If you work for a living, what percentage of *your own* annual pre-tax income do you spend on jewelry?

[icy_jade]

I bet you use an electric toothbrush, too! IYKYK

So do I!

I don't track what I spend on jewelry each year. It would never cross my mind to do that.

Neither do I so I just clicked on an option that should cover what I think I spend. In theory all options after that works too.

 

[missy]

Like many others here we never calculated the percentage. All I can tell you with complete confidence is we spend well below our means. As in it doesn't affect the bottom line for us at all. IMO that is key. With luxury items one should spend well within (really below) your means to remain very healthy financially.

Enjoy your things but make smart decisions in terms of not overspending. Whatever your income, always live below your means. That's my philosophy. Financial peace is priceless. IMO

“There is no dignity quite so impressive, and no independence quite so important, as living within your means.”

 

[Lookinagain]

Like many others here we never calculated the percentage. All I can tell you with complete confidence is we spend well below our means. As in it doesn't affect the bottom line for us at all. IMO that is key. With luxury items one should spend well within (really below) your means to remain very healthy financially.

Enjoy your things but make smart decisions in terms of not overspending. Whatever your income, always live below your means. That's my philosophy. Financial peace is priceless. IMO

“There is no dignity quite so impressive, and no independence quite so important, as living within your means.”

It's funny, your post just reminded me that several years ago, during a discussion about something, can't remember what, a friend's wife looked at me disdainfully and said "well, you live beneath your means". My response was "isn't that what you're supposed to do?".....

 

[missy]

It's funny, your post just reminded me that several years ago, during a discussion about something, can't remember what, a friend's wife looked at me disdainfully and said "well, you live beneath your means". My response was "isn't that what you're supposed to do?".....

My husband always reminds me we can’t expert others to do as we do or think as we think. But we can share our thought process with those who interested. The rest is up to them

 

[missy]

I will add one more comment. My dh and I have combined all our finances. Everything. And where we could not I am the beneficiary and vice versa. We did this when we got engaged. So what’s mine is his and what’s his is mine and we share everything. So there’s no calculating his or mine. It’s all ours.

 

[telephone89]

believe it or not, yes, people with 9m or even 90m or 900m net worth still need to work, because they just bought that ocean front estate in maui, need to get another bugatti, need to buy another yacht. humans desires are endless

"and those who are only working for fun but don't actually need the money from the job to live"
I don't really consider a bugati or a yacht as a "need to live" so I'll have to politely disagree, but different strokes and all that...

 

[Lovey Lace]

Like many others here we never calculated the percentage. All I can tell you with complete confidence is we spend well below our means. As in it doesn't affect the bottom line for us at all. IMO that is key. With luxury items one should spend well within (really below) your means to remain very healthy financially.

ok, I'm going to interpret "we all" meaning you and your household. i dont think you intended "we all" to mean all PS members active or lurking.

 

[Lovey Lace]

"and those who are only working for fun but don't actually need the money from the job to live"
I don't really consider a bugati or a yacht as a "need to live" so I'll have to politely disagree, but different strokes and all that...

Fair. thats a whole different topic, how much money one really needs to survive and to what living standard in which country and which cultural norm and which era. keeping up with the jonese is just a mental craving, not a need. for survey purposes i had to draw the line somewhere. 10 was a nice round easy number and the number I've seen people aim for for fat fire, so i picked that one.

 

[Lovey Lace]

I will add one more comment. My dh and I have combined all our finances. Everything. And where we could not I am the beneficiary and vice versa. We did this when we got engaged. So what’s mine is his and what’s his is mine and we share everything. So there’s no calculating his or mine. It’s all ours.

Sure. I agree it's difficult if not impossible to distinguish if the couple jointly own a business or receive passive income from rental properties or other investments. in that case, i agree it makes sense for survey purposes to use a joint household income. like many diamonds, my survey design has flaws. For those who are w2 or 1099 employees, your employer is required to give you your own w2 or 1099. that was my attempt at scoping the survey.

 

[Lovey Lace]

So do I!


Neither do I so I just clicked on an option that should cover what I think I spend. In theory all options after that works too.

thank you for participating! yes, my survey design isnt perfect

 

[Lovey Lace]

I don't track what I spend on jewelry each year. It would never cross my mind to do that.

same, i dont track, i dont budget, never have, just buy what i want within reason, within my means, until a few months ago. i went through invoices for jewelry dating back the past 5 years and made a spreadsheet. i was shocked beyond belief how much money i had wasted on jewelry. i dont even want to know or go down that route with clothes.

 

[missy]

ok, I'm going to interpret "we all" meaning you and your household. i dont think you intended "we all" to mean all PS members active or lurking.

