[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by feh

I see your point, but I disagree with this statement, depending on what you mean by "responsible". The older I get, the more repulsed I become by our consumerism culture. It's so widespread and just accepted that most people don't even realized they're constantly being marketed to.

Let's take the Howell's (of Giligan's Island) for example. They've got money to burn - they can afford anything they want. Does that make it ok to spend $20K on jewelry? Is it ok to spend $100K for an exotic sports car.

In my opinion, it's not ok. That kind of spending is pure indulgence.

That's an interesting point. How much is too much to spend, no matter how much you earn or how well set you are financially? I don't know the answer (or if there is an answer) but I agree with your thinking. I've often said that no matter how much I earned, I couldn't see myself ever paying more than 30K or so for a car. Even if I was a billionaire, I don't think I would be comfortable going out and spending 100K for a car. But then what do you do with all that money? I guess you could just give more to charity, and that is certainly a good option, but if you've worked hard and been successful, I'm not sure it is anyone's place to say you can't enjoy the fruits of your labor or that you are obligated to give away your money.

I don't know that it is "wrong" for someone to do it, though. I've often said that as long as all of our financial needs are being met and we are saving adequately for retirement and college, as well as supporting charitable causes that we care about, how the remainder of the money gets spent doesn't really matter. Of course, I'm not talking about the level of spending that you referred to. I'm talking about going out for the $100 dinner instead of the $25 dinner.