I mentioned in an earlier post - Lifestyle inflation (part 1) - that sometimes our costs creep up as our income goes up. The other day I watched a video in YouTube about someone who wore expensive clothing and accumulated debt because of a desire to look good.
I get it. Some well tailored high quality clothings are indeed expensive. Maybe you are a professional model or a TV news anchor or other occupation where being fashionable is a professional “investment”. Maybe you are low on cash and waiting for the payday and you need to buy something for an important gig urgently. As long as you pay it off when the payday comes, then maybe it is understandable.
But to be in constant big debt because of fashion as a hobby? That seems to be taking it a bit too far. The same goes for any hobby. (I consider “hobby” as for fun only, as opposed to something that I can rely on to make money.)
It is nice to enjoy hobbies, but I need to be wise in going about it. This reminds me of a quote that I found on Twitter a long time ago.
The philosophy of the rich and the poor is this:
The rich invest their money and spend what is left. The poor spend their money and invest what is left.
(Robert Kiyosaki)
Investing does not guarantee we will be rich; Robert might be taking it a bit extreme to make it memorable. But he has a point and it is similar to the saving framework that I proposed. Essentially, prioritise saving before non-essential spending. See the complete post: How to save.
Lifestyle inflation is a frequent challenge and it does not go away. This is something that I need to be conscious in my daily spending decisions.
Have a great day.
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Disclaimer: Anything I share is not intended as financial advice; I am merely sharing personal opinions and experiences. The information is of general nature and you should only use it as a place to start your own research and you certainly should do your own due diligence. You ought to seek professional financial advice before making any decisions.