Money, status etc

Kittyfrisk

Roland said:

Sporky said:

Roland said:

Do you judge me for having a BMW, or for having a beaten up car?

Yes. Also the socks. 

I buy socks with the same practical philosophy. Half a dozen identical pairs. No problem matching them in the morning. Throw them away one by one as they wear out.

Do you hop a lot or have a singularly eccentric walk?

VimFuego

Kittyfrisk said:

hollywoodrox said:

I’m just a bum in the gutter . My most valuable possession is my Charvel mim so cal  lol

Budge up a bit mate,  I think we're gonna need a bigger gutter...

ooooh, 'ark at 'im, 'umble bragging about 'is bigger gutter.

Teetonetal

I can’t think of a bigger waste of money than an expensive car… especially once you factor in the petrol, service bill and tyre etc….

status doesn’t interest me at all, I just want enough money to let me provide for the kids and do my / the families hobbies.

Kittyfrisk

VimFuego said:

Kittyfrisk said:

hollywoodrox said:

I’m just a bum in the gutter . My most valuable possession is my Charvel mim so cal  lol

Budge up a bit mate,  I think we're gonna need a bigger gutter...

ooooh, 'ark at 'im, 'umble bragging about 'is bigger gutter.

Nope, it's an aspirational thing... needs to have enough room for @hollywoodrox, me & my mate Oscar (when he gets out of Reading gaol).

sinbaadi

People want to have the appearance of wealth moreso than actual wealth.

There's definitely pressure to have nice things and it can be hard to not fall into the trap of thinking that people are doing well because they have something nice, and therefore must be happy.

Sporky

RaymondLin said:

^^^ and a more well rounded person.

Eating well certainly makes one a more rounded person. 

jonnyburgo

My sister in law pays for upgrades on her kids iphones because she doesn't want them to have "shit" phones. I think she pays about £40 a month each. Talk about modelling, 

rustneversleeps

I once had a ford cortina on my driveway and I owned it !

Kittyfrisk

rustneversleeps said:

I once had a ford cortina on my driveway and I owned it !

Dad! 

octatonic

fretmeister said:

I see that in my village.

250K house with a 75K motor outside it.

However they want to spend their money is fine by me, but I'd rather have a bigger house and a cheaper car, or maybe the same house but be over-paying to get rid of the mortgage rather than paying the monthlys on a 75K car.

I look at it terms of 'depreciating liability' vs 'appreciating asset'.

bertie

my most valuable asset,  is my life.   Tho I suspect when I lose it I shan't care much

Iamnobody

I’ve never been interested in projecting anything. The last thing I want to be defined by is my job, car, house or bank balance. 

You either like or dislike me for being me - not what I own. 

RaymondLin

I can't remember the exact quote but over 25 years ago, I saw Ally McBeal and there was this episode about death and what is important.  What is important isn't job title or how much money you have, a person's achievement and wealth are defined by the people who come to his or her funeral. 

Philly_Q

I've accumulated a reasonable amount of money in the last few years.  I've got an OK job, I'm single, I've got no kids, I paid off my mortgage seven or eight years ago, and I've inherited some money from my dad.

I live in a tatty cluttered one-bedroom flat which hasn't been refurbished for 35 years, I don't have a car, I buy Casio watches and ordinary clothes.  My only sign of wealth is a lot of guitars, but no-one other than me ever sees them.

I'll probably be able to retire at 60 and live off my savings.  But a lot of it will most likely be left when I die.  It ultimately won't have done me much good or served any real purpose.

I'm not sure what point I'm trying to make... but maybe there's nothing wrong with spending money while you've got it, even if it does look like showing off.

DrCornelius

I love looking at nice cars as they go past - an old Ferrari or Aston is often a work of art so I don’t care whether the guy driving it has paid cash or borrowed up to his / her eyeballs , I still get a buzz out of it

Barney

I have a 2010 Volkswagen fox....it does me I just go shopping once a week and local rehearsal twice a week ....I think a lot of these cars that people have a rental cars ...I think a lot of people are in competition with each other ....I don't understand it really 

monquixote

Over the past few years my salary has doubled but nothing much has changed with my lifestyle.

It's basically gone from struggling to make the books balance, to having some left at the end of the month, to being able to overpay the mortgage and invest a little bit.

Anyone outside our family would have no idea anything had changed. and I'm quite happy with that.

fastonebaz

I'd quite like a bmw 4 series gran coupe,  or a new jaguar f pace or a new Ford kuga St line.   

I just can't stomach the thought of forking out all that cash per month on something when i could be saving it for my kids first house. 

Brio

I've got a bicycle.

BillDL

I have a friend in America who at one time owned a "janitorial" company that was making 6 figures net a year back in the late 80s/early 90s.  She and her husband got menial jobs slopping out the floors and walls in a slaughterhouse as a newly married couple in a new town.  They were offered full-time jobs with additional cleaning responsibilities and from there they managed to break out into self-employment, gradually acquiring more prestigious contracts and employing teams of cleaners for each new building.  Eventually they were able to step right back to overseeing the business and employing supervisors to handle the employees, but often had to jump in and do the mopping, floor buffing and toilet cleaning if employees were off sick.

They worked damned hard to get to the stage where they had a nice large home with land for their horses and could take 3 or 4 luxury holidays snorkelling in the Bahamas, scuba diving in Hawaii, yachting off Mexico, etc,etc.  While they were in these fancy expensive resorts she always ended up in conversation with others who boasted loudly about being Orthodontists or Cosmetic Surgeons, CEOs of large corporations, or of being stock market traders.  When they haughtily enquired what she did for a living, she took great joy in seeing their jaws drop when she told them she mopped floors and cleaned toilets, before excusing herself from their company.

I remember an interview on TV a long time ago where the female presenter [EDIT: just remembered, it was Selina Scott] tried to demean Bryan Adams by making out that he was a hypocrite or something because he drove an old Land Rover and wore jeans and scruffy boots despite being worth millions.  She got egg on her face because I think he really is a humble kind of guy who intentionally doesn't try and show off his wealth.  I admire people who are like that.  I am pretty sure if I had a lot more money at my disposal I wouldn't buy a flashy car or wear designer clothing.