BARBADIANS ARE BEING URGED to stick to the essentials during this economic crisis instead of trying to keep up with the Joneses. Parliamentary Representative for The City of Bridgetown, Patrick Todd, said in the House of Assembly that we needed "to tighten our belts".

"I remember the late Right Excellent Errol Walton Barrow making the point that some people have champagne taste but have mauby pockets and the people must see the relevance of this today," Todd said.

He was speaking on Tuesday during debate on a $68 million resolution, of which $16 million will be in the form of subsidies toward diesel for manufacturers, farmers, fisherfolk, vehicles and the Transport Board.

The money is to be taken from the Consolidated Fund and placed at the disposal of the Government to supplement the 2009-2010 Estimates.

The Minister of State in the Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development, added that "discretion spending within our respective families must be reduced to suit the current economic challenges."

Todd noted further that while he was a supporter of entertainment, people had to make individual efforts in the interest of the national economy.

"It is not necessary that when a person wishes to go to a cruise or a public show that for each event he/she has to buy a totally new outfit. There is nothing wrong with wearing an outfit more than once. We shouldn't try to adopt the lifestyles of the rich and famous that we see on the television networks in developed countries where those rich people may have that kind of discretionary income," he said.

"We must be realistic. It's like keeping up with the Joneses. You don't want to be seen in the same outfit as somebody else at the same event, obviously we want to look good but we don't have to go to the extreme, when, in so doing we are compromising the provision of essential services to ourselves and our families, be it food, be it the payment of rent and other utilities," Todd added.

Topping up cellphones every two minutes must also be stopped, he added. (DS)