Do you chase the bling?

[RobbieB]

Why not treat yourself to 1 nice silk blouse?

Silk just feels so good...all silky and soft -

[pullmyfinger]

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Originally Posted by RobbieB Why not treat yourself to 1 nice silk blouse? Silk just feels so good...all silky and soft -

Ahhhh....the downside of LBYM. It is a hard habit to break!

[Danmar]

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Originally Posted by aja8888 We have two sets of Canadian friends who have been here over 10 years. They are making the U.S. their permanent residence in retirement for a lot of reasons, one big one being medical care going forward. I don't find that surprising since the Canadian system appears to be having difficulty with doctors participating and other issues. I would suspect that many Canadians come here just for medical care when time is of the essence and that may contribute to the large percentage of passports being issued.

I would be surprised. Health care is very good in Canada but some less critical treatments can take a long time to be scheduled, eg, knee replacements, etc. The cost of health care in the US is generally not covered by any type of insurance in Canada if it is available in Canada. We have sometimes travelled to Cleveland for health care (knee surgery) but this is rare and generally reserved for the wealthy who simply pay out of pocket. Top 1% type of people.

Canadian health care issues generally relate to non critical wait times, and the over-all cost levels.

[athena53]

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Originally Posted by RobbieB Why not treat yourself to 1 nice silk blouse? Silk just feels so good...all silky and soft -

Yeah, but it needs to be dry-cleaned! (I know the question wasn't directed at me.). I still have one left from my work wardrobe in beautiful, rich colors and I'm afraid if I wear it I'll sweat!

I like cashmere, though. Just hand-wash.

[RobbieB]

Lots of stuff needs to be dry cleaned.

Like those suits I used to have to wear for work -

I still have a couple for going to weddings and such...

[braumeister]

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Originally Posted by rodi As far as the breast implants = bling... I'd say yes. I live in SoCal and they're pretty common.

One of the funniest things I've ever seen: We had a secretary in one of our offices in Brazil who wanted plastic surgery. That is extremely common in Brazil, so no big deal. She took a month off for it and when she returned to work nobody could see what had been done. We all just assumed it would be a nose job since hers was pretty large. But no, she had a "butt tuck" which was utterly unnecessary in the eyes of everyone but herself.

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Originally Posted by athena53 When I was traveling a lot for both work and vacation (company offices in UK, Switzerland and India) I had to have extra pages put into mine. Yes, I DID consider it the height of cool!

Extra pages in a passport is pretty impressive IMHO. My only claim to fame there is that I have all three types of (expired) passport in my files: normal, official, and diplomatic. The diplomatic passport was great fun. Every once in a while, some customs official would want to do a "random" check of luggage, and I was able to wave my black passport and loudly refuse the inspection. It always worked. Alas, I never had any good reason to refuse; it was just that I was supposed to do that.

[Nemo2]

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Originally Posted by braumeister Extra pages in a passport is pretty impressive IMHO.

In Saudi, since an initial entry visa was required, (and referred to on each trip), along with exit/re-entry visas each time you left the country (a lot of stamps and a lot of ink), when a new passport was issued in-Kingdom by the Canadian embassy, the one containing the original entry visa had to be bonded to it.

Somewhere laying around I have two or three passports all joined together as one.

[Mulligan]

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Originally Posted by Danmar About 36% of Americans have a passport. So you are in good company. The percentage of Canadians holding a valid passport is 57%. A little surprising given the fact that Americans are generally wealthier than Canadians. Maybe you could draw the conclusions that Americans are more content with their home Country than Canadians? Or that Canadians value international travel more than Americans?

Kind of surprised its that low. I like reading the travel forum here that way I don't have to leave my house and can still enjoy the experience. After a while it makes me feel Im the only one with out one.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[6miths]

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Originally Posted by aja8888 We have two sets of Canadian friends who have been here over 10 years. They are making the U.S. their permanent residence in retirement for a lot of reasons, one big one being medical care going forward. I don't find that surprising since the Canadian system appears to be having difficulty with doctors participating and other issues. I would suspect that many Canadians come here just for medical care when time is of the essence and that may contribute to the large percentage of passports being issued.

Agree with Danmar here. Medical care would not be high on the list of things that Canadians would be going to the US for. If anything the high cost of health care and medical travel insurance is an impediment for Canadians thinking about going to the US. I would think that most Canadians dread the thought of having anything to do with the US healthcare system. As Danmar points out, the well off might occasionally avail themselves of private services for elective procedures or highly specialized care.

[aja8888]

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Originally Posted by 6miths Agree with Danmar here. Medical care would not be high on the list of things that Canadians would be going to the US for. If anything the high cost of health care and medical travel insurance is an impediment for Canadians thinking about going to the US. I would think that most Canadians dread the thought of having anything to do with the US healthcare system. As Danmar points out, the well off might occasionally avail themselves of private services for elective procedures or highly specialized care.

The friends I know that are Canadian are here long enough working to get Medicare. I suspect that is the main reason they wish to stay here rather than move back to Canada. In one of the threads here recently, they was links to articles indicating people in Canada are having trouble being assigned doctors and that the VON (nurses) are very difficult to get service from.

I'm not knocking the socialized medical system in Canada, just commenting on my observations and what I had read and how it may relate to the large number of people in Canada getting passports.

[6miths]

Yes I understand. And I was commenting that I don't think many people are getting passports in order to access healthcare in the US. In fact, the vast majority of the small group that might chose to utilize US heathcare would have had passports from the get go.

[explanade]

They may be coming down to escape the snow.

And if you want to go by anecdotes, there are stories about Canadians getting in accidents or needing other urgent care while down here and getting 5-figure emergency room bills.

