[Seadog]

(12-30-2018 01:35 AM)Delta Wrote:  

I have to go against the grain on this one; the main issue here is people spending like fucking morons. I constantly witness people who are far from rich drop lots of money on totally unnecessary things, presumably for the perceived status boost.

You don't need to attend college at some mediocre $60k/yr private school. You don't need a $40k performance car, and you sure as hell don't need to keep getting a new one every few years. You don't need to "treat yourself" to meals at fancy restaurants. You don't need to pay $300+ a night to stay at luxury resorts when you travel. You don't need to drop triple figures on shots at the bar every weekend. Guys, you don't need $200 LeBron sneakers when you fucking suck at basketball anyway, and girls, no one's fucking impressed by your overpriced $200 heels that were made in the same Indonesian sweatshop alongside the Walmart brand.

I respect people's right to spend their money how they choose, but when I see people pissing their money away on stuff like this and then whining about how hard it is to save and how the 'system' or whoever else is fucking them over, I just think of them as pathetic dumbasses and have no sympathy.

I live on my own in a very expensive part of the country. I eat out all the time. I go out with friends. I go on dates. I travel. I do not deprive myself of anything. And yet I spend way less in a year than the average person earns, because I don't spend status dollars. I only spend on things that are worth it from a utility perspective. It really isn't hard at all.

Your grandparents made ends meet on one salary BECAUSE THEY WERE FUCKING CHEAP by today's standards. Have you guys never spent time around old people? Those motherfuckers would rather take a bullet to the kneecap than blow $30 on artisanal cheese.

Stop romanticizing the past. No generation ever had it easy. Get yourself out of the pointless status-signalling arms race and you'll find that building up savings really isn't that difficult.

Thank you. It fucking kills me as well as I see all the money wasted while at the same time people bitching about how they have none. I have an old phone, buy probably half of my stuff used, don't own a car, and somehow, I can readily take years off work whenever I want.

It's basically never been easier or cheaper in the history of humanity to live. People love to rip on how wages are stagnant, or how efficiency was supposed to reduce us to 10 hour work weeks. Tell you what. Live like the average person did 60 years ago. Live in a place 1/3rd the average one today, no TV(maybe a radio), no cell phone, no overseas travel, maybe a car, never eat out and maybe even tend a small garden. Tally up what all that costs and let me know. I can almost assure you it can be had for below the poverty line. But living like that wasn't poverty in 1960, why is it now?

People say wages are stagnant for 30 years, but the world as a whole, physically has more and fancier stuff than the world did in 1988. So where is it? To my point above living standards have skyrocketed, so that a part, but not only it. Not sure if (((((The Jooooooooooos!)) have been mentioned yet so lets just preempt that, but the fact is that income inequality has increased dramatically, and it's the owners of companies and assets that have done well. In the 50s it was the glory days for unskilled labour. Now it's not. Part of the blame lies with people making poor decisions, driven by emotion and wildly optimistic assumptions. It's easy to say women are a slave to their emotions and try to avoid responsibility. I would say that it true for the majority of people period. Sell someone enough rope to hang themselves, tell them it's cool and financially wise. Then buy your rope back for 10 cents on the dollar from their estate.

Uni is crazy expensive in the US, and job prospects are shit with your 250k shit degree? Well then why the fuck are people jumping hand over fist to get in and pay for some stupid private school with loans, when they know the vast majority of others already have degrees, and also can't find jobs? Walking to China worked out great for Marco Polo. Maybe if I do the same I can share similar success? Sounds like something Zoidberg would say.

Finance has so many parallels to women it's uncanny. Look at what the people with money do, then copy it. Ignore people who are well meaning but ignorant at best (parents, guidance counselors), or self serving at worst (credit cards telling your it's financially prudent to get a 20% loan to buy Retirement savings). So people take advice from some cute 26yo at the bank selling something and up to her ass in student debt herself, and think they're being smart by taking out as huge of a mortgage as they can since housing only goes up. Maybe look to the real wealth, and see that they only have a tiny fraction in RE, and the majority in financial assets.

It's not as bad as many people make it out, but if you're in a shitty situation and clearly on the bad side of a deal, then figure out how to get on the other one. Bank fucking you with fees and mortgage interest? Sounds like you want to be in the position of the bank then. Start buying shares, do everything the same, then next year you'll have more. That shit snowballs. I think Einstein said that compound interest was the most powerful force in the world, and it either fucks you, or you do the fucking. (paraphrased)

I like your term status dollars. I always thought of it in a different term, but similar. Buying absolute vs relative assets. Absolute is like a TV, no one else gives a shit if I buy one, and it has value regardless of where I am. A car has an absolute value of ~$2.5-5k. Gets me around as well as the Lambo, but new enough that I won't be pestered by constant issues. Relative is waterfront property (or the Lambo). It's value is almost wholly derived by other people wanting it then and there, and not having it. Spending for status is literally throwing money away to show off. Oh you wanted to feel like a prince? Cool. I want to be as rich as one. Maybe when 10k actually falls into the noise spectrum of my net worth I'll spring for the bottle service.