Investing in Quality vs. Senseless Waste of Money

I think gambling is a waste of money.

I think gambling is a waste of money.

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But enough about the stock market....

Originally Posted by aportnoy

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#1) Just because you fantasize that you've made all the right sartorial decisions and that you somehow give off some sense of power or authority as a result is just pathetic. You're trying to make yourself feel important and justify your own decisions, it's laughable.

#2) Different strokes...people value different things and therefore spend their disposable income accordingly. Any effort to rationalize your choices over someone else's is sad and tells way more about you then your choice of tailor ever could.

#3) Buy what you can afford and brings you pelasure, the rest of this is noise.

Thus, endeth the lesson. Amen.

My philosophy has always been to buy at the level of quality that I can't blame the product for my performance. So far, this has included sporting goods, tools, various other consumer items. I would rather know that it's my inexperience or lack of talent that is the problem because that is something I can work on.

Business clothing and style is something new to me. I spend a lot of time in front of clients and when I was sartorially less experienced (ie. last year before I found this forum) I was constantly second guessing what I wore and if I looked like an idiot rather than focusing on what was important: the client. My investment in clothes has been an investment in my career. Of course, that can also be me rationalizing the emotional since I simply like dressing well.

I have certainly noticed that as I become more financially well off my tastes have become more expensive. I'm still trying to keep it balanced, though. As long as I'm dressing well so that that I'm focused on what's important and not jeopardizing my financial stability, it's my answer for now!

Originally Posted by Artisan Fan

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But enough about the stock market....

LOL

To be fair, the stock market financed my acquisition this year. All hail the bull run!

To me it's an aesthetic issue of quality clothing that has little if anything to do with investing.

Never thought of clothing as an investment or a waste of money.

Originally Posted by LabelKing

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I think gambling is a waste of money.
My Corporate Finance professor described it as a "tax on stupidity".

Originally Posted by California Dreamer

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My Corporate Finance professor described it as a "tax on stupidity".

Gambling is just entertainment like going to the movies, a club, or a bar. Obviously, the sums involved can be much greater. But that doesn't have to always be the case. Gambling is an enjoyable activity for the vast majority of the Earth.

There are people who make their livings gambling. They know what they're doing. Keeping trying at gambling when you lose is no difference than repeatedly trying to start up a failed business, although most people wouldn't think trying to start a business is a bad thing.

Originally Posted by California Dreamer

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My Corporate Finance professor described it as a "tax on stupidity".

I heard the "stupid tax" statement about the lottery a long time ago, too. There is some kind of irony when people waste their money on the lottery, only to have the collected profits go towards education.

Originally Posted by Dragon

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Never thought of clothing as an investment or a waste of money.

A sensible view, and one I share.

Originally Posted by masqueofhastur

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There are people who make their livings gambling. They know what they're doing. Keeping trying at gambling when you lose is no difference than repeatedly trying to start up a failed business, although most people wouldn't think trying to start a business is a bad thing.


Well, except that, unless you're making the book, someone else is setting the odds against you in a conscious attempt to take your money. This is not true in certain kinds of card games perhaps, but is certainly true in, say, sports betting. If you see it as an expense--an amount you pay for the entertainment the pursuit offers--it's no different I suppose than the opera. But betting on college football as a money-making enterprise is a mug's game. You're better off in the stock market.

Originally Posted by grimslade

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You're better off in the stock market.

An investment is an asset that appreciates over time. The quality of a suit may please you. The marginal utility you get from it (better cloth, workmanship, etc) may exceed its marginal cost over, say, a suit from the Men´s Wearhouse. That may make it a sensible use of money, but doesn´t convert it into an investment.

Investing and gambling aren´t the same. In both cases the payoff is volatile, but the huge long-term difference is that the odds with stocks are in your favor.

Originally Posted by grimslade

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Well, except that, unless you're making the book, someone else is setting the odds against you in a conscious attempt to take your money. This is not true in certain kinds of card games perhaps, but is certainly true in, say, sports betting. If you see it as an expense--an amount you pay for the entertainment the pursuit offers--it's no different I suppose than the opera. But betting on college football as a money-making enterprise is a mug's game. You're better off in the stock market.

Depends on the sport. In sports betting you just have to know what you're doing better than the other people you're playing against. The bookies set the lines, and if you can predict line movement you're doing quite well. I just bet on MMA and do well, around 20% profit each event. That's more than most people make off real estate and I can work with much smaller volumes of money. I compete in MMA as well though, so I have an understanding of it that 99% of bettors don't.