Are Status Symbols the Biggest Indicator of One's Financial Wealth?


I always love the statement of, "Nothing is wrong with having an iPhone just make sure you have iPon (savings)." which is true.  The problem of children, teenagers and EVEN adults is that they want to look fancy so others will think they are rich, even if in the reality they aren't even rich or are probably even broke.  Many try to live like that they have millions but are in reality, broke.  And personally, status symbols are usually just to brag.


Remembering the 90s, I remembered the system wars that kids had which for me made me realize why I'm thankful I didn't have all those video game systems.  For one, some snotty classmates of mine picked on me because I didn't have all those systems.  Some of the so-called 'rich' kids had a SNES, Sega systems, etc. which they say, "I'm rich because I have lots of these stuff."  Well it's pretty natural for a child to be conceited but sadly, some of these go beyond adulthood.  Later I realized how many of these systems I wanted as a child got so obsolete so fast.  Later I found myself playing SNES games and Sega games on a PS2.


I mean I only had my Playstation systems which sadly, my PS1 is no longer operating as it's not as sturdy my PS2 (which had better technology).  In my case my PS2 was not bought brand new but at a discount, since I wanted to be sensible plus most of my later peers were discount buyers.  One who bought it brand new offered me to play with him and told me that if I were budget conscious, I'd better wait for the discount since I'll have a whole wide variety of games to choose from later.  As of late, I have dropped myself to being a lower casual gamer than a pro-gamer... since I view games as a want than a need.  Also, I really am glad I didn't buy any XBox or Nintendo systems (consoles) while I may want to buy a Nintendo handheld due to my soft spot for Super Mario... but it's all a want.


Samsung vs. Apple.  I regret to say that I lost my iPod 5 with a faulty motherboard and I won't get it repaired because it will hurt my wallet (but not like spending it on one will make me poor, just that I'm pretty much still a budgeting buyer)... which also reminded me why I don't buy VIP tickets to every concert I've attended abroad.  For one, I thought of it that I am thinking of buying a Samsung Galaxy Mega instead of a Samsung Galaxy S due to price issues.  For one, Samsung has better repair and easier use.  I hate using Apple laptops not because of the price but the lack of ease.


When having a car, I remembered arguing over why I got a Toyota instead of a BMW when I was still a child.  My former best friend (who's broke) used to have very expensive cars which were all later sold to pay off his gambling debts.  Later on, I was able to get another Toyota car which after being subjected to some painful repairs, it was easy to find parts compared to if I were driving in a Mercedes Benz (which sadly attracts a lot of bad attention from crooks).  I grew to appreciate the cars that were good for public service, because if it's good for public service then it must have good performance!


And I later thought, some people have expensive lifestyles but are actually flushing money in the process.  After all driving a super duper expensive car means when it gets bumped, it's not anything special and will still need repairs.  Yet repairs will cost a lot more than the affordable quality cars.  They may be attending flamboyant parties, living in huge mansions but actually owe other people a lot of money.  Some of the richer actually live in modest houses.  In fact the indicator of one's wealth is not lifestyle but the amount of money earned in business and the amount of savings in the bank.  No wonder spendthrift people usually end up cheating others or doing anything for money because decent money can't support their lifestyles.

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