The guy who was in front of me was wearing expensive brand name clothing. His hooded sweatshirt had the logo of a huge rhino and so did his back jeans pocket. Actually, I think his shoes had the same logo too. He looked like he had just stepped out of a music video. I half wondered if there was a Bugatti Veyron parked in the supermarket parking lot.

Then when he went to pay for his groceries, he paid with food stamps. How can someone who looked so wealthy be too poor to afford his groceries just using his own resources? I actually got kind of mad knowing that he was using my tax dollars to dress better than me. I mean it’s not that hard to out dress me but still.

Everyone wants to impress

There is a great deal of pressure to put up an image to the rest of the world of wealth and success. We want people to think that we actually have a lot more money than we have. I used to work at a place where everyone drove around BMW 750 Li but lived in a small studio apartment. It just didn’t make sense. They go out of their way to project this persona and they are willing to do anything to at least appear successful.

Any means necessary

There are many statistics out there documenting how lower income people are usually the ones who play the lottery the most. While some play the lottery for the enjoyment of the game and the whimsical notion of just one day maybe winning. But I am sure a majority of the people buy tickets hoping and wishing against crazy odds of making some money. Everyone wants to become a millionaire or at least be thought of as one.

How do real millionaires play?

They actually are the least likely to play the lottery. Also, they live very normal (cheap and sustainable) lives. Whether that is because they want to remain inconspicuous or they want to retain more of their wealth is up to each individual I suppose. The most common car make for millionaires is a Toyota. Yup. It’s not a Benz or a BMW or an Audi. They drive Toyota’s.

They also do not buy houses they can’t afford. Most of the millionaires have houses worth just a fraction of their net worth. They live in houses that are worth about $300,000 only. My father’s house cost more than that so I can imagine what kind of living space that kind of money affords. It is very comfortable but also quite basic.

The real look of a millionaire

Instead of trying to impress people with fancy cars and big houses maybe all we need to do is drive around a Prius or Camry to make people think that we are wealthy. After all that is how real millionaires live. Maybe if we start living like that, we can actually afford to pay for our own groceries too.

(photo: gracewong)

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to our RSS feed!

Related Posts:

1. How To Start A Fight With Your Neighbors
2. Leaving The Rat Race
3. Motivation