How to Keep Up to the Jones's Or The Secrets of Excess Consumerism!

Excess Consumerism - The Secret to Keeping Up with the Joneses.
If you'd like to impress the Joneses, have everybody admire you, and mix with all the 'best' people out there, you need to learn how to be a good consumer. There's a skill to living up to the Joneses. Here is your beginner's guide on how to not only live the way you've always wanted to but impress everybody who is impressed by material success.

As everybody knows, consumerism is driven by impressing the Joneses. So, if you want to  impress the Joneses, it's absolutely vital to be a good consumer.

You, too, can have it all!
Firstly, you need to understand that everybody can be a Jones! When your best friend gets a super fashionable top with a classy tag, it is absolutely vital that you follow suit and buy the same thing. The trick to keeping up with the Joneses is to ensure that you've got whatever they've got. Getting ahead of the Joneses means that you are savvy enough to buy something that they will find necessary to buy once you have acquired it.

Big Business Allows You To Have it All!
Fortunately, business makes it very easy to know what the Joneses are going to be purchasing next. Their favorite chant is that everybody is buying it. This works wonders in supplying you with the right information in determining what your next purchase is going to be. It's not important if you already have six of the particular item, just earlier editions. It's vital in this game to have the newest edition the day before it is launched. That increases Joneses points and status is immensely increased as a result of it.

Make Debt Your Friend
Yet another important aspect of keeping up with the Joneses is to get past your fears in spending money you don't have. This is what credit cards are for. You can always pay balances with other newly acquired credit cards. This is called robbing Peter to pay Paul, and your great grandparents would have told you that this was not a good thing to do as, in the medium to longer term, it had disastrous consequences. However, if you're trying to keep up with the Joneses, then it's probably best not to listen to your great grandparents.

High Prestige Items
These are certain items that are extremely high prestige. These include owing one's own home for which one pays 65% of one's monthly income. Of course, your grandmother would have told you not to contemplate buying a house if the mortgage repayment was anything greater than 25% of your income. However, as in the case with those who don't realize the importance of keeping up with the Joneses, it would be social suicide not to have a house the size of Buckingham Palace.

Other prestigious items include the right degree from the right university, the right cell phone and the right laptop computer. Cars also matter. It is definitely important to listen to what everybody around you is saying and go out and buy the same thing immediately. After you have bought it, it is necessary to immediately start talking about this as in, "I spent a few thousand dollars on a Porche recently." Then they will realize that you equate their six years salary as a few thousand, thereby earning more kudos.

Consumerism is YOUR Friend
When designing your life to impress the Joneses, there are a few glitches you need to avoid. Never consider the harm done by consumerism to the environment. If you did, you would never be able to replace your cell phone every year or two, or for that matter, buy anything that you would junk within a short time. Remember that consumerism is about buying things that aren't necessary to your existence, and that it is consumerism that drives the market place. 

Never be Scared of More Debt
From time to time, you will run into those who will do everything possible to get you to purchase even bigger ticket items than you're accustomed to acquiring. They will definitely make them sound super prestigious and tell you how many of the super rich Joneses have bought the same article. Bernie Madoff was superb at doing this. Quite often, those products are nothing but scams. If you are caught in one, try not to retaliate by stealing in return. Remember that when that super salesman is doing his best to sell you something that you don't need, he is also trying to keep up with the Joneses. He cannot do that if you won't buy from him. So, just dig deeper into your ever expanding credit.

Only Mix With Other Joneses. The Smiths Don't Have Enough Money.
Don't mix with people who are below you on the Joneses scale. Yes, you can mix with those above you - but they might not want to mix with you. Still, exceptions happen, and if there is an opening to mixing with the Super Joneses, immediately call your bank manager to advise him you will need to increase your credit facility.

Keep Up with Technology Even If it Kills Your Pocket
One of the important things to realize when you begin your consumer journey is that technology is improving more and more rapidly. So, ten years ago, if one bought a computer every five years, and three years ago, one bought one every two years, currently, one needs to buy one every year. It is anticipated that by the year 2012, it will be necessary to replace products every ten days.

Credit Was Made For YOU!
Of course, it may be that at a certain point, your credit runs out and you can no longer keep up with the Joneses. It happens. At that point, the Repos are going to be after you to pay your bills. That is not the best situation to be in. In fact, it can be very difficult. However, if you do want to be a good consumer and keep up with the Joneses, it is vital to keep spending. So, you're just going to have to find a way around it.

Consume as Much as Possible. Never hesitate to Consume the Latest Product!
The most important part of buying into consumerism and keeping up with the Joneses is to limit creativity in finding solutions that don't require another product, and to ensure that you don't buy products that are long lasting Also, make sure that if you do buy a long lasting product to junk it as soon as possible so that nobody else can have the benefit of it. It will also increase your garbage quota, thereby making you a good consumer.

Keeping Up With Others Is Vital To Your Happiness...
In short, if you want to continue to impress the Joneses, it is vital to be an excellent consumer, to spend until you mend the economy, and never, never, never develop an ounce of being okay with enough. Consumerism is driven by keeping up with the Joneses Most people, in order to be accepted by others, try to keep up with those around them.