Today I spent $4.75 on a meatball sub for lunch.Well below my $7.25 average. I'd say in a month, I spend anywhere from $120 to $200 on lunch. Probably about the same eating out and drinking. Add on top of that the roughly $150 I'll spend on CDs and movies in the same time span (not including popcorn or fountain drink), and I consistently waste around $450 each month. This does not concern me.

Before I go on, I want to make it clear that I am financially independent. I do not live off of a trust fund and I do not accept "donations" from lobbyists. Like most people I work for a living, and like most people I do not make an outrageous amount of money. I just spend it like I do.

As a middle-class American, it is my duty to spend money and my right not to worry about it. In the current economic climate we must all do our part to keep the money flowing, and our part is to spend, spend, spend.

Luckily, Americans have never had a problem with spending. For as long as we've been a nation, we have spent what we had in order to get more of what we want. We have a long and glorious history of spending and spending wisely: the Louisiana Purchase, investment in military technology and development, buying on credit, the Great Stock Market Rise of the 1920's (minus that little crash) and of course, the dotcom boom (minus that little pop).

Unfortunately, there seem to be a few of you out there whom do not share my enthusiasm for our way of life. Those of you who whisper "401k" at parties, and casually leave coupons on bus seats. Don't you understand that a thriving economy hangs in the balance when you contemplate buying that extra pair of sunglasses?

Careless spending is the cornerstone of this country. If we didn't buy fifty dollar sweaters that we didn't really need, or didn't super-size when we weren't all that hungry, the economy would collapse. Completely. No amount of rate cuts or new jobs would help. If I don't get the large popcorn for only fifty cents more, the kid behind the counter will lose his job, he won't be able to buy that new Playstation game and Wal-Mart will go out of business. I don't think I have to go on.

But all this spending shouldn't feel compulsory. It should be fun, too. I eat out everyday because I enjoy it. I'll throw down $220 for a bike, $55 for a helmet, twenty for a blinking taillight, and forty for a lock, and laugh because I have so much fun doing it. You have no idea how much I laugh. I laugh when I spend $250 on a new timing belt, because I didn't even know what a timing belt was! But I'm helping the economy, so what the hell, give me two. I don't care if I don't have enough money in my account to cover my next rent check. Let tomorrow take care of itself. I'm living in the moment.