Whether it’s expensive computers, nice cars, or meals at five star restaurants, everyone has a weakness for something expensive. While it’s OK to indulge ourselves every now and then, it’s important to treat these splurges as a personal weaknesses, and work to minimise their prevalence.
Mr. Money Moustache explains how he sees his own luxury items:
If I were to get used to all of this, to feel like it were my inalienable right to have it, and become unhappy if I could not have it, I would be pretty much screwed. Because at that point, I would have designed a lifestyle so narrow and delicate, that it could easily be toppled by something as trivial as an economic collapse.
And yet people do this all the time. Most people, even. When you borrow money to buy a consumable product, you are instantly teetering atop the ultimate house of cards. You are getting yourself used to the rare luxury of your new toy, even while you are speeding up the treadmill you have to run upon even to get close enough to use it.
The real trick, according to Mr. Money Moustache, is to enjoy your luxuries from a position of strength, rather than dependence. For example, I’ll occasionally splurge on a bottle of Chimay to celebrate something, but I try not to let that diminish my enjoyment of more reasonably priced beers. This is all about how you perceive the things you spend money on, but it’s great advice to remember whenever you do want to splurge.
Luxury is Just Another Weakness [Mr. Money Moustache]
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