SIMCEL ONLINE

Greatest waste of money?

I’ll give you a few…

• Credit card debt. Or any kind of unsecured debt that doesn’t self-liquidate. You might as well be, as a commenter on another one of my answers said, throwing money into a trash can.
• Trendy clothes. Trends come and go. What is trendy today will be tacky tomorrow. Classics are classics for a reason. I buy classics that have stood the test of time. I buy high-quality and expensive stuff that lasts me years if not decades. And I don’t have to care about the trends at all.
• Structural work on most realty. I’ll give you a couple of examples: If you’re leasing a place to run a restaurant, and you’re going to be putting up $300k for renting that place out… you’ll never get that money back. It’s gone. Sunk. When you sell the business – if you succeed – you’ll be selling it based on the EBITDA of the business. Not what you put into it. Another example: If you buy a house and then spend $100k on structural stuff because you were too cheap to get proper inspection reports before closing… you’ll be lucky to get 20 cents on your dollar.
• Buying in a seller’s market and selling in a buyer’s market. If you’re selling real estate in most American cities right now (few notable exceptions do exist) you’re shooting yourself in the foot. If you’re hoarding property in Hong Kong right now and trying to make money by renting it out, you’re again killing yourself. Pay attention to market trends, not fashion trends. And that’s coming from a man who owns a fashion brand.
• Drinking out. Again, I love it when people buy drinks at my restaurant. Why? There’s no prep cost or time. At most, it’s decanting bottles if that. Yet, the margins are insane. Most restaurants would go out of business if they couldn’t sell alcohol. They don’t make much money on food – even though that’s what they spend so much time and effort sourcing, prepping, and serving.
• Latest electronics. Honestly, the four-year-old DSLR that you use once a week is just fine. Even if it doesn’t have 4k. Even if you have a million subscribers. They care about the quality of your content, and that’s got very little to do with your resolution. Honestly, most of them are on their phone, and they don’t care if it’s 1080p 1440p or 4k. Your brand new $1100 phone will be bested by the $200 Android in two years. Guess which one I’m buying.
• Fake leathers. Don’t do it. These things might be half the price… or even a third the cost of real leather. But they have no durability. You’d be lucky to get two years out of it. Meanwhile, my leathers are already almost a decade old and have amazing-looking patina. My leather jackets, shoes, belts, etc. will most likely outlast me. This is my bag. I just took this photo as I was typing this answer. It cost me quite a lot, but I’ve had it for over half a decade, and it looks practically new. It’s super durable, and I love it. It’s brown… so it’ll never go out of fashion. Maybe the horn-handle will. But that can be replaced if needed.

• Large houses. I spend a lot of money on housing. But it’s still pretty small, and basically I use every corner of it. And not for storage. Does a couple with no kids really need a three bedroom apartment? Do empty nesters really need the 4 bathrooms they’ve got? I’d rather spend money on location than size. Bigger means more expensive and time-consuming to clean and maintain as well.
• Newest cars. Most people do need a car. It’s just not possible for most people to live without one. But do you really need the $800 a month lease to drive around in a giant 2020 SUV? Just from a financial perspective it doesn’t make sense. A friend of mine keeps getting a new RAM truck every 2–4 years. I asked him why he needs it, and he says “Oh I want to be able to move stuff around if I need to.” I asked him how frequently he’s moving stuff around, and the answer is basically a couple times every quarter. Couldn’t he just rent a pickup or even an entire truck for that?
• Vacations. This one is gonna be the one you most likely hate the most.
  • But I’ve spent most of the last 15 years moving from one part of the world to the next. Vactions, work trips, business – everything. And let me tell you – every place has it’s own ups and downs.
  • Landscape wise there are mountains. There are plains. There are beaches or lakes. That just about covers everything. I live in NYC so mountains are a few hours drive away. And beach is nearby.
  • Honestly, a 2-week excursion to the mountains (if you live close to a beach) or to the beach (if you’re situated on the mountains) won’t really make any difference to your life.
  • Realistically, you’ll spend most of that time exhuasted because of airlines, security check points, check-ins, check-outs and most importantly… the immense pressure of ticking items off of an inventory.
  • Ask a New Yorker when was the last time they went to stand in a several-hour queue to check out the Statue of Liberty. The answer might be enlightening.
  • What makes sense, at least to me, is to have a lifestyle you love. That, and actually relaxing when I’m on a vacation – no matter where I am. I could have my mini vacation right where I live – by just refusing to do business or work for a few days. That’s real relaxation right there.
  • Which is very different from trying to check off 17 items on a random inventory within nine days. That’s horrible.
  • If you ever look at tourists, all they seem to do is take selfies and photos of the place to post on social media. And they do it to such an extent that at least to me it looks like they don’t really have any reason to be there other than to tell others that they were there. They’re not actually enjoying the place. Then again, who enjoys Times Square, right? heh
• College degrees. Unless you really need one in your profession – doctors, civil engineers, lawyers – don’t get it. It’s burdensome, and employers care far more about track record, skillsets, professionalism and experience. Get a job instead and work your way up. Or at least try to minimize your expenditure while getting the degree. Go to a cheaper school. Study on your own part-time while working a job full-time. Unless you degree is actually getting you somewhere you couldn’t on your own, there’s no reason to take on tons of unsecured debt that you’ll waste the next decade paying off.
• Weddings. I date quite a few girls who’re more interested in the wedding than they are in the marriage itself. Thankfully I’m not the one putting a diamond on one of those fingers. To me, a wedding ceremony is about as wasteful as it gets. I’d rather put that money down to buy a rental unit (or three) and have a headstart.

I can honestly still think of a few other things, but this ought to be a good start.

Credit : Lakshay Behl