Comments on: I Don’t Dress Like a Bum, Mom.

By: Peter

Peter — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 16:07:56 +0000

The Millionaire book isn’t telling you what to do Paavels, it merely looks at studies that the author and other have done on millionaires, and how they behave, act, dress and how they live in general. It’s pretty eye opening when you realize just how millionaires are wealthy because they’re able to live far below their means, and not have expensive tastes and high consumption behaviors. Yes, some of the glittering rich as he calls them – do have high spending tastes, but for the average joe, if they want to end up a millionaire, emulating the behavior of people in Stanley’s book is a great idea!

It is funny – in my neigborhood, the family that drove the super nice cars – the Hummer and the Jaguar – are the ones that had their house foreclosed on. Go figure.

By: J. Money

J. Money — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 03:25:56 +0000

@Jenna – Haha, agreed!
@Chris – Most times it’s a faux hawk, but when I get it shaved it starts out as a real hawk ;) So the answer to that is both. Now as for punk, nope – there are a few songs I really enjoy a lot, but I mainly blare hip-hop. I’m pretty much the opposite of what people think, and totally by accident.
@Pat @ Do Not Wait – Yup! Perception is a powerful thing. And also you usually feel better/more confident when you’re dressed up more so I’m sure that plays a part too :)
@Jonha @ Happiness – Haha, forgot about that quote there at the end. True!
@Serenity – That’s cuz you’re an awesome teacher! And confident too, I bet. Keep it up :)
@Barb Friedberg – Thanks for stopping by!
@Bryan – I used to shop at thrift stores alllll the time. But now I don’t have the time to sort through it all unfort :( But I still go every now and then, I just look for furniture/LPs/etc instead of clothes.
@Jaime – Yeah, I think it’s pretty cool too :) I mean, going against the grain always takes a little bit of balls and it either pays off for you or it doesn’t. In this case, it does so it’s really cool! But even if it were dorky (which, let’s be honest all this finance talk can be!) it’s still all good in my books. Whenever you do things for YOURSELF you can’t lose.
@Lauren – Haha… at least you have proof now ;)
@Evan – Wow. I bet you’ll never forget that too! That’s a great story. You already blog about it? (you should)
@paavels – It doesn’t mean you *should* do anything actually, just that perceptions aren’t what they always seem. If you want to spend $500 on a t-shirt or $5, it’s totally cool. Just do what YOU like and are comfortable with financially over what you think is appropriate or all your friends are doing.

By: paavels

paavels — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 08:02:05 +0000

I’m sorry, but I have to disagree with you. The Millionaire Next Door book is piece of crap. I wouldn’t call it a book. It is a mumbling on how you should not spend on luxury items when you cannot afford it.

Sure, buying suit for 5000$ seems idiotic to me, but that doesn’t mean I should buy clothes at Wallmart or Gap.

By: Evan

Evan — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 23:50:34 +0000

This reminds me of my neighbor growing up. Guy always looked like a schleb just a mess, in a neighborhood when most people rocked out luxury cars he had a POS minivan. One day I was making a joke at this guy’s expense and Pops took me a side and told me that the neighbor could buy and sell the entire neighborhood!

By: Lauren

Lauren — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 13:12:41 +0000

@JMoney. I recently put myself on a budget. I have always been a consistent saver, but this budget definantely shows where all my money goes. According to my budget, I’m a shopholic that likes to go out a lot. Just shameful.

By: Jaime

Jaime — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 05:35:55 +0000

I don’t want to sound weird but don’t you think its kind of cool that you are what people don’t expect you to be? I’m an atheist, something that people don’t expect me to be and I like that. Religion is not for me. I don’t go to atheist forums and debate with christians like a lot of atheists tend to do. I just live my life and do what I want. I don’t care what people believe just as long as they leave me alone to live my life.

Looks aren’t everything. My bf has to work with the accountant department at his job, one accountant a lady in her late 30s, is in debt, her husband hasn’t worked in years so she’s the main breadwinner, he ruined her credit, they filed for bankruptcy, just bought a house with land, a car, etc. We both find it ironic that she’s an accountant but can’t keep on top of her finances.

She’s exactly what you’d expect an accountant to look like, but her financial life is a complete contradiction. Its kind of sad because your late 30s is the time when a person needs to take their PF seriously and prepare for retirement. If you didn’t do it previously then this is the time to actually get going. Its one thing to be poor in your 20s and 30s, its another thing to be poor in your golden years.

By: Bryan

Bryan — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 03:20:58 +0000

I buy all of my work shirts at the thrift store. I work for a farming operation so I’m constantly getting dirty and I figure what better type of shirt to put a hole in than one that cost $3.00. The funny thing is that I look very professional for my profession and that’s the source of my clothes. I have a closet full of Ralph Lauren, Chaps, and Nautica shirts that I paid a fraction of the retail cost for. . .

By: Barb Friedberg

Barb Friedberg — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 02:43:30 +0000

Hi-You wrote my story! Thanks! I am so not into spending tons of $$$ on depreciating assets!

By: Serenity

Serenity — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 02:30:03 +0000

I could have written this post, except it would be about me not looking the “teacher” role, especially on the community college level. I get comments all the time, especially from my mother. “You look too young to teach college!” And I got my “short & cute” genes from her side of the family! Yeah, I do wear the occasional pencil skirt, but a new “teacher” wardrobe never materialized for me because my first job didn’t pay anything (don’t you hate it when that happens?). So most of my wardrobe consists of older dress pants, khakis, and THANK GOD I can wear JEANS every Friday! I also still drive the same car I drove in college (and high school) and use a large bookbag instead of a fancy briefcase to tote around my students’ papers. But ya know what? I might look 17 on a good day, but my students don’t treat me any differently than the guy across the hall with silver hair and a three-piece suit.

By: Jonha @ Happiness

Jonha @ Happiness — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 00:45:00 +0000

haha! I couldn’t help but laugh with the post’s title. Well sometimes people would judge us with how we would look and sometimes it’s really important to make a great impression. But then again, it may be nice to be important but it’s more important to be nice.