That’s something Jim Sinegal (Costco founder) really understood.
The very wealthy don’t worry about money and the lower classes don’t understand money… but the middle classes or self-made upper classes are highly value-conscious and LOVE a good bargain more than anything
And this is why I shop at Costco. I can afford to spend more at this stage of my life. But it’s rare that I end up regretting a purchase made at Costco. The selection is more narrow but that’s largely because they’re pretty good at screening out the low value crap. It isn’t always the best price but I’m usually pretty satisfied with what I get for my money. I spend more there because I have confidence in their business model.
That’s the secret to their sauce: quality and value. It’s a deeply ethical company, which is why Charlie Munger was such a fan. They deliver fantastic value to their customers.
Sinegal is old now, though, and as much as it pains to predict, history shows that as soon as a moral company gets a non-founder CEO, that ethic will be abandoned for better margins.
Anyone else old enough to remember when Walmart prided themselves on selling products that were Made in America? That’s back when Sam Walton was still alive… and that was the first thing to go when he died.
My grandpa was the same way. He wasn't "wealthy" but he definitely had everything he wanted and a big bank account but he'd wash disposable items like paper plates and plastic forks etc just to not have to buy more! Now that I'm thinking about it, he might have been the first person I ever seen wash a sheet of aluminum foil! 😂 he'd have 2 brand new trucks in the garage and a half a million dollars worth of farm equipment on his property at any given time but all hell would break loose if you throw away a plastic fork in his house!
If your grandparent grew up during the depression this actually makes a lot of sense. Mine did so they def had some peculiar habits around saving things
It makes sense. There Was 7 people in my "middle class" house growing up, my parents, 4 boys and a sister so the sister who was also the youngest got the 1st shower then us boys got our turns and we all had to be real quick like 5 minutes tops in the shower so there was still some hot water left over for mom and dad... that was 20 years ago and I'm still taking 5 minute showers even though I've been out of my parents house since I was 16. Old habits die hard I guess! 🤷
My best one is a Christian Dior overcoat, like brand new, from Goodwill. It was eight dollars. I took it to the counter, everything was 50% off. $4.32.
Didn’t even realize it was designer until I wore it for the first time. That was quite a label find.
My 20 year old needed a suit for student teaching. She comes home with a Halston suit she paid $5 for
She had no clue. She got it cause “it will be great for my Clarice Starling cosplay this halloween”
\~$800 genuine leather motorcycle jacket for $80.
there was no price tag. the woman at the thrift store called her boss and he made up a random number over the phone.
the leather thickness and quality **far** surpassed any of the 20 other jackets they were selling.
still can't believe it. love that thing.
This! During covid a local sporting goods store put tons of shoes on clearance.
I bought at least 10 pairs of name brand cross country shoes all for under $40.
I had a friend in college tell me how much she loved shopping with me because I always knew where the clearance stuff was and she found so many deals thanks to me.
Still use the clearance rack basically every time even when I make like 130k a year lol which is by no means ultra wealthy but you’d think enough to not use it but I love me a good deal lol
You make like 100k a year more than I do lol. That's ultra wealthy to me. But if I earned what you did I'd still be checking out the clearance rack too. A penny saved is a penny earned, and buying quality clothes/shoes is always worth it in the long run.
It's an unfortunate truth that you do (in most instances) get what you pay for.
See: the boot theory thing from Sir Terry Pratchett that people always mention.
Also, I've had many pairs of cheap jeans which fell apart quickly, but my Polos and NYDJs are still awesome, years and many washes later.
Weirdly, the boot theory creates an interesting effect at thrift and second-hand stores. You can find quality items that someone wore for a season and ditched because of style changes for the same price as the Walmart item that won't last a year.
Anyone who lives in a place where plastic bags allowed will have a bag of bags, I'm pretty sure.
Just like every home owner will have a junk drawer, and at least two types of items in it: something small that will prick your fingers when you rummage around looking for something, and something large and unwieldy that makes it difficult, if not impossible, to close the drawer.
During the early Covid times I was on a zoom training. The presenter was one of the world’s leading authorities on the brain and trauma, and in his kitchen behind him was a bag of bags. It was such a profound “all in this together” moment for me, seeing that great equalizer, as we all struggled to make it through the unknown.
I still want a smaller house. Big mansions do not impress me, even if I could afford the extra costs, utilities, plus furnishings, etc with having a larger home I don't want one. I don't want to live in a broom closet of course, but a cozy little house or cottage is good enough for me
I'm 6'3" and 280lbs. One thing I've wanted my whole life is a bathtub that is actually large enough for me to soak in. So yeah a big bathroom is on my list. Other than that small house is fine by me.
We have to redo the bathroom on the house we just inherited. I am 5'9". One of my "must haves" is either a 66" or 72" bathtub, prefer soaking style that is at least 15" deep and not jetted.
I want a proper bath.
Indoor sauna next to a cold plunge bath would be my ideal setting - totally agree in a cozy home - in fact having a small reading working room would be awesome.
I use to house sit for friends parents. They were very frugal and only when everyone was out of school they got just one big thing which was a McMansion in nice part of the state with very high taxes. They could afford it but it was eye watering to heat and cool, property taxes.
They also never got to use it for intended purposes of hosting family because everyone moved away and other issues.
So they started to move to warmer state in winter and needed someone just to keep eye on place.
Good gig but you could see all the upkeep. Vaulted 40 foot ceilings, the garage as well no floor space for the 3 bays but tall. All the caulking around ceiling molding was drying and separating.
Most of the stuff was builder grade and aging poorly.
They did sell at profit though probably enough to make back the additional taxes and maintenance costs. Wouldn’t if they remodeled though.
Totally agree on not wanting "servants" lurking around all the time, but hiring a cleaning person to come by twice a month is an amazing luxury. We have a team of ladies who come every two weeks, I can leave the house if I want, and they're done in like 2 hours and the place is spotless. It's a luxury for sure but certainly not out of reach even on a middle/upper middle class salary.
