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The Rich Don't Penny Pinch

seanmcclure.substack.com

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Re: The Rich Don't Penny Pinch

#11

Post by nanis »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #4
nanis wrote: post #2

The author and I ascribe different meanings to "penny pinching" ... Also, > Imagine you are in your car driving and you notice someone in another car, alone, wearing a mask. This is during the covid pandemic so seeing someone wearing a mask is not overly surprising. But then you stop and think wait a second, this person is alone and wearing a mask. Isn't that odd? In fact it seems downright ridiculous. Why would anyo…

> A penny pincher is the person who goes to dinner with a dozen people and ends up spending an hour trying to "fairly" divide the check among everyone. Or, the one who says a few days later that you should treat him to lunch because he only had a single glass of wine whereas everyone else had two or some such. Alcoholic drinks in most popular cities are $10+ per drink, if not $18+ in tier 1 cities. If someone that do…

> penny pincher for not wanting to spend thousands of pennies

Yes, literally, the dictionary meaning of a "penny pincher" is one who does not want to part with his pennies.

The author of the article, on the other hand, seems to call people "penny pinchers" if they do not adopt rules of thumb but instead painstakingly analyze all alternatives. Sure, paralysis by analysis can be bad or there is nothing wrong with focusing one's cognitive energies sparingly etc, but there is very little in the article about penny pinching.

You preferences may say "it is more important for me to save seven bucks in this context." That does not compel other people to enjoy your preferences.

In my life, I have been in groups where if a few people consumed some relatively more expensive food or drinks, they are responsible enough to take care of that.

Also, when you go out with a large group, you do tip the wait staff generously, right?

Re: The Rich Don't Penny Pinch

#12

Post by wink »

> But then you stop and think wait a second, this person is alone and wearing a mask. Isn't that odd? In fact it seems downright ridiculous. Why would anyone wear a mask in their car when they are alone?

The author has clearly not spent a lot of time in normal mode around people who have to wear their mask for their full shift. Yes, those people forget. Not us keyboard warriors who put it on twice a day for a few minutes.

Re: The Rich Don't Penny Pinch

#13

Post by motohagiography »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #4
nanis wrote: post #2

The author and I ascribe different meanings to "penny pinching" ... Also, > Imagine you are in your car driving and you notice someone in another car, alone, wearing a mask. This is during the covid pandemic so seeing someone wearing a mask is not overly surprising. But then you stop and think wait a second, this person is alone and wearing a mask. Isn't that odd? In fact it seems downright ridiculous. Why would anyo…

> A penny pincher is the person who goes to dinner with a dozen people and ends up spending an hour trying to "fairly" divide the check among everyone. Or, the one who says a few days later that you should treat him to lunch because he only had a single glass of wine whereas everyone else had two or some such. Alcoholic drinks in most popular cities are $10+ per drink, if not $18+ in tier 1 cities. If someone that do…

Maybe they wouldn't be as budget constrained if they were easier to invite places? I can't invite my teetotaling and vegetarian friends out to many of the casual things I enjoy, and their purity issues create a self-imposed artificial constraint on their life opportunities. Someone with an actual medical issue learns to adapt to life and live it, where someone with a purity constraint selects for oppotunities where they can impose it on others. Not all vegetarians/non-drinkers, etc, but often it's a control ritual that could be satisfied psychologiclaly in other more productive ways. Also, if someone is struggling financially, adding a social purity constraint to their lives seems like a self sabotaging substitute where they are choosing for luck and opportunity to pass them over instead of accepting their circumstances and changing them. As though they can afford purity, without considering what it costs.

Dining out isn't about the food, it's about company and companionship, and I don't eat with anyone I'm not willing to pick up the entire tab for, because the pleasure of their company is well worth it. If their company is not worth that, I'd say that's the definition of wasted time.

Re: The Rich Don't Penny Pinch

#14

Post by j7ake »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #9
j7ake wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it also depends how many times a year you are in this situation. If you go out with big group 5 times a year and end up paying $10 more than you should, you end up down $50/year. If this is a weekly or daily event, it makes sense to make this more fair. In my opinion, stressing about anything less than $100/year is penny pinching.

Of course, but it is never $100 per year. It is just crazy to me that with all the price increases and increase in income/wealth gap, and increases in variety of diets, that it would still be considered taboo to not want (or even be able to) pay for others’ excess. I go out of my way to make sure if I am having extra to chip in extra, but I certainly would not look down on anyone that insisted on paying for only what…

I read the article as a guide for my own behaviour, rather than as a template to judge others.

Definitely true one should not judge when you see someone insisting on paying their fair share. You never know the details of their personal lives.

