How to live a life of luxury on a budget.

NickX

vikingaero wrote: »

That's a choice for a lot of people - a £25k BMW with 3 year warranty and servicing packing or a DB7 with potential bills galore. I know people who have bought used prestige cars and been burnt when they can't afford to pay for a new gearbox etc.

With any specialist car, you are best advised to keep some funds back for repairs. One of the reasons that they depreciate so quickly is due to the potential running costs.

However, a £25k BMW with a 3 year warranty and servicing package would not be my choice. It will depreciate heavily during those 3 years, I would rather buy it once it is 3 years old, should be around £8k, leaving £17k which would cover any unsuspected repair costs and fund Business Class air travel for a few years

I will not pretend that the DB7 will be cheap to run, but using it as a second car with limited mileage will keep the costs down. You will get cheaper insurance, not have to spend so much on petrol, and by keeping the mileage down the condition of the car should remain good and you'll be less likely to end up with an unexpected and unpleasant bill.

AceCobra1

lol, you forgot to add the Maseratti Quatroportte That is my next car of choice - after i bought a flat of course . But won't be another 3 - 4 years! M5 and M6 atm is about £40k so i recon u can prob. get something quite good for about £25 - £30k by that time when either a facelift or a newshape one is out. The current M3 is quite cheap now... starts at about £20k

The Masser which you suggested @ 15k is the 3200FH am I right? Have u seen one before? Looks quite rank I thought... or more precisely, dated

latecomer

Great post Nick, brings a little light-hearted dreaming to the board

margaretclare

Hello

I am not sure your initial premise is true - that the really super-rich don't have to bother about money. I read a book called 'The Millionaire next door' and this describes how quite ordinary people have become rich but also, how they stay rich by - you've guessed it - paying close attention to just those details that you dismiss.

It all depends on what you want. I wouldn't want a 'Posh and Becks' lifestyle. I never have, even when I was much younger! Posh's face on the type of 'celebrity gossip' magazines that are advertised on TV, does not look happy. To me it looks full of strain and completely artificial. I wouldn't be her for all the millions she and her husband are said to possess.

'The rich don't bother about prices' - well, some of the pop stars and 'celebs' of yesteryear, even lottery winners and pools winners, managed to go through a fortune and end up stoney broke. If they didn't bother about what they spent, could buy everything, how did they manage to do that?

DH and I are a retired wrinkly couple. We're not rich but nowhere near being poor. How we arrived at this state of affairs, after decades of work and struggling for money, I'm not entirely sure. It could be because we each have our own independent income earned through work. I don't depend on him for my pensions income, I have my own. OTOH we're not rich enough to have to worry our heads about IHT and how to prevent our assets being used for care fees, if that should ever become necessary, which is what a lot of people spend time and mental energy worrying about. We can do what we want to do. Just because our needs and wants are fairly simple we can have nice things - we don't feel the need to buy 2 chickens for £2 each, we can be a bit more ethical than that.

Our last plane journey was in October 2003, and this year we're planning to drive up the Rhine valley as far as Bodensee. We're planning the details now. It's assumed that any holiday involves flying and all the details you describe about airports and upgraded flights. If we ever fly again it will have to be Business class - I couldn't face another 12 hours overnight stuck in cattle-class, which we did from Vancouver to Schiphol coming back in 2003. Just couldn't face it! Or a coach trip to the Rhine for Christmas 2006 which wasn't what we'd hoped for. We prefer travelling independently and doing our own thing. As long as we're able to, that's what we'll do.

scorpio13

Quite a funny thread.:D

But it does make you think though.

lisyloo

I am not sure your initial premise is true - that the really super-rich don't have to bother about money. I read a book called 'The Millionaire next door' and this describes how quite ordinary people have become rich but also, how they stay rich by - you've guessed it - paying close attention to just those details that you dismiss.

I agree with Margaret about this.
I'm reasonably well off but I'm not rich enough to throw it away.

If I book a cruise I always shop around.
On one occassion I booked via the US in dollars rather than the UK and saved £250.

There are certain aspects of the celebrity lifestyle that we like - nice holidays and spa days etc. but we don't follow others slavishly.
For example I have an 18 year old car that falling to bits because it's simply not something that's important to me.

I am better off than most people but I still buy a lot of my clothes in discount places e.g. my jeans were £3 from Matalan clearance.

I think I'm actually more thrifty than most peple and if you read the book that Margaret mentions then I think you'll find that's often the case with well off people.

However if I walk into a top jewellers or car dealers then I get treated well, even if I'm not well dressed.
I don't know what it is, but somehow they can tell if you have the means.
Lots of other people tell me they don't get allowed in or get asked for proof of salary etc. before going for a test drive and get treated with suspicion.
They can spot people with means even if your not dripping with diamonds and are just dressed casually. I don't know whether it's the way you talk, body language or what, but they usually know.

sinderella_2

Totally with you on this Nick even down to the choice of Aston Martin, and I love to dream.

One experience I had was when treating myself to lunch in Wagamama a few months back and I felt so good that day I decided to 'be' a millionaire. I swear no millionaire could have enjoyed the meal more, and I even started wondering "I wonder if any of these other customers realise they are sitting with a millionaire!"

(now you think I'm crazy):rotfl:but it's true, in that moment I was experiencing life as a millionaire!

NickX

AceCobra1 wrote: »

lol, you forgot to add the Maseratti Quatroportte The Masser which you suggested @ 15k is the 3200FH am I right? Have u seen one before? Looks quite rank I thought... or more precisely, dated

Hi AceCobra, don't want to turn this into a complete motoring thread, but I will have to agree to disagree on the Maseratis. Problem with the current Quattroporte is that they only started in about 2003, so you'll pay through the nose on tax and insurance.

Yes it was the 3200GT that you can now get for about £15k, and these pre-date 2001 so you can avoid Gordon Brown's tax increases. Personally I think the 3200 looks great, the best looking rear light cluster ever and I went off them when they stopped the boomerang lights. Also bear in mind this car would have been about £70k brand new.

NickX

margaretclare wrote: »

I am not sure your initial premise is true - that the really super-rich don't have to bother about money. I read a book called 'The Millionaire next door' and this describes how quite ordinary people have become rich but also, how they stay rich by - you've guessed it - paying close attention to just those details that you dismiss.

Ok my initial comment about the super rich was a generalisation, and I am sure that there are some who shop around for deals and aim to get discounts, but I do think a lot of them don't - simply because they don't have to.

Back in the late 80s (and to a certain extent late 90s) when the City Bankers got their bonuses, they would often blow much of the bonus in the space of a few weeks, new car, new city pad, a few nights out in China Whites drinking top champagne etc.

Personally, half the fun of spending to me is getting a good deal. Just like getting a nice 12 month, 0% interest Balance Transfer card with NO Fee - feels good to know your making a few extra bob at the expense of the Card Companies, it also feels good to buy a nice car for a quarter of the price that the original owner paid, in the same way its great to a Business Class upgrade thanks to collecting airmiles or other technique rather than paying the full price.

At the end of the day its what money saving is all about, deciding what you want out of life, and working out the way to do it most efficiently.

We will all have different aims and ideals, but I guess we are all on this forum for the reason of saving money on the things in life that we decide to do.

I didn't mean to dismiss an details, the saying is "the devil is in the detail", and just as reading the Terms and Conditions is vital, having an eye for detail is key to being an efficient money saver :beer:

skyrider007

I just have a bog standard mercedes c200k and it's luxury enough for me!