This will be difficult to make come across as intended, but here goes.

What is the point of being financially secure, of having adequate assets and income and not having a comparable standard of living?

No, it doesn’t mean buying a Vacheron Constantin watch for $195,000, but it also doesn’t mean driving a ten year old junker. 

We can claim to enjoy living modestly, “comfortably”, but is it true? Wouldn’t we rather live a bit, just a little bit, above average? To splurge on occasion? It still doesn’t have to be flashy. 

To be honest, my life-long goal was not to be average, but neither was it to be wealthy. 

Mark talks about simplicity and not being fancy. That’s fine. If that’s what it takes to achieve financial freedom - as it did for us as well, so be it. 

However, once achieved, I see no reason to keep playing the game if you miss out on little extras that make you and perhaps others happy. 

I drive a Mercedes because it was a dream since I was 18, a dream that took to age 70 to achieve. It’s called a luxury car, but in reality cost no more than many of the SUVs and pickup trucks on the  road. The difference may be that I actually bought the car. 

Does that car make me fancy, not really. It’s all relative. There are 24 parking spaces in our building garage. Only two spaces have cars that are not a BMW, Mercedes, Jaguar or Porsche, nearly all are leased - the average age of residents is around 75. Looking at any of us would not create an impression of being fancy or wealthy. They all complain about a $50 monthly increase in the HOA fee. Nobody dresses to impress. 

I don’t need to buy anything, I don’t need to impress anyone. Hey, I have shoes that are 30 years old. I have ties so old they have gone in and out of style. I never bought designer clothes in my life. I don’t want jeans someone already put rips in the knees. I did spend $350 on a hand made Irish sweater bought in Donegal a few years ago. I didn’t need it, but I wanted it, so I bought it.

Don’t waste, don’t flaunt, don’t deny, enjoy. 

The post Hey Mark, a different take on “fancy” and simplicity. appeared first on HumbleDollar.