Yes “we” means our household.
I don’t know what other families do

 

[Lovey Lace]

I don't think it will give you the answer you need for benchmarking your own behavior. I don't know who would gauge their jewelry/gem spending as a function of their annual income as opposed to their net worth or their annual investment income in a happily up-market or their on-the-horizon major expenses (roof, car, education -- we need all three, for example), etc. To me, it's money I'm comfortable wasting, while knowing there is some residual value (more than with fancy food or a car) and, hopefully, plenty of joy along the way.

The fact that you specify only the purchaser's income is a bit of an eyebrow-raiser. As a couple, we make most of our wise (and foolish) spending decisions together -- or at least tell each other what we are about to pull the trigger on. None of my purchases are mine alone. Even though spouse recently retired, the process is still the same.

And all your choices but one could truthfully be answered as "less than 50%."

Yes, my survey design wasnt perfect, yes, everything could fall under 50% and i thought about writing 0-10%, 11-20%, 21-30%, etc. but i figured people would parse that out on their own intuitively.

agreed on net worth. thats what I've loosely done. i bought stuff based on the stock market and my portfolio, if i got a raise, if i was living below my means, within reason, no major expense coming up and so on. never used a budgeting app, never tracked my spending. until a few months ago i went through invoices for jewelry dating back the past 5 years and made a spreadsheet. i was shocked beyond belief how much money i had wasted on jewelry. i dont even want to know or go down that route with clothes.

purchaser's income was for drawing some type of boundary or scope for survey design to make it most relatable to me, like single or divorced people, and so that married or couples can still participate using their own w2 or 1099 income. it does not mean that a person who is married or partnered up should or should not share money or make or not make joint financial decisions. how a couple shares their finances is different topic and beyond the scope.

 

[MamaBee]

 

[LilAlex]

i went through invoices for jewelry dating back the past 5 years and made a spreadsheet. i was shocked beyond belief how much money i had wasted on jewelry. i dont even want to know or go down that route with clothes.

I hear you! I mean it's not totally "wasted" although we both used that expression.

Most of the things still make me smile when I think about them -- even if I'm not looking at them. I don't have other material things that do that for me. We will never have truly fine art (we barely climate- and humidity-control our home). Cars don't do it for me -- I love nice cars but they age and get dinged up and fall apart -- unless you're one of those awful my-garage-is-an-indoor-car-museum people. Clothes are ephemeral -- plus our work attire has shifted toward the utilitarian.

Spouse asked to me make a spreadsheet of everything -- mostly for our kids and because only I know the backstory and reports for the things we have. (This was shortly after a bunch of relatives got together in a faraway city to go over a deceased relatives things.) It was more than I remembered or would have guessed.

Maybe it's like t-shirts. I can't remember the last time I consciously bought a t-shirt but I seem to have shelves of them -- from races, Father's Days long past, 4th of July, National Parks, vendor promotions. It's probably only one or two per year -- but that's "times" a lot of years in the equation.

 

[icy_jade]

Most of the things still make me smile when I think about them -- even if I'm not looking at them. I don't have other material things that do that for me. We will never have truly fine art (we barely climate- and humidity-control our home). Cars don't do it for me -- I love nice cars but they age and get dinged up and fall apart -- unless you're one of those awful my-garage-is-an-indoor-car-museum people. Clothes are ephemeral -- plus our work attire has shifted toward the utilitarian.

This! I know I spend what is a jaw dropping amount on jewelry for most people (apart from folks on PS and/or you know, the really rich people), but I hardly spend on some other material things like beauty products, beauty treatments, hair treatment, shoes and bags. And no car too. In my country, a car costs a small fortune to buy and maintain so I typically use that as the key “offset” for what I spend on blings and it helps.

My blings truly brighten up my day when I wear them and gives me moments of joy throughout the day when they sparkle/glow/or just simply look fabulous in whichever lighting. And I spend within my means, have no debt and still have savings. Plus I’m assuming that they (the blings, apart from organic gems) will survive me to go to my kids (or their kids) which is long enough for me. At worst… I can liquidate the collection before I go.

One day, I will stop buying and just enjoy what I have. I. The meantime what I spend is very much within my means so I try my best not to feel bad about it.

 

[Lookinagain]

My blings truly brighten up my day when I wear them and gives me moments of joy throughout the day when they sparkle/glow/or just simply look fabulous in whichever lighting. And I spend within my means, have no debt and still have savings. Plus I’m assuming that they (the blings, apart from organic gems) will survive me to go to my kids (or their kids) which is long enough for me. At worst… I can liquidate the collection before I go.

