattan, NY
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Baraka_Guru
The thing is, people should do what they can to live within their means. Your friends walk a lot instead of taking their car. So do I... I walk 2.5 miles every day just going to and from work. I walk over a mile to the shopping area by my place to get books, go to movies, etc. I do this because it makes sense. There are many people who'd take their car if a walk would be over 15 minutes, which is a bit much I think. In France, many people would walk up to half an hour before thinking about taking a car. Walking is good for you and tends to make people happy. Both the Netherlands and France are high up on the list of quality of life.
Also, how many people in America live within their own means? It certainly is cheaper to live in America, but how would you explain the grossly increasing household debt loads and this: CDC: Antidepressants most prescribed drugs in U.S. ...I thought heart disease was a bigger problem.
But to refer to the OP, the Netherlands as a package has a really high quality of life (no pun intended). There are many factors contributing to this. Despite the costs, people must be doing something right. I'm sure a lot of it has to do with not being so uptight about things.
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Living outside one's means is not endemic to the United States of America. UK has many residents who live above their means and carry high debt loads, as do Icelanders. Any economy that is doing well has loose credit and people tend to take advantage of it.
I recall being in the UK a few years back and the same debt counselling advertisements I see in the US were also played during the day time there. Same went for Spain. If people were living within their means would they have companies like this advertising on Tv?
People do what the do, not any reason because it makes sense. They do it because they want to. I have a car in Manhattan. I don't drive it daily because as you said it doesn't make sense when I have walking and public transportation options. I know a number of people who do because they want to.
In each country that Skogafoss and I travel in we go to the supermarket as one of our outings. We love to comparision shop the cost of living. I know that from previous expatriation, you live like the locals to have expenses like the locals. It means to buy locally/regionally made and sold, soap, toothpaste, detergent, shampoo. It means buying regional snackfoods instead of Doritos, Keebler Elves, Peppridge Farms. There are lots of times I in awe as to how much things like beef, lettuce, bread, milk, cheese cost.
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Last edited by Cynthetiq; 07-23-2007 at 05:23 AM..
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