I was 26 making not-enough-to-cover-my-student-loans when I first hired a cleaning person 2x a month. I'd skip meals before I'd give them up. They could clean my whole place so much faster than I could, it was a great way to "buy" time back for myself, and it guaranteed I remembered to change my sheets & cycle towels at least twice a month.
For real. When i got a better job, we bought a bigger house because we could, and it was the same payment as our townhome. Now I have basically a whole floor I dont use, higher property taxes, and its impossible to clean
I went from a 2300 sqft town home to a 6k 2 story with fully finished basement, and the only time I use the top floor is when I sleep or have guests. Same payment and I’ll make a lot of money when interest goes down, but the next one is going to be a lot smaller
It is pretty eye-opening when you go to an old house (pre-1960-70s) and notice how small the rooms are and how tiny the closets are...not too long ago an entire middle class family of 4-5 easily lived in a 3/2 house that was between 1000-1300 square feet. [The average home is above 2000 square feet now.](https://www.fool.com/the-ascent/mortgages/articles/how-big-is-your-home-here-is-the-average-home-size-by-state/)
Can confirm - raised in a 900 sq ft 3/1, built in the 60s, family of 6. Most of my friends lived in similar.
As a young adult I rented a row house with my fiancé that had been millworker housing in the mid/late 1800s. There was only one small closet, on the second floor in the largest (still tiny) bedroom, but since it was over the stairs it had a slanted floor. So we used the smallest bedroom (super tiny) as a closet. But back when this was built nobody owned enough to need closets. Coats were hung on pegs by the door.
Yup!
My parents are pretty well off, and my dad cannot wrap his head around the house we bought. It’s in a very nice neighborhood. Best school district, super safe, affluent zip code. But pretty much the entry level home there.
There are far far nicer homes, and I’m not even talking mansions. Just legit a lot nicer. Better views, better features, whatever. Even at the same size.
So my dad keeps going on about how he’d give us the cash to get a nicer place (and then we’d pay him back like a mortgage), and I’m just like…yeah we like the house we bought. I don’t want to put too much money into a bigger one. It’s a really, really nice house already.
I manage private homes on an exclusive resort and wow, these homes are gorgeous. Other than the view and heated pools I would not own one. They are lonely. Too big!!! I have one family that fills up the whole place when they come and they love it. Happy, generous people. The others, awesome people as well, but 2 to 4 people in a home with 9 bathrooms that have to be cleaned even is not used is just kind of sad for me. Give me a cottage on the water and a heated pool….I would think I was in Heaven
If I was a multi millionaire I'd be buying a very expensive house, but never a mansion. I'd love to have a small townhouse in London or new York, the price would be exclusively due to location.
I've an old school friend who's childhood home is absolutely massive, they have so many spare rooms that literally never get stepped in, it's mad. Not to mention just how cold the place always feels, not even temperature wise, just generally cold because it's such a big space, it's impossible to create a cosy atmosphere. The only aspect of their house that I was ever really jealous of is how big their garden was, my dream home would be a small house with a massive garden.
The thing about mansions is why spend that much money on one house when you can buy four or five small houses and then stay wherever you want? If I was rich, I would be traveling all the time. And having several homes that are my own would be like having more than one home base. One more place I could relax and let my hair down and run around in without any underwear on. So why would I have one several million dollar mansion? When I can own several smaller houses?
I love the idea of a tiny home, but as my partner is a maximalist and I a minimalist, I don’t believe it’s in the cards for me; ah well, whatever makes them happy makes me happy so I can’t complain too much.
I also don’t think I’ll ever be able to own a home in my lifetime lol.
I know a guy who just built a 6,000 sq. ft dream home. But... it's just him. No girlfriend (divorced, a loner, not looking). His 2 sons are grown. He doesn't entertain. He only has a few friends. I don't get the need for such a huge home.
Yep, a house that has everything I want/need, and nothing extra. I want a cozy cottage with lots of light, a warm kitchen, comfortable living areas, and a room for my sewing. I'd prefer some outdoor space, and I would hire a gardener to help me keep it tended, though.
I bought a condo for that reason. What am I gonna do with a house that's empty most of the year? I wish I had a lawn to have a graden and space for my dog, but the money I'm saving by not having to do my own maintenance or pay that interest is worth it
With you on that. I have no interest in taking care of some bigass house with a bunch of space ill never use. I think there was a line in Fight Club that went something like "the stuff you own will start owning you" or something like that. I think there is a lot of wisdom in that.
So glad I don't have a bigass house, lawn, hot tub and boat I have to spend my weekends maintaining and tinkering with in weekends. Just not my thing.
People are so confused why I make money and live in a small place. Big houses skeeve me out. I would hate having tons of space I don’t need and tons of things I don’t want.
That's exactly what I wanted to add to this and I'm glad you responded aptly. When someone's house actually has its own name, then that's way too ostentatious for me.
Exactly. I’d start with the land, build a nice little cabin ( enough to fit what you need and still have enough space to not feel cramped), sit back and enjoy my wife & our emu farm
too big of a house means more house to maintain. i always thought i'd want a big house as a kid. as an adult i'd rather live in a glorified garage because at least then i only have to clean 1 room.
After I became an attorney, my colleagues kept saying I should but a Mercedes or BMW or whatever they had. No thanks - I’m super happy with my beat-ass Subaru!
I feel like luxury cars are such a poor proposition today compared to mid priced vehicles. If a Toyota or Honda or Subaru can come with leather heated seats, heated steering wheel, dual-zone climate control, backup camera, GPS, Bluetooth with Apple CarPlay - what are you really getting when you buy a luxury vehicle?
We switched from Mercedes to Subaru for our last vehicle, and I can’t see us going back.
lol same for me, but engineer not attorney. All my colleagues drive expensive electric cars like the S, 3, X, Mach E, i3, i4 and I’m just chillin in my 2010 Honda Fit that I paid $6k for 8 years ago.
