[HN Gopher] The Well-Off People Who Can't Spend Money
___________________________________________________________________
The Well-Off People Who Can't Spend Money
Author : rafaelc
Score : 22 points
Date : 2024-08-07 21:47 UTC (1 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.theatlantic.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.theatlantic.com)
| jph00 wrote:
| https://archive.is/WEX1n
| ChrisMarshallNY wrote:
| If anyone is old enough to have had parents or grandparents who
| went through The Depression (or The Holocaust), this sounds
| familiar.
| jjtheblunt wrote:
| yep (also works for kids / grandkids of poor immigrants, i'd
| say)
| josefritzishere wrote:
| Never assume the good times will last. Save. Live reasonably. If
| you get lucky and the good times do last, reap the benefits and
| retire early and comfortably.
| drooby wrote:
| This absolutely describes me..
|
| I seriously can't find anything that is worth buying that
| actually makes me happier. Travel is great, and probably where
| the bulk of my money goes. But it's temporary, and the expense is
| limited by my vacation time and doesn't scale that much.
|
| So I save.. and eventually I will be able to buy time. Maybe with
| more time I can figure out something to make me happier.
| NKosmatos wrote:
| Sad to hear this. Don't you have any hobbies or interests?
| Perhaps being a little bit materialistic every now and then
| doesn't hurt much. i.e. Get a better PC to play games, buy a
| better camera/lens to go out and take photos, get a bike to go
| for rides, you get the idea...
|
| I know that things don't make us happy, but the usage of them,
| the memories we create and the time we spent using them, many
| times makes us happy ;-)
| alecst wrote:
| I relate to the persona above you. I have plenty of hobbies,
| and almost all of them are free or cheap. I don't need a
| better laptop than what I have, I don't need an expensive
| bike to enjoy riding around, I don't need better running
| shoes -- or any shoes -- to go for a nice long run. The high
| of having the shiny new thing wears off.
|
| Recently I got rid of my bed, entirely. I had an expensive
| latex mattress, but I realized I enjoy sleeping right on the
| floor. It's firmer, cooler, and easier to maintain. It's just
| one of the many cases where I realized that less was more.
| ijidak wrote:
| I felt the same. Then I decided to spend some of my money
| hosting others at my home and sharing nice things with them --
| things that they themselves may not be able to afford or care
| to spend personal money on. For example, taste testing an
| expensive bottle of whiskey, Wagyu beef, etc.
|
| That's been enjoyable.
| teractiveodular wrote:
| I'm in the same boat, down to preferring travel/experiences
| over things.
|
| But last year, I bought a "nice" car. Not a Lambo, nothing that
| makes people turn their heads on the street, but 3-4x more than
| I'd ever spent on a car before. I'm not a car guy, but I remain
| astonished by how much I continue to enjoy driving it and how
| much the little luxury fripperies like a really quiet ride,
| driver seat automatically adjusting to my preferred position,
| heated steering wheel, adaptive cruise control with lane
| following etc add to the experience. Maybe I've been
| underestimating the value of well-made things after all.
| cs702 wrote:
| These three observations from the OP are consistent with my own:
|
| * Many people who spend well below their means experienced
| financial precariousness earlier in life.
|
| * They may no longer be poor, but the stress of deprivation is
| never far from their memory.
|
| * Concerns about spending are a preemptive response to make sure
| they never find themselves overspending.
| therealdkz wrote:
| Hey! You, ,,a Tightwad (with) a phantom limb of poverty"! Do your
| part help the economy spin faster.
|
| Disgusting.
| pphysch wrote:
| Conspicuous consumption should be shamed, not the other way
| around as this article does.
| scandox wrote:
| Maybe everyone should just mind their own business?
| uwagar wrote:
| they used to be called misers
| ilrwbwrkhv wrote:
| I'm banking my profits to start a dyson sphere company. I am not
| joking. I'll seriously do it.
| yodsanklai wrote:
| > David Fox has plenty of savings. He earns hundreds of thousands
| of dollars each year. Recently, he allocated $60,000 to buying a
| new car--but when he arrived at the dealership, he could bring
| himself to spend only $30,000 on a used model.
|
| David Fox may be making the right decision here.
|
| The question for me is whether I have enough saving to sustain a
| decent lifestyle in an adverse, yet possible, scenario (getting
| laid off, declining stock market, inflation, reaching an old age,
| high medical expense...). And incidentally, will the $60K car
| make me that much happier than the used one for half the price?
|
| Even with a high salary, it may not be a very good decision to
| buy the expensive car.
| kirth_gersen wrote:
| This is kind of ridiculous. Like there is something wrong with
| living within your means and being financially responsible. Guess
| it's bad for business. First time I'm glad for a walled off
| article on here. Saved me some time.
___________________________________________________________________
(page generated 2024-08-07 23:01 UTC)