My wife regularly tells me stories of how she saves me money.

Most of us have garages full of bikes and spares/accessories. And our wives have large wardrobes and shoe cupboards.

So, my dear wife will tell me a story of how she saved $150.

‘…I saw this pair of stunning shoes that was on special. It was marked down from $225 to only $75!…So, I couldn’t resist….I just saved you $150!.’

We are taught from a very young age to be like the squirrel- because it has the habit of saving food away for the future. And it is a good habit to have.  But the funny thing about squirrels is reported in Wiki….

“…The life span of the Gray squirrel is approximately six years. Most urban squirrels do not reach their first birthday. This is due not to predators, but rather to automobiles…”

As modern squirrels, human beings still have this distorted view of savings. We must have savings in case of a rainy day…

So focused are we on saving things that we even see spending as saving!

But if we all took a look around us, we should be able to see that like the urban squirrel, we will not live long enough to need that stash that has been piled into the savings heap. That is why there are so many inheritances being .fought over. The urban human being never gets to use up all that they have saved up. This just shows that the habit of saving is totally delusional.

Yet, we still worry about our retirement funds and how much is in our bank accounts. We tax the mining companies because they are depleting our resources – but happily spend away our country’s savings in the NBN. The meaning of savings get so muddled up – that we just get into the recession blues mode and bury our savings under our beds.

The economists tell us that we must spend to revitalise the economy. They argue that money is useless until it is being used to purchase something – and they are right. But somehow, we still behave like squirrels.

My wife is right. Resources will never run out in any one lifetime. And resources are only useful if they are used. So, if she spends (all they time thinking in her comfort that she is saving…) – then she is indeed helping the world go around.

But I am still confused.

If I keep spending money, will it mean that my savings will keep pile up inadvertently?