Do you chase the bling?

[dixonge]

I guess I was fortunate enough to be raised in a lowish-income home. I couldn't afford any bling growing up, although this was before Izod/Lacoste was much of a thing.

I've had periods where I was more into the idea of bling. A new car here, a couple of motorcycles there. A pool table. Apple gadgets. Never any cutting edge, high-dollar bling though. No jewelry or watches or clothing that cost over $150 or so. Nothing with Gucci or similar logos.

Once we made the FIRE decision, all bling thoughts, even our meager ones, went out the window. I look forward to shuffling around the streets of Mexico and South America in shorts and plain shirts and sandals. I anticipate that our bling will come in the form of decent furnished rentals with amazing views, and maybe a used golf cart. Maybe use a slightly more expensive airline, assuming that there is a cost/service correlation. Maybe a few extra nights in nicer hotels. I'll let the 'bling' be in having better/more interesting stories and photos.

 

[Music Lover]

I've never been into bling either, although I have purchased a couple higher end items...I traded in a perfectly acceptable $800 acoustic guitar for much nicer acoustic guitar in the $2k range, and bought a barely used pool table from a co-w*rker for $1500 that they bought new a couple years prior for $3k+.

 

[grasshopper]

My only bling is my Smith & Wesson collection, but I consider them to be tools, and no one ever sees them.

 

[MichaelB]

Anyone with more bling than me is shallow. Anyone with less bling just does not appreciate the finer things in life.

After reading more than 100 posts on (self-reported) bling, this looks the be the case. No one buys bling, everyone buys quality. We are the Lake Wobegon of bling.

 

[Mulligan]

My only bling is my Smith & Wesson collection, but I consider them to be tools, and no one ever sees them.

I more or less consider bling to be expensive stuff that is worth considerably less a few years done the road. Guns can be collection and hobby that border on an actual investment... And I don't mean only as a personal security investment either.


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[Bestwifeever]

After reading more than 100 posts on (self-reported) bling, this looks the be the case. No one buys bling, everyone buys quality. We are the Lake Wobegon of bling.

Except my grill. It's quality bling.

 

[REWahoo]

Except my grill. It's quality bling.

Must be a Weber...

 

[Mulligan]

Must be a Weber...

You sound like my best friend. About 15 years ago he bought a basic Weber gas grill for about $500. Recently he bought another one way over $1000 (forget the exact price). But anyways he wont part with the original one either so they sit side by side out on his covered deck.


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[Bestwifeever]

Must be a Weber...

I actually tried the Weber grill but it was a tight fit and then I got charcoal stuck in my teeth and had to use this special toothpaste. I'm thinking it was probably not even a real Weber but one of those fakes anyway:

 

[YVRRocketSurgery]

I am guilty of being on my third BMW, average age when bought was 2 years old, so at least I let someone else pay the first few payments. I also got into watches, told myself the MSRP $1,000 Hamilton Automatic for $600 was a good deal and would last a lifetime....then it broke. $25 sport watches for me from now on, and when this car dies I'm getting a used Mazda 3 or equivalent. But I think if I hadn't done it I'd wonder....

I ended up going the other way. I was buying these Timex Ironman watches from the watch stores in the Outlet malls we visit and two died on me within a few years, let alone some other cheap watches I bought. The missus finally green-lighted me on getting a nicer watch and I ended up getting a basic Tag (yeah, they're overpriced for what they are but I wanted to get one because a couple of buddies from work had one ) from a Tag Outlet store . It's served me well for the last 10 years save for one battery change.

 

[ls99]

Does bling=high maintanence?

I am more into early basement and late attic collections.

Would my 95 Jaguar XJ6 qualify as bling? I am reasonably sure an XKE of any vintage would!

 

[aja8888]

You sound like my best friend. About 15 years ago he bought a basic Weber gas grill for about $500. Recently he bought another one way over $1000 (forget the exact price). But anyways he wont part with the original one either so they sit side by side out on his covered deck.


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I have a Weber grill. The $500 cheepo model. After I found out my buddies had $2000+ model grills, I bought a generic black plastic cover for mine. Their grills are Bling, mine is Cheap, so when they come to the house, they can't see it because of the cover.

It's tough keeping up with the Jonses these days!

 

[FUEGO]

Wow!!! $50K for a purse?

If I had $50K looking for a home, I would either buy another rental property, or top up my TFSA and go on some more trips.

+1

If my $50k were looking for a home, I'd find it one. Maybe a nice condo down the street for just under $50k and rent it out like you say.

 

[Bestwifeever]

Re the Birkin bag, from Wikipedia:

As a result of the strong demand, the Birkin bag has a high resale value in many countries, especially in Asia, and to such an extent that the bag is considered by some people as an instrument of investment. One 2016 study found that Birkin bags had average annual returns of 14.2% between 1980 and 2015, significantly beating the S&P 500 Index.

