Advertiser Disclosure
X

Advertiser Disclosure: We may have financial relationships with companies listed on our site. We may receive compensation for placement of sponsored products or services and this may affect our decision about who to promote and where to promote them. We make every effort to be authentic and accurate with every article we write.

Earning

Who wants to be a millionaire?

Not me, apparently.

So I finally made it through the gruesome book, The Millionaire Next Door. While informative, it was so terribly boring that it took me weeks to get through it. Awful.

However, I found one interesting tidbit about how much millionaires were spending on consumer goods.

I am the nosiest person alive. I decided to go into tax accounting because I like knowing how much people make and what they do with it (hmm, wonder why PF is interesting to me…). One client sent his credit card statements (a lot of people have no idea what we need to prepare taxes) and it was like freaking Christmas! I got to see what he was spending all of his money on, it was personal finance nerd heaven.

Anyways, according to the Millionaire Next Door, the typical millionaire has never spent more than:

$399 on a suit

$140 on a pair of shoes

$235 on a watch

For serious? I am SCREWED. Now, I’m pretty sure this hasn’t been updated since 1996, but let’s go ahead and use these numbers. I have outspent millionaires in TWO of these 3 categories and I’m about a million dollars in debt. Let’s examine my purchases, shall we?

Suit: While I have two dress suits, neither of them were my most expensive piece of clothing. My most expensive clothing item was a $165 dress. And no, it wasn’t my wedding dress. It’s pretty and it’s from Anthropologie and I love it. So there.

I DID NOT outspend the average a millionaire on clothing. YAY! 

Shoes: They must have interviewed all men. I’m pretty sure Steve’s priciest pair (since we’ve been together) were around $140. Mine were $298 for a pair of Frye boots I bought two years ago. I’m planning my second Frye purchase this fall/winter that are around $350, but I am coupon-coding to make them cheaper than my first pair.

I DID outspend the average millionaire on shoes.

Watch: Barely, but I spent $250 on my most expensive (and only!) watch. It’s a rose gold Michael Kors and I love it. I believe this was a birthday present from Steve (joint account, so technically this counts) two years ago.

I DID outspend the average millionaire on watches.

The average millionaire is frugal as hell (compared to their net worth). I do want to reach a net worth of a million dollars though. I guess I’ll just be on the spendy end of the spectrum.

How did you guys do? PLEASE someone tell me that you are outspending millionaires too!

[Image from BuzzFeed]

Share on Pinterest Share on LinkedIn Share on WhatsApp
Photo of author

Erin Thompson

Erin Thompson spent years managing her own blog about budgeting and debt. Because of that, she has great insights not only about managing spending and borrowing but also about running websites profitably. When she's not writing articles for us, she's traveling and looking for new types of wines to try.
Want to Say in the Loop?

Get the latest updates we offer about all things "Money" by signing up for the CashBlog newsletter.

As Seen on

Contact Us
The content on Cashblog.com is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not financial advice and we are not certified financial advisors. Cashblog.com strives to keep its information accurate and up to date, but it may differ from actual numbers. We may have financial relationships with companies listed on our site. We may receive compensation for the placement of sponsored products or services. We work hard to write authentic and accurate articles.