The trouble is, what is 'comfortable'? At church a few months ago the minister's sermon was on over-consumption and the drive to own more 'stuff'. I was talking to a lady after the service and she said how much she'd agreed with the minister and that as long as you can afford to own a house with a garden, educate your children privately and have health insurance for your family then you don't need more. And I'd just been agreeing with the minister too thinking as long as you can afford three meals a day, to pay your rent on time, and to turn the heating on when it's cold then that's enough.
To put that in context, she can't afford to educate her children privately but would like to. And I can't always afford to turn the heating up, but I'd like to.
We always think that 'comfortable' is just one small notch above where we are - I think we're programmed that way, maybe an evolutionary drive. But advertising, the media and society really play on that drive so that our perception of what we actually need is distorted beyond all recognition. And shopping, buying stuff, has become a way to define ourselves in society, and to bolster our own self-image.
I sometimes feel very anxious about our lack of money. Sometimes that anxiety is real eg last year when DH hadn't had work for three months and we were down to our last few pounds with the rent due in three weeks time. But even then, DH went to volunteer at a homeless shelter that week and came back so grateful for what we have (ie a supportive extended family who would never let us become homeless - we'd always have someone's floor to sleep on if it came to that - and we are lucky to be well-educated enough that we have lots of options in terms of the work we do). Most of the time though the anxiety isn't real, it's caused by comparing myself to the messages from society as to what I'm supposed to have - a mortgage, a pension, new clothes, branded goods...
Phew, that was a bit of an essay . Just musing, really!