Mania for More
A study by Britain's Royal Economics Society of 8000 people showed that happy people become rich and not the other way round. Which go me thinking about why this should be, and then it hit me. It's really quite simple - Happy people buy less. I mean have you ever gone for 'retail therapy' when you are happy? The biggest irony is, that at a time when most peple have more stuff than they could every need, they have less time to enjoy it. Bigger houses but less time to spend in them.

In a new book 'American Mania: When More Is Not Enough' by writes Dr. Whybrow, 64, a professor of psychiatry and bio-behavioral science, says "In our compulsive drive for more, we are making ourselves sick." Some people are literally drowning in shit. They work insane hours to buy it, store it and now they are paying people to help them get rid of it. And to top it all they throw out piles of perfectly good food every week.

I have been guilty of all of these things. I've been addicted to shoes and bought salads I'll never eat. I'm so glad that I now live around sensible New Zealanders, though the rise is shopping malls here is quite worrying. Since giving up my job and becoming a poor entrepreneur, I have had to give up many things. New clothes, eating out, going to the cinema, manicures, massages, magazines, and 'must have items'.

Ask yourself this. If it's really a 'must have item' then surely you have one already. It's so easy to opt out when you think of it. Why not go charity or opshopping instead of hitting the high street. Go often enough and you'll see actors, musos, models, stylists and radio bums like me. Where do you think poor creatives get the best threads and ideas? By being happy with pre-loved we don't have to work long hours, to earn more money to pay for stuff that we might use one day when we're not working. Instead we just go out and play.