What can I purchase which is in fact inexpensive, yet gives the impression of being, or is commonly thought to be, very expensive?
It seems plausible that the list of expensive-seeming things and the list of fairly inexpensive things might have some points in common. The main question would be how to figure out what they are, and which ones actually suit your taste.
I don’t think that’s an accurate rephrasing of the question, to be honest.
One-off expensive purchases tend to be considerably cheaper than repeat-purchase habits which add up over time. If there were a select number of individual prestigious and genuinely expensive purchases I could make, that’d be ideal.
A flashy wardrobe would be an expensive one-off purchase. A flashy car would be a purchase I’d have to keep paying for in upkeep.
Sounds like my attempt to be specific backfired. Inexpensive is probably a misleading term for the context—you really want protection from unwise habits and ongoing costs, i.e. expenses that are higher than they seem and non-obvious. Ultimately it seems like the wardrobe gives more status per dollar than the car. I wonder if something like a really nice bike would be good?
This is the key. sixes and sevens, what you buy should be the good stuff, of whatever it is. Not profligate, but putting in the effort to obtain quality. Basically, develop taste in everything.
Good correction. Inexpensive is a misleading word to describe what is being looked for. The wardrobe is expensive but not in as dangerous of a sense as a car. Would you say the car example is more dangerous because of ongoing maintenance costs or because of the habits it would be likely to change?
Here’s one way to phrase the question:
What can I purchase which is in fact inexpensive, yet gives the impression of being, or is commonly thought to be, very expensive?
It seems plausible that the list of expensive-seeming things and the list of fairly inexpensive things might have some points in common. The main question would be how to figure out what they are, and which ones actually suit your taste.
I don’t think that’s an accurate rephrasing of the question, to be honest.
One-off expensive purchases tend to be considerably cheaper than repeat-purchase habits which add up over time. If there were a select number of individual prestigious and genuinely expensive purchases I could make, that’d be ideal.
A flashy wardrobe would be an expensive one-off purchase. A flashy car would be a purchase I’d have to keep paying for in upkeep.
Sounds like my attempt to be specific backfired. Inexpensive is probably a misleading term for the context—you really want protection from unwise habits and ongoing costs, i.e. expenses that are higher than they seem and non-obvious. Ultimately it seems like the wardrobe gives more status per dollar than the car. I wonder if something like a really nice bike would be good?
This is the key. sixes and sevens, what you buy should be the good stuff, of whatever it is. Not profligate, but putting in the effort to obtain quality. Basically, develop taste in everything.
Good correction. Inexpensive is a misleading word to describe what is being looked for. The wardrobe is expensive but not in as dangerous of a sense as a car. Would you say the car example is more dangerous because of ongoing maintenance costs or because of the habits it would be likely to change?