Living beneath your means- the official thread (real estate, apartment)
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As an evil yuppie, I expect to be hated upon on this thread. However, I implore you youngsters out there to start fiscal responsibility at a young age. Boglehead.org... bookmark it, and read the forums everyday like you do with citydata.
Eastbound - As long as you work in a salon you have to accept that you will never on your own be able to afford the same lifestyle as your rich clients. I don't see that as a bad thing.
It depends on the salon (if you're talking hair). My fiance works at one and some of the people she works with make over a million a year.
Also, Even though she works with people and all of the clientele that come in wouldn't dare shop anywhere else other than barneys, she gets complimented all the time on her outfits that she bought at forever 21, h&m and tj maxx. There's a girl that she works with that gets her clothes from places like that as well but tries to play it off that they are much more expensive items. My fiance will straight up say when asked "Who are you wearing?" I don't know, I got it from TJ MAXX on clearance.
Last edited by skinnayyy; 09-18-2013 at 01:52 PM..
Of course, designer clothes, bags, etc are all made in the same Asian factories. All you're really paying for is the name.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sirtiger
that is a really silly statement.
there is something called craftsmanship. Some things are made my hand and utilize very high end materials.
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Originally Posted by bg7
Not really, none of those materials are actually that expensive. The difference between high-end and low-end fabrics and materials that are actaully used isn't anywhere near the mark-up differential. The mark-up on handbags is among the highest of any object sold.
Its called Intellectual Property. There is a reason that these companies spend huge amounts on IP lawyers to protect their trademark, trade dress and copyrights. The value is in the Intellectual Property, i.e. the name and appearance of the handbag, not the handbag itself. But they make $$$$ money on people who buy into the status concept. Of course they can't make something that'll fall apart in a year, but handbag technology isn't rocket science.
If you're on a desert island, and there's no-one to observe you, you'll soon ditch the Prada and pick up the EMS backpack.
I agree with Sirtiger. Writerdude is stating that ALL those products are made in Asia, which is not correct. You can have high end items made in China but with materials that were made in Italy, France, Spain, USA, etc. There are high end companies who manufacture only in Europe.
Inexpensive items are made cheaply with cheap materials. There's certainly a difference between a $500 leather Coach bag and a $20 "leather" bag from Target. There's a difference between a $200 dining set from Liquidators and a $1000 dining set from Thomasville.
The only way to achieve any financial security is to live below,maybe well below, your means, so that you can save and invest the surplus.If you live beyond your means you spend your life in debt and will likely sink and if you live at or slightly within your means, you tread water forever.
I'm not over thirty but my husband and I definitely have a certain lifestyle that allows us to save quite a bit of money even though neither of us make a lot of money. We're also pretty simple in terms of what we like so we're easy to please. Since I couldn't care less about purses/sunglasses (I destroy all my stuff) or hair (I haven't been to a hair dresser in probably 2+ years), I spend my money on other stuff that other people do not have in the city---our coop that we put down 30% on, our car, etc. I'll keep shopping at factory outlets because I'd be more annoyed at myself for spending $150 on a pair of jeans, rather than enjoying them. But that's me.
I will say that when I was laid-off, it wasn't even a strain. I wasn't happy about it but we didn't really change anything about how we lived. The only thing that we don't have (that I still want) is cable. We had cable and then years ago, when I left my first job, we ditched it because we couldn't afford it. But I've always missed it. (Sad, I know.)
You never know how really thirsty you can get until the well runs dry.
Living below your means is only part of the story to be successful.
It cracks me up sometimes over on the frugal living forum the lengths people go to save a few bucks.
But they are blind to one very important over looked fact.
That is a penny saved is a penny earned but alas it is still a penny.
Without using the power of compounding growth through good investing skills that money will never amount to much.
It is rarely the little bits we round up from being frugal or our paychecks that create wealth. It is compounding gains over decades that do.
It usually turns out the most frugalist people either shy away from investing their money or they are financially ignorant about doing so.
The reality is if they learned to be financially more aware, better investors, and had a better plan and lived LESS frugally they would be farther ahead.
Last edited by mathjak107; 09-18-2013 at 06:57 PM..
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