Topic: Don't live above your affordability (Read 380 times)

This lifestyle of living above one’s affordability has lead some to involve in stealing, rituals or any illegal means of making money just to maintain that standard after they’ve gone broke. Current in the society today 85% of people are living to impress others. 25% out of the 85% are the ones who can afford the lifestyle even with trying to impress people they have source of income that keeps them going. It’s never worth it, living a lifestyle you can’t maintain.
It saddens me how people are bother about the present and not trying to secure their future. One man decision can either affect a generation positively or negatively.

Feeling the weight of societal expectations can be challenging, but it’s wise to focus on what truly matters. What advice would you give to someone struggling with this mindset?

indeed , impressing others that you are wealthy but the truth is the amount you spending per day is the
amount your family need for a week? that is purely stupid for me and not an act of a family person ,
because the true good family member is always looking for the future of their love ones and not just for
others to be impressed.

Simple Life is what makes the person great in all aspects.

enjoy your earnings but make sure that you have your investments ready for the future of your family .

In the first place I perceive the op trying to point against pretentious and competitive lifestyle (pretending you have it by spending like others who might have more or not) when one  is only busy spending in a day what it took months or to gather (spending three months pay in a week) when there is modest means (trying to live within affordability except necessity) .... To think of it, spending on unnecessary appetites.

However, some things are fundamental truth... Like you are pointing different persons with different choices. (that means some people actually choose lack by spending more than they really have)

if a statistics is taken on those living today a pretentious and competitive lifestyle, living above affordability, you'll see up to or more than 85% living in regrets tomorrow....just as many are regretting today... (Had I know)
On that, not living above one's affordability is somehow a fundamental truth even true about a business and a nation/country.

Most of the people in our society try to do many things beyond their capacity, sometimes few people can succeed but most people cannot. This is our socially ill competition. Which sometimes destroys us. Ambition beyond capacity is a terrible thing.

Affordability of the classes of lives should be based on your stable earnings. It's unfortunate that some people suddenly jumps into high classic lives just because their present earning can afford it without considering how long the source of earning would last and also fails to spend on responsible things that matters and ignorant to this when the income source is no more flowing, it could be discouraging to hope on the better days as we always do expecting he best from the future.

Not sure if why do we need to live outside of our affordability ? I mean you are right that at some point you can carry living luxurious in couple of days or weeks or even years but what is tomorrow waits right?

when we can live for simplest as we can be pursuing life and when we reached the goal and the perfect living then we can have that better one completely for whole life right?
those who chooses to live better but not knowing what tomorrow awaits are the type of people that loves gambling life and they are the one who are not ready for this matter.

Living within your means is easy but life can become difficult when you think about spending more. To spend money properly you need to know how much money you are earning and how you are spending that money. A diligent person's planning surely brings a lot of wealth but the person who rushes to work without planning is surely in want.

The rich people can sustain their high maintenance and high class of living. Not everyone is going to afford doing that.

And this is why I am living in my means and not beyond to my means. People think that just because they've got a higher salary, they'll also upgrade the way of their living.

They spend carelessly and for that reason, they thought that kind of life is forever. There are so many factors that people have to remember and be careful of how we live with this generation.

you could also put it this way, If you deserve a certain lifestyle, work for it and live it. sometimes in a bid nit to living above our means, we've been caught up in situations where we have to endure stages of life that we've longed outgrown.  Comparing yourself to others and trying to measure up isn't totally bad as long as you're ready to put in the work and effort that will make it possible but if you're not ready to work but just want to upgrade yourself and expect a magical result, you will later find yourself going down the rails in no time.

The people you see sitting in the first class and driving luxurious cars saw others doing so and had to put in the work and it becomes a reality for them. If they did it, you can also do it. And if you're hungering to afford those things, you will definitely afford it by just putting the necessary effort and doing the right thing the right way.

Actually living to impress others wouldn't add any benefit after the expensive expenses you staggered to afford while you're still building on your success. Perhaps, it should be watchful not to spend beyond your income and believing that living a luxury life today and unable to afford it tomorrow is frustrating.
So, it's all about being contented while thriving on growing on your portfolio until your net worth could afford those desired classic tastes.

