Aspies with financial security; not pretentious?

Post Reply New Topic

Yep, I love stacking my money!

The most I spent in one setting since I got my job was around 80 bucks on a day trip to go to Philly from NYC. I wanted to ride some rail lines around here, but buying a ticket is 30 bucks round trip, I can afford to do that, but, eh, I don't to want to spend it.

I also spend no money on clothes, now, I don't get paid high enough where I could go nuts buying clothes & sneakers and still have cash left over. Besides, I hate the concept of buying nice clothes to impress other people, especially NTs lol.

I'll spend all kinds of money on the things I want - especially books - but I'm not interested in fashion so I guess I always look kind of dishevelled wearing old and worn-out clothes. Also, I don't really take other people into account much so I'm not trying to impress anyone.

Huh, I've never understood the idea of being thrifty to the point of discomfort. If you have money, at least spend it responsibly.

I don't have a lot of disposable income, but I try to do what I can with what I have. For example: buying organic/sustainable/less additive-laden food (which is pricier in the short-term, but worth it for the long-term health and environmental benefits) Or buy most of my clothes/accessories that I can (for the most part) be certain that they weren't made in slave-labor/sweatshop-laden conditions. Plus patronize small businesses (non-large chain/corporate) as much as possible.

I can't speak for every individual's situation, but one should try the best they can.

Wow; I guess I'm in the majority here !

I appreciate all the replies, and I think we can consider this an advantage over NTs, in this field. I see so many people who spend huge chunks of money unwisely, just to impress people (whether in business with a fancy leather briefcase and $10K watch, or in society with country club memberships and exotic cars). I do spend irresponsibly now & then, but it's always on something that I PERSONALLY want. Case in point, I collect air raid sirens, and when I found a pair of Federal Thunderbolt sirens on eBay several years ago; 3000 miles away, I bought them, and my wife and I drove Back East and spent 10 days on the road to get the sirens. Most people would say that spending a few thousand dollars on fuel and hotels, and hiring help to watch the ranch, etc., is nuts. But it's not nuts for me. And I know a guy who paid $40,000 for a broken old color TV set that he REALLY wanted for his collection of TVs. He could afford it fine, and it made him happy, and he doesn't care if everybody else thinks he's insane. (That wasn't me, just to clarify; it was another Aspie I Know).

Security is everything to me as an Aspie, and I wouldn't ever want to do anything that might threaten our ability to keep our house, or stuff that NTs do so often and get in trouble with. I could not enjoy having an expensive thing like a boat or a vacation house someplace in Hawaii, if I knew we paid for it by taking out a dangerous loan or spent money that needs to be on hand for emergencies. That would totally ruin the fun for me, and I think NTs can somehow set aside the worry, and go deep into debt to be able to show off to other people. I see it clear as day among my friends.


Charles

Another reason why I am so obsessed with saving money is because I feel secured when I have lot of it and I am afraid of surprises that will make me have to spend money so I always want to be prepared. I don't know what is going to happen like unexpected cost or if my car breaks down or if anything happens. One time my husband had to go to a lot of doctors about his feet and get a brace for it or else he would lose his job and it was getting worse and worse so he had to do something about it. That proved my point why I always need to save and why I hardly spend it on fun. All of our tax money paid for his treatment because the insurance didn't cover it all. It was a surprise and it snuck up and good thing we got over $3,000 back in taxes.


I have been told it happens to everybody where they get something unexpected they have to pay for and get upset but I doubt they react to it the same way as I do. So that is why I also get so obsessed with saving money to avoid any stress. How many people save money because of surprises and s**t that happens? I doubt they get that extreme. Sure people save money but I take it to extreme where I don't want to do anything and I get cheap. It scares my husband because he can see me telling our child in the future "Sorry, we are going to have to cancel your birthday because we can't afford it." I told him that is why I always like saving for those things and for is our child wants to sign up to do sports or activities an those all costs money and they all be surprises so we have to save for unexpected things. Does everyone do this? I don't think so. I take it to extreme. I will even save a few bucks and chew my husband out for spending a dollar. That was why he took over the finances and told me to not worry about money and he will manage it and put some in savings every month. I also like to plan things that will cost money or know ahead of time so I know to not do anything else fun or buy anything I don't need. This was in the past when I buy things I didn't need but I am talking about ebooks now and wii points or virtual console games or games on my Nintendo 3DS. But lot of times i don't buy things because I never know what fun stuff could come up so I like to be prepared so I don't miss out.

Frugality is my middle name.

I'm pretty thrifty, but I don't really do it on purpose. I do want to have some significant savings in the bank, but I don't go out of my way to deny myself any everyday items. The reason that I end up spending very little money is that I rarely feel like I really want anything enough to go out and buy it, or even to shop online for it. That drive that some people have to buy things is just not there for me. It's not that I don't like things, but I guess I don't really feel the need to make them mine.