You mean if i have a Porsche I'm not rich? Ahh, come on.
So I started reading this book "Your Money or Your Life"
and I just about shot myself.Maybe it's because I'm reading the older edition (remember how i got this book for "Free" since they shipped me the wrong one?), but my damness it's so B-O-R-I-N.... zzzzzzzz. It's so sad because i was really excited to read it! Maybe i just haven't gotten to the good parts yet?
Anyways, so I decided to pick up a non-personal finance book this time for a nice change of scenery. And funny enough it brought me right back to finance. It's not THAT crazy i guess cuz money plays a part everywhere in life, but it def. caught me off guard and got me zoned right back in again :)
The book is called "The Pleasure of My Company"
by Steve Martin (yeah, THAT Steve Martin). It's a fiction/comedy about the musings of this super smart/obsessive compulsion type guy. At one point he's looking out his window at these apartments for rent, and he relays the following to us:"...twenty minutes later i saw a couple in their thirties, Porsche-equipped,pull up and park half in the red zone. Oh, I can read them like a book: too much money in the Porsche, not enough left over for the rent. This is a young hotshot three years into his first good job, and the one thing he wants is a Porsche. Sort of the boyhood dream thing. Finally he gets the car and has a strong attachment to it. The wife came later, but dang, he still loves his Porsche. So they think they have plenty of money for rent until they start checking into prices and find that their affordable number of bedrooms has shrunk by 1.5"I love these types of generalizations because that's all they really ARE - generalizations. This one happens to go against the common thought, but it really depends on who you ask. You'll have some people saying/thinking "oh yeah man, that guy is LOADED! look at that hottie car and that blonde bombshell next to him", while others, mainly those in the PF mindset, will think "No way, that guy's totally in debt - what an idiot! Doesn't he know that if he invested that $60k in XYZ stock at 9.3456% he would have $82.50 right now?!"
I, personally, take a little reasoning from both sides and formulate my own little mix. It goes a little somethin' like this, "Wow that's a hot car! He must really like it cuz he just blew alotta money on it. You'd never find me driving it, but I can appreciate his choice of style...I just hope he's not in debt! Maybe he just won the lottery? Or maybe he just lives on the edge?" I never like to say one way or the other whether someone's an idiot or not without knowing the facts ;)
The beautiful thing about this stuff is that it fosters such great discussion. Everyone has an opinion and can back it up with a million reasons and experiences, but there's never a clear cut answer. So everyone wins! I guess you could always walk right up to the person and flat out ask what's in his bank account, but even then i doubt you'd strike the total truth ;) It would certainly add more fuel to the fire though!
Labels: debt, randomness 3000
posted by J. Money at
12:12 PM
13 Comments:
That's why personal finance is "personal"
Some people are meticulous about money, some are not.
I balance my money, I give to charity, save and spend a little
Overall, most people do what feels good to them. If a Porche makes you feel better than a 5 didit bank account , who cares as long as no one is taking care of you.
People sure can be quick to judge others based on their own priorities.
First, Porsche's arent always *so* expensive. Sure, the 2008 911 Turbos is $138k. But a 3 year old Boxster can be had for under $30k!
And how many bedrooms does someone need? If my savings/investments/retirements are in order, Im not popping out a kid anytime soon and I want a 1 bedroom with a fun car (I can afford) - why does that bring on snide comments?
I'm just gonna call the guy an idiot.
He should have bought a Corvette Z06.
Enough said.
That's a great book! :)
I think when it comes down to it, you can't judge a book by its cover. Even glamorous celebrities making millions of dollars go into debt because they don't know how to manage their money.
I'm not a car person, so I always find it weird when people drive extremely expensive cars. I would be so nervous that someone would hit me or I would scratch it....my blood pressure would go through the roof!
I see the outline of a mohawk in that picture. Could that be the reflection of Mr. J Money himself?
Hey! Some guys like that (the kind that blow their wad on a sports car) come around eventually to become pretty frugal... ;0)
That said, I totally hear what you're sayin'...
'Tis i, mohawk and all! it's too bad that i don't own the car though...i wouldn't want all of you hatin' on me ;)
on a random note, there's a community yard sale here this Saturday morning. time to whip out the quarters!
... guilty of the pf bloggers' approach.
When I read that for the first time, I made the sweeping judging generalization that he just couldn't afford it and shouldn't have bought it.
But just because I wouldn't buy it, even if I could afford it, doesn't mean that somebody else can't afford it.
That guy could be saving like crazy, giving to the poor, paying his tithing, AND having money left over to but something like that.
Good post. I'll try to keep my judgments to a minimum.
I admit I'm guilty too of judging before knowing all the facts sometimes...
Hang in there with the book, it does get a lot better after the first couple of chapters!
Shortly after a pricey automobile purchase a couple of years ago, I had an acquaintance of mine say that it was "just like you to blow all your money on a car." I was pretty offended. I think my reply was something along the lines of "you can't be serious." I didn't even try to tell them I paid cash, and that it was by no means all the cash I had at that point. Frustrating.
I starting reading that book too, the original version the library had.
I got about 1/3 of the way into it and couldn't read any more. Glad I'm not the only one. The first part had such potential, then it just got boring...
1) No book entitled "Your Money Or Your Life" has any business being boring. There has to be some way to prevent this. It's unconscionable.
2) Steve Martin is brilliant.
3) The thing is, people really should put money into savings and investments and annuities, or whatever. It's not a big deal when you are young and can make more money next month, but when you retire? That social security check either isn't going to be there (most likely scenario), or it isn't going to keep you from eating dog food and not being able to afford medications. That's when the lack of foresight leads to a problem for other people, and that ain't right.
Jerry
www.leads4insurance.com
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Back to Budgetsaresexy.com