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 will put a disclaimer that I don’t actually own a watch, and that dh’s watch is an off brand hand me down worth nothing at all. We recently took it to be fixed and the guy was perplexed at us wanting such a piece of shit fixed (sentimental value though). However, I do think it’s factually correct to say that a £400 watch is “cheap” in terms of what watches people who like them get. You can obviously get a plastic Casio for a tenner at Argos, but in terms of a fancy piece of jewellery or a watch that’s attractive/sophisticated or whatever, a £400 watch is cheap.

This is spot on

My sister in law fretting about how they’d afford to put #2 in private school. I’m afraid I reminded her that they didn’t have a mortgage to pay (because her daddy had already bought them a massive house outright) and she could always get a job. 🤷‍♀️

What kind of phone?
That's another one people drop £400 on and class as not expensive cause at least it ain't a £1200 I phone.

someone on a 'cost of living' post on here said it didn't matter that food had gone up so much because she has gone from a £95k salary to a £150k in the last 5 years.

I haven't ever seen someone so spectacularly fail to read the room in that way before.

Wow. I've never spent more than £35 on a watch or £20 on a bag!

Oh my gosh this made me cry. 💕

This thread reminded me of Charlie Haughey, former Irish Taoiseach ( prime minister.)

He was famous for being corrupt.

He told everyone in Ireland that they needed to "tighten their belts" and "stop spending money"

While he was wearing cashmere sweaters and living on his own private island. I remember he got the island redecorated at taxpayers expense.

The island was called something like "inisficheal" and the joke was that it was really called "inish fuck them all" . With the image of him sitting there laughing at everyone else

He was so corrupt he was funny!

I have spent on bags and I still have them all. I'm not buying mega high end. I spent £170 on a Donna Karan NY bag recently which had 40% off. I also bought an Italian leather bag that was reduced from $899 to $89 because the shop was in its final throes of closing down.

I think the dearest thing I've ever bought, relatively speaking, is when I was a student on a small grant in 1982. I dropped £100 on a pair of Italian leather boots which I wore for years. I'd probably wear them now if I knew where they were!

I find the watch debate a bit tiresome. I come from a v WC background and my Facebook is full of old school friends with what I'd bet are real Rolexes. Far from £400. Expensive watches are not just a middle/upper class thing. Have people gone through life not knowing about watches such as Rolexes? Which isn't even the aspirational, most expensive watch to have nowadays with many brands with far more eye-watering price points.

Does an expensive (to me anything above £30) tell the time any differently from a cheap one

If I got more time for my money, I guess I might consider it

£50 IS an expensive handbag to most! Wtf

Paris Hilton once wore a t-shirt saying

"stop being poor"

I've definitely seen that attitude in some wealthy people.

It's "just stop being poor! its your fault you are poor!"

I suppose it’s a bit like saying £1500 is cheap for a car. Or £80k is cheap for a house. It’s all relative.

I was shocked at the price of going to the cinema yesterday.

I bought one small coke and one small bag of sweets. I should have looked at the price before I bought them.

She charged me 11 pounds. 5 pounds for a small coke and 6 pounds for a small bag of sweets!

🙄 you’re oblivious to your own privelege. I would have to carefully budget to spend £50 on myself in any given month, let alone £400 on a watch of all things.

But the question wasn't "What is the most expensive thing you can imagine?" The question was what do wealthy people take for granted. For the vast majority of people in the UK, £400 is a lot of money to spend on a watch. Obviously they will be well aware that there are many watches much more expensive than that (and many selling for well over £40,000). But if £400 represents many multiples of the disposable income you have after paying essential bills, then it is expensive. Suggesting otherwise is just crass.

In what world is £400 cheap for a watch?
The one where you can get one for under £30 from Argos?

Ah can we move on from the watch

I think threads like these are always popular, yet they focus our attention on misery and comparison, which doesn't make for a very happy mindset or life!

I found it best to step away from them a good long time ago, and yet here I am, having not read the thread, spouting my thoughts, lol.

We’re not wealthy (which to me has connotations of not needing to earn/ have a job) but my husband earns well. Biggest thing I don’t have to think about that feels a luxury is tickets. I bought two tickets to see England today for £240 and I can just buy them. Bought tickets for cursed child at Christmas for 1k and although did have to discuss with my husband, it wasn’t an issue. Being able tk to see to a show/concert/match I like the look of, go on to the website and buy the best seats without having to budget or think about it is when I really feel the privilege I have now.

What we need is a bloody good ghost story thread

I can understand people spending tens of thousands on a watch as an investment. I can’t understand why anyone would wear one in public. You might as well walk around with a roll of bank notes strapped to your wrist and a sign saying, “MUG ME!”

i work in a private school and on camp recently. We found a pair of brand new Nike shoes with mud on them from the hike on the last day. Asking the students who owned them one boy said yeh they were mine. Just throw them out they are dirty.

There. I imagine you are most chuffed to get that off your chest. I am glad that you chose to share your ability to buy some tickets with an anonymous forum on the global internet.