what can you "afford" to spend?

SkinnyGoomba · Mar 11, 2010

Originally Posted by DWFII

I don't know...isn't that the crux of what is being discussed here?

How many who rail against high end shirts or suits or shoes buy snack foods on a regular basis? How many eat TV dinners or pre-prepared food (MacDonald's)on a regular basis? How many can't start the day (or finish it) without a cup of Starbucks...not just coffee, but primo coffee. How many own a vehicle made less than ten years ago? How many get their hair cut at a "styling salon" rather than a barber? How many have the latest mobile phone? Or a 52" flat screen 1080 high def television set? How many drop big buck to see the Rangers play live?

Believe it or not a person can get by without any of that.

What is discretionary income?

I think people should spend their money on what they want to spend it on...what their priorities say is important to them. But be honest, Kraft singles on white bread isn't haute cuisine.

Are these common luxuries? I'm confused.

DWFII · Mar 11, 2010

Originally Posted by voxsartoria

Cross-forvm enfant terrible NewYorkRanger wrote a thoughtful manifesto to open his blog on the very topic of this thread. - B
Oh, I read it. I thought it was sensible. Not world shaking but sensible...with nothing of the nip-cheese parvenu we see in some of these discussions. Myself, I wouldn't pay to see the Rangers live...unless they were playing the Avalanche. Or perhaps the Ducks on those rare occasions when I'm in Irvine. That said, I have no style, none--a flash snab in borrowed cardinal, that's me..

DWFII · Mar 11, 2010

Originally Posted by SkinnyGoomba

Are these common luxuries? I'm confused.
Necessities rather...for some who can't afford a silk tie.

voxsartoria · Mar 11, 2010

Originally Posted by DWFII

Necessities rather...for some who can't afford a silk tie.

Have you ever read Ruskin's The Stones of Venice? If not, I think you would find it interesting. Ruskin's thinking was a major influence on the Arts & Crafts movement, and I find your viewpoint to be similar.

You can read it online, but that seems to be paradoxical.

- B

DWFII · Mar 12, 2010

Originally Posted by voxsartoria

Have you ever read Ruskin's The Stones of Venice? If not, I think you would find it interesting. Ruskin's thinking was a major influence on the Arts & Crafts movement, and I find your viewpoint to be similar. You can read it online, but that seems to be paradoxical. - B
I'm not well-read, either. Can you synopsize it for me? That said, I feel a great affinity for the Arts and Crafts Movement. I haven't studied it but what I know, what I've heard and what I've seen appeals to me on a very visceral level. Have you ever read Kipling's The Conundrum of the Workshops? ... [FONT=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica]The tale is old as the Eden Tree--as new as the new-cut tooth-- For each man knows ere his lip-thatch grows he's master of art and truth; And each man hears as the twilight nears, to the beat of his dying heart, The Devil drum on the darkened pane: "You did it, but was it art?" We have learned to whittle the Eden Tree to the shape of a surplice-peg, We have learned to bottle our parents twain in the yolk of an addled egg, We know that the tail must wag the dog, as the horse is drawn by the cart; But the Devil whoops, as he whooped of old: "It's clever, but is it art?" ... [/FONT]

Imperator · Mar 12, 2010

Originally Posted by DWFII

Oh, I read it. I thought it was sensible. Not world shaking but sensible...with nothing of the nip-cheese parvenu we see in some of these discussions.

Myself, I wouldn't pay to see the Rangers live...unless they were playing the Avalanche. Or perhaps the Ducks on those rare occasions when I'm in Irvine.

That said, I have no style, none--a flash snab in borrowed cardinal, that's me..

I don't think it's possible to use that word without coming off like an asshole.

SkinnyGoomba · Mar 12, 2010

I'm impressed with DFW's vocabulary.

DWFII · Mar 12, 2010

Originally Posted by Imperator

I don't think it's possible to use that word without coming off like an asshole.
Guilty as charged, then. I suspect it's something like styling oneself "Imperator."