I first heard of the Birkin when Martha Stewart was criticized for carrying one to her trial back in the aughts. I don't think I would recognize one if I saw it in the wild.

 

[bclover]

+1

If my $50k were looking for a home, I'd find it one. Maybe a nice condo down the street for just under $50k and rent it out like you say.

Re the Birkin bag, from Wikipedia:



I first heard of the Birkin when Martha Stewart was criticized for carrying one to her trial back in the aughts. I don't think I would recognize one if I saw it in the wild.

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" when the reality is we all spend money on our own choice of "bling". Be it travel, guitars, vacation homes or bags. Why should Martha carry a 50k bag if she so desires, she most definitely can afford one.

So in reality if the definition of "bling" was extended, a whole lot of these no responses would have to change. One man's bling is another man's necessity.

 

[travelover]

Anyone with more bling than me is shallow. Anyone with less bling just does not appreciate the finer things in life.

............So in reality if the definition of "bling" was extended, a whole lot of these no responses would have to change. One man's bling is another man's necessity.

Well, yea, but we have to run up our post count somehow.

 

[MichaelB]

Well, yea, but we have to run up our post count somehow.

Digital bling?

 

[dixonge]

I have a Weber grill. The $500 cheepo model. After I found out my buddies had $2000+ model grills, I bought a generic black plastic cover for mine. Their grills are Bling, mine is Cheap, so when they come to the house, they can't see it because of the cover.

It's tough keeping up with the Jonses these days!

Back when we used to eat meat my wife talked me into two things that made a world of difference and enabled me to love steaks. First, medium rare. That was the biggie.

Second was the grill. Gas flames just weren't cutting it, both from the perspective of heat even-ness and flavor impartation, of which there is none. We switched to charcoal and the wife was happy. At the end, I had the system down to 20 minutes in the charcoal starter tube, lit by using some paper in the bottom and a lighter. After that, dump charcoal, put meat on for 7-9 minutes, flipping half-way. With this system I was able to produce perfect steaks on a regular basis. The grill became simply a heat enclosure system, which meant that pretty much any old grill would do. A $50-75 expenditure was all we needed.

So, goal met. Perfect steaks. Bonus points for also being LBYM-friendly. The bling was in the taste.

Having said that, I couldn't begin to tell you what any of my friends or neighbors owned for grilling purposes. Didn't care, didn't look, didn't ask.

 

[Sojourner]

bling
informal
noun
---------------------
Expensive, ostentatious clothing and jewelry, or the wearing of them.

That's the definition, unless we want to just start "extending" the definitions of other words we're not totally in agreement on. And by this definition, I don't think one person's bling is another person's necessity, unless perhaps you're a supermodel or world-famous celebrity whose career would be ruined without wearing some bling.

 

[Nemo2]

As Liberace, (or was it Bill Clinton?), once (might've) said, "Define ostentatious".

 

[kcowan]

Our bling chasing years were 1985 through 2005. Now we have even cancelled the jewelry insurance because we don't want to replace the tennis bracelet and other items. The BMW convertible was our last luxury car. We love public transit and taxis. No Uber for us yet.

Our 3300 sq.ft. penthouse and our 1750 sq.ft. snowbird condo are our ongoing extravagances, along with regular housekeeping service all year round in both places.

 

[RobbieB]

Yeah, I should do that too. I sold a lot of it and the really valuable stuff is locked in the safe.

 

[explanade]

Yeah that's the thing I recall, BBQ tasted so much better on these little hibachis instead of those expensive Weber gas grills.

 

[Katiek]

There are certain things I like to splurge on, particularly things that make life easier while I'm working. I also spend a lot more on work clothes than I plan to spend when I retire, and I like to be able to give generous gifts and I like to splurge on vacations that I enjoy. I mostly don't want the cheapest hotel in town, but I don't need a resort in Tahiti either.

So I don't mind spending for things I enjoy, but luckily I don't enjoy designer labels or trendy things. I guess I fall somewhere in the middle.

 

[FUEGO]

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" when the reality is we all spend money on our own choice of "bling". Be it travel, guitars, vacation homes or bags. Why should Martha carry a 50k bag if she so desires, she most definitely can afford one.

So in reality if the definition of "bling" was extended, a whole lot of these no responses would have to change. One man's bling is another man's necessity.

I don't think bling is bad if you can afford it. I'm just making a personal value judgment that $50k in my hands would go toward something productive instead of a sack to carry stuff in.

Alternatively, I'd spend the $50k on experiences or things that buy me experiences (like a kayak or mountain bike or boat).

Those that do enjoy the bling don't have to justify it to any of us. We won't understand it anyway.