Pretend Rich.

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In one of the comments brought about my one of my readers with regards to my entry about the rise in the number of poor, it was mentioned that the concern should not only be for the real/pretend poor, but also be for people who, on the other side of the scale, pretend to be rich.

I think all of us have encountered such people throughout our lives – people who live beyond their means, and apart from living paycheck to paycheck, also owe the bank (or relatives) thousands of dollars in their pursuit to attain ‘luxury’. Honda sleeping in the carpark, Louis Vuitton bag slung over shoulder and that holiday to New Zealand? All credit, baby – roll in the interest rates.

I think one of the bigger social issue that Singapore encounters would be that all of us have been ‘educated’ from young that being rich equals to being successful. When we live in a private property, when we drive a car, when we carry a luxury label, it is a given that will be immediately labeled as a person who has ‘made it’.

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However, not many realize that such things have been made more easily attainable by the use of credit cards and bank loans. Really, when was the last time you’ve received a call from the bank to attain credit from them? I have not even reached the age requirement to have a credit card and yet I have received two calls from them just this month alone.

The question is then – How successful can one person be if everything on display are expensive and luxurious, but all these things were actually bought using the bank’s money (thus belonged to the bank) and all that the owners truly have lots of are bills screaming of rolling interests and late payments?

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Someone I know personally has been declared bankrupt after failing to pay the bank months’ worth of credit card bills. In his pursuit to give his family a ‘better lifestyle’, he has, in the end, shortchanged them by selling his soul to the financial devil. Now, he cannot even leave the country (not even to JB, my dears), and he has to readjust his kids to a life that they are not accustomed to since young.

If you view it on a larger scale, it is this same need to have more than what you can afford that caused the current economic crisis that we are in. Throughout the United States, banks were releasing housing loans like nobody’s business, even to people who cannot afford them. The end result? A subprime mortgage crisis. Ditto the current situation the whole world is in currently.

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In my opinion, the only cure to this ongoing social issue would be for people to understand that they should just live within their means; that it is of no use to portray a rich image when you’re really pretty much a pauper, begging the bank personnel for just ‘one more month’ or ‘lower interest rates’ when you finally realize how deep in debt you are.

On a religious note, the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) was one such person who led an average life and even in Christianity, two of the seven deadly sins asks are Pride (needing to show people how rich they are) and Greed (wanting more than what is enough for ones’ self).

Personally, I think even I am a victim of one who pretends to be rich, in the sense that I stretch out my finances so much so that I find myself struggling to breathe. With my meager pay and the lifestyle that I am leading now, I think that the ONLY reason why I am not spiraling out of control is because I do not have a credit card or other credit terms. As such, since I have no means whatsoever to spend more than what I have, I am forced to learn to reign in my spending and try to at least have some spare for rainy days.

Are you or did you become a victim of the ‘Pretend Rich’ disease? How do we rehabilitate a person to start seeing his dollars as it is and not some ballooned amount that he wants to see? After all, speaking from personal experience, (hur hur) it really takes a gargantuan amount of effort to reel in ones’ spending if one is accustomed to having a more luxurious lifestyle *meh*

If it is not obvious enough, yes, I readily admit that I am having a problem maintaining a healthy balance sheet and still am trying to correct this kwa kwa kwa~

Related posts:

1. Increase in the Poor?
2. Lifestyle of the Rich and Famous.
3. Will Be Right Back!
4. How To Make a Mini-Book.
5. Dreams of tomorrow.