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[quote=fibonacci;24318679]Italians are NOTORIOUS for this. Walk around Italy, everyone is wearing name brand clothing, some knock off, some legit, but poor people and middle class people in Italy definitely like to project a facade. I don't understand why someone in the middle class would waste $1200 on a designer purse. You could use that money to take a trip somewhere where you would have memories for a lifetime.[/quo
SO WHAT IF THE ITALIANS WANT TO WALK AROUND IN ITALY WEARING BRAND NAME CLOTHES??! IF YOU BUY A DESIGNER PURSE FOR $1200 THEN WEAR IT WILL. I RATHER BUY AN EXPANSIVE BAG THEN TRAVEL AROUND, AT LEAST I CAN ALWAY USE MY BAG. WHEN THE TRIP IS OVER AFTER SEEING THE SAME TYPE OF PEOPLE IN OTHER PLACES ALL YOU HAVE IS MEMORIES BIG DEAL YOU CANT WEAR OR CARRY A MEMORY. AND IF I GO TO ITALY I WILL BE WEARING DESIGNER CLOTHES TOO. AFTER ALL WHEN YOU TRAVEL YOU DO WANT TO LOOK GOOD. WHAT YOU SUPPOSE TO WEAR CHEAP NASTY UGLY CLOTHES, SHOES & BAGS TO ITALY. I WEAR EXPENSIVE CLOTHES ANYWAY. WHEN I TRAVEL I WANT TO LOOK MY BEST.
DONT BE A HATER JUST BECAUSE YOU DON'T HAVE THE MONEY!! ! IF POOR AND MIDDLE CLASS HAVE THE MONEY TO SPENT ON BEAUTIFUL THINGS SO WHAT. I SPENT MONEY ON EXPENSIVE THINGS TOO AND I'M POOR TO MIDDLE CLASS.
I never understood this. Why would a girl who survives paycheck to paycheck and lives in the projects go out and buy a $1200 LV bag? I laugh when I see this. Who do they think they're fooling? I overheard some woman on line at the store the other day talking about how she's going to pay the rent late this month because there's a pair of those red bottom shoes that she wants and they cost $800. The way I see it is, if you cant go to the store and buy them without batting an eyelash or sacrificing bills, then you have no business buying them. Live within your means people.
Another way of looking at this is that the bag and shoes ARE within their means, which just goes to show just how wealthy and fortunate people are in this country. While paying the rent late is not responsible, it doesn't sound like she wasn't going to not pay it at all, and it sounds like if she had some discipline and could delay gratification she could have bought the shows without paying the rent late.
You know, some people think spending outrageous amounts on stuff besides on actual quality one can appreciate is stupid regardless of socioeconomic class. Spending more beyond paying for quality is the act of buying prestige, and I don't think the allure of prestige is limited to any particular socioeconomic class. So the real answer to your question is that prestige is just as alluring to some low-income people as it is to some high-income people. At the same time, some high-income people are practical and unwilling to spend on what they see as frivolous pursuits, hence the reason some millionaires drive Ford pick-up trucks and wear clothes from Walmart. What I'm trying to illustrate here is that the allure of prestige doesn't necessarily have to do with socioeconomic class, but rather values.
I don't necessarily agree with the frivolous pursuit of frothy prestige, but I also don't feel like I should be upset about somebody else pursuing that if that's what makes them happy. The type of people you're talking about in your example are usually uneducated and don't really even know what real prestige is or that they're missing it, so I'm not even sure it would be accurate to say they make purchases of prestige to make up for something they don't have. I think they may genuinely enjoy their designer shoes or purse as much or more than a girl who buys stuff like that often and such an endeavor becomes more of a passing thought.
deevel79- Can you say you, yourself, are not guilty of what you're accusing the lower class of doing? Do you pay more for anything in your life that is beyond practical and due to the allure of prestige? That's a question you've got to actually think about because I think a lot of people are so caught up in it they don't realize that's what they're doing.
I know a girl who took her mother and family (like 20 people) out for her mother's birthday and spend around $1K. Then the next week she asked her mother to borrow money to pay her rent!!!
LOL... That is the definition of someone living beyond her means! funny.
With a little bit of insight and thought you and others who think like you will see that many people are stuck in a lifestyle with no real chance of getting out in which they barely get by, and that when they realize it decide to splurge every now and then and enjoy life while they can rather than go completely with out. Unlike successful middle-class people who temporarily buckle down for a bit to get their finances in line, the folks I'm describing would have to stay buckled down forever if they followed the same standards. That dinner and get together of 20 people will likely be a lasting memory and fuel conversation and what not for months. Besides, they were celebrating a birthday, even more the reason!
Thats stupid.
You don't get "buried" with those things when you die...
I'd rather invest in things I can bring with me to my grave... like good food & great memories.
Or, as financial advisor Michelle Singletary's grandma "Big Mama" used to say, "If it's on your a$$, it's not an asset."
Think that having things will make them not seem so poor.
I admit I do well for myself and make a good income. I own three designer bags. One I bought with bonus money that I got from job, another was bought at a consignment store, and the last was a gift. I am selling both the one that was a gift and with a bonus soon becuase I don't use them. The consignment store one needs to get strap fixed but that bag will be taken out of my hands when I am cold and dead.
But keep in mind that NOBODY, regardless of income, needs a $1200 purse. What you need is something that will hold the stuff you need to carry with you. In all honesty, a $10 handbag from Walmart would do the job, it's just not as pretty or pretentious as a LV or Spade bag.
Yeah, I have to agree.
We are and hang out with the high income crowd, and I can't help feel derision when I see these bags bandied about.
Until I think...well, I have some expensive habits, too...
With a little bit of insight and thought you and others who think like you will see that many people are stuck in a lifestyle with no real chance of getting out in which they barely get by, and that when they realize it decide to splurge every now and then and enjoy life while they can rather than go completely with out. Unlike successful middle-class people who temporarily buckle down for a bit to get their finances in line, the folks I'm describing would have to stay buckled down forever if they followed the same standards. That dinner and get together of 20 people will likely be a lasting memory and fuel conversation and what not for months. Besides, they were celebrating a birthday, even more the reason!
You almost make a point until we all realize that what makes someone successful and happy should not be the stuff they own.
These people who are splurging in order to 'enjoy life every once in a while' have bought into the materialism mentality and think they can't enjoy themselves without THINGS.
That dinner with 20 people can be a reasonable pot luck affair. There can still be laughs and good times. My parents do this all the time with their hoity toity friends. Hell, they could all have 300 steak dinners every night, but for them it's more FUN to sit around a table together with homemade dip and play bridge.
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! IF POOR AND MIDDLE CLASS HAVE THE MONEY TO SPENT ON BEAUTIFUL THINGS SO WHAT. I SPENT MONEY ON EXPENSIVE THINGS TOO AND I'M POOR TO MIDDLE CLASS.