That is what so many people failed to understand, life is not a competition because some persons always sees themselves to be on a competition with others forgetting that those that always sees themselves that way always end up not doing well on there lives and also always seeing yourself to be on a competition with others normally lead to envy and hatred and can even lead to the person doing something illegal because at that points he would wants to be more successful than the other person.

person with sufficient financial education know how to not overspend, anyway, what is really considered the definition of first class anyway. overspending and living a lavish life with all the luxuries aren't the definition of first class by any means, probably the thought its first class but really most of people can see through our financial condition if spend enough time with us so people pretending to be living luxurious life while entangled in debt undoubtedly will eventually find a day where they got exposed since its not a sustaining life style as you said.

meanwhile on the opposite people that keep growing their wealth overtime are the one that is being considered first class, you know being financially independent and all those kind of things does make use get viewed in a better light than just pretending to be something else, even if we don't have any wealth to show off, if we just honest and keep striving for better financial condition for the future through hard work people will find the charm in ourselves.

definitely no point trying to live a life that could drain your entire fortune just within a year or two, at best its just a facade, but you know whats better, getting income so high you spend to help other people, thats what most of billionaires are doing right now after probably getting bored of spending their money.

Though it's not everything, money is a pretty good tool. It's like a hammer, man – you can build a house. The actual game is learning how to use the hammer. Start following your interests instead of fixating over what you cannot afford. What makes you feel alive? Perhaps it's launching a company, travelling the world, or simply spending more time with your family. All the same, money will enable you to reach there. But it's not about living paycheck to paycheck and blowing it all on junk. It's about constructing a sustainable and fulfilling existence

So concentrate on what really important and forget about following the Joneses. Control your money, pursue your passions, and create a life you're happy with

Be yourself by showing your abilities, forcing yourself too hard to look cooler by relying on money will make you less confident in the future because of your limited abilities. HOW TOMORROW MAY BE? This is the key so that you don't live in pretense. Achieve what you can achieve, let yourself grow by enjoying the process, because success takes time. If you do it prematurely by relying on money to get what you want to achieve, you will feel uncomfortable and inferior to your friends who have a higher level of knowledge.

I divide happiness into two parts, the first is outer happiness and inner happiness. Birth happiness is happiness that we can see, as in this case is money or wealth for example. Because with the money we have, perhaps we will be able to fulfill all our needs, from primary needs, secondary needs to tertiary needs.
The second is inner happiness, happiness cannot be obtained from wealth or money in my opinion, because it comes from within the body. Sometimes we often see them having a lot of money but not being happy inside.

I agree with you, we cannot follow other people's lifestyles, we have to be ourselves. Everyone has their own way of living, and when we follow someone else's lifestyle, we may be stressed because we have to constantly imitate other people, even though we may not be able to live in that way.

Perhaps money is a key word of man's status quo but money is not everything. You can imagine when you wants to happy, you don't have to depends on money to happy. You can have a healthy body, you can eat anything you want, you can live with calm, that is a happiness that other people can not get. If you don't own debt, that is the biggest happiness because you don't have worry.

You don't have to follow other people life style. You are you who have a will and have a goal for your life. You just needs to think that tomorrow will be better than yesterday while you keeps to try to make it happens. No needs to worry with other people say about you because they don't know the truth. The important thing is you can make a good thing to other people and helps if they asks for helps.

Leading a lifestyle just to please others will eventually drain you especially if you try to live above your means. The economy can be very harsh and coupled with the fact that your salary may not be up to that of your  bourgeois neighbors but you still strive to live like them so you can earn some form of respect, it only means you've got no plan and aren't a contented person.
At the end of the day, you only have one means of income but splash it needlessly on  things you may not want. That's very unwise and the fastest way to put one in debt and poverty.

I think just by understanding do's and don't and choosing priority over wants will keep us moving forward. People who live without rules in life sometimes ends up losing the wealth and opportunity they already have because of ignorance. If ignorance of the law excuses no one then so do we when it comes to financial literacy. Our mindset is what makes us what we are for the rest of our lives not unless we change. Some people like to have a lavish lifestyle, some like to be in the middle and some really just prefer to be in a low profile.

Op this your heading is the greatest advise of it time to me it speak volume to change life narrative because thinking that life is competition and seeking to do what your not able at that moment may apportioned person into unrecoverable condition and damage ones future.

I never see life as competition and this is always a guide to avoid me falling into greed there is nothing wrong to admired good thing or even eyes to shift to another level but what makes it wrong is when your short of good plan about your future and only think of your present.

Those that see life as competition and failed to leave within what they can afford and keep comparing themselves with those that have already laid their foundation never finished the raise with good story to stay with what you can afford is not bad if truely you have plan for your future what you don't afford today you can actually have it tomorrow life is a continuous process good things, enjoyment and New things will always exist and more model must come into existence .

