Stealth Wealth

[Chuckanut]

I buy a few things likes caps with the name of a lesser known national park or state park like 1000 Springs State Park. They can be conversation starters.

Normally, the commercial labels would have to pay me to wear and advertise their brand. $15 and hour, time and a half on Sundays and Holidays.

 

[Gumby]

This is my only status symbol (which is actually in my attic at the moment). No matter how much money you have, you couldn't buy one.

 

[jollystomper]

This is my only status symbol (which is actually in my attic at the moment). No matter how much money you have, you couldn't buy one.

I would not call that a "status" symbol, that is an earned achievement symbol, and I thank you for that.

 

[Lewis Clark]

This is my only status symbol (which is actually in my attic at the moment). No matter how much money you have, you couldn't buy one.

On sale at the uniform store for just a few dollars. : ) No idea what the current price would be.

 

[ncbill]

under $6 off Amazon, but we know what Gumby meant.

my oldest was very happy to earn this:

 

[sparky08]

I'm starting to feel like a shoe snob. I'm willing to spend for comfortable supportive shoes. Most of the time I wear a hiking shoe. I've gone from Merrill to Keen to Oboz as the years went by.

For my other clothes, I definitely price shop. We now have a Sierra Trading store near by. I can get good quality clothes for sometimes 75% off.

 

[rwdflynavy]

under $6 off Amazon, but we know what Gumby meant.

my oldest was very happy to earn this:

One of my proudest achievements was earning those.

 

[Koolau]

I agree it is a triumph. But I think the reason more is that people want to feel "significant" or "better" in some way, shape or fashion. Advertising is geared to tell you "you do not have this, so your life is lacking something; having this will make you feel better about yourself/more significant/both"). For some brands it is to so "I am wealthy" or "I am cool and with it". For other brands it is to say "I am a winner". In the latter case that would align with joining a "tribe", so either the popularity or the "safety in numbers" view.

I am always amused by the stories along the lines of "YYY brand in hot demand due to Celebrity ZZZ wearing it at event QQQ" .

Our kids often felt deprived because we would not often buy them the latest "designer" clothes - though we often did at resale shops. The kids got j*bs so that they could buy their own designer clothes. We always thought that was a good thing as the kids understood how much labor was required to own such items.



I agree that it's about status for the most part.

 

[Badger]

Our kids often felt deprived because we would not often buy them the latest "designer" clothes - though we often did at resale shops. The kids got j*bs so that they could buy their own designer clothes. We always thought that was a good thing as the kids understood how much labor was required to own such items.



I agree that it's about status for the most part.

In High School I and a few of my friends couldn't afford the status of having the popular Gant shirts so we went to JC Pennys and bought $2 Big Mac chambray work shirts to wear to school. It caught on and became popular. The idea was to wash them until they were soft but not iron them. The "rich kids", however, had their monograms embroidered on the collar or cuffs and had them professionally laundered and starched. Still we changed the status.

Cheers!

 

[Stormy Kromer]

Reminds me of Carhartt before it became a popular brand. Growing up the town kids felt sorry for us farm kids showing up to school in Carhartt work clothes. Now that they're in style they've priced me out of the market.

Carhartt is still a popular brand, but out here in every small town is an old fellow wearing an pair of coveralls, too big for him, with a seed corn hat and a net worth of a few milllion. And growing.

 

[MichaelB]

My goodness. Another thing I was deprived of when young but had no idea until reading this thread. Better not let my kids see it - they start to think they were deprived as well.

 

[SunnyOne]

A well known frugality writer from the 1990s was greatly appreciated by her readers for all her money saving tips except for one: forcing her teenagers to wear second hand clothing. They believed that was a line she should not have crossed. She brushed their comments aside.
A few years ago, a current frugality writer interviewed those siblings, now adults in their 30s with children of their own.
In general terms she asked each one to recall their favorite childhood memories. They all had wonderful memories and felt they had not been deprived in any ways except for one: the jeans they wore as teens. They recalled comments from their peers and feelings of shame.
I took note of that.

 

[Koolau]

In High School I and a few of my friends couldn't afford the status of having the popular Gant shirts so we went to JC Pennys and bought $2 Big Mac chambray work shirts to wear to school. It caught on and became popular. The idea was to wash them until they were soft but not iron them. The "rich kids", however, had their monograms embroidered on the collar or cuffs and had them professionally laundered and starched. Still we changed the status.

Cheers!

I love it! "Poor sheik!"



Heh, heh, at your 50th reunion, I hope everyone remembers who started the fad.

 

[Texas Proud]

I just remember that a few years back the in thing per my DD was Chuck Taylor high tops...


I had not noticed that she bought them (with the wife who also did not know anything) and asked about them... they were the 'IN' thing.. So I asked, do you know who Chuck Taylor is? She was like 'what do you know about 'new' fashion'... well, I actually had a pair when I was young... even knew about the player...


So I told her to look it up and she was shocked... she thought it was a made up name to put on Converse... silly kids...

 

[aja8888]

This is my only status symbol (which is actually in my attic at the moment). No matter how much money you have, you couldn't buy one.

Mine is shown as my avatar.

 

[jollystomper]

A well known frugality writer from the 1990s was greatly appreciated by her readers for all her money saving tips except for one: forcing her teenagers to wear second hand clothing. They believed that was a line she should not have crossed. She brushed their comments aside.
A few years ago, a current frugality writer interviewed those siblings, now adults in their 30s with children of their own.
In general terms she asked each one to recall their favorite childhood memories. They all had wonderful memories and felt they had not been deprived in any ways except for one: the jeans they wore as teens. They recalled comments from their peers and feelings of shame.
I took note of that.