I pretty much think the same way. And I've never thought of buying my jewelry as "wasting" money, unless the definition of that is not saving every bit of money that isn't for necessity items. Then I could say lots of things are a "waste" of money. If I buy a second home that I don't need, but enjoy, yet have to sell it for some reason and the market isn't "up" I could lose money. But I might enjoy that second home regardless. I've worked my tail off for many years so I don't see that anything that I buy for myself that makes me happy is a waste. If I did, then I wouldn't be buying it.

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

this is the kind of question we would just never ask here
its just not polite
we would never ask someone how much money do they make either

 

[nala]

Why is everyone being so harsh on op??!! I gather she is just trying to figure out if she is normal or if she’s fallen down the rabbit hole that all jewelry addicts are in. Lol. It’s a poll! Anonymous! No one is forcing anyone to reply.

I didn’t scrutinize your poll bc tbh, I have given your question a lot of thought before your posted. Like. What’s the end game. Why do I keep buying?

But it keeps me busy. And I have fun. And why not.

 

[RRfromR]

Do people with a net worth of $9M "need" to work? Since only households over $10M are excluded?!

Sadly, yes. If you are in a high COL area, have kids with special needs or you have expensive, chronic health problems, 9MM is not a huge amount. Don't get me started on the cost of college. For us with small kids, we're looking at almost $40k/year for in state tuition. My college is $70k/year now.

 

[qubitasaurus]

Sadly, yes. If you are in a high COL area, have kids with special needs or you have expensive, chronic health problems, 9MM is not a huge amount. Don't get me started on the cost of college. For us with small kids, we're looking at almost $40k/year for in state tuition. My college is $70k/year now.

Actually I had this thought. If I wanted a house with a back yard, or even a 4 bedroom appartment down town it could easily cost me 8-10 MM.

If I wanted a house in my husband's home town it would also be at least this much. I've been looking at the 25 MM house arround his childhood home thinking we are priced out of that market now.

I think that's a bit peripheral though. It shows up a problem though with the fact that in high COL areas you may have a high wage, but the percentage of that which is disposable may be moderately small.

 

[House Cat]

Wow.

 

[icy_jade]

Actually I had this thought. If I wanted a house with a back yard, or even a 4 bedroom appartment down town it could easily cost me 8-10 MM.

If I wanted a house in my husband's home town it would also be at least this much. I've been looking at the 25 MM house arround his childhood home thinking we are priced out of that market now.

I think that's a bit peripheral though. It shows up a problem though with the fact that in high COL areas you may have a high wage, but the percentage of that which is disposable may be moderately small.

It’s all relative. Assuming you are referring to Singapore when you mean downtown, we do have really expensive property. And cars. And that’s why we are one of the most expensive places to live in the world.

But… with 9MM you can comfortably not work if you want. Just don’t buy a place near Orchard. Don’t splurge or live lavishly (no private jets, no first class flights) and you should be fine.

 

[qubitasaurus]

Wow.

Yeah the property around my husband's home in Auckland really caught me by surprise. I remember seeing it for the first time and a lot of these places are basically shacks so I figured 'eh....what's the big fuss about'. Unfortunately they were already all multi million dollar shacks. That was 10 years ago, and prices doubled multiple times in the interim.

Asia's big cities have gone the same way. Everything here is ~$2000 per sq foot, for a small apartment out of the city. So a ~1000 sq feet apartment, in the 'suburbs' is 2 MM. In the city you can multiply that by a factor of 2 to 4 depending on the district. A house on land is way more.

Icy is right though, you can chose to live out of the city in Singapore. If you can buy into the public housing scheme (there are caveats on this as it is public housing built by the goverment to support lower income households/citizens) then the housing is heavily subsidised and it works out ok.

 

[CalliopeCladdagh]

Are there people who do not use electric toothbrushes??? that'd be against dentist recommendations.

Just... Wow

 

[YadaYadaYada]

Geesh, suddenly living in Connecticut is like Filene’s Basement compared to some areas mentioned lol!

Oh yeah and no electric toothbrush here.

 

[CalliopeCladdagh]

Oh yeah and no electric toothbrush here.

Thank god I'm not the only one!

 

[LilAlex]

Just... Wow

They hasten gum recession in a lot of instances. There was just a thing in NYT about this -- I had been waiting for this to see more publicity. I do not use one. My whole family does. One young-adult kid will need gum surgery to fix the erosion. I have always been suspicious of them. Kinda like scouring your pots and pans with steel wool -- initially, you're amazed at the results but then...

 

[RRfromR]

Geesh, suddenly living in Connecticut is like Filene’s Basement compared to some areas mentioned lol!

Oh yeah and no electric toothbrush here.

Yada, I loved Filene's Basement. I went to college in New England and used to take the train from Providence to Boston just to go shopping there. Many many years ago.

 

[YadaYadaYada]

Yup I was also a big fan @RRfromR, also luckily I lived about 20 minutes from one. Good old days.