"poverty mentality"

meritaten

disagree! if you act like you are rich when you are not - and throw your money about and then get into debt to fund your champagne lifestyle - then you will definately NOT be rich for ever!
btw - I hear Her Majesty is quite parsimonious - no doubt why she is one of the richest in britain - while the QM was actually in debt!

tiff

Disagree. Being frugal just makes sense. If more people lived below their means (or well below their means) a lot of people wouldnt have the financial problems they now have. Even if I got a second job (and therefore more income) we would still live this way. We do it though to free up money for the things worth spending on. Doing things with our children, spending time with family etc. It also forces you to be creative with how you spend your time. Cant believe I used to spend every Saturday shopping in town (and wasting money).

lostinrates

katieowl wrote: »

Interesting question. I've done a lot of reading of the 'you create your own reality' type of self help book (and I have a few fundamental problems with the concept!) and there's a lot of similar preaching in the pages, that to attract money into your life you mustn't treat it as a rare thing that is hard to come by, otherwise you create the reality that money is hard to come by..... I have attempted some of this in the past when I've been really brassic, pinning up little cards to remind myself that "Money flows to me easily" "The universe is full of abundance" etc! But maybe I never had sufficient faith to 'enable' the universe to shower me with riches, I've not bought a lottery ticket

Most of the authors of the books I've read are American it has to be said, and their idea of wealth seems to be having several expensive cars, and a big house. Doesn't do it for me I'm afraid.

I'd much rather be in the 'place' I am now, where I know I can get by nicely using my skills such as foraging, bargain hunting, and being able to make stuff myself, as insurance for quality of life. And to be really honest having pot loads of money and squandering it on stuff that I don't need doesn't sit comfortably with some of my 'eco' principles!

Kate

Imo i would go further ansd say while i partially agree with the submission in op, i feel these create own reality type self help books can be very, very damaging. I know a few people very into them, and the false hope, then spend to accumulate...fine if you have it but not if you are borrowing it is almost always followed by extreme lows in semi realisation.

Some of those doing well out of it are pyramid selling the same idea of attracting wealth, or fake it to make it,

Faking it to make it is fine, if we are talking aout confidence or happinessit is indeed a great tool for that, but in financial matters it ranges from foolhardy to fraudulent and makes me very uncomfortable in most situations.

spike7451

Disagree,it's a balancing act between needs & wants...You need to do a weeks shopping but you want the M&S Meal for two for £10 as your friend at work had one last weekend.Thinking about it you can cook it from fresh for a fraction of the cost & still have money left over.
I was shopping at the weekend & looking in my basket,a lot of my food was Asda's basics range,but then again,so was a lot of other peoples shopping...

rinabean

People are always chasing unattainable fantasies. The simple fact is that I'm not a poor woman with a rich woman inside trying to get out, I'm a poor woman and that's all there is to it. I don't act poor, I am poor! Maybe I'll die poor, who knows? But I have the practical and emotional capacity to deal with it (and I know this makes me damn lucky), so it would hardly be the end of the world. I see no point in pretending that I'm well off when I'm not, and the notion of attracting good things from the universe is insulting both to the intelligence and generally (it's bad enough directed at the poor, but they apply it to everyone else, too. Mental health problems? Infertility? Cancer? Well, if you didn't really want it, it wouldn't have happened! Buy my book to learn how to avoid these things in the future! Harmful nonsense.)

The simple fact is that we can't all be rich.

I think there is a different "poverty mentality" that I do suffer from, and rich people can have it too. It's the hoarding of food, clothes and "useful things". There's a line between not knowing the value of things in the sense of wasting good things, and not knowing the value of things in the sense of keeping rubbish. If you've ever been poor, it's easy to blur it, even if those days are long behind you. Maybe this sometimes leads to throwing good money after bad, which would not help your financial situation, but that's something else, too.

katieowl_2

rinabean wrote: »

People are always chasing unattainable fantasies. The simple fact is that I'm not a poor woman with a rich woman inside trying to get out, I'm a poor woman and that's all there is to it. I don't act poor, I am poor! Maybe I'll die poor, who knows? But I have the practical and emotional capacity to deal with it (and I know this makes me damn lucky), so it would hardly be the end of the world. I see no point in pretending that I'm well off when I'm not, and the notion of attracting good things from the universe is insulting both to the intelligence and generally (it's bad enough directed at the poor, but they apply it to everyone else, too. Mental health problems? Infertility? Cancer? Well, if you didn't really want it, it wouldn't have happened! Buy my book to learn how to avoid these things in the future! Harmful nonsense.)

The simple fact is that we can't all be rich.

Ah I see you also spotted my fundimental problem

Kate

Justamum

heretolearn wrote: »

Talking to someone the other day who said that OS stuff, trying to keep costs down, buying 2nd hand stuff, not spending a lot on food etc when it wasn't essential (ie you could spend more), was a sign of having a "poverty mentality".If you act like you are poor you reinforce that in your expectations/approach to life and so then while you might not be 'poor', you won't ever get rich.

Agree or disagree?

I disagree. Millionaires are often the tightest people around. How often do you read about an old person who had lived like a pauper but left millions in the bank? Definitely a poverty mentality which made them rich - "take care of the pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves."

Magpye

Disagree to a point. I save for the things which make life a pleasure - I won't waste money or resources. But my Dad always says 'what's the use in being the richest man in the graveyard' and I'm afraid I'm inclined to agree with him there - how often you hear of someone dying and leaving pots of money behind stashed in cupboards, while you know they always bought the unmarked cans from the supermarket bargain bin and could have been having dog food on toast for all they knew!

I'd rather live than survive.

Ches

beemuzed wrote: »

I completely disagree too. When we were young newly weds in the 70s we were OS from necessity. Over the years we both held down reasonable well-paid jobs - and wasted loads of money through not being OS. In retirement we actually have more disposable income than previously as all major expenses like the mortgage are paid. We choose do be OS because we want to enjoy spending our money in the way we choose. We have great holidays which are expensive - but that's fine. By being OS we "expect" to be able to spend what we want on things we really want - or not if we so choose.
And how we sympathise with those who have little choice in the matter - but in time, they will also hopefully find things get easier - but they'll have learned the hard way that OS habits may give them a different outlook on spending money. Someone's just done some research on the way that increased money (beyond the basic needs) does not mean you get happier - you just want more again if money is your only goal.

I couldn't agree more and could have written this myself. We married in the 60's ( just not to each other) and have had the hard times when the children were small. Now we are OAP's but due to occupational pensions etc we are now better off than we have ever been. But we watch the pennies so we can enjoy our retirement with holidays etc and as its always been my mantra that 'you can only spend it once' this is our choice.

lostinrates

Justamum wrote: »

I disagree. Millionaires are often the tightest people around. How often do you read about an old person who had lived like a pauper but left millions in the bank? Definitely a poverty mentality which made them rich - "take care of the pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves."

How did the millions in the bank help them? Thats my point really, i won't spend money i do not have, and i spnecessity to save for future, retirement and rainy days, but...in terms of bread and butter.....i am happy to eat bread monday to friday, save on the butter, but have butter and jam on saturday and sunday...plus a little in the bank, or to eat bread and a bit of butter every day. If my svaing requirements are met, and i am not wasting money, can afford it ...why not have jam once a week?

I think there is a difference in interpretation. Op very clearly stated soending money people had, ( i.e. when not essential)not spending money they didn't....whipch i think all osers would agree is very un old style!