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Rich people are weird


dinneR

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There are a lot of very wealthy people who live in "Richestan," as the book of the same name calls it and who have no idea of normal living. One of the people in the book was asked what he would advise a homeless person to do if he found $50.  "Well, he could take a sky-diving lesson."

But most of the well-off or wealthy people I know are worth around $2M to $5M and most didn't have extremely high-paying jobs: they were big on spending little and saving a lot.

They're like the people invited to be interviewed by the book The Millionaire Next Door by Stanley and Danko who, when asked what their favorite beer was, answered, "Bud or free."  They didn't recognize or eat the expensive pates set out for them to eat because they would never have spent the money for it.

My mother gave me that book back in the 90's and it helped me build the assets that allowed me to retire comfortably - not rich but there no financial stress.

But conditioning yourself to that kind of life causes you to do weird things, too.  One neighbor, the richest on our block, would burn $5 worth of gasoline to save $3 on a case of beer: saving money on something gave him a rush.  Personally, I kick myself if I use the wrong cash-back credit card and only get $0.15 back where the right card gave $0.45.  It all adds up: I get about $800/year in cash-back, with several cards each offering the max. cash back for different things and times.

On the other hand, I know people - a surprisingly lot of people - who wouldn't be caught dead in a discount food store or buying store-brand stuff in supermarkets, calling it "welfare food."  I tell them that if anyone sees me at such places or with such things, all they'll be saying is, "See? That's why he's got more than a couple pennies to rub together."

And most of the best low-cost food, furniture, etc. places I know of locally were pointed out to me by people making well into 6-figures.

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44 minutes ago, MickinMD said:

There are a lot of very wealthy people who live in "Richestan," as the book of the same name calls it and who have no idea of normal living. One of the people in the book was asked what he would advise a homeless person to do if he found $50.  "Well, he could take a sky-diving lesson."

But most of the well-off or wealthy people I know are worth around $2M to $5M and most didn't have extremely high-paying jobs: they were big on spending little and saving a lot.

They're like the people invited to be interviewed by the book The Millionaire Next Door by Stanley and Danko who, when asked what their favorite beer was, answered, "Bud or free."  They didn't recognize or eat the expensive pates set out for them to eat because they would never have spent the money for it.

My mother gave me that book back in the 90's and it helped me build the assets that allowed me to retire comfortably - not rich but there no financial stress.

But conditioning yourself to that kind of life causes you to do weird things, too.  One neighbor, the richest on our block, would burn $5 worth of gasoline to save $3 on a case of beer: saving money on something gave him a rush.  Personally, I kick myself if I use the wrong cash-back credit card and only get $0.15 back where the right card gave $0.45.  It all adds up: I get about $800/year in cash-back, with several cards each offering the max. cash back for different things and times.

On the other hand, I know people - a surprisingly lot of people - who wouldn't be caught dead in a discount food store or buying store-brand stuff in supermarkets, calling it "welfare food."  I tell them that if anyone sees me at such places or with such things, all they'll be saying is, "See? That's why he's got more than a couple pennies to rub together."

And most of the best low-cost food, furniture, etc. places I know of locally were pointed out to me by people making well into 6-figures.

One guy at work told me that he didn't want to take transit to a job interview location...he thought it wouldn't reflect well on him.  That is really old thinking..or sign of suburban living where car in minds of many tends to be "king".  Whereas in big cities, you see people in expensive suits/biz wear on the subway.  His potential job did not involve travelling. Office location.  And the irony, is my employer includes public transit system for the city.

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