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Old 03-27-2008, 05:56 AM   #21
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Probably not a concern for the serious ER folks:

I am shocked, shocked I tell you that at the answers to this question.

Folks if you aren't out there consuming how is American business going to continue to make increased profits and allows us to continue our retirement.
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Old 03-27-2008, 06:20 AM   #22
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nope, but i don't wear crummy clothes unless working out in the yard.
i have more clothes than i know what to do with. all bought on sale of course. former j*b clothes may being given away (blazers, dress suits, fancy shirts) if i don't find a need for them.
day home attire is sweats and t shirt. if i venture out, jeans and t shirt/sweatshirt. i dress up a little if going to lunch.
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Old 03-27-2008, 06:23 AM   #23
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I've always worn great thrift store finds with a diamond tennis bracelet, diamond studs in my ears and a Gucci watch. Is this not normal? Mix and match I always say as they never know, anyway.
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Old 03-27-2008, 07:15 AM   #24
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I'd be far more slovenly if I could get away with it. These days DW makes me throw away a perfectly good pair of khakis just because they have a few frayed threads or a spot where the color has lightened.

I work in a very expensive, well-to-do area. A couple of years ago (before we had a dress code at work), I walked into a store and asked if they had leads for my mechanical pencil. The saleslady looked at me as if I had just pulled a dog turd out of my pocket and (after composing herself) politely said that they sold no such thing. I could see the leads in a package behind the counter.
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Old 03-27-2008, 07:21 AM   #25
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I'm more afraid of looking like I have to work the rest of my life to pay for all my toys, for my brand new $50,000 car and McMansion.

Sometimes I think I should put one of those bumper stickers on our tiny little house: "Don't laugh -- it's paid for!"
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"Hey, for every ten dollars, that's another hour that I have to be in the work place. That's an hour of my life. And my life is a very finite thing. I have only 'x' number of hours left before I'm dead. So how do I want to use these hours of my life? Do I want to use them just spending it on more crap and more stuff, or do I want to start getting a handle on it and using my life more intelligently?" -- Joe Dominguez (1938 - 1997)
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Old 03-27-2008, 07:23 AM   #26
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Shirts? Yeah, I have some around here somewhere.... The last new one was given for Christmas in 1998. Have the styles changed any since then? I have T shirts for summer and flannel shirts for winter, + sweatshirts, jeans, and sneakers with holes in them.

I can't remember the last time I paid full price for something, unless it was at the grocery store. Coupons are generally too much trouble to bother with but I do read sale ads. I'll use the "$1 off any purchase" or "10% off your next order" ones that the grocery store sometimes gives out.

The grocery store has a deal wherein for every $100 in groceries you get 10 cents off per gallon up to 30 gallons. Since there's often a line and I don't "do" waiting in lines it tends to build up. Right now it's 60 cents off, so I'll take the half-full pickup truck and four 5-gallon gas cans and make sure to get the full 30 gallons.
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Old 03-27-2008, 07:54 AM   #27
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$9.99 for a shirt! Far Far too much. Since I retired second hand stores all the way except for winter wear that I could not find second hand. I will pay for comfort if need be though.


Bruce
Clothes can be pretty cheap if you are patient. I bought several nice golf shirts late last fall for $9 a shirt at Dillards. These were nice shirts too. At the pro shop of my club, a similar shirt would cost $50-60. Can't believe people pay these prices.

