OK let’s say you win the lotto. For the purposes of this “What if,” the amount will equal to one million dollars (after taxes) per year. That means one million per year, every year for the rest of your life. Obviously you could spend that if you were reckless, but I wanted to keep it an nice big even number. So you spend a million in a year, and the next year you get another million. And it’s after taxes and it continues till you die.
That would be $2,739.72 per day or 144.16 per hour.
OK what “poor” things do you think you’d still do?
Would you still use coupons? Would you still shop at Walmart? Would you still hunt out the Salvation Army thrift box to get first dibbs?
Would you keep buying the generic food brands, wear Timex watches instead of Citizen?
Would keep darning your socks instead of buying new ones? Not use cleaners?
I would stick with using coupons and buying items on sale—To me it’s a cheap thrill to save a few bucks (with coupons or other discounts) each time I go shopping and I would see no reason to change due to an infusion into my net worth…
I would probably still hit the thrift stores for clothes, because I just don’t see the point in buying new all the time. That said, it would probably be just jeans and shirts kind of stuff. Outerwear and underwear would be new - I buy used coats now, but would like to get those new. (I’ve never bought used underwear!)
Other than that, I would totally get a cleaning lady and I can’t bother with coupons now, so I’m sure I wouldn’t then, either. I would probably shop at the local tiny organinc store where I get my produce now, a lot more, and would get the rest of groceries at Whole Foods.
When the CEO of the corporation that I used to work for retired, besides his many rent paid apartments around the world, and his corporate staff, all for free, his retirement paycheck is $750,000 per month.
Our stock has dropped to 10% of it’s former value, yet his retirement pay is more than most workers make in 10 years.
For him, living on $9 million a year is a huge cut in pay
I would buy a better house, of course, a better car, and would give a lot to charity. But I don’t know if I could change a lifetime of buying habits, I’ve always been frugal. I would most definitely still hit the thrift stores. Watches and jewelry…I don’t know, I have a lot now I don’t wear, it wouldn’t feel right to buy more and stick it in the jewelry box, just because I could. I’d still shop at Walmart and Target, but I think I would buy what I wanted without dithering about whether to spend the bucks. If I found great fitting jeans, I’d buy every pair in my size! Doritos? A bag of each flavor! I think I’d buy better food, definitely. And perfume, I would search out and buy my favorite perfume.
If I ever come into any serious cash, I’ll report back!
The only real lifestyle change for me would be that I’d send a picture of me holding the really big check, a nice 8x10 color glossy of my bare ass, and a tube of lipstick to my employer.
The first year, I pay off my house & student loan, maybe buy a nice truck–like a loaded F-150 or similar, and bank about $700K. The next year, I’d bank about $900k, and still live high on the hog by my standards. Continue like that for about 10 years or so. Once I’ve got more than I can ever spend in my wildest dreams safely squirreled away, I start having a little philanthropic fun with the annual million. Spend a day dropping $100 bills in the Salvation Army kettles. Random anonymous donations like that. No one would ever know who did it or why.
I don’t know if it’s a ‘poor’ habit, but I’d probably never own more than 3 or 4 pairs of shoes. And one pair would be well broken in walking/athletic shoes while another pair was a kick around doing yardwork or painting the house pair.
This is an interesting question; I do many of the things I do for good reasons (well, good to me); I don’t think that all of my reasons are just to save money, but a lot of them are. I reduce/re-use/recycle a lot of things because I’m morally opposed to waste, so I would still recycle everything, and use only what I need and try to get the most out of it. Just do it in a nicer house in a nicer neighbourhood.
I would try not to be wasteful, wouldn’t buy excess food I didn’t eat, try not to become a fat slob, etc. But I would definitely not be using coupons or shopping at thrift stores (I’m a college student and I don’t do that now though). I’d definitely be buying top of the line everything from here on out.
But the real reason I wanted to reply to this thread was to ask: People really darn stocks in the 21st century? I had to look up what darning was when I started reading Patrick O’Brian novels.
I darn my socks. I even have a darning egg. I sew my socks up till there is more repair than sock. But for some reason, I’m hard on socks, my toes keep popping through
I used to fix the holes in my sweat socks until I did the math that they cost about a buck a pair - I wear them until they don’t work for me anymore, then I buy new ones now.
I don’t think I would automatically buy top-of-the-line; in my experience, it isn’t always worth it (sometimes, but not always). I think I would still shop thoughtfully (comparing and figuring out what the best product for the best money is). I don’t think I could give up the thrill of bargain-hunting, either.
I’d buy (a) bike(s). (But they would be really nice ones)
I’d complete my manga collections for Naruto and Bleach.
I’d buy some more tools for my workshop.
(OK, this is off-topic, but I’m leaving out something. Dreadful.
I’d buy a big chunk of land, pay a professional trail builder to put in 20+ miles of singletrack, and only people I like could ride it. Guessing 3K/acre:
$3000/acre x 1000 acres=$3M
$5/ft x 25 miles x 5280 ft/mile = $660,000
I don’t think I’d change my lifestyle too much, other than not working, of course. I’d buy a decent - but not extravagant - house in a city where I’d like to stay. But I’d still do my own shopping, and if I wasn’t going out to eat, my own cooking. Probably wouldn’t do my own housecleaning.
I don’t shop at Wal-Mart, buy generic foods, or wear a Timex now, and I doubt that I’d start just because I won the lottery.
Books could break me. I’d have a hard time not spending money on out of print books that I can’t afford now. And then I’d have to buy a bigger house so I could have a library. And then I’d have to have custom bookshelves, and climate control. I could see that spiralling to unreasonable pretty quickly if I wasn’t careful. Anyway . . .
I just don’t think I’d change much, honestly. I’m fairly content with my middle-class lifestyle as it is; I’m just not crazy about having to get up every morning and go support it. Being able to support it without having to walk over to work Monday through Friday would just be gravy. I wouldn’t even need (or want) a million.
I’d still fix things around the house/apartment myself. I’d still try to give things like old clothes or appliances away to someone who can use them. Wasting things by simply throwing them out is offensive to me.
I wouldn’t ever buy $200 jeans. I’d still want to buy things on sale (clothes especially) rather than pay full price. I wouldn’t buy designer brand suits like Armani. Waste of money. I’d rather get custom-made, like I did with the couple of nice suits I do have right now. I might go for nicer materials, full custom instead of the cheaper semi-custom that I did, but I still see no need to pay for a designer’s advertising and a label instead of high quality.
I wouldn’t buy a mansion. My taste is more along the lines of Job’s new place or some of the houses I saw in this book, most of which cost around 1/4 million to build.
On further thought, give me the million after all. If I could afford to pay for first-class on international flights, my foreign travel would increase. A lot. I’d still be perfectly content to stay at the local equivilant of Hampton Inn or Holiday Inn Express, and rent a Ford instead of a Mercedes, but the one “poor” thing I would never do again is buy a coach seat on a flight longer than half an hour.
I’d still eat at McDonalds and Burger King. I’d still wear regular clothes, no $3000 designer crap. I might buy a $100 watch instead of $15 watches, but nothing fancier than that. I’d buy a decent new car but not a sportscar, a limo or a Hummer.