Strange, in my view. With 7 kids spread out over 17 years, both male and female, my parents did hand-me-downs and none of us were affected by it. In fact, it seemed normal. Of course, in my neighborhoods, no one cared about jeans unless they were "high waters" . In fact, I do think until I reached high school school age that jeans were allowed in public school.

That continued when my siblings and I started having kids, it was quite common to pass clothes down the line among our kids, nephews, and nieces (where the span is 30 years from oldest to youngest).

When I hit college, I found out that no one cared about designer clothes if you had a good build, because with a good build you looked good in any brand or non-brand. So I got serious about hitting gym weight room...

 

[aja8888]

Strange, in my view. With 7 kids spread out over 17 years, both male and female, my parents did hand-me-downs and none of us were affected by it. In fact, it seemed normal. Of course, in my neighborhoods, no one cared about jeans unless they were "high waters" . In fact, I do think until I reached high school school age that jeans were allowed in public school.

That continued when my siblings and I started having kids, it was quite common to pass clothes down the line among our kids, nephews, and nieces (where the span is 30 years from oldest to youngest).

When I hit college, I found out that no one cared about designer clothes if you had a good build, because with a good build you looked good in any brand or non-brand. So I got serious about hitting gym weight room...

Instead of designer clothes now, it's expensive cell phones!

 

[NW-Bound]

I found something like the Bata shoes in my youth and what Bata does not make anymore.

It's a no-name on Amazon, priced at $10 + $8 delivery.

 

[Andre1969]

I found something like the Bata shoes in my youth and what Bata does not make anymore.

It's a no-name on Amazon, priced at $10 + $8 delivery.

That same thing would probably be around $65 if it had a Vans label on it.

 

[NW-Bound]

That same thing would probably be around $65 if it had a Vans label on it.

I never heard of Vans.

Like dis $73 Vans slip-ons, also on Amazon?

How does one get an add-on label to "upgrade" the no-name shoes?

To be fair, the Vans shoe looks better made, and with interior paddings. My youth shoes were thin-walled and more bare-bone, like the $10 no-name shoe above.

 

[Gumby]

I never heard of Vans.

Like dis $73 Vans slip-ons, also on Amazon?

How does one get an add-on label to "upgrade" the no-name shoes?

It appears you can buy them online as well

https://www.sizestrips.com/ecomm/product/vans-logo-hem-edge-woven-labels

 

[ncbill]

A well known frugality writer from the 1990s was greatly appreciated by her readers for all her money saving tips except for one: forcing her teenagers to wear second hand clothing. They believed that was a line she should not have crossed. She brushed their comments aside.
A few years ago, a current frugality writer interviewed those siblings, now adults in their 30s with children of their own.
In general terms she asked each one to recall their favorite childhood memories. They all had wonderful memories and felt they had not been deprived in any ways except for one: the jeans they wore as teens. They recalled comments from their peers and feelings of shame.
I took note of that.

We had a parents club where outgrown clothes got traded around.

So the kids wore clothes outgrown by kids from other families.

No real hand-me-downs unless the kid wanted a particular piece of clothing from an older sibling.

We did have to dissuade some older relatives from purchasing clothes for our kids since what they were buying at yard sales was damaged, or stained.

We could source used kids' clothing inexpensively enough not to have to bother with clothes in poor condition.

 

[Winemaker]

My rich aunt used to give my cousin's clothes to me after he was done with them. He was a year older and at least 6 " shorter, but it didn't stop my aunt from hauling clothes over to Sunday dinner's at Gramma's, so she could help us out. Nothing ever fit, so we dropped them in the St. VDP box on the way home.

 

[ychuck46]

When she passed all siblings and grand kids were surprised how much they received.. I was the only one who knew...
You can be very stealthy...

I handled all my mother's finances after our father died. She did all the checkwriting, etc and handled her day to day bills, but as far as investments I handled them for her, and kept her with a conservative mix. The siblings didn't care about it at all until my mother was getting close to passing, THEN they made a stab at finding out. I had everything so organized in her files that it wasn't too hard to find out, so they knew within spitting distance what she had. I was executor of her estate and all they wanted to know was when they were getting their money (btw, I was the only one there when she passed, yet I was always the black sheep as far as they were concerned. No good deed goes unpunished). I parceled it out to everyone over about six payment periods; no way was I going to get caught with any unforeseen bills and try to get it back from them, which would have been impossible. And everything was done by the book with the state and as far as bills and payments. Aren't families great?

I kept her finances stealthy as well for about 20 years after Dad passed. You might be surprised how many wolves came around to get a piece of her, relatives or otherwise, but it was easy for me to say no, and easier on her as well.

 

[ychuck46]

My rich aunt used to give my cousin's clothes to me after he was done with them. He was a year older and at least 6 " shorter, but it didn't stop my aunt from hauling clothes over to Sunday dinner's at Gramma's, so she could help us out. Nothing ever fit, so we dropped them in the St. VDP box on the way home.

My wife's family had relatives like that as well. Cheap so and so's who had a lot apparently, but always showed up regularly for a free meal at her parent's house or others that also had less. Never volunteered to bring anything, of course; I guess they thought their presence was good enough.