Thats a bizarre and rare attitude, and an ability not shared by virtually anyone else in the general population. Independently wealthy people on unlimited budgets usually dont get that way by paying twice what they have to and the vast majority of people right now are having to cut back on certain things to continue to drive to work or feed their families. Youre that wealthy? Did you make that statement to gloat over others who are not?
Your statement reeks of the people who say things like "oh, theyre just homeless because they want to be" or "you could own your own business and be successful like me, if you only put some effort into it."
Some of your posts here are insightful, others, like this, it seems youre just trolling people to the point of being offensive.
"Let them eat cake" and "I got mine, sucks to be you." are just not a good look.
I'm certainly not rich, not even wealthy.. Just middle income classification, average house, etc. Even my dog is average. (LOL)
The only thing in my life that isn't average is a giant solar system and battery backup, and some other prepper related items, and while not average, these things are not unusual or relegated to the rich or wealthy either.
The problem in the USA is that people make bad decisions. They have some kind of "I'm special" entitlement "keeping up with the jones" thing going on.
My wife an I paid off our 30 year mortgage in 8 years, and when the wheels on her 20 year old vehicle actually fell off, we bought her a new car and paid cash, and she will drive that vehicle until the wheels fall off as well. I run up a credit card bill every month, I pay it off in full every month. By not paying interest, I have probably saved $100,000 over my lifetime.
Couple the "I have to have it now" attitudes that are always accompanied by interest payments, with the "not good enough for me" and the "I have to project an image", and its no wonder people are always struggling for money.
I drive a 22 year old rusting truck, I wear my shoes and clothing until they have holes in them (and sometimes I keep wearing them), I use a $28 flip phone from ebay on a $30 a month plan, I cut my own hair, my wife doesn't wear useless makeup or jewelry, and I fix or install everything in my own home.
Even my leather work gloves have the fingers wrapped in duct tape where holes appeared.
Do you buy rice at the grocery store? We buy it in 50 lb bags for 1/4 the price per pound and store it. Do you buy flour at the grocery store? We buy it in 50 lb bags for 1/4 the price as well... and store it.
How about beef? Do you buy it at your local grocery store? We buy a 1/2 cow from a local farmer and butcher it.. We save about 40% over what we'd pay at the grocery store. And the list goes on and on.... When they have a sale on some canned food, we buy enough to last two or more years.
Neither my wife or I are shy about shopping garage sales, dumpster diving, or picking something out of someone's garbage. We take care of the things we own, and we purchase industrial tools and equipment so we never have to buy the stuff again.
We don't buy alcohol or drugs, we don't eat out at restaurants, and we don't pay for cable television, netflix, or any other entertainment services.
We invest our money, and now we just started buying gold and silver coins.
Rich? I'm not even wealthy.. I just don't waste my money on useless crap like everyone else, and as a result, I'm flush with cash and investments and probably own every tool known to mankind.
But you know what the biggest difference probably is? I read books.. lots and lots of them. About 30 to 40 a year. Books teach, books convey ideas, books give you insight into things. Even science fiction books, books about history, autobiographies, etc. The last 50 books I've read include titles and authors such as
"The Violence Project" - (Research going back almost 100 years on what creates mass killers)
Lectures and books by Noam Chomsky
Lee Child's-Jack Reacher,
Craig Alanson's-Expeditionary Force <They need to make a movie on this series of books.
Jim Baggott
Michael Talbot
Thomas Paine - The Age of Reason (yes, that Thomas Paine)
Barbra Walter - Why civil wars start and how to stop them. <<Highly recommended.
And those are just the books from this year that I can remember. Not sure when it happened, but people stopped reading books and started staring at televisions and phones. Even Chomsky mentioned the unparalleled ability for corporations to shape the ignorant and malleable minds of the average person.
Need a leg up in life? Read more books.. its that simple. Find someone who is struggling in life, ask them how many books they read last year and I bet you the answer is zero..