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Stinting yourself and wasting money aren't the only two options; look up The Old Money Book for a third. If your purchases are timeless and long-lasting -- if y

Stinting yourself and wasting money aren't the only two options; look up The Old Money Book for a third. If your purchases are timeless and long-lasting -- if your durable goods are genuinely durable -- you can live surprisingly well while spending surprisingly little.

dpark 10y ago
Obviously you can and should spend you money wisely. You should not live paycheck to paycheck if you can avoid it. You also should not hoard all of your money and live a miserable penny pinching life unless that somehow makes you happy. But this is boring advice that everyone knows. The reality is that people tend to spend most or all of what they earn. People like to own nice homes and nice vehicles and take nice vacations etc etc. When someone says something like "I don't understand why people spend all their money", it's just pretension. They know exactly why people spend all their money. Money buys nice things and nice experiences. It's a good idea to live beneath your means, but it's a different thing to pretend that typical behavior is somehow incomprehensible. Also, buying quality doesn't stop you from spending all your money. It is extremely easy to spend all your money on quality stuff that you don't really need and justify it as "buying quality" or "buying once".
- croon 10y ago
  > Obviously you can and should spend you money wisely. You should not live paycheck to paycheck if you can avoid it. You also should not hoard all of your money and live a miserable penny pinching life unless that somehow makes you happy. But this is boring advice that everyone knows. > The reality is that people tend to spend most or all of what they earn. People like to own nice homes and nice vehicles and take nice vacations etc etc. Aren't these statements contradictory? My point was that it's obvious that a lot of people don't know this, and you CAN avoid living from paycheck to paycheck. I did it when I was a student (with no help from parents) and had at most $400 a month after rent, and I do it now that I make a lot more. I however still don't go out a ton, and I don't have a fancy car, or purchase anything on a contract, because the luxury part doesn't give me any happiness. I still eat great food and have people over and travel as much as I can. I find this obvious. You do to. My OP was about people not.
  - dpark 10y ago
    The fact that people don't do what they should doesn't mean they don't know. People know they shouldn't eat tons of food and gain unhealthy amounts of weight. People know they shouldn't smoke. People know they shouldn't drink to excess regularly. Still people do these things pretty frequently. It's not a question of ignorance but a question of will, or priorities, or maybe ability. Go ask any general practice doctor whether people do what they "should" and whether the reason when they don't is actually ignorance. People have lots of trouble prioritizing long term benefits over immediate pleasures.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- clock_tower 10y ago
  > You also should not hoard all of your money and live a miserable penny pinching life unless that somehow makes you happy. It does: it means financial independence -- and the freedom to work on what I really want to do -- comes quickly as opposed to never coming at all. > The reality is that people tend to spend most or all of what they earn. Read Amy Chua's _World on Fire_, on the question of market-dominant minorities -- i.e., peoples who have too much sense to waste their money like this. > quality stuff that you don't really need The difference between old money and the rest of the US is the difference between checking the time on your cellphone (the old-money way) and buying, or wanting to buy, a $20,000 Patek Philippe mechanical watch.

dpark 10y ago

Obviously you can and should spend you money wisely. You should not live paycheck to paycheck if you can avoid it. You also should not hoard all of your money and live a miserable penny pinching life unless that somehow makes you happy. But this is boring advice that everyone knows. The reality is that people tend to spend most or all of what they earn. People like to own nice homes and nice vehicles and take nice vacations etc etc. When someone says something like "I don't understand why people spend all their money", it's just pretension. They know exactly why people spend all their money. Money buys nice things and nice experiences. It's a good idea to live beneath your means, but it's a different thing to pretend that typical behavior is somehow incomprehensible. Also, buying quality doesn't stop you from spending all your money. It is extremely easy to spend all your money on quality stuff that you don't really need and justify it as "buying quality" or "buying once".

croon 10y ago
> Obviously you can and should spend you money wisely. You should not live paycheck to paycheck if you can avoid it. You also should not hoard all of your money and live a miserable penny pinching life unless that somehow makes you happy. But this is boring advice that everyone knows. > The reality is that people tend to spend most or all of what they earn. People like to own nice homes and nice vehicles and take nice vacations etc etc. Aren't these statements contradictory? My point was that it's obvious that a lot of people don't know this, and you CAN avoid living from paycheck to paycheck. I did it when I was a student (with no help from parents) and had at most $400 a month after rent, and I do it now that I make a lot more. I however still don't go out a ton, and I don't have a fancy car, or purchase anything on a contract, because the luxury part doesn't give me any happiness. I still eat great food and have people over and travel as much as I can. I find this obvious. You do to. My OP was about people not.
- dpark 10y ago
  The fact that people don't do what they should doesn't mean they don't know. People know they shouldn't eat tons of food and gain unhealthy amounts of weight. People know they shouldn't smoke. People know they shouldn't drink to excess regularly. Still people do these things pretty frequently. It's not a question of ignorance but a question of will, or priorities, or maybe ability. Go ask any general practice doctor whether people do what they "should" and whether the reason when they don't is actually ignorance. People have lots of trouble prioritizing long term benefits over immediate pleasures.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
clock_tower 10y ago
> You also should not hoard all of your money and live a miserable penny pinching life unless that somehow makes you happy. It does: it means financial independence -- and the freedom to work on what I really want to do -- comes quickly as opposed to never coming at all. > The reality is that people tend to spend most or all of what they earn. Read Amy Chua's _World on Fire_, on the question of market-dominant minorities -- i.e., peoples who have too much sense to waste their money like this. > quality stuff that you don't really need The difference between old money and the rest of the US is the difference between checking the time on your cellphone (the old-money way) and buying, or wanting to buy, a $20,000 Patek Philippe mechanical watch.