Till synes förmögen

Tillhör du de "till synes förmögna"?

- Jag tillhör dem inte.

Stora hus och sommarhem är lyx för människor med riktiga pengar. För dom som har råd att hyra människor som sköter allt. Annars är det du som blir materialförvaltaren. Akta dig för falla i fällan att spela rik.
Du får ingen verklig status genom att äga dessa saker.
  ------ Från boken: "Living Well on Practically Nothing" av Edward H. Romney ----------

“Don’t Be One of the “Apparently Wealthy”

I know some people who bought a big house of more than 2,500 square feet, with a large lawn and garden. They like to entertain and have dinners and drop-ins frequently. They are of moderate means and have no servants, so they have to do all the work themselves. Housecleaning, yard work, gardening, cooking, waiting on guests, and making frequent repairs take most of their time. They also have a summer home. They take a kit of carpenters tools and a lawnmower when they leave for the weekend and spend all weekend working on the summer house. Their boat demands constant work, and they are always fixing things for their grown-up kids and lazy son-in-law. They never have time to enjoy life.
Big houses and summer homes are luxuries for people with real money who can hire a maid to cook and serve, a yardman and gardener to care of the outside of the house, and another caretaker for the summer place.
You don’t gain any real status by owning these things. When people see you sitting on your red Snapper mower looking like Forrest Gump, chugging back and forth on you one-acre lawn, and then they see your wife in old clothes bent over double pulling up weeds, then all your status is gone. Why do these things? Why live expensively? It is just foolishness. The term “the apparently wealthy” was coined by salespeople who sell yachts, airplanes, condominiums, and other expensive luxuries. They can waste a lot of time canvassing people who have no real money, but just look prosperous.”

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“The urge to spend all you make is called consumer mentality. Try to get investment mentality instead.” – Edward H. Romney