Are you afraid to look poor?

I'm not retired yet, but I already strive only to look clean and presentable and no more. I'd rather friends and strangers think I don't have any money ("the richer your friends, the more it will cost you"). I'm finding it enjoyable going through life with people underestimating me in every way possible. And like innova posted above, about 2/3rds (recalling from the Millionaire Next Door) of the people who are conspicuously wealthy are a paycheck or two from bankrupt.
 
Oldbabe said:
Good quality equals high prices equals happy feet. ;)
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For me only bare feet were happy feet, as they were for most of my career (as
a programmer). I kept a pair of flip-flops in the office for meetings or walking
around in, or just slipped back into my very loosely tied riding sneakers.
 
See we've got a lot of married guys here who can get away with looking "poor". The single fellows are not going to get a second look from the ladies garbed in such a manner.

The same can be said for the basic premise of frugality.
Be prepared to give up the comforts of intergender companionship if you follow such a path guys.
wink.gif
 
barbarus said:
See we've got a lot of married guys here who can get away with looking "poor". The single fellows are not going to get a second look from the ladies garbed in such a manner.

The same can be said for the basic premise of frugality.
Be prepared to give up the comforts of intergender companionship if you follow such a path guys.
wink.gif
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When I first met Frank, I thought I had the ugliest, trashiest looking car in the world (my old, banged up, worn out K-car). It was so bad that I tried to keep him from seeing it. I was SO RELIEVED when I finally saw his car, which was not all that pretty either. Then I knew I didn't have to hide mine any more.

Just saying.
 
barbarus said:
See we've got a lot of married guys here who can get away with looking "poor". The single fellows are not going to get a second look from the ladies garbed in such a manner.

The same can be said for the basic premise of frugality.
Be prepared to give up the comforts of intergender companionship if you follow such a path guys.
wink.gif
Click to expand...

If I was single Id rather find someone who had similar interests regarding finances. Not what clothes, car or house I had.
 
brewer12345 said:
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.
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I had a very real-looking plastic dog turd that was a lot of fun. I'd sneak it into the silverware drawer when we had company. DW became annoyed though....
 
Walt34 said:
I had a very real-looking plastic dog turd that was a lot of fun. I'd sneak it into the silverware drawer when we had company. DW became annoyed though....
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I dont know why. But fake poo is funny. Fake critters also ranks up on the fun factor. >:D
 
Over the past few years, my wife and I have discovered that we can look fully presentable in clothes from the likes of Target and Kohl's. And, as few clothes as I'm actually buying, $10 for a shirt doesn't seem outrageous at all. She's already FIRE'd and I'm just months away.
 
Man, just buy crap two months after the season. You can get decent, no-holes shirts for $19.99 when during the season the full price is $49.99.
 
BunsGettingFirm said:
Man, just buy crap two months after the season. You can get decent, no-holes shirts for $19.99 when during the season the full price is $49.99.
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That solves the financial problem, but what if you have no sense of style. Even the most expensive clothing is worse than worthless if it's not hip.
Wearing a shirt thats "out" is worse for your image than an old, holey rag that screams cool.

While these things are innate to women, it takes a special kind of guy to pull it off.
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I second the Costco thing. There is a good percentage of clothes (including 2 nice dress coats) that I've bought there. It's gotten to where anymore, Costco is one of my favorite clothes shopping places. Really! You can make up that membership fee easily in the amount that you save on clothing. And workout clothes - really cheap comparatively speaking. I am just a big Costco fan. I don't buy a lot there, clothes sometimes, and occasionally an impulse purchase, or shopping for the holidays, but I just love the place.

Oh - and I'm so not afraid of looking poor. I get much more easily embarrassed at how dirty my 2000 Honda Civic is one day after washing it around here, than about how much older my car is than all of my coworkers cars. I'm not poor, and as long as I know that, it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. To folks who care about that anyway - there is always someone who "looks" poor to them anyway. I could live a much more lavish lifestyle if I wanted, but I wouldn't be any more fulfilled in life than I am now.
 
