First, I hear what you're saying, Picard, and I'm sympathetic. What comes next is probably not the kind of answer you were expecting but here's my "big picture" answer to your question.

The unfortunate reality is that without a consumer-driven, buy-buy-buy attitude, our economy would crumble. There would not be enough jobs for most people if everyone really did just buy "essentials" and saved the rest. You hear that statistic all the time that 70% of our economy is based on consumer spending. Subtract all that "unnecessary" spending and you have a much, much smaller economy. That's a crazy economic model, but that's what we have at the moment.

Also, our money is being debased every second by our country's monetary and fiscal policy (and that's as much politics as I'll mention). Or, in other words, inflation is eroding the value of our savings every second. $20 today doesn't buy as much as $20 did five years ago. The official US inflation rate is like 2%--what a joke! Everyone who actually spends any money knows that prices have been rising significantly for a while now, and yet the most recent Social Security cost of living adjustment is one of the smallest ever. Madness!

If the government continued to measure inflation the same way as back in 1980 (back when we DID have monster inflation around 15%), we would all be groaning about a 10% inflation rate in the US now. I'll say that again, 10% inflation, not 2%! What interest rate are you getting from your bank for your savings? Now subtract 10% from that interest rate (heck, or even use the official inflation rate) and that's what is happening to the actual value of your savings these days. People who depend on their savings or Social Security, like the elderly and retired folks, are being hit hard in the last 5 years. From a purely financial standpoint, an argument can be made that saving your money is not the smartest thing in today's crazy upside-down world.

So, really, one "smart" thing people should be doing is converting your rapidly depreciating money into tangible things of value--food, housing, tools, education/training, etc. Hmmmm, when you think about it, isn't that essentially what so-called "doomsday preppers" are doing with their money? I don't know about splurging on an underground bunker or a dumptruck full of MRE's, but they're actually doing the smart thing with much of their money, even if you may not agree with everything they're spending their money on.