We all fall victim from time to time with the "Keeping up with the Joneses" effect. I admit, quite often than not, to having a hard time differentiating between my NEEDs versus my WANTs. Thus, by the hopes of me blogging and bringing awareness of my spending to light, I hope to dampen this urge. I remind myself that delayed satisfaction is the key to becoming rich in the long run.
I'm currently reading this book called "Stop Acting Rich . . . and Start Living Like a Real Millionaire" and would like to share a few interesting facts.
Fact #1: 86% of all luxury vehicles are driven by people who are not millionaires.
Mrs. Bee response: True! I drive an old luxury vehicle and I am no where near miilionaire status (YET). But I hope to be one day in hopes to become that 14% that is a millionaire who continues to drive a luxmobile.
Fact #2: $16 is what most millionaires pay for a haircut
Mrs. Bee response: False! I'm so guilty of paying around $55 for a nice haircut every 6 months. Again, it goes to show I am not a millionaire (YET). However, this excerpt is misleading because some places around town charges less than $16 (tips included) for haircuts. And those people sure don't look like millionaires or are they!
Fact #3: The #1 shoe brand worn by millionaire women is Nine West. Their favorite clothing store is Ann Taylor.
Mrs. Bee response: This again I feel is misleading. Nine West shoes are not cheap nor are Ann Taylor clothing. I don't own either brands so again this proves that I not a millionaire but my shoes are compareable to their prices.
The author points out that many people end up in financial trouble because they PRETEND to be rich. He believes there is a cure to this pretentious disease and quotes "But for the treatment to work, you must take a cold hard look at your balance sheet and at your life, and determine if you would be wealthier if you would stop acting rich."
Do you agree that there are way too many people in this soceity that act and pretend to be rich? Will the recession motivate pretenders to hit the reset button and not just act rich but live modestly like many real millionaires?
Please share your thoughts.
8 comments:
Interesting data. I'm definitely not a millionaire... I pay too much for my haircuts! ;) But I've had $20 haircuts and $60 haircuts, and there is no comparison. The $60 can last me 4-5 months while the $20 start looking raggedy after 2. So... I think it pretty much evens out at the end.
To an extent yes. One of my resolutions was to stop feeling jealous of the "Joneses," my coworkers who go out 2-3x/week and have cruises and vacations and all that. But then I remember that what I do is because I have goals I'm trying to accomplish, and I have to constantly remind myself of it, and then I'm okay.
Haircut here is $0.00 - I swear by my Flowbee. Mrs. Bee, you need a Flowbee!
Believe it or not, I did use to have a flobee. But this was a decade ago or so. Not sure what became of it.
The product was such a gimmick. There was no style after the cut. Left looking like a shaggy dog. We should not expect much when a machine cuts our hair.
I also surmise on the salary of a few coworkers. They all have a mortgage expense yet they're able to go out to bar during happy hour. They're constantly traveling overseas 1-2 times a year. They and their spouse eat out everyday for lunch. They have on average 2 kids and pets to support. Their kids attend private schools and are enrolled in hobbies such as ballet, soccer, singing, piano, etc. The list goes on and on. But they are a bit older than I am so they may make more for a living. At times I compliment them for being "rich and paid well." They don't seem to mind and smiles back at me agreeingly.
I've had my Flowbee for 12 years now - haven't been back to a barber/stylist since. Have purchased 2 new sets of blades over that time. Total cost probably $125.
It does fine for my hair, no shaggy dog. I think the time it's saved is worth much more than the money it's saved - and over 12 years, that's probably 50 or 60 trips saved.
I think the point is just that millionaires don't spend their money the way the media wants you to think they would. It's the people who want OTHER people to think that they are millionaires that drive expensive cars and wear designer clothes.
I love the title. I have a feeling that $16 average hair cut figure was heavily weighed by self reporting by the disproportionate number of male millionaries.
You are right about Anne Taylor. One of my mentors told me to trying to dress as if I shopped at Anne Taylor but do the actual shopping at target. So, I would go to Anne Taylor and look at their mannequins and then go shopping.
I read that book about a month ago, great quick and interesting read (I borrowed it from the library)!
Most of the pretenders could be rich if they scaled back their spending for perhaps 10 years. Unfortunately, they want everything now, and probably believe they will make more money on down the line, so they think that they are doing okay.
Most of the millionaires next door types live in small towns/cities and don't want their friends to know how much money they have. So at some level they have some social motivation to live beneath there means...
Oh maybe the pretenders will slow down for a while, but it's hard to break the spending addiction...
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