durhamregion.com This Week | Thursday, March 31, 2022 | 6 DEAR MONEY LADY READERS, Inflation is up to a 30- year high. So, is your lifestyle inflation up too? Canada's current inflation rate is 4.8 per cent, which is mainly due to our pent-up demand for consumer goods and the current global supply chain disruptions. But what about your personal lifestyle inflation rate? Could we have let that get out of control too? Lifestyle inflation is a term used when people of all ages and income levels have a tendency to adapt quickly to changes in their lives, and return to a baseline level of happiness, regardless of how many good or bad things may have happened to them. Put another way: if we set our sights on a new item, let's say an expensive watch or even a new car, we think that this purchase will make us happier in some way. The reality is that the initial happiness boost from buying something is usually short-lived. As we settle back into our life, we find that we really are no happier with the new car than we would have been without it. This is called "hedonic adaptation," which means we are running toward something (material things we wish to buy), but never making real forward progress in terms of our personal happiness. Consider looking at your life today compared to what it looked like a few years ago, or even when you were first starting out on your own: What do you spend your money on now, that you would have never spent on years ago? Have these new expenditures improved your life and made it better or are there some items that you could have cut out to save more? Lifestyle inflation usually disguises itself as needs that we convince ourselves is not a want, but rather a necessity. Let me give you an example. Are you the type of person who feels they must have a new car every few years? Because if so, I must tell you that a brand-new car is not a need. A cheaper, used car or even your current 20-year- old car will get you to work just as effectively as that nice new car, and repairs on your old car will cost a lot less than a brand-new vehicle. Money must be viewed as a tool -- not an emotion -- since it should provide for your basic needs and your life priorities. The reality is most people in westernized countries are all consumption junkies, and even more so now as we move out of the COVID-19 restrictions. Impulse buys, subscriptions and memberships you never use and forget about but keep paying for, and every convenience that you pay for in the moment that you didn't really need, all add up to increased personal inflation costs. Eliminating the mindless spending is one of the easiest ways to find extra money to save without sacrificing. Once you change the way you think about money, you will find that you are more apt to keep it. I know that temptation happens, and we can easily fall prey to an impulse buy or succumb to consumer marketing. But if you really want to trim down your lifestyle, you most likely already know what expenditures are non-negotiable, and those that you can reduce or eliminate to save more. Happiness is a daily mindset and money is for long-term security, not just for luxuries and conveniences that you feel you deserve. Remember, it is not any one overindulgent expenditure on its own that creates a problem, but rather the gradual increase of unnecessary costs that pile up over time and make your lifestyle too expensive to maintain, let alone save for a future. You must work at keeping your lifestyle inflation in check if you plan to retire debt-free and wealthy. Good luck and best wishes, Money Lady Christine Ibbotson is the author of the bestselling book 'How to Retire Debt Free & Healthy' and a new book, 'Don't Panic -- How to Manage your Finances and Financial Anxieties During and After the Coronavirus', available at all bookstores across Canada. If you have a money question, please email on website www.askthemoneylady.ca. Follow her on Facebook and Instagram. IS YOUR LIFESTYLE INFLATION OUT OF CONTROL? OPINION IF WE WANT TO SAVE MONEY, WE NEED TO CUT OUT UNNECESSARY PURCHASES, WRITES CHRISTINE IBBOTSON CHRISTINE IBBOTSONColumn After years of sitting vacant, a new development is coming for a former fire station in downtown Whitby. Brookfield Developments is constructing a six- storey mixed-use project at the former Station No. 3 site at the corner of Brock and Colbourne streets. The building will have 160 residential units and 9,500 square feet of commercial space. Called Station No. 3 Condo, the building will of- fer one to three bedroom units. During a ground break- ing ceremony on Friday, March 25, Mayor Don Mitchell said downtown sites have always been a challenge in trying to find a developer. "I'm so appreciative of Brookfield for stepping up. They are, of course, a big, big player in our town. Downtown sites have chal- lenges that greenfield sites do not. There's always un- certainties. There's always costs." There was "lots initial interest" from other devel- opers, but they walked away "because they just didn't like the way it looked. They didn't like the numbers. They didn't like the uncertainties," Mitch- ell said. "I hope you make all kinds of money on this," Mitchell quipped. "But that wasn't my primary goal. I just wanted to get it built." Durham Regional Chair- man John Henry noted it was the second ceremony he was at on Friday, with the first coming in Ajax with the grand opening of the La- keridge Gardens Retire- ment Home in Ajax. "Congratulations to all the people who are here to- day that believe in this downtown. A vibrant, ex- citing place to be," Henry said. "Brookfield, this is an- other example to realizing potential, opportunity. A place where people can come and live and walk to amazing restaurants and places to have the occasion- al drink and to enjoy all that Whitby has to offer," Henry added. Pete Schut, the senior vice president, land and housing development for Brookfield Residential, said: "We're thrilled to be here. I can tell you it has not been an easy ride, ini- tially, during the process. But it has come together." Brookfield first started looking at the site in 2015, but didn't go forward at the time, Schut noted. In 2017, the company again engaged with the municipality about the site, he added. "When I say we're thrilled to be here, trust me, there's a lot to that." He noted there is a lot going on in downtown Whitby and that played a role in Brookfield moving forward with the project. Terry Olynyk, with Multiplex, an affiliate of Brookfield and will con- struct the building, said: "Station 3 is a pivotal pro- ject in the heart of the downtown of Whitby." Madeleine Riley, execu- tive director of the Down- town Whitby Business Im- provement Area (BIA), said: "This is a very exciting pro- ject for our downtown. The BIA is still a fairly new orga- nization, we're about five years old and I've been there for about half that time and I just see the constant com- mitment from the mayor and council, from the cham- ber of commerce," and other who are trying to make the area thrive. For more information on the project, visit www.sta- tionno3condos.com. 160 CONDO PROJECT FOR DOWNTOWN WHITBY KEITH GILLIGAN kgilligan@ durhamregion.com NEWS The ground breaking ceremony for a new six-storey building on the site of a former fire hall took place on Friday, March 25. From left are Terry Olynyk of Multiplex, a company involved in the construction of the building, Whitby Mayor Don Mitchell, Durham Region Chairman John Henry and Pete Schut, with Brookfield, which is leading the construction. Keith Gilligan/Metroland