How we think about money

[GFB]

This video is about 8 minutes long. The presenter discusses how, basically, chasing status can hinder us financially. It might seem like common sense to some people on here who tend to be a bit older, but it's well-stated and might be worth a watch. Younger people especially seem to be enamored by the appearance of affluence so popular in social media and they can end up overextended.

I started thinking about this from reading and following reviews on cars. To paraphrase, stuff like this:

• "This car costs $35k so it's for someone just getting started out in their careers."
• "If your salary is x per year, then you are probably looking for a car that costs y."
• "You might as well lease a car because most people only keep them 3-4 years."
• "I just graduated college and I need a brand new, loaded vehicle because I have to have reliable transportation."

I keep mentioning cars because it's a key offender in status-chasing, but there are many other areas. And, of course, there are people out there who can afford seemingly lavish purchases without becoming overextended. Just food for thought regarding keeping up with the Joneses.

 

[kodis556]

I drive a $60k sports car...it's 12 years old and was paid for 10 years ago. Seems this concept is unthinkable to some young people today.

 

[41mag]

Some good points.
Thanks for posting

 

[10thmountain]

I always paid cash for my used cars.

 

[Fatal_Bert]

Most I've ever paid for a vehicle is 5 thousand.

 

[kodis556]

Most I've ever paid for a vehicle is 5 thousand.

Stop being poor...

 

[Fatal_Bert]

Stop being poor...

If I had a 60k truck I'd definitely be poor.

 

[GFB]

If I had a 60k truck I'd definitely be poor.

Exactly

 

[moosensquirrel]

Money is simply something useful for storing and exchanging value. it's a claim on human time. It’s like stored life or energy..

People have used stones, glass beads, salt, cattle, seashells, gold, silver, and other commodities as money at different times.

Unfortunately, today most of humanity thoughtlessly accepts whatever worthless digital and paper scrips their governments give them as money. Only gold and silver have withstood 6000 years of universal acceptance.

(note: paraphrased from article in "International Man")

 

[BHPSteel]

There's a book out there that's been around for a while - "The Millionaire Next Door" by Thomas Stanley - that has some good ideas in it. One of them - probably not SUCH good advice - was that you should buy a car by weight.

Thus, a Lincoln Continental is a better purchase than an equally-priced Lexus, for example. This made a lot of sense to me 20 years ago whene I lived in the North East and every year, they salted the roads so hard I could measure the amount of mass lost to rust and corrosion every year. A Lincoln would have had enough mass to last a lot longer.