A ‘What Do You Think?’

Last night I finished two books (hold for applause). Both of them concerned finance and economics: one was In Cheap We Trust and the other was Money Matters. Both were very interesting, but the one I enjoyed more was In Cheap We Trust. At the end of the book, which details America’s love hate relationship with thrift and savings, it detailed various people and organizations who are big on saving and living simply in the middle of hectic, possessions-driven America.
Among them were people who go dumpster-diving, digging outside of restaurants, bakeries, and grocery stores and salvage pounds and pounds of food, thereby feeding their families on the waste of others. So what do you think?
I think, off the top of my head, that I would really struggle, that I constantly struggle between two worlds. In world one I want to be simple, I want to handsew things, cook every piece of every meal from scratch, and sit as a family around a fireplace reading and playing games. In world two, I want a better iPod and a phone with texting, I want a converter so I can listen to said iPod in the car and I want a Mac instead of a PC. I want fancy high heels and cute brand name clothes, new every season. So how do you find a balance?
I haven’t yet, except that I was raised by two stubborn cheapskates, and I have a decent ethic, so if I make an error it tends to be not buying something I really liked. What Do You Think?