If you could blow up the world with the flick of a switch
Would you do it?
If you could make everybody poor just so you could be rich
Would you do it?
If you could watch everybody work while you just lay on your back
Would you do it?
If you could take all the love without giving any back
Would you do it?
And so we cannot know ourselves or what we'd really do...
With all your power
With all your power
With all your power
What would you do?
YeahYeahYeah Song - Flaming Lips
A few weeks ago on television it was reported that Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes spent over $20,000 on the baby nursery. The money was spent on everything from designer furniture to that $65 teddy bear that Katy couldn’t resist.
I thought that was a crazy amount of money to spend on something that is so temporary for a baby’s first two years of life.
With all that money, what would I do?
I assured my self that if I was filthy stinkin’ rich, I wouldn’t spend like that or change my habits…much. Okay, maybe a little. Our first crib and changing table were hand-me-downs seven times removed. They eventually fell apart so we bought new furniture for El, but that was under $250 from target on-line. Maybe, I’d buy a new house too, so that we could have more room. We’d probably need a new car to lug around the kids in comfort. One with a dvd player. And they would need all the latest and greatest toys – the kinds that are educational. Cute clothes…not the kind with cartoon characters. But other than that I wouldn’t spend much. That’s not much is it? Maybe, I’d get a few more CD’s for myself and take the family on really great vacations. I don’t think I’d change much from my thrifty ways…not much.
If I could buy anything I wanted, while others are scrapping by – would I do it?
*****
Willpower:
Yesterday, I passed up candy bars in the kitchen. Today, I passed up Panera pastries in the kitchen. For lunch, a rep brought Dean and Deluca sandwhiches – yummy!
7 comments:
If I was filthy rich, I would probably buy nicer brand name items but nothing too extravagant. I would not pay $65 for a teddy bear that is for sure. The crib I am looking at is about $110 at Babies R US. The changing table is $100. Not bad!
When I spend money I oftentimes wonder how it would appear to someone in a poor region who has never had that kind of money.
I think it is all perspective. Spending a few hundred on a baby's room would probably appear just as extravagant to someone who lives in a shanty town in South Africa, or who lives in a ramshackle apartment in Russia.
The perspective we are talking about is about two american families. Tomkat vs. goldendust.
I know that if I were Tom I would let Katie spend the $20 grand because what's $20 grand compared to keeping her happy? Especially when I am worth millions.
I think that if I had become rich several years back I would be less frugal with the money. Any more, if I became rich I don't think I would spend all that much. Thing is, I don't know that I would be as giving as I should be either.
If I were rich, I'd live debt free and pay cash for everything! How cool would that be? I want that car, here's the money for that, no lien holder! :)
If I were rich, I'd buy any CD I wanted--oh wait, I already do that. I would probably spend $85 bucks on Depeche Mode tickets--oh yeah, I did that too. Well I would just buy the other half of my duplex
I think over the years our income has gone up incrementally, and so has our habitual spending, but the extravagances have never popped up. It'd be nice to just pick out something you like, say a piece of furniture, and buy it without waiting for a bargain or just plain not being able to do it. Though I love to duplicate something really expensive for cheap - like the Design on a Dime show on HGTV.
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