Maintaining a certain lifestyle just to impress other people is something I don't get. That's just not something that matters to me, and I don't think there is any shame in being unable to afford certain things. So yeah, the op is right that people shouldn't live above their level of affordability. It's unlikely that it will help them gain more opportunities, and it's very likely that things will go south, and they'll find themselves in debt and more troubles. Raising the level of what you can afford isn't done via pretence and loans; it's something you need to work on.

Why you can judge them didn't use the money correctly? what's do's and don'ts in spending? there are no rules.

Not everyone want to have assets that can produce income, some people can feel enough with the money they earned.

100% correct, people always say like that and after I think for many times, they're correct. If someone think it's not correct, then I would ask how long I would live? how long you will live? and how long this and that person will live, so people will know when it's end.

It doesn't mean I agree with them and it doesn't mean I'm also a high spender, on the contrary I'm actually an oversaver, but they have a point that I can't prove they're wrong.

Limit or minimize social media activity is subjective, because I'm active in social media and it doesn't affect my spending habit.

We all have certain capacities of our own and we should limit ourselves to those capacities. If we complete our tasks as much as we have then everything will end up pretty well but sometimes we don't make decisions that later go against us. For example, my total wealth is ten thousand dollars and if I want to build a house and if it costs me 50 thousand dollars to build the house, then the remaining 40 thousand dollars I have to manage in some other way or take a loan from the bank. In the first case we may be able to earn money and repay this debt but later the burden of this debt will create a lot of pressure for the person due to which he will have a lot of trouble with this issue later on. Without doing this, he can start building his house if he wants and when the money comes to him, he can complete the construction of the house little by little, but no one will pressure him for money. We must plan for these things.

But the things is , in this age, people love instant gratification , so its really hard to thing about tomorrow .  Most people prefer how they feel right here and right now and not easy to tell them think about future.Most argument that I heard is  "we don't know when we die , so what's the point of saving for future ? "
Besides that, living above one's means is heavily influenced by social media. Many people love to show off and share  moments that we  know are sometimes is above our budget. But if we saw it again and again , sooner or later we will try it too right ?And after we upgrade our lifestyle, it's really hard to go back down. So i think we must minimize or atleast filter our social media

I agree that we should not settle for what we have now especially if we know that we can still do better however I don't think it is necessary to go to expensive hotels and spend money on things not needed to realize what is missing in your life. Some people do not even have the money to spare on hotels or whatnot. But that alone should give them the motivation to work harder and finally afford what they couldn't before.

And that is the classic difference between a person that has money, but not enough for him to sustain his lifestyle and just trying to show off what he got today. And from those rich people who just wanted to live normal lives without being to showy or something and for sure their lives are going to be sustainable in the long run and they are building generational wealth.

That is the secret though, and it's like some individuals are being rewired like that, I don't know. But for me, I just try to live what I can afford and then safe some money for me and my family for the future.

     There are people who are actually like that, making money when you think you will never run out of money, and often these types of people are employees who earn a lot of money anyway. Those who worked or worked hard for 1 month, and then after less than 24 hours, the salary is used up immediately.

     Although it was their money and they worked hard, that's why they didn't appreciate and didn't use the money they earned correctly. It is necessary in this era that we also be really wise in using our money as much as possible to produce as much profit as possible.

Showing off the achievements we have achieved will certainly make someone arrogant and it would be good if we could spend the money we have well, not on things we don't really need, of course this will make us have financial problems, of course not everyone wants it.

In my opinion, what differentiates rich people from poor people is not the luxury of their appearance, but how they manage their money and if they cannot manage their finances well of course they will experience financial problems, and for those who can manage their finances. Good finances will of course be able to spend their money on things that are beneficial to them and will also not spend their money on things they don't need.

There’s no need to try and show off money you don’t have. And even if you have money, you should focus on making enough and not spending it just to show that you have it. One of the things that differentiates a wealthy man from a rich man is that wealthy men are calm. They are more relaxed with how they act, spend, and speak. They are mostly humble and simplified people. But those who are merely rich with no constant source are usually the ones in the behavior to act out.

I feel... nothing really. Sure, if someone says they're able to afford a lot of stuff I'd be jealous, but only at that moment. Give me a couple of minutes and I'd probably forget all about it altogether lol. I'd be thinking more on how or what job I should apply for next really (Planning to job hop). Also wouldn't really call my current situation low, maybe near the middle ish? At the very least I have zero active loans so I can live quite comfortably imo.

