-id also do all my own work on my car cuz i have tools at my parents home and nearly all my friends from highschool are trades people.
I’m saying most of those habits are actually very common with people who work in the financial industry. You often see them in fancy restaurants, popping bottles of champagne… when the bank pays for it. Other than that, most of the people I work with try to save every penny they can even though in the end it’s not significant in their total wealth. That’s very common of finance people. And even more common is for them to save a lot on every aspect of their life, and spend crazy amounts of money on a single thing with which they are obsesed. Most finance people are cases for psychanalysis of spending habits. CAFicionado Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > cosine Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > Cheapness is pretty much a common denominator > in > > the financial industry. Except when it comes to > > real estate. > > cosine’s denominator remark is not tangent to the > issue
cosine Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I’m saying most of those habits are actually very > common with people who work in the financial > industry. You often see them in fancy restaurants, > popping bottles of champagne… when the bank pays > for it. Other than that, most of the people I work > with try to save every penny they can even though > in the end it’s not significant in their total > wealth. That’s very common of finance people. And > even more common is for them to save a lot on > every aspect of their life, and spend crazy > amounts of money on a single thing with which they > are obsesed. Most finance people are cases for > psychanalysis of spending habits. > Aren’t accountants the same?
I noticed this too. Given how much many finance jobs pay, I’m sometimes surprised at how “cheap” many people in the industry can be. I’m sure that there is a psychological explanation, where both daily behavior and industry orientation are explained by a common concern about money. I’ve never been one to demand the best champagne, the best rolex, the best X, Y, Z. (though an occasional splurge is important to feeling that life has some nice things to take advantage of), but the thought of grabbing extra sweet-n-lows from the coffee shop, for example, so that I don’t have to buy them at the supermarket is just beyond me (not picking on that poster, it’s just the example that seems clearest). Yet I know lots of people like that. I also think that my time is valuable. I will pay $5 more for something so I don’t have to run across town and back and get it cheaper somewhere else. If it adds an hour to my day to save $5 or $10, I’d rather just pay to have my time back. Peace of mind is worth a lot. I will run across town to save $100, but not $5. Personally I’d rather have fewer things, and spend more on having them be nice things. One can overpay for nice stuff too, and I’ll shop to get nice things inexpensively. A lot of people can’t resist buying a bargain, whether they want it or not, so their homes are filled with lots of bargain stuff that they might not have wanted in the first place, except for the price.
I went with a Breitling instead of the Rolex. If I see another blue and gold Submariner I’m going to puke.
I drink long-necks from brown paper bags on the way home from work in my suit. Pure Class.
Internet poker player here too, Farley! I use real money, though. lol Woot. I took a few months off and went to Vegas to play live before getting ready for school. Funny though, I can be real cheap about other spending habits and I still prefer to drink bottled beer at the local bar than go somewhere super fancy.
I’ll go to China, Akanska. I did a study abroad there a few years ago. Good times.
any recommendations? Flying into Shanghai and planning to do the “we’ll see from there” plan as far as going to Beijing, etc. I’m a little anxious as to the weather in the north in late November, but I don’t want to miss the sights either. Anyone here have ridiculous car anecdotes? My first car was a 15 year old VW Fox that had electrical problems. Every time I had to start the car I needed to pop the hood and detach the fuel hose and spray aerosol ether into it. Once I was too poor for the monthly mechanic/insurance bills- I bought a suzuki gs500… 36 a YEAR to insure!! Sometimes I feel like I would never be a successful trader bc of my inherent fear of loosing money. I'm missing the "gambling" gene, I was really uncomfortable the whole time I was in vegas once. I nearly have a heart attach when I mistakingly leave a 5 bill in a pair of pants I send to dry clean. I don’t keep all my savings under the mattress, but about 90% of it is in an MMA… I guess thats a good thing considering whats happened to my 401k in these last 18 months.
>A lot of people can’t resist buying a bargain, whether they want it or not, so their homes are filled with lots of bargain stuff that they might not have wanted in the first place, except for the price. That is probably true, and I suspect it is because cheap stuff is low risk/return investment. Even if you later realize you did not want/need it and do not use it, at least you spent so little. I guess people are really risk averse… By the way, why do you people need watch anyway? I thought I am the only one in stone age who does not have cell phone?
you sound like a perfect candidate for xzibit to pimp your ride… lol akanska Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Anyone here have ridiculous car anecdotes? My > first car was a 15 year old VW Fox that had > electrical problems. Every time I had to start > the car I needed to pop the hood and detach the > fuel hose and spray aerosol ether into it.
