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^

Being able to replace washing machine/ fridge.
Having the heating on whenever you fancy.
Fixing or replacing car.
Having dental work done when you need it.

My fridge freezer died last week, we had been food shopping the day before not realised and most of the food I had bought had gone bad, heart breaking throwing it away.
Managed to get a cheap fridge freezer but couldn’t afford to replace the food I had binned so went 5 more days with an empty fridge apart from milk and a few sausage rolls, depressing.

@Lovethatforyouhun I remember circling all the sequinned sparkly dresses in the Argos catalogue. They were the height of sophistication for little me in the 70s. Fun times.

I wouldn't pay £400 for a watch as I don't even wear a watch as I don't like them very much. I do have the heating on a lot in winter though, which is better off than many, because I was very cold in my childhood as most of us were in the 70's and I'd like to be warm now!

Wealthy to me is not to get stressed about money, although even quite wealthy people do that.

My head definitely did last Saturday morning, the day after drinking far too much of it at my sister's birthday!

I have one friend who is generally down to earth but her Dad is very rich and owns property in the Caribbean. One comment "OMG I'd just die if I had to go somewhere like Menorca every year."

I get the opera tickets thing - you have to buy ages in advance. I'd never let them go unused though. And I buy at the cheaper end - Glyndebourne can be an absolute bargain!! My watch was a preent maybe 20 odd years ago (Longines so mid range - £1500ish??) I wear it every day and it still looks new and lovely. Bargain!

What do you mean “entitled”? At least she is supporting the arts. Up to her if she goes or not but the seat is sold so the opera benefits.

Choice and comfort.

I don't think I'd begrudge anyone spending their own money, after all they earned it, just like I earn mine and spend it how I like.

It seems that people are very quick to equate wealthy with salary when that’s not the key when measuring wealth. Wealthy are the people who have accumulated significant assets. Not your average high earner necessarily, not the majority of people, not even really those with a good job, nice house, decent pension.

The frugal person with £2m in the bank is wealthy regardless of whether or not they live a flashy lifestyle.

https://www.ons.gov.uk/visualisations/dvc1802/calculator/index.html this is really interesting to see how your wealth compares with others!

I don't know where you live that a meal for 2 at £50 per head isn't going to be great.

I, and most people do think that £400 for a watch is not cheap. It is completely tone deaf to say that it is cheap. It is cheaper than a £40,000 watch, but it still isn't cheap.

I paid about £135 for my Tissot watch several years ago, and have just had a look online at their prices now. Watches like mine now cost about £300. I still don't think that is cheap for a watch.

I have no interest in spending upwards of 4 figures on a watch (or a handbag for that matter). I just don't see the point. I doubt that a £30,000 watch is a hundred times better at keeping time than the watch I already own.

@KaleQueen

Having a string quartet at your party depends a lot on the circles you mix in, back before I moved I knew a lot of musicians plus my dd played in a string quartet (student but pro standard) so not as big a deal, they played for beer!

To highlight that the majority of people in the UK shop in places like Argos rather than Harrods and therefore the majority of the UK population would regard £400 for a watch as expensive. Seemed quite clear to me the point I was making but hopefully you will now grasp my point.

@CorbyTrouserPress your point was quite clear to me . @Disappearedwife is just being obtuse and goady .

Watches is probably a bifurcated market - people who buy watches for functionality vs. Those that buy them for fashion or status reasons, and the two markets are vastly different. If you are buying a watch just to tell the time then anything over £50 is ‘expensive’. If it is a fashion statement then £400 is probably entry level. I haven’t worn a watch in years and don’t understand why anyone would spend money on them if they have a phone. In my world a watch is purely a status symbol so understand the argument that a £400 watch is ‘cheap’ even if I would never spend any amount of money on a watch.

Things I think people take for granted when 'wealthy':

The ability to claim on insurance because you can afford insurance. A lot of people pay for a product but can't stretch to insurance.

Being able to do a supermarket shop without worrying about the total

Being able to get in a car/book a train to visit family for occasions without a second thought

Having a savings buffer

Having time - generally people with wealth have more time as they either have to do less or can pay for delegated services for things like cleaning

The last watch I bought cost £8 off Amazon. I wouldn’t in my wildest dreams pay £400. Plenty of stealth boasts on here.

£400 isn't cheap for a watch, £25 is cheap - never had one with over £250 in my life.

As for dinners out, £50 per year buys you a decent 2 course if not 3 course dinner (especially lunchtime) in some of the best places in the city, not a full tasting menu but decent, possibly a glass of house wine

🤦🏻‍♀️

My other half is quite well off .. He thinks nothing of paying for everyone's meals " because that's sharing the love" or upgrading his computer every few years and going for the £500 more deluxe version. He shops in M&S for a one off meal regularity and spends as much as I do for half a week.
He clearly knows nothing of the world of planning meals round yellow stickers or using credit to replace essential items like cars or laptops.
He's not tight with money so it's all good but I do think he just doesn't understand living on little money means you can't be grandiose and having old crap isn't a quirky lifestyle but just necessity.

I worked for many families that out sourced laundry. Sheets starched, pressed and returned every few days. Plus the washing machine would do two loads a day because everything got put in as soon as it got taken off. Kids would have new PJs every night dirty or not. I'd worry the clothes would wear out let alone the environmental damage.

Holidays abroad.
New Iphones, Ipads, tv and pc's.
Shopping for fun.
Expensive clothes.
Expensive jewelly.
Expensive bags.
Nannies.
Cleaners.
Takeaways and dining out.
Going to gigs, theatre and concerts.
A car.
Private health insurance.
Private schools and extra curriculum for kids.

‘new money’? Do you mean awfully common people who have made their own money rather than inheriting it. Goodness how awful 🙄
what a very snobby thread

This is exactly the point.

Twenty or thirty years ago, everybody had a watch. You needed one if you wanted to know what the time was.

Today, that role is taken by your phone.

Watches, have gone from being a practical piece of equipment that most people needed to what is, essentially, just a piece of jewellery.

A cheap watch in the past has been replaced by a cheap mobile phone today (which typically starts from around £50 at Tesco etc).

So when people are talking about "cheap" are you talking about watches as a functional piece of equipment to tell the time or are you talking about items of jewellery?

Your answer to that question will likely determine if you think that £400 is expensive for a watch or not.

For context, the last time I bought a watch (which I still have but don't wear very often) was about 15 years ago and I think it cost me less than £100.

My DH does have a brand of watch that has been mentioned earlier in this thread, that he also bought around the same time, and paid around £5k for it. Today, it appears to be worth slightly more than that.

Spontaneous living. A friend of mine asked me if I was free to go to Miami with her in 3 days for a week. I live in the UK. She was casually browsing flights as if they were Ubers.

Wish I could just book a flight, hire a last minute nanny and find somewhere to stay at such short notice.

I think it was Rishi Sunak who said something along the lines of: "people struggling with poverty just need to make more money"!

Spectacularly out of touch.

£400 watch is high end high street (eg thomas sabo), so definitely is accessible to most (even if you have to save a bit rather than impulse buy)

And in the same mind: - ... if you give up Sky you can afford a private school for your children.