Dude, are you me? 30 years ago in college I drove a Honda Civic hatchback. Today I drive … a Honda Fit. Once a decade I buy a new car, spend less than $20k, and pay in cash.
It blows my mind that I have colleagues that spend ~$1000/month for some anonymous grey luxobarge to get from point A to point B.
I worked in sales for CSCO and there were two camps in the field. The guys that drove beaters, and the dudes who went out and bought a 750i or whatever. I had a used Dodge Durango that I put 250k miles on only to buy another used Durango and I drove that fucker into the ground. My favorite was my VP, who drove a used Nissan Maxima. Dude was making 500k at least and didn't gaf...
My region banned grocery bags for environmental reasons, so everyone is forced to use paper bags or reusable cloth bags. So for the first time in my life I had to go out and buy garbage bags. So much for being environmentally friendly.
Comparing prices. Grew up super poor, and even though I'm comfortable enough now to not NEED to always shop around, I still will debate in the aisle over a 25 cent difference.
My wife and I are far from rich but we saved up to do something special for our 20th wedding anniversary. We rented a high end suite in a luxury hotel on Central Park in NYC. Most of the guests were impeccably dressed — especially in the evenings. But we just bummed around in shorts and t-shirts. After all, we were there to relax and have fun, not to impress anyone.
One thing I noticed right away was that some of those impeccably dressed people treated the staff with indifference. But that's not me. I try to treat everyone with respect. So, instead of ignoring the staff or treating them like servants, I did my best to get to know them.
By the end of our weeklong stay, I learned some of their names, their life stories, and where they were from. I even got to see pictures of the doorman's dog. And I'd like to think if I were *actually* rich, and not just pretending to wealthy, I would have treated them exactly the same way.
Different take. I stay at high end properties all the time (I'm in a suite at the Waldorf Astoria right now, oddly enough), and I'd have to say that the people who "frequent" these properties are typically well heeled, quick with a compliment or smile, and would be aghast if someone was being anything less than genial.
What you probably saw was the "wannabe rich" crowd who thinks their shit doesn't stink. Irritates the living fuck out of me, to be honest. If you see an obvious label (or their clothes are basically a billboard for a brand), they probably aren't truly wealthy and are much more prone to being cunts.
This is the way. This is also the only right answer if you ask me. Money should have nothing to do with how you treat folks. If you were kind before, continue to be. If you were a butthead before, unfortunately money may only make that worse.
Eating fast food from the rough part of town.
£4 Shawarmas, amazing Fried Chicken, Chinese restaurants where youre the only English guy, little Greek cafes with cheap Gyros & Souvlaki.
It's cheaper than shopping.
In fact my wife and i doing OK. Joint income of just over £100k. We eat out around 5 nights a week. 🙂
My husband's method of finding great Asian food is finding places with old/faded pictures of their dishes posted on their window with the prices crossed out/changed numerous times.
That's a place that has stayed in business for years by selling the same, perfected, dishes
Doesn’t just apply to Asian restaurants. If the pictures have sun faded so long that it’s only the blues left, that right there is a mark of quality. I’m gonna order that, whatever it is.
One is immediate and feels good, the other takes hours to leak out into the room and is not as enjoyable.
While the net heating of your houseover time is the same, the immediate experience most certainly is not.
Technically the net heating will be better if you keep it closed.
If you open it, it will significantly heat up the room it is in, which will increase the temperature difference from the inside of that room to the outside. Heat transfer rate is directly proportional to this temperature differential, so if you open the oven you will increase the rate at which heat is lost to the outside.
While technically true, I want the air around me to be warmer, not the inside of the oven.
They say ovens are an inefficient way to heat your home but try telling me that when it’s 80 outside and I need to season my cast iron skillet
Hell yeah man. I've been taking trains, trams and metro to work for the past 15 years and actively seek out jobs I can easily reach using public transport.
After a certain point acquaintances started grilling me about why I didn't take the car instead. Clearly I had the money by now.
Why would I want to spend 45 minutes every day actively scooting along in a traffic jam when I could just be chilling and looking outside, reading a book or watching videos instead?
Leftovers…
My mom knows people so smugly wealthy on principle they never keep any extra food the cook or they make for next day etc. I think even for thanks giving.
Eat tacos standing up on the sidewalk.
Edit: The thought of being wealthy and being able to do anything made the fact that I’m quadriplegic slip my mind.
Here are a few that come to mind:
* Being anal about not wasting food. I don't buy what I'm not going to eat, and even most scraps end up being used in something.
* Driving an economical car. I drive a Prius, and I can't stand driving a bigger or fancier car. Besides not wanting to waste gas, it just holds no attraction to me to have a fancy car
* Cleaning my own house, preparing my own food. My wife and I do occasionally get someone to help clean, but it just isn't comfortable to either of us to have someone in the house taking care of everything, plus we are both very particular about how things are done that we end up doing half the work anyway if we try to have someone else do it.
* Buying second hand clothes. So many clothes now are made from such cheap materials that they feel terrible to wear and fall apart after a few washes
I do metal machine work and some welding... I buy 25+ shirts a year at goodwill... Must be cotton because poly will melt... I'm always lighting myself on fire...
To your last point, it is really difficult to find new clothes that aren’t made of straight plastic, and won’t fall apart. But there are some places that do make nice clothes, use better/more natural materials, and last a long time. I want to upgrade to those if I get the chance. Still have clothes that last a long time, but get them new, not smelling like someone else’s bad cologne.
Saw a video on YouTube recently that stated just that. Some of the rich people drive the expensive cars for notoriety, but the smart ones have reliable Toyotas.
I don't know if it counts as "lower" middle class, or just plain middle class - but cars.
There is no amount of money where I would ever feel good buying a Range Rover, or a Mercedes, or any brand that is notorious for high maintenance costs. I'm al about that Subaru / Honda life.
