I know plenty of people who do. Getting a more upmarket Mercedes than their neighbour. A Rolex rather than a Seiko, $1000 Snap-On socket set for fixing a bike once a year and $5,000 SLR camera and lenses just for a few holiday photos.
Never really bothered me. As long as I’ve got something which ‘does the job’ then I’m happy.
Do you go for decent stuff rather than someting which will supposedly impress others?
Impressing others has never figured into my buying anything.
I think the universal response will be “no, we don’t ever buy stuff to impress others.” Even by people who clearly do.
I have some nice stuff. I don’t think got any of it to impress other people. Who would even know if I had a $1000 socket set or a $5000 camera. I don’t mind spending big bucks for things I want, but what other people might think about it doesn’t really enter into the decision making process.
I have experienced calling myself maintaning a status quo. In some ways I enjoyed it as I would have never owned a lot of nice things if I didn['t feel it was expected of me. I am talking middle class nice things.
The things I like, most people wouldn’t understand.
The few people who do understand are impressed.
So, no.
Nope. Everyone I know owns a house. I rent. Almost everyone I know has a smart phone and an iPad. I’m content with my laptop and Kindle and don’t plan on upgrading any time soon. I’m a dork and don’t care, really.
But I can understand the mentality and even sympathize with it. I may not keep up with the Jones too ostentatiously, but even I don’t like the idea of trailing way too behind the pack… And there are very few people who don’t care at all about how they rate against others. And it’s not always about material possessions. The person who constantly thinks about how attractive/unattractive they are relative to their “rivals”…they are also playing the “keeping up with the Jones’ game”.
No, in large part because I spent much of my childhood as a captive audience to my mother, who would rant and rave for hours on end that we COULDN’T do that. The phrase made no sense to me at the time, because we didn’t have any neighbors named Jones.
She would throw a screaming, foot-stomping fit if she saw neighbors getting into a car at mealtime, carrying anything other than groceries into their house, etc. :rolleyes:
No.
Nope.
We live in a small house that you can’t even see from the road. My daily driver is a 2000 Saturn. My wife drives a 2001 Saturn.
I don’t even know who the Joneses are. And why don’t they try to keep up with me for a change?
I guess I do. I own a brand new 5 series, my wife drives an Grand Cherokee srt. I also live in a too large house in a nice neighborhood.
I don’t think we are competing though. We make 3-4 times more then any of our friends or anyone who I have any clue what they make. We buy nice things because we enjoy them and can afford them. I’d assume that my neighbors think we are doing just that though.
No. And particularly not regarding electronics. Our PC is about eight years old now. My phone is still the first one I ever had, a dumb phone I got in 2010. The wife does have a few gadgets, but she’s not trying to keep up with anyone.
Yes but not in the way you describe. I think I’d like to try living in a van or a tent, but fear of what people would think if I wasn’t living in a house or apartment stops me. Being a vagabond sounds appealing (but the -10F winter may put a damper on that). So in that regards, yes. I live indoors in permanent housing out of fear of judgement.
I don’t care what anybody thinks of me and my stuff, but I do buy nice things when I want them (usually geeky stuff like electronics or gaming stuff or nerdy art). I used to be interested in impressing people with my cars (more about “cool” than price), but then I had an epiphany: who am I really trying to impress? I think I have one friend who even gives a damn about that sort of thing, and the rest don’t even care.
We make enough money that we can buy anything reasonable that we want, but neither of us is interested in status symbols like fancy clothes/watches/etc. Closest thing is the spouse has a high-end motorcycle, but that’s because it was the one he wanted, not because he was trying to impress anyone.
There aren’t really any “Joneses” in our circle of friends, since we all have different priorities and none of us are the traditional “big house, fancy car, flashy jewelry” types.
I get my lawn treated and keep my flower beds tidy because my neighbors on either side have nice lawns and beds. Also I don’t want my dandelions going into their lawns.
Otherwise no. The Joneses don’t notice me anyway.
The damn fucking problem is, though, that impressing others HEAVILY figures into the marketing strategies of the product makers, who are so obsessed with designing products to IMPRESS others that they forget that, impressive or not, SOME people would still like products that, you know, actually work well. You just don’t see much of that on the market any more.
So yeah, we’re all sort of stuck buying impressive-looking shit because it sometimes seems that’s all that anyone makes any more. The alternative being, to be come an ascetic hermit and go live in a hollow tree. As a matter of fact, that sounds awfully appealing.
Preach it. I want my phone to phone people - I don’t much care what else it can do. I want my furniture and appliances to outlast me, not break down in three years.
We don’t do much keeping up on purpose; we had an interesting experience with the brand-new 2012 Mustang we bought, though (that looks just like this one). I’ve never driven a car as awesome as this one, and I have to grudgingly admit, I like riding around in the hotness. 
Mostly we try to make our purchases based on things that make a lot more sense than what other people are doing, though.
Around here, **I am **“The Jones”. Not that I try to be, or that anybody else cares or even notices.
Hell, I’m a “Jones” in my mind!
I guess the answer is “No”.
I drove a 97 Saturn until the repair would have cost more than the car was worth, and then bought a Prius. We have a big house which we bought to have room for kids and offices - and books, lots of books. But looking at the balance on our investment account gives me more pleasure than owning a luxury car ever would.
But I must say our neighbors are not ostentatious either, so there is no one to keep up with.
OK, my neighbor is named Jones and he is a nice guy! My Willys and trucks are slower then his. My bike is much faster then his, and he does not even own an airplane! I have a 1/10th share in one. Thus my airplane is faster then his. However, I do not own a horse, so his is faster then mine! Oh and he has goats, and chickens, not I. Yet I have two turkeys, he has none, so there is that.
I can not afford to try to keep up with anyone! No Smith, Jones, nor Kennedy.
I do, however, buy quality equipment when I buy. Snap-on, Mac, S-K Wayne, and Klien tools are some of the brands I buy. I have bought some old tools whose name I have never heard before because I can tell that they are of good quality. I have an old pipe wrench that I inherited from my grandpa. It is large and heavy, It is made well and I expect to pass it on to my son. He and I use it often. It has no brand stamped on it.
So no, my neighbor and I do not compete to see who is best. We know who and what we are.
