Comment on Anon plays the lottery
Perspectivist@feddit.uk 2 days ago
There are countless ways I feel different from the people around me, but spending habits is a big one. I never had the urge to start buying things when I got money. I’ve just always saved it. Even as a kid, I had a chest with a lock on it where I kept all my savings. I was always the one people borrowed money from and paid back with interest.
Now as an adult, I find it even easier not to go on a spending spree when I get a large lump sum of money from somewhere, because getting more money doesn’t really enable me to buy something I couldn’t have bought before. Even when I do treat myself to something, it’s usually BIFL quality, so once I have it, I never need to buy it again.
I guess it’s worth noting that always being alone with no one to spend the money with helps too.
Consumerism has mostly been a way to separate fools and their money throughout the 20th century.
If consumerism wouldn’t exist, the workers would have earned good dollars, but would have kept the wealth to themselves, and so you end up with a powerful working class. If instead, the people spend their money as soon as they have it, the companies and therefore the company owners get a share of the money repeatedly, until all of the wealth is slowly siphoned away by the owning class.
sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 16 hours ago
I’m the same way, and I don’t even know what I’d splurge on if given a bunch of money. I’ve conditioned myself to be happy with less, so any money I get goes to investments, and if I have enough to retire on my current lifestyle, I’d do that and just work on personal projects instead of going to work.
But I grew up in a middle-class household where we always had enough because my parents were careful with money. They taught me to save early on, and I was able to afford some nice things (TV and game console) with the little I earned mowing lawns and whatnot. I had great role models, and I’ve almost never had to worry about money and only needed to go into debt for my house.
I wish everyone had that kind of role model. A little financial discipline can be the difference between anxiety from living paycheck to paycheck and being able to quit your abusive job and get one that respects your time.