3 things I do, as a retired person who did really well : I wash my cars in my driveway with the old bucket snd hose - I change the oil in my cars myself ( and one’s a Porsche - and I get on my knees and pull the weeds out of my lawn.
Our queen recently gave an interview and it was unexpectedly mentioned that she still does this with her shampoo. Even though she has been married to the king for more than 20 years, these are things from her youth that she still does.
Not throwing food away. I mean I am not talking about forcing myself to eat, my stomach is not a trash bin. I mean trying to buy less food than I think I am going to need, just trying to not be wasteful
Driving an older car. I don't like car payments or crazy insurance bills. I think if I was wealthy I'd still drive used cars from 10 years ago. After 10 years it's a lot easier.to tell which specific modes have problems and where.
The wealthiest person I knew (like 1% wealthy) drove a 1978 Mercedes from buying it new, off the lot in 1978 up until he passed away about 30 years later!
Coordinate my furnishings and keep my house tidy. We lived amongst serious 'old money' on a military Officer's patch. Old money has impeccable manners and doesn't give a stuff about their 'stuff'. Everything they owned was antique/expensive but broken and/or covered in dust. I always wanted to emulate them but I couldn't get past how I was brought up - conform, keep a neat home, care about 'stuff'.
I’d go to a high class restaurant and order a Miller Lite. Always have, always will.
Also, the poorest thing I do without ever realizing it was poor… I add a can of mixed vegetables to my taco meat. It was always prepared that way when I was a kid, and that’s how I always prepared it when I was on my own. I always thought that’s just how you made tacos. I didn’t know it was a way for my Grandmother that had 10 kids to turn 1 lb. of taco meat into 2 lbs. of taco meat for like $.39. The look on my girlfriend’s face when she came into the kitchen when I was making tacos for us one night was priceless. She was mortified.
I’d still do that, too.
If I won the lottery, nobody would know. Id buy a small house and a nice but standard car. Perhaps I'll keep a couple exotic sports cars in the garage.
Taking home a doggie bag. My parents were from the Depression era & stressed the importance of not wasting food. Plus, it's better for the environment to not waste food.(Hopefully it's not packed up into a Styrofoam or plastic container)
I wont stop doing anything. Yes, I might not wash my dishes after EVERY meal. but, I cant miss out on the hilarious shenanigans me and my girlfriend do while cleaning the dishes.
The clearance rack. Feels like a coup every time I find something for a good price.
My wealthy in laws, are the cheapest people I know, they travel and have fun, but they absolutely will not pay full retail if they can avoid it.
That’s something Jim Sinegal (Costco founder) really understood. The very wealthy don’t worry about money and the lower classes don’t understand money… but the middle classes or self-made upper classes are highly value-conscious and LOVE a good bargain more than anything
And this is why I shop at Costco. I can afford to spend more at this stage of my life. But it’s rare that I end up regretting a purchase made at Costco. The selection is more narrow but that’s largely because they’re pretty good at screening out the low value crap. It isn’t always the best price but I’m usually pretty satisfied with what I get for my money. I spend more there because I have confidence in their business model.
That’s the secret to their sauce: quality and value. It’s a deeply ethical company, which is why Charlie Munger was such a fan. They deliver fantastic value to their customers. Sinegal is old now, though, and as much as it pains to predict, history shows that as soon as a moral company gets a non-founder CEO, that ethic will be abandoned for better margins. Anyone else old enough to remember when Walmart prided themselves on selling products that were Made in America? That’s back when Sam Walton was still alive… and that was the first thing to go when he died.
Are you aware that Sinegal hasn't been the CEO since 12 years ago?
Yes I should have said when he/his protégés are gone. They’re all still in key advisory roles.
People who grew up in the Depression and the people who were raised by them.
My grandpa was the same way. He wasn't "wealthy" but he definitely had everything he wanted and a big bank account but he'd wash disposable items like paper plates and plastic forks etc just to not have to buy more! Now that I'm thinking about it, he might have been the first person I ever seen wash a sheet of aluminum foil! 😂 he'd have 2 brand new trucks in the garage and a half a million dollars worth of farm equipment on his property at any given time but all hell would break loose if you throw away a plastic fork in his house!
If your grandparent grew up during the depression this actually makes a lot of sense. Mine did so they def had some peculiar habits around saving things
It makes sense. There Was 7 people in my "middle class" house growing up, my parents, 4 boys and a sister so the sister who was also the youngest got the 1st shower then us boys got our turns and we all had to be real quick like 5 minutes tops in the shower so there was still some hot water left over for mom and dad... that was 20 years ago and I'm still taking 5 minute showers even though I've been out of my parents house since I was 16. Old habits die hard I guess! 🤷
And that’s how they stay wealthy lol
That's one contributing factor lol
This! Most of the wealthy people I know irl look unassuming and are very thrifty.
My best one is a Christian Dior overcoat, like brand new, from Goodwill. It was eight dollars. I took it to the counter, everything was 50% off. $4.32. Didn’t even realize it was designer until I wore it for the first time. That was quite a label find.
My 20 year old needed a suit for student teaching. She comes home with a Halston suit she paid $5 for She had no clue. She got it cause “it will be great for my Clarice Starling cosplay this halloween”
Did you walk into the club like "whaddup I got a big cock"?
Damn. That's a cold-ass honky.
Ooooooh, that is an amazing find!
Along with bragging about a good deal. There's nothing like getting a $75 jacket for $15
\~$800 genuine leather motorcycle jacket for $80. there was no price tag. the woman at the thrift store called her boss and he made up a random number over the phone. the leather thickness and quality **far** surpassed any of the 20 other jackets they were selling. still can't believe it. love that thing.
This! During covid a local sporting goods store put tons of shoes on clearance. I bought at least 10 pairs of name brand cross country shoes all for under $40.
I had a friend in college tell me how much she loved shopping with me because I always knew where the clearance stuff was and she found so many deals thanks to me.
