Sometimes when my friends get really annoyed shopping with me, because I am taking forever to decide on a $2 pen or something, I get comments from my friends like:
“FB, you HAVE the money.
Spend it.
Gosh don’t fret over a $20 item, just buy it. It’s not like you’re broke, and you aren’t even in debt!”
My usual response is:
“If I spent my money anytime I wanted without thinking about the purchase, I wouldn’t have it any longer!
$2 is the same to me as $20.
It’s still money, and not to be wasted frivolously unless I know what I am getting myself into.”
And that’s true.
If you spend what you have taken time and effort to save, on something that doesn’t really make your heart strings flutter, then it’s a real waste of money.
Sure, a high income helps, but if you don’t have discipline or a system in place to watch your money, then you might as well (and probably are) burning through it.
It probably also helps that I have another motivation to not add to my possessions: being a minimalist.
Many unsung, so-called “ordinary” heroes get rich not by finding the next Pet Rock to foist off on faddish consumers, or by making millions by predicting the stock market.
They got rich by being smart with their money, only buying what they want and need, and saving the rest.
They became rich by saving what they earned.