Anyhow, highly advise to stop buying subscription based stuff if possible if they aren't needed like Netflix, Yt premium and stuff. That's probably the #1 thing I've always followed after hearing/reading about it somewhere and realizing how much it affected my finances lol.

I think you just have to be yourself. Don't think what others will see you, yeah, people most of the time are judgmental but take it as it is. Because if you are going to be affected by those around you, then you won't prosper as huma being. Just trust on yourself and mind your own business and for sure your status quo in life will improved.

Definitely, money is not the root of all evil, that is a wrong saying. You just have to know when and how you can make money, you don't need to love it, but everyone needed money in order to survived in this world and you really have to work hard for it.

Life is meant to be live simple and not lavish, as any luxury can wait as long as you are ready on it. Don’t rush on trying to get rid of your low class life, instead make it as your motivation to improve your way of living by trying to maximize first all the earning potentials through your investments, given that you have land already a stable job in the first place. And while it’s not wrong to dream of a classy and grandeur life, but work on it first so that you can easily sustain a classy and comfortable life whenever you have achieved it in time.

Well that could be your own set of motivation for yourself to achieve greater heights in life, but living on it while you are still can’t afford, that’s another story to tell. You won’t be happy and comfortable that way, otherwise you are only growing the envy inside of yours and may turn out in desperation if you fail to achieve that certain goal. I still suggest to live based on what you can afford for now.

Competition is not always bad, it can also have a good effect on an individual who turns it for good. Competition can be a driving force for development and growth as you see from businesses.

If you stay in a competitive area, it can motivate you to become better and develop yourself to be the best. Staying in a place where you feel less motivated or feel like you are the king is not good because you become too comfortable and something close to what we call a "local champion".

If you can maintain your current lifestyle or the lifestyle that you want depends on you. This is the reason why many that are able to at least get a taste of better life changing their lives but then goes back to the former because they can't bear the expenses of a higher lifestyle. Lifestyle inflation is a problem of many people and that's why always think of frugality and live that way so that you won't have to deal with such problem in the future. Also, do not impress other people because those that are trying to impress other people have got this personal problem.

Regrets only happen in the end. Don’t let this happen to you by trying to live your life above your means and affordability. Just stay low key and live a simple life. If you can do that, you can do a lot of saving and investing while trying to live based on your means. Otherwise, living your life in luxury in the first place might only put your life struggling in the end financially. Something that I see most common with a lot of people that are not educated on how to secure their finances in the future.

The problem for now is that even though there are a lot of people who say that don't live only based on the views of others and focus on yourself in managing good finances, we also cannot rule out that for now prestige is always a major problem that is indeed realized or not things like this become a problem that many people cannot solve.

We have more prestige than paying attention to the economic conditions we have because people's views sometimes become more changed when we have a condition where we buy things that are a little more expensive or always updated in lifestyle.

Although this is something that is actually quite ridiculous but we will definitely see even around us such as neighbors and even those closest to us there must be those who do that where they will try to make as if their economic conditions are fine and prioritize prestige compared to the conditions that actually occur for their financial problems.

In everything you do in life never compete with anyone, learn how to live your life and the future will be bright, we humans are not the same, we are not on the same level so it will be better if we learn how to live our lives without no competition, many people today become poor because of the kind of the lifestyle they chose, they chose to be in competition with people and live a high-class lifestyle but at the end they didn’t end up well, some people we try to compete we don’t know their source of income and we can’t compare ourselves because some of them may be faking it but they won’t let you know how difficult for them to tell people that they have nothing.

Money is very good and when you make it, it doesn’t mean that you won’t spend for yourself but it should be in a good way, buying expensive things to oppress people so that they will know you have money or no one can compete with you, all those things will be useless one day because every individual will taste death and when you die those expensive items will not follow you to your grave, it will be distributed to people and they will sell it, it will be good if you spend a good life and build the way of making more money for yourself than spending anyhow to compete with people.

You are right about that, we will never know for sure what we will be like in tomorrow, whether tomorrow will be better than today or vice versa. However, if we don't prepare for tomorrow as well as possible from the past, I feel quite doubtful that tomorrow will be fine.

And if we live only to fulfill what other people want, we live in pretense just to hope for praise from other people. Believe me, this will only make you more miserable. Therefore, live according to your abilities, live the way you want, and be yourself. Believe me, no one else cares enough about you, apart from yourself. Stop lying to yourself and living in pretense. They will only approach when you are up, while when you are down, they will disappear somewhere.