bchadwick Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > > Personally I’d rather have fewer things, and spend > more on having them be nice things. One can > overpay for nice stuff too, and I’ll shop to get > nice things inexpensively. A lot of people can’t > resist buying a bargain, whether they want it or > not, so their homes are filled with lots of > bargain stuff that they might not have wanted in > the first place, except for the price. I’ve been totally guilty of this. I have an entire drawer of clothes that I’ve never worn, including sweaters, dress shirts, polos, and even a couple pairs of dress slacks. They are all new with tags. My mentality when I bought them was that they were on sale and I could always “stock up” for a later time, but I either find that the clothes I already have last longer than I thought, or that I’ll look at the clothes I saved and think to myself, “What was I thinking when I bought that?” Overall, it didn’t trouble me at the time when I bought them because they were all at a pretty fair discount to their sticker price, and I thought they were worth it too. However, it’s when I realize that I’m running out of space in my apartment that the buyer’s remorse really kicks in. I’m going to see if I can return some of this stuff, and just put it on eBay if I can’t. Does anyone know if Nordstrom, Bergdorf Goodman, or other department stores are really sticky about their return policies being a certain number of days, or are they willing to accept returns pretty much whenever you want just so that they can ensure the customer is happy?
numi- Every once in a while you’ll find Gap and BR clothes at Nordstrom Rack… strange, but their return policy is beyond absurd. Kinda like Costco in the good old days. You returning something you actually bought there and haven’t worn is no problem, even if its been a month or two. I would assume Bergdorf Goodman runs a similar policy (I know saks does- a friend worked there).
I wear a flat billed baseball cap
akanska Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > numi- > > Every once in a while you’ll find Gap and BR > clothes at Nordstrom Rack… strange, but their > return policy is beyond absurd. Kinda like Costco > in the good old days. You returning something you > actually bought there and haven’t worn is no > problem, even if its been a month or two. I would > assume Bergdorf Goodman runs a similar policy (I > know saks does- a friend worked there). OK – I remember you mentioned this earlier akanska, about how Nordstrom seems to accept returns for all kinds of stuff. But how is it that they take returns for Gap and BR? Don’t those stores sell their own stuff? I have a couple of brand new Ferragamo ties that I bought from Bergdorf last year. They were “on sale” and I figured, at $99, they were worth it. But now that I look at the patterns, they just don’t really do it for me. I guess I sort of felt like I needed to try the whole “banker” image and see if it worked on me, but I don’t even really like them. So now I have a couple of ties with funky jungle animal prints just hanging in my wardrobe. I was thinking about giving them away as Christmas gifts to the senior partners here, but considering how expensive they are, it would just make me look like a sycophant. Basically, I have to return them or put them on eBay. BTW did you get my message this weekend?
how? I honestly don’t know. I cannot imagine how they could think they would “offend” a customer by not accepting a return when its so blatantly obvious the item was not even purchased there. You can just take them in and say they were a gift and see what happens. I didn’t get your message- I’ll check tonight. Spent a weekend glued to the TV watching the Olympics. Except for one moment last night where I was running around the house like a little kid and jumping up and down on my bed after an old teammate’s brother managed to touch out the French in the 4x100 free relay. Woo-hoo Jason!! The only good thing to ever come out of Irvine California!!!
Akanska, I’ve been to China once and Hong Kong twice. There are so many things to do in China its unbelievable. I would also recommend going to the HK if you have a chance. I’m not sure how far you are planning to go within China but some of the cooler places I went are below: 1. Obviously the wall…going is a must. You can’t skip it. 2. The terracotta warriors…I believe they are in the city of Xian or something like that. 3. The Forbidden City is amazing…its in Beijing as well so you need to go there. Also the Summer Palace is pretty cool. 4. The Stone Forest…I believe it is in Kunming Don’t know if that helps you at all but either way, you will love China. It’s such a different place then North America (I’m from Toronto). It can get a bit awkward at some points…I found that the Chinese just gawked at myself and family as we looked so different haha. So that was interesting.
Bump… 1. I make tuna or PB&J sandwiches 5 days a week at work to save money. 2. I never pay more that 50 cents for coffee at Starbuck’s. I just give them my thermos and say “refill please”. 3. I buy gas at Costco w/o being a member there (hint: you can use your Amex card when it asks you to swipe your “costco membership card”, the machine can’t tell the differece" 4. I am thinking about selling this ----> http://www.uncrate.com/men/images/bmw-325i-2006.jpg to get this (to save money) ----> http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1e/3rd_Honda_Accord_DX_sedan.jpg/800px-3rd_Honda_Accord_DX_sedan.jpg Still need some motivation for #4…
I miss Farley013
Bump I ask for a water cup and get pop anyway.