When things were worth saving for....

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We used to save until we could pay cash for something that we wanted. Now, we see something we want - we "buy it" and pay for it later. sometimes it does not even get paid off before it is broken or discarded and we are off to the next item of I want, I need, I can't do without! Saving was a good way of practicing and instilling upon us perseverance and prudence. It kept us living within our means - with interest rates on credit cards "our means" are being quickly eaten up. It also helped us in making sure we really did need, want or couldn't do without it. I mean, you save for a few months for an item - the novelty of the idea may wear off and you realize it was not really that important. Whereas if you went and got it now on impulse you have not had the benefit of time to think it over. Besides saving money for purchases, we also saved our cereal proofs and our bread labels and in return we would get Battlestar Galatica stickers and other marvelous treasures, made all the more wonderful by our suspense and anticipation, after so many months of saving up the proofs, then the 6-8 weeks for the mail service to deliver the goods. My brother would "SAVE UP" all of our popsicle sticks and used wooden matchsticks when we were kids and when he had a heap of them he would build little forts for his army men. Many women kept the tradition of "SAVING UP" pieces of fabric from grown out of clothing, or leftover scraps from the latest projects, and when they have enough saved they will fashion a treasured quilt, an heirloom that great grandchildren can proclaim to their children that "This square here was Great Grandpa's over-alls, and this one - this was my own Momma's pinafore, her auntie had made for her" My mother saved every button from worn out garments - she had a decorated round tin that she would store them in. One of my favorite pastimes as a child was to run my fingers through the button tin - feeling the buttons as they passed over my palms like a water fall. The colors, the textures - it was a tactile ecstasy. Her zippers went into a green box that had a hinged lid. There were two white peacocks embroidered on the box, I think it originally held stationery. She also saved those Betty Crocker points and got her first set of pots and pans for her efforts, she still uses them these 44 years later. They are Duncan Hines lifetime stainless steel. Heavy duty. 3 months before our move to the United States from Panama my father increased my brother's and my allowance to $1 from 50cents. Then he made the incredible offer of matching us dollar for dollar (to be tallied at the end of the 3mos) that we are able to save. I don't think I spent even a dime those 3 mos and I had lots of spending money for little souvenirs as we traveled up through Central America. I know that there are still some frugal folks who do live within their means, and manage quite well. What has happened to most of us? how did we get this way? Did it happen when we no longer had to save up but the prize was already in the cereal box, or the cracker jacks box? Or was it the "happy medium" of layaway that segwayed us into not being able to wait? is there any turning back to the mentality of "I am saving up for..." or are we trapped for good?