A follow up question to Ike's post about having a ka zillion dollars.

Ruth n Jersey

Ruth n Jersey

Well-known Member
Location
Northern New Jersey
I mentioned Ike's thread about having a Ka zillion dollars at dinner tonight. My question is how long do you think it would take for you to get in the mind set of having that much money. The younger ones at the table seemed like they would have no trouble getting started spending. I think it would take me some time. Would you still clip coupons, go to dinner on seniors night, cut up old Tee shirts for rags, cut your own grass and clean your house, get every bit of soap out of the dish detergent bottle and toothpaste tube, try to buy on sale items only,make a meal from leftovers? I've done all these things for years and I think it would take me quite awhile to break the habit.
 

I think that I would still continue to do many of the things that I've done all my life. If I became rich I would still want value for my money. The biggest adjustment for me would be having to get used to servants. They would probably end up sitting around the kitchen table having coffee or a cocktail while I tossed a load of laundry in the washing machine. I'm afraid I would be a pudgy version of granny Clampett, LOL!!!

It reminds me of a little story I read about Queen Elizabeth. The chefs in the royal kitchen had made a special cake for her and when it was presented to her she only took a very thin sliver of the cake, the rest of the cake was returned to the kitchen where one of the chefs devoured it! The next day Her Majesty asked that the leftover cake be served for tea. The chefs went into a panic and made a new cake complete with a missing sliver just in time for tea, LOL!
 
I would still want value for my money, but, I'll pay someone else to clip my coupons and tear up my rags. I haven't any problem with employing others, it would be contributing to the job pool. :D. I would still live humbly, except for the steam room right off the bedroom and other such conveniences.
 

I don't clip coupons or tear up rags now. I do buy sale items and I would continue to do that. I do give old t-shirts to my husband for rags but he usually uses his dozens of red rags anyway. Old sheets go in the dog house. I doubt it would be hard for me to change because I would not want the "hey look at me I'm rich" life style. I'd buy a nice SUV but it wouldn't be flashy. I'd buy a nice house and hire a gardener. I don't know if I could get used to having servants in my house. I would have someone come in once a week to do the floors and bathrooms but I wouldn't want someone around all the time. Unless I couldn't take care of myself. I think I could get used to being rich real fast. :eek:
 
I wouldn't go to yard sales anymore. I'd go to malls instead. I wouldn't kill myself trying to save money by going to several stores looking for the lowest price. I'd do all my shopping at Whole Foods - period. I wouldn't be flashy or advertise my wealth, but I would be understatedly elegant and I'd enjoy buying quality merchandise because I could afford it. I'd never FIX things anymore. I'd toss them or get someone else to do it, unless it's sewing a button back on. LoL. :eek:
 
Ruth, I never do any of the things you listed now, so I certainly wouldn't then!

The thing about cutting up tee shirts for rags made me smile. I have a tendency to grow fond of my tee shirts, and continue them long after they've probably achieved "rag" status. So I'd probably continue doing that, but not for financial reasons.

Interesting question, though. I wonder how many zillionaires continue with frugal habits they learned early in life?
 
Sunny, I knew a rich lady who reused envelopes. She did a lot of other things to be frugal that I thought were down right silly. Once at a church yard sale she told me to stop wasting masking tape, because I was using about 1/2 an inch for each price tag. She wanted me to cut that amount in half. And she hadn't purchased it, I brought it to the sale for anyone who wanted to use it. It was a masking tape donation for gosh sakes. Get wild with it for all I care. I had swiped it out of my husband's shop, he didn't care what we did with it. Penny pinching things like that really chap my hide!
 
A couple I once knew used paper towels instead of napkins at the dinner table. They said it saves money. I wonder how much they were actually saving by doing that. And it was just kind of weird.
 
I use paper towels instead of napkins, use old rags, old envelopes, scrape out cans, cut open toothpaste tubes, rinse out bottles and more, LOL!!!

"I enjoy being frugal, for me it's a game that doesn't cost anything and doesn't hurt anybody." - Aunt Bea

"I would rather have my people laugh at my economies than weep for my extravagance." - Oscar II of Sweden

“He that will not stoop for a pin will never be worth a pound.” - Samuel Pepys

“With parsimony a little is sufficient; without it nothing is sufficient, but frugality makes a poor man rich.” - Seneca
 
I really don't think having a bunch of money would give me the 'big head'........I'd still be the same big, sweet, adorable lummox that I've always been. :)
 
Aunt Bea, here's another quote, from Auntie Mame: "Life is a banquet, and most poor suckers are starving to death!"
 

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