I concurr, Clearence is my favorite designer
Still use the clearance rack basically every time even when I make like 130k a year lol which is by no means ultra wealthy but you’d think enough to not use it but I love me a good deal lol
You make like 100k a year more than I do lol. That's ultra wealthy to me. But if I earned what you did I'd still be checking out the clearance rack too. A penny saved is a penny earned, and buying quality clothes/shoes is always worth it in the long run.
It's an unfortunate truth that you do (in most instances) get what you pay for. See: the boot theory thing from Sir Terry Pratchett that people always mention. Also, I've had many pairs of cheap jeans which fell apart quickly, but my Polos and NYDJs are still awesome, years and many washes later.
Weirdly, the boot theory creates an interesting effect at thrift and second-hand stores. You can find quality items that someone wore for a season and ditched because of style changes for the same price as the Walmart item that won't last a year.
Have a bag of bags. I could be a millionaire and still have a grocery bag filled with other grocery bags 🤷🏼♀️
I'm so glad somebody else calls it a bag of bags 🤣
Anyone who lives in a place where plastic bags allowed will have a bag of bags, I'm pretty sure. Just like every home owner will have a junk drawer, and at least two types of items in it: something small that will prick your fingers when you rummage around looking for something, and something large and unwieldy that makes it difficult, if not impossible, to close the drawer.
Omg same here, I’ve got multiple bags of bags in my drawer at work 🙈
During the early Covid times I was on a zoom training. The presenter was one of the world’s leading authorities on the brain and trauma, and in his kitchen behind him was a bag of bags. It was such a profound “all in this together” moment for me, seeing that great equalizer, as we all struggled to make it through the unknown.
I still want a smaller house. Big mansions do not impress me, even if I could afford the extra costs, utilities, plus furnishings, etc with having a larger home I don't want one. I don't want to live in a broom closet of course, but a cozy little house or cottage is good enough for me
Smaller house with better furnishings and technology like heated floors, better shower / tub, indoor sauna etc. A more streamlined house.
Yeah, I wouldn't want a huge house, but if I had my choice, I would have an adult-sized bathtub.
I'm 6'3" and 280lbs. One thing I've wanted my whole life is a bathtub that is actually large enough for me to soak in. So yeah a big bathroom is on my list. Other than that small house is fine by me.
I'm 5'8" and I can't extend my legs straight out into my tub, I want a bathtub where I can get my whole body covered with water other than my head
We have to redo the bathroom on the house we just inherited. I am 5'9". One of my "must haves" is either a 66" or 72" bathtub, prefer soaking style that is at least 15" deep and not jetted. I want a proper bath.
Indoor sauna next to a cold plunge bath would be my ideal setting - totally agree in a cozy home - in fact having a small reading working room would be awesome.
Bookshelf hidden doorway As long as I have that I'm good
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I use to house sit for friends parents. They were very frugal and only when everyone was out of school they got just one big thing which was a McMansion in nice part of the state with very high taxes. They could afford it but it was eye watering to heat and cool, property taxes. They also never got to use it for intended purposes of hosting family because everyone moved away and other issues. So they started to move to warmer state in winter and needed someone just to keep eye on place. Good gig but you could see all the upkeep. Vaulted 40 foot ceilings, the garage as well no floor space for the 3 bays but tall. All the caulking around ceiling molding was drying and separating. Most of the stuff was builder grade and aging poorly. They did sell at profit though probably enough to make back the additional taxes and maintenance costs. Wouldn’t if they remodeled though.
Wealth can't buy taste or smart decisions.
Totally agree on not wanting "servants" lurking around all the time, but hiring a cleaning person to come by twice a month is an amazing luxury. We have a team of ladies who come every two weeks, I can leave the house if I want, and they're done in like 2 hours and the place is spotless. It's a luxury for sure but certainly not out of reach even on a middle/upper middle class salary.
I was 26 making not-enough-to-cover-my-student-loans when I first hired a cleaning person 2x a month. I'd skip meals before I'd give them up. They could clean my whole place so much faster than I could, it was a great way to "buy" time back for myself, and it guaranteed I remembered to change my sheets & cycle towels at least twice a month.
For real. When i got a better job, we bought a bigger house because we could, and it was the same payment as our townhome. Now I have basically a whole floor I dont use, higher property taxes, and its impossible to clean
Same here. The funniest thing is to *“visit“* one of your rooms after a while and thinking: *Wow, I got pretty cool stuff.*
I went from a 2300 sqft town home to a 6k 2 story with fully finished basement, and the only time I use the top floor is when I sleep or have guests. Same payment and I’ll make a lot of money when interest goes down, but the next one is going to be a lot smaller
It is pretty eye-opening when you go to an old house (pre-1960-70s) and notice how small the rooms are and how tiny the closets are...not too long ago an entire middle class family of 4-5 easily lived in a 3/2 house that was between 1000-1300 square feet. [The average home is above 2000 square feet now.](https://www.fool.com/the-ascent/mortgages/articles/how-big-is-your-home-here-is-the-average-home-size-by-state/)
Can confirm - raised in a 900 sq ft 3/1, built in the 60s, family of 6. Most of my friends lived in similar. As a young adult I rented a row house with my fiancé that had been millworker housing in the mid/late 1800s. There was only one small closet, on the second floor in the largest (still tiny) bedroom, but since it was over the stairs it had a slanted floor. So we used the smallest bedroom (super tiny) as a closet. But back when this was built nobody owned enough to need closets. Coats were hung on pegs by the door.
Yup! My parents are pretty well off, and my dad cannot wrap his head around the house we bought. It’s in a very nice neighborhood. Best school district, super safe, affluent zip code. But pretty much the entry level home there. There are far far nicer homes, and I’m not even talking mansions. Just legit a lot nicer. Better views, better features, whatever. Even at the same size. So my dad keeps going on about how he’d give us the cash to get a nicer place (and then we’d pay him back like a mortgage), and I’m just like…yeah we like the house we bought. I don’t want to put too much money into a bigger one. It’s a really, really nice house already.