[Danmar]

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Originally Posted by explanade They may be coming down to escape the snow. And if you want to go by anecdotes, there are stories about Canadians getting in accidents or needing other urgent care while down here and getting 5-figure emergency room bills.

It is certainly all about weather. Canadians generally like Canada and are proud of their country. It's the weather, ie awful winters that chase us down to Florida, Texas, or Arizona. Health care is a major concern for these snowbirds.

[MichaelB]

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Originally Posted by braumeister Extra pages in a passport is pretty impressive IMHO. My only claim to fame there is that I have all three types of (expired) passport in my files: normal, official, and diplomatic. The diplomatic passport was great fun. Every once in a while, some customs official would want to do a "random" check of luggage, and I was able to wave my black passport and loudly refuse the inspection. It always worked. Alas, I never had any good reason to refuse; it was just that I was supposed to do that.

I have one expired passport with loads of added pages. Most of the travel was among Andean countries, which are also drug traffic routes, and it did have one downside - additional attention by immigration and customs authorities. US customs officials always had something to say.

There was also one unexpected benefit. While we were living in NY I was tax audited for three years. PW had filed that I was a non-resident with limited state tax liability (despite owning our home there). NY State refused to accept expense account reports as proof of travel and demanded passport stamps, which were (of course) all blurred, on top of each other and in random order.

I was able to list all the travel, find the corresponding stamps in the passport, and build a summary doc with pointers to each stamp. Only 3 trips disallowed, and the PW manager told me that was just because the auditor needed to save face.

[Dawg52]

Do you chase the bling?

Somewhat. I had an implant done a year ago and liked it so well, I'm having the corresponding tooth done on the other side of my mouth. Each implant roughly $3,500. I guess I'm not a true blinger as I didn't buy gold crowns.

[imoldernu]

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Originally Posted by Cobra9777 I buy clothes at the Thrift store. DW says I dress like a beach bum. I always say, "Thank you, that's exactly the look I'm going for." My 2 cars are 19 and 15 years old. However... Lots of hobby bling... 8 guitars, a pair of Klipsch corner horns, garage full of Delta and Grizzly machines. DW owns a '06 BMW that she loves, and I hate. I guess the big dreamhouse is bling until we eventually wise up and downsize... 4.5k sq ft on 2.2 acres with a pool and pond. So yeah, we have some "bling" that makes us happy, but I would not characterize our behavior as "chasing." Most of it we've owned for decades. And certainly our intent is not to impress others.

+1 Saved me from creating a book on LUTB (Living Under the Bridge). 18 year old Lincoln, 20 year old Cadillac, 7 guitars and ukes, a dozen or more recorders. harmonicas, 6 electric synthesizers and pianos, 6 tablets,
11 desktops, and laptops, uncountable TV's "Players", CB's, walkie-talkies 8 bicycles, 3 motor scooters, a golf cart.

Two or three of every kind of lawncare tool imaginable, and two, three or four
pieces of every hand and power tool, as well as A/C, welding, and electrical test equipment.

Except for some early purchases made 50 to 60 years ago, almost everything was salvaged and repaired from junque, or bought for ten cents on the dollar.

All clothes are top named brands, selectively purchased at our favorite resale shops... indistinguishable from new. Favorites are almost new, (my size) SAS, NB, Floorsheim, footwear. We lovingly call our outlets "dead man's stores", considering ourselves conservationists and environmentalists.... avoiding waste and keeping "stuff" out of the landfills.

Lest it sound like all of this is kept in a garage or a barn, it's spread between our house, our mfg home in FL, and our lakeside camp at Woodhaven.

Thus said, though... no "Bling".

[treeofpain]

I have a lot of money in my guitars, but I play them regularly. I guess they could be considered "bling" since each one is relatively expensive.

It is not unusual for someone to invest in a particular hobby, even those of us who are otherwise very frugal.

[rayinpenn]

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Originally Posted by bclover Which is totally cool but I guess what I have a problem with is this "air of superiority" we here project about what we spend our money on. Just the fact of this thread, 'bling=bad" .

Wow I never said bling was bad I just said it didn't work for me. I frankly am a bit envious that some people get real enjoyment out some bling. Be it a purse a watch or whatever. I see stuff as the enemy. I just know I'm going to trip over it.

But as long as we are on the topic - You do realize that the average American that carries a credit card balance has $15,000 of debt. No soap opera here but that could be $3k year of interest. So you think every time someone walks into a car dealership they don't buy more car then they should because of the bling factor? How much of that debt was for impulse bling purchases? Bling dependency can be a real curse.

I see mistakes made every day because of the bling... Do I feel superior -naah. I just think to-myself that's a mistake, they don't see it and I could never convince them otherwise. It is that whole I want it now... I've watched a show where a budget guy tries to save a family in a financial down spin. The wife just won't stop spending "I want it now" he explains she will be ruined. She continues to spend. Sometimes bling can be bad.

I've experienced the stress of not having much growing up - if laying off the bling got me were I am today -well, it was worth it.

If I don't post for a while don't just rejoice ...send an ambulance I must of tripped over some junk she's got in the garage...

Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forumh

[treeofpain]

I think there is a balance between being financially responsible and enjoying stuff.

[dixonge]

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Originally Posted by Danmar About 36% of Americans have a passport. So you are in good company. The percentage of Canadians holding a valid passport is 57%. A little surprising given the fact that Americans are generally wealthier than Canadians. Maybe you could draw the conclusions that Americans are more content with their home Country than Canadians? Or that Canadians value international travel more than Americans?

I'm seeing higher numbers than that for Canada, but also lower numbers for US citizens as far as actually *using* said passports. I'm betting the majority of Americans are either driving in/out of Canada/Mexico or stepping off of cruise ships in various Caribbean nations. Not exactly world travelers...

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