How many of your Lamborghini owners have read the book: "The Millionaire Next Door"? It began as a marketing effort to learn how most millionaires live and how they behave and have a low consumption lifestyle. They don't spend a lot of money on clothing, watches, and even cars. In short, it described how there are so many people who spend spend spend and have little net worth (but lots of material goods, vacations every year, etc) and then there are people who save and are very thrifty. Sure, there are mixes of both. But it presented these two main groups. It was a fascinating read and helped me re-evaluate some of my thoughts.

I know that many of you have different economic backgrounds. Some people have chosen to take out loans to finance their Lamborghini and some people make a lot of money and can afford their's outright. However, I would like this thread to discuss the difference between the high consumption vs. high saving cultures (the latter being far less common in our society today, at least in the U.S.A.).

I like to look at money as a barrier that protects me against anything that might happen. My main goal is to save and invest now so that I can be financially wealthy and independent. I plan on living way below my means for the many years to come. Over the last three years, I've already seen my salary rise by 55% yet I live the same (if not an even more frugal lifestyle now that I've read the book mentioned above). I live in my studio near work and I'm just putting money away.

So...

How do you view money? What are your priorities in life? Your goals?
Are you investing first and waiting to become financially wealthy and then will you buy your super cars? Did you choose not to buy a super car at all but enjoy the forum?

Lastly, here is one of the analogies that really stood out to me from the book. It depicts a farmer who has a corn seed in his hand and he is faced with the choice of either eating the seed and enjoying it for a short bit or to plant the seed, work hard to take care of the stock of corn, and then have a lot of ears of corn with many many seeds.

Are you eating your seed or planting (investing) it? Has it come time for you to enjoy all the seeds you have collected and cash them in?

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If you wait to be fed, you won't learn how to hunt.

I share the same view as you on money, will give it a read.

Regarding the corn seed analogy. Since you have your salary raised so much over the past years (and assuming your base salary is already a significant amount), it would make more sense to think that you not only have one "seed" but to have multiple "seeds".
So my question for you is, after reading the book, at what point in life do you know you have planted enough (invested enough) and can began eating the seed?

Exactly! I guess I'm trying to get a feeling from people here on where they draw the line...

I guess from the book, one of the messages was that you should be wealthy and then live the wealthy lifestyle. Reversing this will only help prevent you being wealthy (according to the book). The example was a very expensive nice home.

For me, I guess when I get to the peak of my career, I have a home I can imagine my own casket in, and I have plenty of money for retirement and maintaining a certain lifestyle- then I can consider larger expenditures a "wants" like supercars and the like.


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If you wait to be fed, you won't learn how to hunt.

Great plan unless life intervenes which it will.enjoy today and plan for tomorrow. If all you do is plan for tomorrow you will certainly drop dead with lots of savings and no life lived.
My dad saved and scrimped and worried over money. He was very successful and couldn't enjoy any of it for the fear of being broke and save save save.He had a sudden stroke at 65 and that was it. All his plans that had gone in circles for the last 20 years would never be realized. My mother got everything and has been living it up ever since.

Put seed in microwave. Make popcorn. Find chick with butter.

I agree to an extent. Saving is important but enjoying your life is also. But I would much rather have died with millions and lived a conservative life than go the way of, let's say, Ed McMahon who had millions but chose to spend it frivolously.

Life getting in the way is only (in my opinion) a reason to plan and save. When life gets in the way (assuming something occurs/happens that requires financing) then those who planned and save will survive. You can see this in the latest housing bubble and the crash.

Most anyone who was saving and living well below their means had a greater chance of keeping up their current level of lifestyle even of they lost their jobs. But those who has "lived in the moment" and bought this supercar or that expensive home and had to file for brankruptcy weren't able to adjust do easily.

To briefly focus on those that were foreclosed upon and lost their homes, I imagine their credit was ruined and finding a place to rent out was even more difficult.

I think it comes down to the amount of risk your willing to take. I like to minimize risks in general and the book has only served to encourage this concept.


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If you wait to be fed, you won't learn how to hunt.

Hahahaha that's funny.


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If you wait to be fed, you won't learn how to hunt.

You sound paranoid

Change "Sound" to "Am" and I think you've got it!!


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If you wait to be fed, you won't learn how to hunt.

The worst case scenario rarely if ever happens so calm down, enjoys bit.