I have to admit, I have never tried a second hand store.
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Old 03-27-2008, 08:07 AM   #28
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I'm like a lot of the folks here. Don't care much what others think. I've never been accused of being stylish. My idea of desigener clothes is LL Bean.
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Old 03-27-2008, 08:10 AM   #29
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"dress like a millionaire". by definition.
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Old 03-27-2008, 08:10 AM   #30
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I've been in a couple, and a pawn shop or two out of curiosity, but was thoroughly unimpressed with what I found there. But there must be better ones somewhere as so many people rave at what they found.
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Old 03-27-2008, 08:17 AM   #31
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When I first retired I would change clothes before I went to the grocery store. Now I go in my worn out jeans with the torn knees and thread bare pockets. I just blend in with the rest of the retirees. I usually see my neighbor and his wife, a retired banker and a retired nurse when I shop. We all look like rag pickers.
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Old 03-27-2008, 08:33 AM   #32
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I suppose you're going to tell me that my Kirkland jeans lack cache...
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Even kids know it's MM (Member's Mark I think), not Kirkland
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Old 03-27-2008, 08:34 AM   #33
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Looking poor nowadays is the latest designer duds and too much gold jewelry. The mortgaged out, maxed out, borrowed out crowd that listens to the advertising and media hype about what one NEEDS to have, wear, or own, in order to be thought cool, in, stylish, successful etc. are the real poor now.
I buy at the end of the season from Dilliards, Penney's, Kohl's and Macy's. My new black suede jacket was originally priced at $180 but I paid $30 for it. Shoes for DH originally 149 were 27 etc. My greatest sale triumph this season so far is designer label mens sweaters for $3 originally $40-$50. Bought more than one in every color available. (Christmas presents for next year for all 5 brothers!!)
All you have to do is WAIT! Delayed gratification is a large part of how we saved up for FIRE.
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Old 03-27-2008, 09:01 AM   #34
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Story in today's paper about buying too-long women's jeans (the reasonably priced $180 pairs) to flatter your buns and then taking them to a tailor who will cut off the hems, shorten them, and then resew the original hems back on for another $?. I read it while wearing my Steve and Barry's $7.88 (on sale from the regular full price of $12.88 or so) jeans. No tailoring required. Buns not visible to me anyway.

Don't even get me started on the new "reasonable" price of a handbag at a department store.
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Old 03-27-2008, 09:02 AM   #35
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I am not afraid of much, other than painful lingering illness.

But I think it is just bad policy to look poor. Man is a social animal, to some extent even the most introverted take on some of the attitudes that others hold toward them.

Or spend a lot of psychic energy maintaining bulkheads against these perceptions.

Decent appearance is cheaper.

Ha
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Old 03-27-2008, 09:20 AM   #36
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Definitely NOT a fear of ours. Instead, I would say we have a phobia about looking rich! We had raised INconspicuous consumption to a high art.

Why? Because we have a perhaps somewhat irrational (i.e. exaggerated) fear of becoming a target for unscrupulous persons if we flaunt wealth. We like to be quite anonymous.

In fact, when we bought our new motorhome it made me very, very nervous because it seemed obvious that we were driving a lot of money around. Fortunately, in turns out that the average joe has no clue about how much those things cost, and even in RV campgrounds there is usually someone fancier than us.

LOL! We are always trying to stay behind the Joneses and not be noticed!

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Old 03-27-2008, 09:26 AM   #37
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LOL! We are always trying to stay behind the Joneses and not be noticed!
The Joneses only *think* they're winning. But when folks like you and I are masters of our own time and the Joneses are still frantically working at jobs they hate in order to pay for all their debt-fueled consumption, we'll see if they feel like they're still winning...
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Old 03-27-2008, 09:32 AM   #38
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Just tallied the total cost of my outfit now in the office(software engineer for a Fortune 100 company).

sweat shirt - $4
t-shirt - $1
jeans - $4
leather shoes - $7

I feel proud...
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Old 03-27-2008, 09:39 AM   #39
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The Joneses only *think* they're winning. But when folks like you and I are masters of our own time and the Joneses are still frantically working at jobs they hate in order to pay for all their debt-fueled consumption, we'll see if they feel like they're still winning...
Well, in the interests of full disclosure, I have to admit that we spend plenty of money (because we can afford to these days). We just try hard not to look like we do! LOL!

I know our clothing isn't cheap - because we are addicted to technical outdoor clothing and we buy most of our clothes at REI! At least that kind of clothing lasts just about forever. Also we both have a very small wardrobe - limited space in that motorhome keeps clothing accumulation way down.

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Old 03-27-2008, 09:42 AM   #40
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My wife says I dress to look like a central park bum.

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