Social media fills our feeds with show-off success, high-end villas, expensive vacation trips, luxury cars, and glitzy posh accessories. Somehow, it makes us think that they live a good life without financial problems at all.
Eventually, most people use up all of their salaries to feel that they belong in society and have something to flex in social media. Banks and credit card companies gladly extend card limits to allow people to look rich, though, in reality, they are living from paycheck to paycheck.
A quote from Edmond Mbiaka says, “A lot of people spend so much time trying to look rich, that they forget that the plan is to get rich.”
Unfortunately, our culture is engrossed with superficial success and wealth, so people with small or large salaries fall into the trap of status games. However, there is a tremendous difference between real wealthy people and those just trying to look like one. And this article will help you distinguish which is which.
Here’s the catch, the 10 ways poor people try to look rich!
Buying Expensive Cars
One of the most common mistakes that poor people make is buying things that lose value—for instance, purchasing fancy cars over houses. Like what’s up with a luxurious car? Its value decreases. And we all know wealthy people mostly invest in things the give positive cash flow like realty.
People who are trying to look rich show off flashy vehicles to hook people’s praises. Meanwhile, rich people drive simple and understated cars to go unrecognized. Why is that? Rich people value their security more than attention. After all, they have a lot to lose.
Remember that cars are among the worst investment a person could make. Building a house comes first for the riches. Why should a person even buy a car when still paying house rent?
Overdressing
People who are trying to look rich don’t know how to dress depending on a particular event.
You might have seen a girl wearing high-heels to a garden party or on a sailing trip. Most of the time, the poor’s goal is to impress other people with what they wear because they cannot afford to show off in any other way. They usually go in the best dress and best pair of shoes they have. They have limited options. Hence, they tend to overdress in some events.
Rich people don’t do that. They have a vast option in their clothing collection so they can dress appropriately for different events.
Purchasing Expensive Bags
People who are trying to look rich often buy on impulse. They buy non-necessities, like designer bags, on a whim. Most of the time, they do it to show other girls that they are achieving better than them.
But what’s the point of having an expensive handbag worth a thousand dollars when you don’t have money to pay for utility bills? Does it even make sense that you have a luxurious bag but don’t have a single penny to put inside of it?
Having A Lot of Cash
This one might not make sense to you. You might be asking, “What? How can I be a poor trying to look rich when I have a great deal of cash?”
Perhaps you didn’t expect the cash to be a symbol of poverty, but it is. Actual rich people don’t carry around cash in their pockets. It’s all in their bank account.
Here’s another catch. There’s a long period of waiting to finish the withdrawal of amounts as big as $10 million or more. It may even take up to months. If a person can immediately withdraw all the money they have from the bank, they are fake rich, having a small balance in their account.
Taking Entry-Level Brands as Luxury Brands
You might have seen your neighbor flaunting his Michael Kors, Pandora, and Tommy Hilfiger, but for the riches, they are not a big deal. Those brands were on the tip of the iceberg, mid-ranged products created for the middle and lower class.
You might not have heard this, but there are various tiers of luxury brands. For instance, there’s a Valentino where you can purchase bags for only $100, then comes Valentino Garavani, where you will find bags worth $3000 each. The same goes with Versace.
A lot of luxury brands leverage their name recognition to entice you to pay more for generic products. These ‘generic products,’ though under a high-end brand name, break as easily as low-class products.
People who are trying to look rich pay for the brand and not for the quality of the items.
Bragging About Money
Actual rich people avoid speaking about money unless it’s a business deal.
Suppose a person buys a luxury item and brags about the hefty amount they paid for it. Then that person is just trying to look rich. Wealthy people don’t even think about the price of their purchase. Think about it, and no one mentions how much they spent on a piece of chewing gum. Does it make sense now?
Bedazzling Everything
People who are trying to look rich show off their bedazzled items as some kind of status symbol. Most often than not, these people perceive their worth from other people’s approval. Hence, bedazzling everything is their last resort to seek validation.
They go with a bedazzled phone case, Starbucks cup, jeans, and even sequins dresses! Instead of looking like a rich person, most ended up looking cheap.
Renting or Borrowing Cars for A Date
Impressing your girl on your date is a good thing, but never fascinate her with a rented or borrowed car. Trying to look rich to entice a dating partner will never be a good idea. You may enjoy driving around on a Benz on your first date, but how about the following dates? Are you sure you can keep renting a car around? You’ll lose tons of money!
Stop faking it ’till you make it. You might lose in the idea of pretending. Things would be better if you start taking the first step. Don’t sabotage yourself on the first round of the game.
Walking Like A Billboard
You will know when a person is trying to look rich when he seems like a walking billboard for flaunting the brand so much. Some people even leave the tags on to show off the brand name. On the other hand, most rich people value design and quality over logo brands. You should, too!
Name Dropping
You know you’ve made it far when you don’t even need an introduction nor associate yourself with other people to add value to yourself. Dropping names of famous people to your benefit is a form of network flexing.
People who are trying to look rich know they can’t stand on their own, so they will deliberately associate themselves with successful people to gain credibility.
Key Takeaways
No person in the world had achieved financial success by spending all of their paychecks and saving to deceive others into thinking they are rich. Instead, they save every penny that they earn for investment and eventually earn a lot from it.
If you want to catch people’s attention by looking rich, stay poor. But if you really desire to look rich, be rich. Don’t go pretending to a person you are not. At the end of the day, trying hard to ‘look‘ rich instead of ‘actually‘ being rich would get you nowhere.
Would you prefer looking poor but having a lot of savings and investments? Or do you like looking rich yet loaded with debt, not having a single penny in your pocket?
The choice is yours to make. Choose wisely.
