Nobody Gets Rich Overspending Money to Impress Fools Who Don't Know How to Value Money
My Money Coach |
Happy April Fool's Day, right? How often have we been fooled by someone who claims to be rich by frequently having a thick wallet full of cash, having plenty of expensive brands such as having an iPhone and highly branded apparel, and living a highly luxurious lifestyle? Somebody may even fool you he or she is rich by simply saying it. I remembered how that kind of thinking (back when I was a child) caused me to envy others. I remembered how some of my classmates would brag they had this and that. For some, somebody was poor because the parents didn't buy for the child this or that. What's ignored is that sometimes the rich man's son doesn't have this cool gadget while the poor man's son may have it. This can lead to another foolish habit of spending money to impress others who may be burdened in debt themselves.
It's a very common thing to spend money to impress others. It's because it's a very common thing to say that one is rich and the other is poor based on possessions over wealth. I made a mistake to keep spending money to impress people that don't even matter as a teenager. My punishment was that my parents didn't give me extra allowance--forcing me to contend with so little money to understand its value. To my parents, they say that such people who spend to impress may be financially burdened behind the scenes. What happens is that people would go to impractical spending such as the following:
- Buying super expensive branded goods in order to impress others. Nothing is wrong with having an iPhone if you can afford it. Just make sure you have ipon or savings. One would buy a PHP 25,000.00 worth of a bag while having nothing in it. I guess somebody decided to buy expensive rubber shoes just to impress his peers.
- Aiming for a super expensive luxury car many of them are gas wasters. I remembered when I was too easily offended by people judging me by my car. I begged for a Mercedes or even a Limousine to impress others. The truth is that many of them are gas wasters. Gasoline doesn't keep cheap either especially during a crisis hit today such as the lack of production of gasoline during low demand increased by the current Russia-Ukraine conflict. Right now, I'm just glad I don't have a luxury car.
- Enrolling one's children in a very expensive school when you barely have money. It would be stupid to enroll your children in an expensive school with the mentality, "The best school is the most expensive school." That kind of mentality can soon lead to more financial struggles. Is the school reputable with its graduates? Is the school well-equipped? Those should be the decisions before sending a school with a higher tuition fee.
What I can say is that why even bother impressing overspending fools? It's a complete waste of time getting jealous. Instead, it's best to focus on quality buying instead of quantity buying. Sure, I'm willing to spend higher but only if the quality is better. It's like I'm willing to spend PHP 150.00 for an iced latte in a coffee shop because the quality is really rich in taste. Meanwhile, I won't spend PHP 1,500.00 for an iced latte just to look rich and it turns out that the taste isn't even rich.