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| 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 we discussed above is a result of believing that the expensive is always the best. Unfortunately, some things are just overpriced when the price doesn't dictate the value. It's one thing to pay PHP 150.00 for a glass of coffee or tea latte in a coffee and tea shop because of the premium ingredients and utility costs. It's another thing when a canteen sells a cup of coffee for PHP 150.00 when they don't use premium ingredients nor do they spend a lot on their utilities. Let's say that the canteen sells a cup of non-premium coffee for PHP 1,000.00 each. That wouldn't make the non-premium coffee in that overpriced canteen better than the premium coffee in a coffee shop. That would be a complete rip-off since the canteen doesn't spend as much money as a coffee shop or tea shop. Coffee shops and tea shops need to sell their drinks at a higher price because they operate longer (even 24/7), have to pay more people, and use premium ingredients. So, coffee in a coffee shop isn't overpriced unless the quality isn't good. We need to sell at a higher price only if the value goes up. The price must dictate the value but all the time the price dictates the value.
It might also be for men who are trying to court a material woman. A material woman would probably demand expensive flowers, a five-star restaurant date, a ride on a limousine (which is a gas-eater), and maybe demanded a high-end branded goods wedding. Impressing a material girl may mean loaning a lot of money to impress that woman. It's really something when one decides to court a materialistic woman who may not know the value of money. Maybe, she has been too pampered by her parents. It would be foolish to marry one to develop a partnership with her parents. A marriage between affluent families may not always be the best key. Sometimes, marrying a middle-class financial manager woman might be a better key to improving one's family business. Some children of rich people haven't been taught the value of money when parents give them all they want. If you can't afford a woman's classy lifestyle then stay away regardless of what her family status is whether she's middle class or rich.
Besides, spending money to impress others is always one thing--an outflow of one's money without a Return On Investment (ROI). It's not like spending money to buy stocks to sell or to hold for dividends. It's not like buying managed funds if one's too afraid to handle stocks by themselves or too busy to monitor them all the time. It can also lead to multiple debts more often than not. Somebody might even borrow money from a loan shark or a five-six lender to impress others. A paycheck to paycheck worker may have bought an iPhone based on an illegal loan instead of money they actually don't have. If one's living paycheck to paycheck then shouldn't the payment of bills be the first priority? Shouldn't payment for rent to be more important than getting a brand new iPhone? Shouldn't payment for water and electricity be more important than going to a fancy restaurant? Such values would make you wonder why one manages to get better financially while the other doesn't. It's all about having your priorities. If you spend on what you want more than you need--you can expect a financial deficit sooner or later.
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.
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