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^

I’m not really sure what you are getting at with all this. I have some close friends who know far, far more about me than other people and have had those close friends comment about how I keep things private etc. The fact that poster knew doesn’t mean the person trumpets it about generally. I’m not sure why you’re trying to catch her out. It’s true that some people have wealth and live in a way that doesn’t advertise it.

I no longer felt poor (or at least very budget-conscious) when I realised that i could afford to buy a bunch of flowers for the house when I did my weekly food shop. I was in my late forties at the time. It still gives me a lot of pleasure to do that, even now.

how are clothes and shoes part of a MONTHLY budget?

You don't understand what I'm getting at? Someone says they know of someone who has 10s of millions in the bank and several properties but are very private about their money? It just does not hang together. But believe what you like. I think it sounds like bullshit.

This sums it up nicely, different things, different amounts of money will have different value to people.

Because if you can't afford to pay for an item all at once you have to put money aside for it. Seems pretty obvious to me.

I was test driving a car the other day and I was saying to the sales guy that I wasn't a fan of Mercedes interiors as they were too flashy for my taste. He said he liked them: "I worked damn hard for my money so why shouldn't I enjoy it, spending it on something nice". It is a fair point.

A lot of people here are saying £400 is a lot of money, which obviously for some people it is, but it doesn't mean the person for whom this is an entry level watch (if you are into watches) is a entitled/crass/privileged plonker.

Oh ffs, why have I just been recommended this article.

Too much watch talk 🤦‍♀️

Wow, you really are not a very nice person are you?

I hope your smug keeps you warm at night.

No it’s not😂. Entiltle would be forcing someone else to pay for them and then not attending. She is allowed to spend her money as she sees fit. So judgmental OP.

I’ve got a summerhouse. It’s in the back garden. 😁

Low horse 🤣🤦‍♀️

Perhaps some people like to buy expensive things, that are way above what the average person can justify, is because they “know they are worth it”. Perhaps it makes them feel they have “arrived”. Perhaps it makes them feel secure. When I look at the “Lux” supplement that comes with the Times, occasionally on Saturdays, it shows what the other 1% can buy. Frequently prices are “on application”. The cheap watches start at several thousands. Cut the pictures out without the prices and have a fun Christmas game of arrange in value.

Big exclusive brands charge eye watering prices because there is always some one who will pay big bucks for exclusivity, and perhaps their friends know how much things cost. So avoiding the vulgarity of having to tell friends the price! A £5000 handbag might cost a few hundred to make, but it’s not necessarily more functional than a £5 bag from a charity shop.

what I used to find really stressful was the annual Car MOT. You never knew what the bill for repairs might be. It’s the unexpected expenses when living costs are close to earnings that makes for worry. (Like as has been mentioned, white goods needing replacing) All your money is taken up by essentials.. I argued with a colleague that every £1 extra for someone “getting by” was a big deal, but nor so for someone relatively well off. She couldn’t see it!

@MillicentMaybe Do you summer in it?? 🤣

My goose down duvet does 🥳

I guess I just resent working all my life to achieve the lifestyle I want, only to be called 'deluded' by someone who thinks that anybody with a nice life must be clueless about how the world works 🤷🏻‍♂️

I was pretty happy with that, not going to lie 🤣

My DD goes to a private school, she got in on a scholarship and bursary. She's done brilliantly so far and we're very grateful that we get a bursary to help , as we really aren't wealthy at all. My parents suggested to us that she might benefit from the (supposed) higher standard of education etc there, in spite of us not being a high income household. I'm glad she is doing so well, as she is very academically bright and she does benefit a lot from the teaching and facilities /opportunities etc.

Anyway, my point of this ramble is that when she was applying for the clubs at thd beginning of her first year, the equestrian club had the option of being able to use your own horse in order to get the most from the club... we obviously thought this was pretty much what most of the girls had access to, and we suddenly felt even less well off! 😅

I don't completely disagree with you.

Personally, I couldn't afford to spend £400 on a watch.
But £400 IS cheap in comparison to what's on the market. It just comes down to what you can afford.

But yes your comment was very smug lol.

Having money does tend to make life a whole lot easier

@Ramblomatic I don't use food banks, but I teach children whose families do. Do they not work hard? One of them is a nurse. Does she not work hard enough?

Funnily enough, DH and I could afford a Cartier watch if we really wanted one. We just don't feel it's necessary to spend money things like that. It makes us feel uncomfortable. As I said before, I don't care if that's how people want to spend their money. Just don't say a £400 watch is cheap!

“we work hard enough that food banks will never be a reality for ours.“ “those of us who earn the privilege”

Wow. Would you say that face to face with a nurse at the start of their career, who does 12 hour shifts but still needs to use a food bank.

People who use food banks or who can’t afford expensive watches, aren’t necessarily lazy. Some may well be but so are some rich people. In fact the wealthiest people I know don’t work nearly as hard as most.

Some people work incredibly hard but earn very little. Their jobs are just as worthwhile. Who would bloody deliver the shitty £400 watch without delivery drivers/postal staff. Who made the bloody watch in the first place. All working very hard I’m sure.

And never say never. I really hope that your life continues to be smooth and privileged for you, but we are all only a few traumatic life events away from emotional breakdown and losing everything. No one is immune from hardship. Some are well inoculated against it though.

Someone wealthy whose family all die in a terrible traumatic way, might turn to drugs to numb the pain, might turn to gambling to fill their head and chase a high, might be vulnerable to being sucked into and exploitative relationship, might have a psychotic breakdown and give it all away. You just don’t know.

So enjoy your ivory tower, I hope your life continues to be fantastic but please don’t think that you are ‘better than’ or ‘work harder’ than those who use foodbanks. you are not and you don’t.

Snap! Cross posts.

My dsis used to work for a company that ordered polo shirts from the same factory as Ralph Lauren, their company charged £40 and Ralph Lauren charged £75 - the shirts cost the company 50p. Massed produce those is where the real money is. That was twenty years ago but they are still producing the same stuff, probably more expensive and poorer quality now.

I never want to hear about a 400 pound watch again