The casual things that wealthy people take for granted

[KaleQueen]

Inspired by a thread that’s gone totally off topic….where someone suggested a £400 watch was cheap.

What’s the most casual (even accidental) brag you’ve ever heard a wealthy person say?

I can start as I know someone who celebrated a big birthday recently and is an absolutely lovely person but during their party (in the wonderful house) they said “oh! Here comes the string quartet. I had completely forgotten about them!”

^www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5174898-to-feel-slightly-suspicious-of-dp?page=35&reply=138771616^

My friend hung out with very wealthy types at uni and said that they would ask to borrow £100 or £200 at times when they had spent their allowance quickly, but never pay it back as it was our equivalent of borrowing £10. It was always spent on a night out or in Waitrose/ M&S. She ended up having to ask to borrow what was effectively her money back to balance it out.

All of the wealthy people I know are the frugal type, but I was moaned at that an order of hand painted wall paper took so long, from a friend that drove an old Saab. Apart from the house and the charity days they hosted, you wouldn’t know they were wealthy if you met them in the street.

I think there is a huge difference between comfortable and wealthy. We are comfortable but as I have been very skint at times, I appreciate not having to worry too much about whether I can afford things. It helps that I don’t want the ultra expensive version of things anyway.

Why no CGT? That makes no sense. The policy I mean. Sorry, I know you are just quoting the policy and you did not write it, but do you happen to know why? It’s it they are seen as essential goods rather than luxuries?

Many of these behaviours sound hideous and not all rich people are like this. That's often why they're rich! The multiple dessert and binning clothes stories really offend me... hopefully these people will encounter some kind of climate-related karma soon.

It sounds more like new money behaviour.

And sorry to derail, but this is exactly why I hate it that politicians are so much more wealthy than many of us, who are directly affected by their decisions. Billionaire Sunak demonstrated this so many times: he kept saying very casually "just hang in there" while people's bills were going through the roof. And his response when self-employed people had their businesses destroyed by lockdowns, but picked the losing lottery numbers when it came to government support? (Shrug) "We can't help everybody." And Boris Johnson saying "I've paid the fine, pleeeeeeeeeease can we move on from Partygate?" What is £50 to that wealthy idle playboy?

Complaining about the faff of flying off a few days before the family to sort out the second home abroad

@InSpainTheRain I don't want to have to keep getting my phone out to see the time. It is much easier and quicker to look at my wrist than to rummage around for my phone.

I must admit that I struggle with the idea of status symbols. I don't feel the need to impress people in that respect. When I need to buy more expensive items (car/new washing machine etc) I buy products that I have researched for quality and reliability, not because they are a particular brand. Obviously some brands have a reputation for reliability, but in this case it isn't about status symbols.

I have no interest in wearing a watch that is encrusted with diamonds. The sneery comment upthread about cheaper watches beinly "only" made from plastic and metal says more about that poster than about the watch wearer. My "only" metal watch is several years old and is as reliable as anything.

I know a man that complained about his aunts summer house in Spain.

She let him use it for free every summer.

He complained about it to me

Its been like that for decades - which is why these items have become "luxury". No idea what the thinking was behind it.

I had no idea either until this family started buying clocks about 40 yrs ago. Ironically he lost on clocks as they tanked as an investment - old clocks don't do well in modern centrally heated homes, but he continued to buy watches and his car is always something like a classic Jag which he then sells for more than he bought it for.

I would be terrified to wear one of those watches and definitely wouldn't be able to drive one of those cars!!!

The one I’ve noticed is chartering or using their own or a friend’s private helicopter or jet to travel, one I know of had the crew on standby so they can go anywhere at a whim.

Yupp.

Agree with this post!
athough I would say no mortgage to overpaying!
rich people buy their homes in cash.

I have a friend - she’s mid thirties she owns her Victorian terrace outright! In a naice part of town, she’s never ever bragged about buying it in cash but she accidentally let something slip whilst we were discussing mortgages, I asked her why she didn’t get a 50% mortgage on something larger…..she responded with ‘I go to sleep and wake up and I know the house is mine, not the banks’ I’ve never forgotten it, and I’ve thought wow that’s real wealth! She also only works 3 days a week!

I went to school with very wealthy children despite being born in a council house.

I remember them casually talking about going to Sandringham for the weekend and talking about nannies, Range Rovers, steamer trunks with their initials on, skiiing holidays and safaris.

Different world.

😂😂😂

No lo e £4 is cheap for a watch. £40 a decent price for a decent watch. However, on this planet, £400 watch is not a cheap watch, it's an expensive one. A £4000 is very expensive one.

My DD has just gone to uni in a shared self catering flat with 6 others freshers. They all went to private school, every room she’s been into so far has massive tvs and loads of home comforts, most of them have cars, yesterday a set of parents turned up with an expensive air conditioning unit for the shared kitchen as there was a bit of condensation. DD is delighted as she will benefit too, and it is such a generous thing to do, but simply amazed by all this.

When I first had to wear glasses a few years ago, I went overdrawn to pay for a standard pair from Specsavers. On my first day wearing them at work I was squinting a bit, and I mentioned I was worried they were quite right.

A very wealthy colleague (husband had a high position in the City) said, "well you'll just have to go back and get another pair then, won't you!"

Dd22 went away with a uni friend to Amsterdam. When choosing a hotel she looked at price and proximity to cheap places to eat, and the low cost transport network. Her friend was gobsmacked and said why don't we just uber...

answer was because a hotel that is cheap enough for a poor student is far enough away from stuff that an uber costs a lot of money, and doing that 2 or 3 times a day is beyond budget.
She simply didn't realise that lots of people have to factor these things in daily, let alone on a holiday.

@EndorsingPRActice - Will your daughter have to pay part of the running cost of the air conditioner? They eat £££...

I have got a £25 Sekonda from Argos and it tells the time perfectly and I dont have to worry about damaging it.

Not sure what paying thousands extra gets you.

One of my very wealthy university friends once said to me, "as a teenager I used to daydream about how romantic it would be to be poor, so my family would have to huddle round the stove and live off baked apples from the orchard!"

(The stove was an Aga, of course.)

It’s all relative to your income though isn’t it ?

My husband said that if we ever win the lottery that would be his "thing" ... a collection of expensive watches that he'd have a special drawer for... with automatic tilting mechanisms to keep the ones going that need arm movement.
It's a dream of his, I can see why rich people might do that.

My fil saying how awful the 20% on private schools would be if Labour got in , because his other son would have to rent out his third house .to make up the school fees ....

I imagine It’s about enforcement. CGT is easier to enforce on things like paper investments ( shares, bonds etc) and property as there is clear ownership and a paper trail of transfer of ownership. With things like watches and clocks, ownership and transfer are harder to ascertain. Not sure about cars but probably because cars are generally depreciating assets it’s not worth the admin to charge CGT on the few that aren’t.

I was thinking that too! This one will get nasty 😅

@Littlelunch well he was out of touch! More like £2000/month each minimum most places.
My friend's husband casually dropped £50k in an hour at Harrods buying, yep, a couple watches!