Sometimes personal finance advisers do not have enough respect for people’s ability to manage their resources. That is the only explanation for the existence of articles about people spending their monies on coffee instead of houses. It is the only explanation for people praising millionaires & billionaires for using old cars or houses while people less wealthy than them buy new cars.

Well, one financial adviser who respects his clients is Barry Ritholtz. Barry is an absolute legend among financial bloggers and he addressed just this situation in an article which you should read. In that article he points to the confusion that people have about spending as compared to spending beyond your means. He makes the case that criticizing for spending even when it is within their means is ridiculous.

Shaming people for spending money on things they want and can afford is not useful and is often hypocritical. If someone decides to pay for a Pay-TV subscription but is still able to meet living expenses and save for retirement, there is nothing financially irresponsible about that.

People work hard not just to amass a huge net worth but also to live a high standard of life. You need to get the priorities right namely

• work to maximize income,
• let the big expense items be within your means,
• save for retirement & children’s (if any) education.

Once that is done there is no need to feel bad about spending money on anything you want to because you heard some billionaire doesn’t spend money on that.