I wouldn’t buy fancy cars because I can’t drive but I would get a chaffeur service or whatever, I can’t see myself using public transport if I didn’t need to.
I’d still go out to all the crap bars and clubs I go to now (or at least their equivalent in a new city, I would move out of Brisbane).
I’d buy nice clothes for important events but everyday wear I can see staying basically the same.
And I would totally still eat “poor” food, like takeaway chips and microwave meals and all sorts of nasty shit - I genuinely enjoy eating stuff like that. I probably wouldn’t eat it as often as I do now, but there would still be a healthy amount of grossness on my daily menu.
Oh, I’d do that too. I didn’t think of that as a “poo” thing, though. I’m pretty sure I’d still shop sales and use coupons. I’d still fly coach for domestic flights, and unless the hotel was the destination, stay in cheap hotel rooms (not fleabags, but if all I’m doing is sleeping there I don’t need a sitting room or a jacuzzi tub.)
I would still use public transportation. Quickest cheapest way to get from Queens to Manhattan, and I can always cab it home after a nice dinner and a bottle of wine.
I would probably lose my mind and buy until I became a huge horder…then I’d move to a bigger house and fill it up too. I worry if I ever DO come in to money. It’s unimaginable that I’d still count pennies or waste a minute clipping, saving and hunting for coupons or shop the sales like I have to do now.
Maybe I’d settle down after a few years, but up front I’d buy a car because I LIKE it, not because it’s cheap. I’d buy new clothes I love instead of waiting until Walmart has a clearance sale (because Goodwill rarely has anything in my size). I’d buy the best, healthiest foods instead of starchy fillers and canned tuna or ground beef. I would go where I want when I want and buy ridiculous amounts of presents for my loved ones.
While I might not have top-of-the-line best of everything, I’d buy what I WANT. And I would probably want a lot!
So nothing. I’d be changed so much I’d do nothing poor.
That’s the word I was looking for - “justify.” If I can’t justify spending more for something, I don’t see myself doing it. Just because I have more money doesn’t mean I need to waste it.
I think you’re right - I think a certain amount of comfort comes from feeling like, “This is who I am, and this is what I do.” I could afford to throw everything in the dryer now, but I don’t, because my habit is to line dry most of the things I wash.
I hadn’t thought of that angle; okay, I can justify having local people make custom things for me.
I would splurge on my hobbies. Build an observatory like I was a rich man in 1890, iow, large refractors. I would have an enormous amount of photo gear, too.
But, my home would not be a mansion. Aside from work, storage, and kitchen, I can’t see needing a huge amount of space. I would still drive pick ups and midsize cars. They’d be nice, tho.
I love couponing. I would still do it. Even now, we give away a lot of things we get free from combining coupons with sales. Feels good and it benefits someone. Why stop that?
I would still dine in more than out. I like my own (and my wife’s) cooking. It’s fun and good for us. But, I would probably switch from 2 liter bottles to individual cans of coke. Convenience, ya know?
“Poor things” I’d keep right on doing if^H^Hwhen I hit the lottery? Hmm.
Well, I’m sure I’d still take the NYC subway, if probably much less often - because when you get right down to it, depending on where you’re going and at what time, it’s often the fastest way of getting there, and I know the system like the back of my hand.
Similarly you’d still find me sitting at a table in a White Castle from time to time, because a few times a year I just gotta have me some of that crap and it’s usually while I’m walking by one, not driving by one. Ditto for the pizza place near my house. I’m still going to go there and sit and eat like any other person, be it as a retired pensioner, middle class wage slave or lottery winning bonus baby.
That and wear my underwear and socks until it’s got rips and holes in it. That’s just 'cause I’m a lazy guy who absolutely won’t go shopping for socks or underwear until it’s very clear that if I don’t, I will be freeballing and free-footing it the very next day, or doing the inside-out trick that I swore I would never do again after graduating from college.
If I were instantly rich… for any given item, I would spend double what I currently spend, which would yet be half what most other people spend, and yet still not enough to make a dent in a million dollars a year.
That’s just for personal stuff, though. I would probably be tempted to start some sort of business venture, and we all know how those things can rip everything away so suddenly that you’re left with nothing but the elastic waistband from your underwear.
I’d still walk places and take public transit when feasible. I don’t have to do those things now, but I still like doing them unless there’s a good reason not to.
My eating habits would stay at the same “poor” levels since they’re not influenced by my finances anyway. I’d still live in an apartment, at least for a few more years because having a house is no big thing to me.
I wouldn’t eat at fast food places any more, but I couldn’t ever eat at five-star restaurants, either.
I’d probably buy nicer clothes, but I’d still check the price tag, and I couldn’t ever spend more than X on any one item.
I’d buy a nice house, but not a mansion – just a pretty, comfortable, higher-end middle-class sort of house, with a bit of land around it, for gardening and privacy. And I’d probably grow at least some of my own veggies, just 'cause.
I’d still probably dress like a slob. I hate shopping for clothes, and with no job to go to (yeah, I’d quit that sucker quite soon).
I’d drive a regular car. My Honda CR/V is just fine for anything I’d like to do. I don’t need a Lexus or anything else in the luxury-car realm.
Agree with another poster that I’d still buy the store brand unless there was some reason the brand name was better (e.g. store brand raisin bran is yucky, Kellogg’s is better).
I’d assume I’d go through the money far too quickly - and make plans to have a lifetime of income (e.g. take a chunk and purchase a separate annuity - so that at the end of the payout period I’d at least have something coming in).
I’d continue funding my IRA to the maximum allowed by law. I’d max out the 401(k) as long as I did continue to work (since I doubt I’d quit that sucker right away - need time to get my head wrapped around the concept, do planning etc.).
