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Maybe they have a cheaper cost of living and can readily afford those things? Cheap rent and bills, and cheap food bill, etc...?
Sure, they live in cheap apartments or section 8 housing, some are on food stamps, they buy stuff on lay-a-way system and pawn their stuff in pawn shops. Obviously they do not want to save money to ever get better than that... They don't own anything and it seems that they will never do.
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Reverse of this, is that most people in mgmt have mortgages and nicer cars, and pay more monthly in expenses, so they don't have the same amt of income left over?
... as compared to those I just mentioned above?...
3D Televisions- They cost in excess of $2000 each and offer a mediocre 3D experience at BEST, not to mention giving me a headache. Technology improves every day, why do some insist on buying the most HIGH END technology only for it to be outdated in 6 months?! Five years ago, a PLASMA tv would cost $3000, not the same television can be had for less than $500. Why buy the best technology right when it comes out?!
I'm grateful there are people who have to have the latest thing, right away. They pay a premium to experience that - and that helps fund a ramp up in production, which lowers the price for the rest of us. And if you are willing to wait long enough, and buy that new technology at the tail end of it's productive life, you can get it at a fraction of it's original cost.
Just think about DVD players! They were so expensive at first, but the Early Adapters had to have them! And those early sales funded a ramp up in production, and so the prices got lower and lower, and now, years later, DVD players are so cheap, they're practically a stocking stuffer.
I think spending $398 on a family season pass to a water park when you have a pool in your backyard is a huge waste of money... Especially when "we" complain on a daily basis about having no money...
And, the friend that bought paint with her last few dollars, well, that was one thing she could do, control, just not having to put up with the one thing with the all the rest of the things out of her control could make a really positive and desperately needed plus in her life.
I dont know about your friend, but when my husband was out of work for a long time due to an injury he painted the house a million times. Was good therapy for him..we also got the paint for free at the local municipality/recycling center. Our friends had the same problem "how can you afford to paint when you are out of work?". Because it was free...really helped him!
I observed this: people that have very little or no money spend the most. Our floor workers that make minimum wages go out to lunch everyday.
i have seen people who earn $11 an hour driving an escalade and another with an infiniti fx. i see them order in breakfast and go out to lunch. i remember this one girl who earned $11 or 12 an hour paid over $1k for a set of pots and pans, she also paid about $800 for expedited passports because she used some third party company to do it for her (i paid the normal price that was a small fraction of what she paid). its really amazing how people who earn so little will sometimes spend their money.
recently, i have seen an article about a girl winning a $1 million lottery and continuing to collect food stamps. apparently, she has also bought a house and a car (and im sure some other fun stuff). im pretty sure she had to pay tax on that $1 million, my guess is she will need to food stamps again soon anyway.
My friend is buying a house and plans on "getting rid of" the existing appliances because they are "green" and they don't like the color . The appliances are in perfect working order.
My mom got rid of a perfectly functioning dryer and bought a new one because it "matched" her new washing machine (that had broken).
Another friend spent her last remaining dollars painting her kitchen because it was "yellow" and she couldn't "take it anymore". She was unemployed at the time and hired someone to do this.
These are not rich people by any means. I guess I just can't relate. There are weeks I can't even go to the grocery store and I see things like this and I guess it's just hard to comprehend. Does anyone else feel this way?
If I had that kind of money, I think I would just put it in savings or a matching 401K or something. I would never get rid of something expensive because of the color.
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Originally Posted by CaptainNJ
so im supposed to have ugly appliances just because the ugly appliance works? hmmm, i dont think so. if i was struggling to make ends meet, i wouldnt have much choice and id keep the working appliance. i guess id also have to try to find a house that has appliances that meet my taste. i am not struggling, so ill get rid of a working appliance in favor of something more attractive.
We are renovating a cabin that has been in the family for 29 years. We've gotten rid of everything in it via a dumpster, because to our standards, they were garbage. We ripped out the flooring and put in a new one. The appliances still worked, but only marginally. Perhaps they would be okay for a few more years in other people's homes, but not to us, so out to the dump they went. It's not worth putting them in yard sale, and we would be too embarrassed to donate them to Goodwill (even Goodwill demands a certain quality of the donated stuff now.) Every single stick of furniture, the fridge, and the range were gone. We have gutted the bathroom, threw everything out, and brought in the new. Next step would be the kitchen cabinets, counter, and sink. And then, new lighting throughout.
We are repainting the entire cabin too -- that is, painting the walls and staining the wood. Same as 1brokegirl's friend, we could not stand the existing colours. I cannot live every hour of every day surrounded by depressing colours.
People would probably think we are crazy spending money left and right since our pension is limited, but we always know how to stretch our budget to have things done. The comfort of our home is very important to us, and no matter how poor we are or how small our home is, it is the reflection of our values. We must have it, otherwise it would be just surviving instead of living.
Last edited by Ol' Wanderer; 03-15-2012 at 01:34 PM..
I'm amazed that anyone would spend money on overpriced designer purses, clothes, shoes.
I did that for two decades. At the time, our combined income was 5X our financial obligations and my "mad money" was abundant for that kind of mad spending. This is not a justification for the behaviour, just an observation based on my own experience: very high price purses are guaranteed for life. Two of my purses were replaced (completely free of charge) years after the purchase date, and not from the same store either. The store simply picked up the phone, contacted the designer HQ, and that was it. I had the choice to have the same style replaced or to select another of similar price when said style was no longer available.
Last edited by Ol' Wanderer; 03-15-2012 at 01:37 PM..
We ripped out perfectly good southern yellow pine flooring a few years back, to make it match with red oak that existed in the rest of the house. It REALLY bothered me after I realized how ridiculously wasteful it was, seeing the piles of perfectly good wood going to the land fill, so we really try to consider whether something is really necessary when making any changes now, and try to GIVE AWAY (not throw away) anything we do remove.
I wear Diesel jeans. Those can run from $160 to $800. I settle around the $300 price range. It's a fashion thing.
Ouch, I couldn't fathom paying that much for jeans. I guess I'm unfashionable though. The clothing I pay over $300 for are dress clothing, my jeans aren't part of that attire.
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Originally Posted by eofelis
I am amazed at what people spend money on. $50,000 SUV, $3000 TV, $1000 computer, etc.
People probably look at the $800 bike I just bought and say that I could buy a "perfectly good" bike at a big blue box store for $79.
But I don't blink at someone spending $5000 for a custom made titanium bicycle. I knew at least 3 people, close friends, who have. They ride a lot.
Now someone spending $5000 for a carbon fiber bicycle? Not the same. A titanium bike frame is nearly indistructible and will last 200 years. Carbon fiber is more fragile.
A $5000 bike would be something I'd considered excessive but if it makes you happy, why not? My Macbook cost more than a grand but it's absolutely necessary for work and I love it!
$50K SUV...I've had two and I guess, to me, they were worth the price I paid. My current truck was right around that MSRP but I bought it for substantially less. I don't skimp on vehicles, I figure I probably spend as much time in my vehicle as I do in my house so might as well have a nice one.
Another thing I thought of that amazes me is people who spend a grand or more on designer LUGGAGE. WHY?! They do realize their luggage in thrown on the plane just like all the other bags right?! Just because it has an LV on it doesn't mean it's cared for more...
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