I returned to Paris last week and was lucky enough to catch up briefly with another American expat. He and I are about the same age and our backgrounds are similar, so conversation flowed easily.
One topic we discussed was inflation was inflation: how it impacts people in different ways, depending upon their age and buying habits, and how we mentally get stuck in a period of time or particular economic environment that locks us into a certain idea of what is a ‘fair price’ for things and what is (now) too expensive.
Let me clarify these two points: inflation impacts everyone, but it impacts ‘consumers’ more than it impacts Old Money Guys and Gals (OMGs). The general public who regularly spend money on non-essential items at the expense of savings and investment will of course get less for their money–more often–than OMGs who make wise purchases of essential items less often.
That’s the whole crux of The Old Money Book. It’s literally in the title: How to Live Better While Spending Less.
That’s the ‘lifestyle’ approach to lessening the impact of inflation on your weekly and monthly budget. It’s math: spend less, have more cash, become financially independent sooner.
The second part of our conversation was less cut and dry, more nostalgic and psychological. To the objective (and younger) observer, we may have sounded like The Muppet Show’s Statler and Waldorf grumbling from the balcony.
Our complaint–and subsequent confusion–arose from this observation: at what point does a person begin to think that something is ‘too expensive’?
Of course, this realization is based on the past price of a certain item. When you reach a certain age, as I have, you remember when a nice off-the-rack-suit was $250.00. Dress shirts and chinos hovered around thirty to fifty bucks a piece.
And of course, wages have increased over time to compensate, but the mental ceiling that has locked in my mind for the price something should cost has remained stubbornly in place. Why this is, I cannot say. My expat buddy shared the same gradual and random sticker shock–living in Paris will do that–but he couldn’t offer a rational explanation, either.
I recall a recent incident: I was searching online for a new pair of penny loafers. Allen Edmonds’ Newman model was available…for 485,00 euros.
I own numerous pairs of AE shoes. The quality is there. However, in my mind, a pair of penny loafers should cost no more that $250.00. Why I feel that way is a mystery, but the reality is that I will loiter with intent on the AE website and wait for said loafers to go on sale and only purchase them when they dip to what I consider to be a ‘fair price’.
My expat friend sports Hermes neckties, which is wife has dutifully bought for him over the decades. They are lovely, luxurious, and timeless. (He still has to wear a necktie frequently, given his profession and social calendar.)
As fate would have it, he recently discovered the current retail price of Hermes neckties, and all I can say is that, well, ignorance was bliss. He has now asked his wife to abandon their long-held birthday gift ritual. Instead, he trolls the resale shops in the 16th arrondissement on his own in search of pre-owned neckties at a price he can live with.
So…what’s wrong with us? And is it just us? Or do you have a product or service that you feel has just become ‘too expensive’ to justify?
Let me know. And let me know how you’ve dealt with it.
Thanks.
- BGT