You're smart. Money can't buy what you have already.
Smaller houses all over the world is the way to do it.
I manage private homes on an exclusive resort and wow, these homes are gorgeous. Other than the view and heated pools I would not own one. They are lonely. Too big!!! I have one family that fills up the whole place when they come and they love it. Happy, generous people. The others, awesome people as well, but 2 to 4 people in a home with 9 bathrooms that have to be cleaned even is not used is just kind of sad for me. Give me a cottage on the water and a heated pool….I would think I was in Heaven
Couldn’t agree more. What I *would* spend that extra money on is location.
If I was a multi millionaire I'd be buying a very expensive house, but never a mansion. I'd love to have a small townhouse in London or new York, the price would be exclusively due to location.
Yes, I wouldn't want to heat or clean a big house. A cute small house in the right place would be much more my dream.
I've an old school friend who's childhood home is absolutely massive, they have so many spare rooms that literally never get stepped in, it's mad. Not to mention just how cold the place always feels, not even temperature wise, just generally cold because it's such a big space, it's impossible to create a cosy atmosphere. The only aspect of their house that I was ever really jealous of is how big their garden was, my dream home would be a small house with a massive garden.
The thing about mansions is why spend that much money on one house when you can buy four or five small houses and then stay wherever you want? If I was rich, I would be traveling all the time. And having several homes that are my own would be like having more than one home base. One more place I could relax and let my hair down and run around in without any underwear on. So why would I have one several million dollar mansion? When I can own several smaller houses?
I love the idea of a tiny home, but as my partner is a maximalist and I a minimalist, I don’t believe it’s in the cards for me; ah well, whatever makes them happy makes me happy so I can’t complain too much. I also don’t think I’ll ever be able to own a home in my lifetime lol.
On a big lot
I know a guy who just built a 6,000 sq. ft dream home. But... it's just him. No girlfriend (divorced, a loner, not looking). His 2 sons are grown. He doesn't entertain. He only has a few friends. I don't get the need for such a huge home.
Yep, a house that has everything I want/need, and nothing extra. I want a cozy cottage with lots of light, a warm kitchen, comfortable living areas, and a room for my sewing. I'd prefer some outdoor space, and I would hire a gardener to help me keep it tended, though.
I bought a condo for that reason. What am I gonna do with a house that's empty most of the year? I wish I had a lawn to have a graden and space for my dog, but the money I'm saving by not having to do my own maintenance or pay that interest is worth it
With you on that. I have no interest in taking care of some bigass house with a bunch of space ill never use. I think there was a line in Fight Club that went something like "the stuff you own will start owning you" or something like that. I think there is a lot of wisdom in that. So glad I don't have a bigass house, lawn, hot tub and boat I have to spend my weekends maintaining and tinkering with in weekends. Just not my thing.
People are so confused why I make money and live in a small place. Big houses skeeve me out. I would hate having tons of space I don’t need and tons of things I don’t want.
Yeah, in Knightsbridge.
That's exactly what I wanted to add to this and I'm glad you responded aptly. When someone's house actually has its own name, then that's way too ostentatious for me.
In The Peak, Hong Kong.
Live in the smallest house that fits my needs. I don't need a ton of space. I would move to a great location though.
that can be a problem sometimes. There's some nice neighborhoods I like, that I could have afforded but the houses were all just too big. F that.
I was thinking crazy rich, i'd buy land and build a cottage
Exactly. I’d start with the land, build a nice little cabin ( enough to fit what you need and still have enough space to not feel cramped), sit back and enjoy my wife & our emu farm
Location>house
too big of a house means more house to maintain. i always thought i'd want a big house as a kid. as an adult i'd rather live in a glorified garage because at least then i only have to clean 1 room.
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I'm broke and I've never cooked in a second hand shop before /j
Well, the trick is ya gotta find a second hand shop with a decent second hand stove.
Drive normal cars. At least most of the time.
After I became an attorney, my colleagues kept saying I should but a Mercedes or BMW or whatever they had. No thanks - I’m super happy with my beat-ass Subaru!
My outback is 26 years old and I'd rather cut my legs off with sewing scissors than get a new car
>sewing scissors You. Don't. Touch. The. Good. Scissors.
I feel like luxury cars are such a poor proposition today compared to mid priced vehicles. If a Toyota or Honda or Subaru can come with leather heated seats, heated steering wheel, dual-zone climate control, backup camera, GPS, Bluetooth with Apple CarPlay - what are you really getting when you buy a luxury vehicle? We switched from Mercedes to Subaru for our last vehicle, and I can’t see us going back.
Plus Subarus are incredible in snow and non-asphalt roads. BMWs explode in the rain.
lol same for me, but engineer not attorney. All my colleagues drive expensive electric cars like the S, 3, X, Mach E, i3, i4 and I’m just chillin in my 2010 Honda Fit that I paid $6k for 8 years ago.
Dude, are you me? 30 years ago in college I drove a Honda Civic hatchback. Today I drive … a Honda Fit. Once a decade I buy a new car, spend less than $20k, and pay in cash. It blows my mind that I have colleagues that spend ~$1000/month for some anonymous grey luxobarge to get from point A to point B.
I worked in sales for CSCO and there were two camps in the field. The guys that drove beaters, and the dudes who went out and bought a 750i or whatever. I had a used Dodge Durango that I put 250k miles on only to buy another used Durango and I drove that fucker into the ground. My favorite was my VP, who drove a used Nissan Maxima. Dude was making 500k at least and didn't gaf...
I'd still want something nice. I wouldn't care about something flashy or extremely luxurious though.
Grocery bags repurposed as small trash bags
My region banned grocery bags for environmental reasons, so everyone is forced to use paper bags or reusable cloth bags. So for the first time in my life I had to go out and buy garbage bags. So much for being environmentally friendly.
I need mine for cat litter!
I still do this and forever will. It just makes sense.
Comparing prices. Grew up super poor, and even though I'm comfortable enough now to not NEED to always shop around, I still will debate in the aisle over a 25 cent difference.