You are absolutely correct, in this life, we shouldn't do to impress anyone because when we go bankrupt, they won't be there to help us  instead they will mock us even insult us.

Even if some of them will help us, they will eventually be tired of helping us one day.

So like they said that " we should cut our coat according to our size" not according to other people's size, we learn to please ourselves than impressing others because no matter how good or no matter how we live our lives, people will always have something to say. So I think we should live to best of our abilities.

OP said nothing but the absolute truth, living beyond our affordability is a wrong pattern to live, currently in this worst economy when price of goods and commodities necessary for survival is increasing. While spending we are supposed to understand that having aside savings and investments is necessary, that is the reason why most of us decides on investing into Bitcoin for the future. Our aim should be on meeting our needs then have fun but not more than it should be.

If you live your life to please others you will make decisions that will have adverse effects. People who live above their income because they want to have what others do will end up in debt and frustration. I don't live in a country that has a workable credit system, so you pay fully for most of the things you own. But recently some credit firms introduced a concept called Easy Buy where people can just deposit some money and collect items like phones, cars, home appliances, etc. The balance will be spread for some months. This has led to people buying on credit what they cannot afford because they want to be accepted in a particular social class. It is far better to manage the little you can afford and make provisions for savings and investment than to get peer acceptance without planning for the future.

It is good for someone who is trying to meet up in life to leave a simple life, by leaving below there earning to be able to succeed. I came across a video online where a speech was made that the difference between the poor and the rich is that " the rich pretend to be poor to be rich, while the poor pretend to be rich to remain poor" this statement implies that those who leave above there earnings are liable to be poor because they can't maintain the little they have. While the rich always cut down expenses and leave a low key life to save alot and build empire.  to succeed in life we must be able to reduce the way we spend, by placing things acording to scale of preference.

Most times I see youth of nowadays who bearly manage to succeed in life, emediately any little amount enters there hand they start living a luxurious lifestyle. Though we have big dreams of how we wish to enjoy the fruits of our labour, but not every money that comes to our hand is a money for fun rather a money to start a better business that can fetch more money instead of ripping them off. In Summary " He who fails to plan, plans to fail"

Life is all about planning,  when people fail to manage money it becomes a problem and a setback to get to the point where one is supposed reach. One thing in life when you fake it, it will be difficult to make it. Spending accordingly to what one can afford is wisdom but trying to impress people with what you can't afford is unwise which can even lead one going into debts to survive.  What one should be thinking about is making more money from the money that is available than wasting it on expensive things that won't bring more value.

It is a wrong mentality to spend money to prove to people that one has money, their is nothing to prove to people having money because whether their is money or not people won't pay your bills, so their is no need to impress anyone being rich.

Yes you have mentioned about the sad reality of our lifestyle as people need to understand that's they don't need to prove anyone else any point by living a lifestyle just because of social and peer pressure and getting themselves into debt trap. Credit cards and loans are the best example of how people waste money on something which they don't need and don't have sufficient funds to purchase, it's shocking to know that people with limited income are the ones who does show off to make them look like rich at the cost of debt trap which they have to repay until they die.

You should put up into your mind.

"YOU ARENT THAT WORKING HARD JUST TO IMPRESS OTHERS"
If you are someone that who do have that kind of feeling and such making behavior then you would definitely be buying or dealing up with things on which it shouldnt really be supposed to be this way.
This is why on the moment that you would really be finding yourself having such behavior then sooner or later you would be able to see that those expenses you have done is really that not
something that will benefit you on long term.

Dont tend to chase other financial capability or capacity on which on the moment that you will be copying their lifestyle and how they do spend and then you are just
earning which is less than them, then you would really be having that hard time on coping up. In result? You would really be might be taking up some loans just to complete up on the amount
that you are needing just because you are trying out to impress others on how you do look on their eyes which i dont see for some fulfillment of this on trying out
to impress others. lol

Income producing assets are the answer. If your assets don't produce any income, then you will have to sell them. Cash flow is all that matters in the long run. It is sad that bitcoin isn't cash producing asset but it doesn't have to be if you sit on a pile of coins with low initial cost. Then you can gladly convert your coins to FIAT to maintain your lifestyle. The best income producing assets are dividend paying stocks and real estate obviously. Just buy them a couple decades and you are good to go. $2m all in cash producing assets would retire you anywhere in the world.

