Do you ever wonder why some of the wealthiest people on this planet appear to be very frugal in their patronage of some of the so-called finer things in life? They drive cheaper cars than their poorer peers, drink cheaper alcohol (if they drink at all), wear cheaper clothes which often have no hint of designer branding, etc…
“Give me all that money and I’ll show them a better way to spend it,” is often some ignorant mantra spewed by people who will be lucky to ever join the ranks of the wealthy, with the best that they can manage likely that of joining the ranks of the well-to-do. You cannot leave something like the quality of your life to fortune though because with so many people in this world, there is very little of that left to go around.
Of course when I refer to those wealthy individuals who seem to be living frugally I’m talking about the self-made kind – those who worked hard (and perhaps smartly too) to get to the favourable position they now find themselves in. It’s a totally different story when you look at it from the perspective of the well-to-do as that implies that that illusive good fortune I spoke of a little earlier. The likes of those kids who are born into a wealthy family and don’t understand the value which they squander by way of the money they spend so freely, usually on frivolous stuff like a lot of what is referred to as luxury goods.
I specifically speak about the wealthy to make a point about how to minimise costs and maximise value because in many ways the wealthy make for something to aspire to. In particular, the rich and famous individuals of this world are projected as something to aspire to. “If only I had X amount of money I’d live like celebrity A, B or C…”
That’s not the correct way of approaching the development of your ability to measure value and in so doing proceed to minimise costs while maximising the value you get. Value is not directly related to the price you’re made to pay for it otherwise that $30,000 watch which was handcrafted and is referred to as a timepiece instead of a watch would afford you some extra actual time in your life if its price had anything to do with any tangible value!
And I mean sure, there is sometimes a relationship between cost and value, but you need to be the one to be able to work it out.
So you need to look at how you manage your finances in your regular, everyday life if you’re to minimise your expenditure while maximising the value you get, such as when you’re playing around with wedding gift ideas for example. Instead of something outlandishly expensive which in effect offers very little tangible value, how about a nice gift basket filled with some delightful goodies the couple will enjoy using for quite a bit of time to come, or in fact you could even give them the gift of a relaxing spa treatment?
Bring the scope of focus down to your everyday life as well and you’ll realise that there are so many areas in which you can minimise costs and get maximum value.