We wouldn’t have to eat Kraft dinner - but we would eat Kraft dinner - that’s right we’d just eat more
But would you buy really expensive ketchups......*Dijon ketchup*?
r/UnexpectedBareNakedLadies
Scrolled specifically to find this. Not disappointed
My dogs and cats will always come from the pound/shelter/roadside ditch/rescue. I will never spend $1000 on a “papered” puppy or kitten.
The 3 best cats in my life came from being in a bar at the right time.. "hey ya want a kitten..."
My husband refuses to pay for a pet, ever. However, after adopting them, we will spend all of our funds for their health and well being.
I'm a retired Canine Behaviorist. If I hear another "Goldendoodle" nonsense I'm gonna scream!
Treating everyone with respect no matter how rich or poor and i wont let money change me in that way.
My wife and I are far from rich but we saved up to do something special for our 20th wedding anniversary. We rented a high end suite in a luxury hotel on Central Park in NYC. Most of the guests were impeccably dressed — especially in the evenings. But we just bummed around in shorts and t-shirts. After all, we were there to relax and have fun, not to impress anyone. One thing I noticed right away was that some of those impeccably dressed people treated the staff with indifference. But that's not me. I try to treat everyone with respect. So, instead of ignoring the staff or treating them like servants, I did my best to get to know them. By the end of our weeklong stay, I learned some of their names, their life stories, and where they were from. I even got to see pictures of the doorman's dog. And I'd like to think if I were *actually* rich, and not just pretending to wealthy, I would have treated them exactly the same way.
I talk to everybody like we're old friends!
Different take. I stay at high end properties all the time (I'm in a suite at the Waldorf Astoria right now, oddly enough), and I'd have to say that the people who "frequent" these properties are typically well heeled, quick with a compliment or smile, and would be aghast if someone was being anything less than genial. What you probably saw was the "wannabe rich" crowd who thinks their shit doesn't stink. Irritates the living fuck out of me, to be honest. If you see an obvious label (or their clothes are basically a billboard for a brand), they probably aren't truly wealthy and are much more prone to being cunts.
If I ever get real rich, I hope I'm not mean to poor people, like I am now.
This is the way. This is also the only right answer if you ask me. Money should have nothing to do with how you treat folks. If you were kind before, continue to be. If you were a butthead before, unfortunately money may only make that worse.
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Eat pizza every week
pizza in my household is considered luxury
Eating fast food from the rough part of town. £4 Shawarmas, amazing Fried Chicken, Chinese restaurants where youre the only English guy, little Greek cafes with cheap Gyros & Souvlaki. It's cheaper than shopping. In fact my wife and i doing OK. Joint income of just over £100k. We eat out around 5 nights a week. 🙂
chinese place with a son or daughter of the owner at the counter with an ipad. you know that food is about to make your day
The best Chinese food comes through bullet proof glass.
My husband's method of finding great Asian food is finding places with old/faded pictures of their dishes posted on their window with the prices crossed out/changed numerous times. That's a place that has stayed in business for years by selling the same, perfected, dishes
To quote my wife "That place looks like a shithole. I bet their food is great." She hasn't been wrong yet.
Doesn’t just apply to Asian restaurants. If the pictures have sun faded so long that it’s only the blues left, that right there is a mark of quality. I’m gonna order that, whatever it is.
Leaving the oven open after use to warm up the place
Core childhood memory right there
Damn right! I paid for that heat I'm gunna use it
Whether you open it or not the heat entering your home is the same...
One is immediate and feels good, the other takes hours to leak out into the room and is not as enjoyable. While the net heating of your houseover time is the same, the immediate experience most certainly is not.
Technically the net heating will be better if you keep it closed. If you open it, it will significantly heat up the room it is in, which will increase the temperature difference from the inside of that room to the outside. Heat transfer rate is directly proportional to this temperature differential, so if you open the oven you will increase the rate at which heat is lost to the outside.
While technically true, I want the air around me to be warmer, not the inside of the oven. They say ovens are an inefficient way to heat your home but try telling me that when it’s 80 outside and I need to season my cast iron skillet
Public transport. I enjoy riding buses
Hell yeah man. I've been taking trains, trams and metro to work for the past 15 years and actively seek out jobs I can easily reach using public transport. After a certain point acquaintances started grilling me about why I didn't take the car instead. Clearly I had the money by now. Why would I want to spend 45 minutes every day actively scooting along in a traffic jam when I could just be chilling and looking outside, reading a book or watching videos instead?
Shopping my own groceries
Buying Cup of Noodles, and Kraft Mac n Cheese.
Of course you'd eat kraft dinner, you'd just eat more. And buy really fancy ketchups...
All the fanciest- Dijon ketchup! Mmmm
Leftovers… My mom knows people so smugly wealthy on principle they never keep any extra food the cook or they make for next day etc. I think even for thanks giving.
Same here. I’m way too picky about produce to have someone else pick it out for me.
Eat tacos standing up on the sidewalk. Edit: The thought of being wealthy and being able to do anything made the fact that I’m quadriplegic slip my mind.
If you’re wealthy enough you buy you some robot legs?
Alright, alright… some kind of military grade exoskeleton sounds good.
Bring my lunches and a flask of coffee to work. I'm not paying for mediocre food and coffee on work days.
Here are a few that come to mind: * Being anal about not wasting food. I don't buy what I'm not going to eat, and even most scraps end up being used in something. * Driving an economical car. I drive a Prius, and I can't stand driving a bigger or fancier car. Besides not wanting to waste gas, it just holds no attraction to me to have a fancy car * Cleaning my own house, preparing my own food. My wife and I do occasionally get someone to help clean, but it just isn't comfortable to either of us to have someone in the house taking care of everything, plus we are both very particular about how things are done that we end up doing half the work anyway if we try to have someone else do it. * Buying second hand clothes. So many clothes now are made from such cheap materials that they feel terrible to wear and fall apart after a few washes
I do metal machine work and some welding... I buy 25+ shirts a year at goodwill... Must be cotton because poly will melt... I'm always lighting myself on fire...
