Source: rummuser.com
Mention of medical students often conjures up images of a bunch of youth in their early 20s with classy appearance added with sophisticated gadgets and cool gears like RXZ and Royal Enfield motorbikes. Such stereotyping is not always inaccurate. Those who attend medical school have been unconsciously absorbed into the culture of being homogenous with each other. As in India, Malaysia and so elsewhere, majority of the students attending medical school have been blessed with having copious amount of scholarship, be it a full or partial one. And this has led to the same pattern of consuming goods, the world of consuming without limits.
Most medical students; this also applies to the general public, have imbibed the notion of ‘there’s nothing wrong with consuming lavishly or extravagantly if you have the cash to do so’, sometimes even forgetting the reason why they consume these lines of goods in the first place. There is nothing wrong with consuming. Dr. Tariq Ramadan questions us in one of his lectures entitled The Quest For Meaning and Pluralism, “How do you know that you want what you want, how do you know that you like what you like?” This is a fundamental philosophical question going against the notion of massive consumerism. Mass media and advertisement have helped promote this hegemonic culture of consumerism and these had been made worse by the multiple numbers of websites offering online shopping which makes it easier for our subconscious mind to work towards consuming.
Modern consumerist culture also has had their part in helping the general public and in my case, medical students to spend their money. In the country where I study, India, we have huge shopping malls with promotions and sales throughout the year particularly in huge cities like Bangalore, Mumbai and Pune. Luckily, for a girl who has a soft spot for shopping, (well, every girl does!), I was sent to study in Belgaum, a remote area in Northern Karnataka. I am safe, at least for now. The medical students in Europe have a greater challenge to face; Boxing Day which falls on 26th December every year is a great test for those who are addicted to shopping, particularly luxurious goods;
“In Britain, Canada, and some states of Australia, Boxing Day is primarily known as a shopping holiday, much like Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving) in the US. It is a time where shops have sales, often with dramatic price reductions. For many merchants, Boxing Day has become the day of the year with the greatest amount of returns. In the UK in 2009 it was estimated that up to 12 million shoppers appeared at the sales (a rise of almost 20% compared to 2008, although this was also affected by the fact that the VAT would revert to 17.5% from 1 January, following the temporary reduction to 15%).”
-Wikipedia on Boxing Day
Many would be surprised as they enter their working years that eventually this consumerist culture is no more practical and brings a heavy burden if they wish to continue. The burden of having to pay monthly installments for personal, car and housing loans, can be very depressing for new grads of medical school who are used to an easy-going life. This is where the art of being frugal comes in. University students particularly in my case medical students must break free from the idea of by being a doctor, money will come floating into our pockets. We are the ones who will be working night and day every day in a week to get the same amount of money as our friends in other professions that are not as stressful as ours.
Here, inevitably, questions shall arise in the reader’s mind. How do we be prepared for all this? How do we save ourselves from the frustration?
I came across the term frugality from Henry David Thoreau’s book, Walden which I see as more or less one of the contributing virtue of being a zuhd in the Islamic tradition. I am not equipped with the correct knowledge to elaborate on these virtues but I am only trying to express my views on the virtue of being frugal as an enterprise that can help all of us. Frugal living is practised by those who want to save more money, cut down expenses and get the most out of their money.
A frugal person in another sense means one who is economical in his expenditures. One of the formulas to start being frugal is to establish a saving system. If you don’t have one, then start one. Savings always helps us in case of emergencies. Set aside a sum of money from your monthly scholarships. Start by having small sums. Jumping towards a big sum usually contributes towards a failed saving plan.
The core maxim is to always “Save first, then spend”. The idea of “I’ll spend first, and then I’ll save the extra money” is not actually that feasible for someone looking towards a proper saving plan. Saving extra money by the end of the month usually results in inconsistent amount of saving every month and it will eventually result in not having any saving at all.
The second maxim is to plan what to do with your money. You can have a 5-year vision on what to do with your money. Maybe you can plan to buy a car with that money or use that money as wedding preparation etc. A clear objective is a strong motivation for someone who wants to save money. With that, one can estimate how much amount of money they need to save monthly to get to their objective. This thus more or less helps us cultivate frugality.
The last maxim is to have an exemplary model of whom you see yourself in the future. We are often told that doctors shouldn’t work for money but I believe that a doctor with money can do a whole lot more. They can start and maintain healthy organizations, advocate public health more efficiently or even maybe start a scholarship for budding students. If we look through the lives of millionaires, most of them are people living frugally. They spent on things that matters and bring benefits. Most of them have monthly savings from their youthful age. This can become a strong motivation for us to save more money.
Simply put, all of the strata of modern society especially medical students who are going to be the critical game changer in the near future should start preparing for their adulthood life by having the right attitude and practise frugality. Let us all start spending our money ethically, morally, religiously and stop the inculcation of ‘consumerist without end’ culture in our society. It is time for us to make the change, together we can follow the practise of the previous generations. To spend when it is necessary to spend. And to save when it is a whole lot better if we save. With that, we can appreciate and live our lives better, the way it should be lived. Today we have too much, yet we are not satisfied. We might as well ask ourselves why. Let us live and learn the art of self-restrain, the art of not following our desires foolishly, the art of frugality.
Before I end, I wish to quote Aristotle, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” Start practising from now. Frugality by all, for all.
References
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boxing_Day
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgW3vP7p3no (Tariq Ramadan on The Quest for Meaning & Pluralism)