Back then, I used to be really worried about what other people thought of me and my financial capabilities. It was a bit shameful to say the least when you couldn't afford the things they could easily purchase without thinking twice about it

Don't feel ashamed of what you can afford, or you can't afford right now and instead work hard and give yourself and your family a comfortable life. A life you dreamt of.

It is more of a psychological issue. With availability of cheap loans, it has now become very easy for a middle class person to live a great lifestyle. People who are living from pay check to pay check, are the ones falling into this debt trap. It is really very difficult for these people to overlook the society and live a lifestyle which matches their income.

If you are a bachelor, try to maintain a balance between your expenses and your income. Because once you are married, it is almost impossible for you to overlook the needs of your wife. Remember to take debt only when you are building asset. Never take out debt to buy car or iPhone.

It's definitely a need to know financial management and not be affected too much by what you see on social media. I think that's what happens to kids or people who are addicted in social media. That they want to be who they want to see. I hope that it's not gonna be a problem for anyone here but it's important that you know how to be balanced in using your money.

Rewarding yourself from time to time is not bad but you need to be within reason.

There's the saying that goes, "sew your clothes according to your size". Be thankful for what you've got work hard leave within your means love your family and friends and be happy because that is the stuff that life is made up of. It is not in the buying of expensive things to show off to people who barely care about us. Anyone who lives with the mindset of trying to impress another person would spend each second living in anxiety and that is not how life should be lived.

We should live within our means, we could survive when our basic needs are being fulfilled, we don't need to overspend and borrow or loan just to enjoy our life.
For me if I couldn't afford it then I wouldn't buy it, if it is something that would ruin my budget then I wouldn't do it.
I know there are people who enjoys travelling or buying stuffs or even spending much on celebrations, I am fine with it if they have enough money for it, but if they would borrow after doing it or for it to happen then it is something that I wouldn't understand.
Why would they force to do it, if they couldn't afford it with their own money?

Anyone who really loves himself should take this basic economic concept "scale of preference" seriously. It is very normal for us to wish for everything we desire, especially when our close neighbours have and are enjoying them. I need not remind us that our wants are insatiable so, trying hard to satisfy them all will only make us more miserable.

"Scale of preference " is the solution. Without trying to impress anyone, check your pocket and go for wants that are of more priority to you. You can live above your purchasing power if those you are doing it for are willing to foot the bills. We are already in a period where lots of countries are experiencing economic issues, the citizens of these severely affected countries need to make things easier for themselves by avoiding any form of competition.

I just want to bring in different perspective, if you always be on the economical side then you must try atleast the experience of start hotel or exclusive suite once that will give you the need for you to earn more to live that sophisticated lifestyle than being in the middle class all the time. I am not denying we should be saving money on things even though if we can afford to buy on the other side if we used to always supress ourselves instead of making move can end up bad either.

You don't have to live to impress others, first you have to impress yourself with what ever you can afford to provide. When one is still at their initial stage of chasing success, the person don't have to over strain themselves because they want to impress the public and at that point losing what they are still gathering. There's a saying that "you can't eat your cake and have it back" So, it is very important to first be content with what one have while still working on themselves to get to that classic level where they can splash money any how they want with looking at their pocket because they know that their is a well always available to replenish the pocket.

Well said OP, the truth is us having inner peace with ourselves and trusting the process. If we do we will value and hold ourselves with a high self esteem because nothing is really worth bothering about, everything that you desire is achievable if only you we are ready and willing to be disciplined and put in the necessary work needed, living just to confined with the crowd is a big F, as you said Maintaining sustainability in a long run than a short term because once you fall, the crowd does not care anymore, the key should be relevance in all the period and not pulling yourself because of unnecessary pressure.

You need to learn not everyone must follow your lifestyle because it's up to anyone choice.

There's a person who think live is short and he must try anything he can without need to think about money, so he will spend all of his money without thinking about tomorrow because he believe he can find a way to survive tomorrow.

Another person who life in balance, he spend a good amount of money for entertainment and save some for retirement.

And another ones who're an oversaver, he will spend as small as possible for his need and save as much as he can to retire earlier.

Without pretence, how'd you feel being a low class admist first classes where public are being attentive?
Honestly, to some oppressive times, I actually feel like to afford the first class expenses in that period of time just for impression but my fear always goes to HOW TOMORROW MAY BE because living in such competitive arenas is liable to disappoint a man as time approaches.
Money is indeed a key word of man's status quo but it's better to maintain a sustainability for a long term going than living the high classes in just a short term else, you'd become a mockery in reviewing of your past and recalling your present status quo.