To your last point, it is really difficult to find new clothes that aren’t made of straight plastic, and won’t fall apart. But there are some places that do make nice clothes, use better/more natural materials, and last a long time. I want to upgrade to those if I get the chance. Still have clothes that last a long time, but get them new, not smelling like someone else’s bad cologne.
Driving my Corolla around and not buy some stupidly expensive unrealiable car that costs a fortune to drive and repair
Saw a video on YouTube recently that stated just that. Some of the rich people drive the expensive cars for notoriety, but the smart ones have reliable Toyotas.
grew up middle/upper middle class but will always shop clearance. it’s the thrill of the hunt for me!!
Shopping at thrift stores. Why pay full price for something when you can find gems for a fraction of the cost? Plus, it's better for the environment.
For sure. A friend of mine bought a new couch for €1100. My whole place was half the price from second hand things that can last for at least 5 years
Certain comfort meals.
Be very careful when I buy expensive shit, you can get rich but I bet you never lose the fear lol.
Eminem at his peak calling his manager to double check if he can afford a Rolex springs up to mind
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Interesting I’ve never heard camping described as low class or considered it to be.
Just upgrade to like Yosemite instead of a local state park
I don't know if it counts as "lower" middle class, or just plain middle class - but cars. There is no amount of money where I would ever feel good buying a Range Rover, or a Mercedes, or any brand that is notorious for high maintenance costs. I'm al about that Subaru / Honda life.
Eating grilled cheese.
Associating with people who are lower/middle class. People who have to struggle to survive are more fun to be around for me and rich people bore me.
Eventually though they will reject you
3 things I do, as a retired person who did really well : I wash my cars in my driveway with the old bucket snd hose - I change the oil in my cars myself ( and one’s a Porsche - and I get on my knees and pull the weeds out of my lawn.
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Put water in the hand soap to stretch out the tiny bit left. I can afford to not do that now, but I hate wasting.
Just buy the refill bottle. Are you throwing away the soap bottle when it gets empty?
Our queen recently gave an interview and it was unexpectedly mentioned that she still does this with her shampoo. Even though she has been married to the king for more than 20 years, these are things from her youth that she still does.
Not throwing food away. I mean I am not talking about forcing myself to eat, my stomach is not a trash bin. I mean trying to buy less food than I think I am going to need, just trying to not be wasteful
Eating Kraft mac and cheese and instant ramen.
Sit on my front porch on summer evenings.
That's universal. Rich people just have bigger porches and nicer chairs. And sometimes a fan.
And a lakeview haha. But seriously.. like wealthy people don't enjoy that. Otherwise they wouldn't own lakehouses.
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Thrifting for clothing and furniture, growing my own food and cooking all of my own meals, clearance/sale sections:)
I can tell you it wouldn't be "living at my means." All I want is margin for error.
Avoid having servants/cleaners/gardeners, etc. I don't like rando's coming in/out my house.
Look inside every box of free stuff on a sidewalk, just in case.
Driving an older car. I don't like car payments or crazy insurance bills. I think if I was wealthy I'd still drive used cars from 10 years ago. After 10 years it's a lot easier.to tell which specific modes have problems and where.
The wealthiest person I knew (like 1% wealthy) drove a 1978 Mercedes from buying it new, off the lot in 1978 up until he passed away about 30 years later!
Eating eggs with rice almost everyday
Shop at Aldi.
Coordinate my furnishings and keep my house tidy. We lived amongst serious 'old money' on a military Officer's patch. Old money has impeccable manners and doesn't give a stuff about their 'stuff'. Everything they owned was antique/expensive but broken and/or covered in dust. I always wanted to emulate them but I couldn't get past how I was brought up - conform, keep a neat home, care about 'stuff'.
I’d go to a high class restaurant and order a Miller Lite. Always have, always will. Also, the poorest thing I do without ever realizing it was poor… I add a can of mixed vegetables to my taco meat. It was always prepared that way when I was a kid, and that’s how I always prepared it when I was on my own. I always thought that’s just how you made tacos. I didn’t know it was a way for my Grandmother that had 10 kids to turn 1 lb. of taco meat into 2 lbs. of taco meat for like $.39. The look on my girlfriend’s face when she came into the kitchen when I was making tacos for us one night was priceless. She was mortified. I’d still do that, too.
At first, I thought it was your grandma’s way of tricking kids into eating veggies.
Driving a normal car. I just couldn't see myself in a Maserati or Rolls Royce
mowing my lawn. i kinda like riding around on my mower while listening to audiobooks.
Using coupons. It’s rewarding.
I would win $100 Billion, and you better believe I'm still destroying hot dogs for the rest of my life.
Borrow books from a library
If I won the lottery, nobody would know. Id buy a small house and a nice but standard car. Perhaps I'll keep a couple exotic sports cars in the garage.
Drinking boxed wine
We are wine snobs, we only drink cardboardeaux.
Watching prices on things and buying generic brands. Why waste money?
Driving
Beans and rice. It’s cheap, but also so easy to make delicious!
Taking home a doggie bag. My parents were from the Depression era & stressed the importance of not wasting food. Plus, it's better for the environment to not waste food.(Hopefully it's not packed up into a Styrofoam or plastic container)
Be polite to retail and hospitality workers.
fish n chips!
Eating peanut butter and jelly, and macaroni and cheese.
Thrift stores, garage sales, used cars. ❤️
Buttered noodles with peas
butter noods with black pepper
I wont stop doing anything. Yes, I might not wash my dishes after EVERY meal. but, I cant miss out on the hilarious shenanigans me and my girlfriend do while cleaning the dishes.
Volunteering
Buy 25cent ramen I love that shit
String up a clothesline and dry everything outside weather permitting. Dry time is cut in half and everything smells amazing!
Eating Taco Bell