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barbarus said:
See we've got a lot of married guys here who can get away with looking "poor". The single fellows are not going to get a second look from the ladies garbed in such a manner.

The same can be said for the basic premise of frugality.
Be prepared to give up the comforts of intergender companionship if you follow such a path guys.
wink.gif
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Being a single guy, who lives frugally and usually dresses like a street urchin, my opinion is that if gal can't see beyond ''outward appearances'', then she's already proven that she's much too superficial for my taste. And it's sort of a 2 way street for me as well......'cause I'm not overly impressed by the gals that dress to the 9's, or in such a way as to try to impress people......and if she's not into frugality, she definitely not my type! I much prefer those who dress in similar style as myself and who live frugally as well.....they're not easy to come by, in fact there few and far between, but to me, they're worth the time and effort to find. Maybe it's just the 'old hippie' in me, man! :cool:

Notmuchlonger said:
If I was single Id rather find someone who had similar interests regarding finances. Not what clothes, car or house I had.
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That's what I'm talkin' 'bout! :D
 
virginia said:
......I'm not poor, and as long as I know that, it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. To folks who care about that anyway - there is always someone who "looks" poor to them anyway. I could live a much more lavish lifestyle if I wanted, but I wouldn't be any more fulfilled in life than I am now.
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Amen!
 
i never understood fashion. yet one of my dearest friends is a long-term staffer at a major mag and so i get a free subscription. while it has some great writing and research, it is mostly advertisement. some are pretty creative but i could never imagine wearing any of that. it is one thing to play with your dolls, another to think you need to dress like one.

anyone who looks at me sees a lazygood4nothinbum. living in the tropics & semi-tropics since age 16, i've spent most of my life in bathing suit and flip flop though now i often cover up from the sun with a t-shirt as well. working out of the house for about 15 years, my standard dress was underwear (if i felt like dressing formal). though i did keep a shirt pressed for meetings, i hated putting it on.

i think i look just fine and i could give a rat's ass about what anyone else thinks of how i look. i have at least 30 different colored t-shirts, so i think i am at the height of fashion. i have shorts and jeans and a few pairs of shoes. i'm a happy boy even if i was the only guy at our 30-year reunion not in a tie & jacket.

if i wanted to put on the ritz for outward appearance, i'd wrap myself up in one of these: http://tinyurl.com/34pqw5

"fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months." ~~ oscar wilde
 
hankster said:
I'm dreaming of the day when people say this about me: "That guy looks like your average Joe Sixpack. You'd never know he's a millionaire by lookin' at him."
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I'm dreaming of the day when people look at me and say: "That guy looks like a millionaire" and they're right. :)
 
Notmuchlonger said:
If I was single Id rather find someone who had similar interests regarding finances. Not what clothes, car or house I had.
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Thus the advantage of moving amongst the hippy/progressive.outdoorsy set. Met DW while we were both living in a cooperative dorm/dining hall/commune thing (with co-ed cattle showers - woohoo) in college. You think she noticed that my thrift shop threads were any different than that of my fellows?
 
I shoot for the look that says it wouldnt be worth it to sue me or write me a ticket.

I nab all the end of season clearances at LL Bean, Landsend and REI, plus whatever Costco is selling. Especially baby clothes. I cant believe the markup on kids clothing.
 
Definitely not. Thrift stores are my friends. Especially when people donate clothes with the tags still on them! I love buying T-shirt for under $5 and am a big end of season shopper. I don't like to buy anything unless it's at least 50% off. I bought I nice winter pea coat originally $80 at Old Navy for $20 at the end of season.
 
Must've been something she noticed in the shower that differentiated you from the other bulls, eh Brewer? :cool:
 
HFWR said:
Must've been something she noticed in the shower that differentiated you from the other bulls, eh Brewer? :cool:
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Not likely, since we lived (and showered) on different floors. Frankly, after the third week, you get sort of blase about it. "Pass me the shampoo, would you?"
 
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