SkinnyGoomba · Mar 12, 2010

Originally Posted by DWFII

Guilty as charged, then. I suspect it's something like styling oneself "Imperator."

You're always looking for a fight, its like your epic beard man in shoe-maker form.

DWFII · Mar 12, 2010

Originally Posted by SkinnyGoomba

You're always looking for a fight, its like your epic beard man in shoe-maker form.
I didn't characterize anyone or call them a vulgar name. But, yes, when pushed, I will sometimes push back.

Imperator · Mar 12, 2010

Originally Posted by DWFII

Guilty as charged, then. I suspect it's something like styling oneself "Imperator."
Fair point, though I would note that: a)At worst, my moniker makes me look like a pretentious blowhard. I'm not actively denigrating other posters with terms like "parvenu." b)I was a Classics major, so I think it's at least marginally defensible to have a latin moniker (but perhaps majoring in Classics makes me a de-facto asshole; that's certainly possible). c)I just think it's a cool word.

DWFII · Mar 12, 2010

Originally Posted by Imperator

Fair point, though I would note that: a)At worst, my moniker makes me look like a pretentious blowhard. I'm not actively denigrating other posters with terms like "parvenu." b)I was a Classics major, so I think it's at least marginally defensible to have a latin moniker. c)I just think it's a cool word.
I don't think I am, either. My comments were by way of a generalized musing. I was just following a train of thought. They weren't aimed at anyone in particular. Yours were though, weren't they? I looked for a word that expressed a certain concept without being... 1) clumsy 2) fraught with other implications that I didn't want to convey 3) I think parvenu is a cool word...much cooler than arriviste or "aspiring to a persona that is beyond one's means or comprehension." I am fond of cant and old language. My Trade is full of them...such as: snab, yickie-yeckie, whang, yerkin, taw...and I like using and even reviving them. And I don't have particularly impressive vocabulary...just a good thesaurus.

Imperator · Mar 12, 2010

Originally Posted by DWFII

I don't think I am, either. My comments were by way of a generalized musing. I was just following a train of thought. They weren't aimed at anyone in particular. Yours were though, weren't they? I looked for a word that expressed a certain concept without being... 2) fraught with other implications that I didn't want to convey
You're welcome to employ whatever words you want, but, as I said, I'm not sure "parvenu" is ultimately any better than "arriviste." It's a pejorative term, and also utterly gratuitous.

Aluan · Mar 12, 2010

Originally Posted by makewayhomer

from another thread: I've always wondered how people define "afford" in the context of a statement like "only buy what you can afford". off the cuff, 1 week of salary after taxes, seems like a lot for a purchase of shoes (that was the context of the above) that means somebody making $100k a year can afford $1,000 shoes. in a strict sense that is probably true, but my guess is that the average salary of someone spending $1k on shoes is more likely to be making $200k+ of course other variables play in to this. some people like food, others cars, others random expensive hobby X, and all of this needs to be budgeted in to total annual spend. but if you could generalize, how do you define "afford". what % of your salary do you think is about right to spend on shoes, shirts, suits, watches, etc? (it's not my intent at all to figure out what people make, and I don't want this thread to become that)
I spend a large percentage of my discretionary income (income minus taxes and required expenses) on clothing, and it looks like an extremely high percentage of my salary to spend on clothing. However, other than clothing, I spend extremely little on anything else that's not required. If I had a higher level of required expenses or if I had a lower salary, I'd spend a lower percentage of my salary on clothing, and vice versa. However, I don't pick items based on their price. I pick items based on what I want, and then figure out how many/how often/how soon I can buy those items given what I have budgeted for clothing.

Fuuma · Mar 12, 2010

Originally Posted by Imperator

I don't think it's possible to use that word without coming off like an asshole.

"parvenu"? C'mon I use it all the time, its often an apt descriptor of the way people here behave. On the other hand I didn't even know it was an english word, can't you guys just say "new money"?

what can you "afford" to spend?

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