Re: The Rich Don't Penny Pinch

#15

Post by oblio »

wink wrote: post #12

> But then you stop and think wait a second, this person is alone and wearing a mask. Isn't that odd? In fact it seems downright ridiculous. Why would anyone wear a mask in their car when they are alone? The author has clearly not spent a lot of time in normal mode around people who have to wear their mask for their full shift. Yes, those people forget. Not us keyboard warriors who put it on twice a day for a few min…

It's just convenient. You know where the mask is at all times, you can't lose it, etc

Plus wearing a mask somewhere hot sucks but cars have AC so they're cool and this drawback is removed.

Re: The Rich Don't Penny Pinch

#16

Post by jkrems »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #4
nanis wrote: post #2

The author and I ascribe different meanings to "penny pinching" ... Also, > Imagine you are in your car driving and you notice someone in another car, alone, wearing a mask. This is during the covid pandemic so seeing someone wearing a mask is not overly surprising. But then you stop and think wait a second, this person is alone and wearing a mask. Isn't that odd? In fact it seems downright ridiculous. Why would anyo…

> A penny pincher is the person who goes to dinner with a dozen people and ends up spending an hour trying to "fairly" divide the check among everyone. Or, the one who says a few days later that you should treat him to lunch because he only had a single glass of wine whereas everyone else had two or some such. Alcoholic drinks in most popular cities are $10+ per drink, if not $18+ in tier 1 cities. If someone that do…

If food or drink consumption was the primary purpose of going out, there'd be no reason to coordinate and meet. If a group of people meets for food, they don't meet for food. They meet for each other. They meet to enjoy each others company, the mood, and good discussions. The price of food and drinks for the group is meant to facilitate these things. For the group.

That's not paying for other people's alcohol consumption. It's paying a fair share of the expenses that were involved to create this particular communal experience. Which also means that if somebody is budget constrained, the group may want to keep that in mind - no matter what they order. I've been routinely in groups where somebody with budget constraint paid less. Not because they ate or drink less. But because the group decided that it was their fair share, based on the group's perception of fairness.

Re: The Rich Don't Penny Pinch

#17

Post by foobarian »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #4
nanis wrote: post #2

The author and I ascribe different meanings to "penny pinching" ... Also, > Imagine you are in your car driving and you notice someone in another car, alone, wearing a mask. This is during the covid pandemic so seeing someone wearing a mask is not overly surprising. But then you stop and think wait a second, this person is alone and wearing a mask. Isn't that odd? In fact it seems downright ridiculous. Why would anyo…

> A penny pincher is the person who goes to dinner with a dozen people and ends up spending an hour trying to "fairly" divide the check among everyone. Or, the one who says a few days later that you should treat him to lunch because he only had a single glass of wine whereas everyone else had two or some such. Alcoholic drinks in most popular cities are $10+ per drink, if not $18+ in tier 1 cities. If someone that do…

To be fair, OP was more specific than "not wanting to spend thousands of pennies for others’ alcohol consumption." The penny pincher also goes out of their way to be compensated, going against the social etiquette.

One can also remedy this by not spending time with people who do not on their own initiative recognize the inequity of the situation and help make it fair. In fact perhaps you can think of it as an excellent investment of one's money to ferret out the inconsiderate, in order to eliminate them from the friend circle.

Re: The Rich Don't Penny Pinch

#18

Post by rory »

BrianOnHN wrote: post #7
tonyedgecombe wrote: post #3

The world is full of people who take a casual attitude towards their finances. They are the ones we keep reading about when we are told most people can't raise $1000 in an emergency or don't think they will ever be able to afford retirement.

The world is full of people with a hoarding attitude toward an arbitrarily chosen store of value. They are the ones we keep reading about when we are told poor decisions have collapsed buildings, destroyed ecosystems, caused wars and unnecessary human suffering.

The rich by and large aren't hoarding cash. They own things with intrinsic value.

Re: The Rich Don't Penny Pinch

#19

Post by jayski »

invest all the time you use penny pinching into making more money. youll have a lot more in the end and be better liked.

if youre worrying about wether your part of the check is $7.23 or $11.17 because you didn't have wine, you're not in the right mindset to make money.

i follow the rule: if im going to argue over money, its because im going to sue you.

if its not enough to warrant a lawyer, i just take the L and forget about it.

i am however very serious about work and investments.

Re: The Rich Don't Penny Pinch

#20

Post by travisp »

wink wrote: post #12

> But then you stop and think wait a second, this person is alone and wearing a mask. Isn't that odd? In fact it seems downright ridiculous. Why would anyone wear a mask in their car when they are alone? The author has clearly not spent a lot of time in normal mode around people who have to wear their mask for their full shift. Yes, those people forget. Not us keyboard warriors who put it on twice a day for a few min…

Yes, my wife is an emergency medicine doctor. She frequently ends up wearing her mask in the car and other places where it’s unnecessary until I remind her she’s wearing it.
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