$5,000-$7,000 is the average amount spent on Bachelor's and Bachelorette parties, according to Savings.com. For one individual to attend one of these parties, it will cost $800-$1500 on average. With men spending way more than women.
THIS IS INSANE!!
For one night of partying (maybe a weekend), this is just too much!! Now I get celebrating but do you really need to spend so much?
If your answer is HELL YES! Then I have one question for you
WHY?
Is this really something you want or is this a way you just want to show off?
I ask this because the biggest reason for the rise in cost according to Jennifer Kingston of Axios is
Inflation and the pressure to stage Instagram-worthy celebrations are driving up the cost of pre-nuptial revelry.
Inflation plays a role but pay attention to the second part: "Instagram-worthy celebrations".
AKA KEEPING UP WITH THE JONESES
(Well in our generation it’s more keeping up with the Kardashians and Jenners.)
One of my favorite writers, Morgan Housel, really helped me understand how we think. We believe we are the center of the universe, especially those of us in an individualistic society like the US.
We believe when we drive on the interstate, everyone is watching us (even though we are traveling 60+mph).
We believe when we walk into a building, everyone is looking at us.
But here is the reality, everyone else is thinking the same thing. Which means no one is actually thinking of you.
In his book, Psychology of Money, Morgan Housel calls this "Man in the Car Paradox". On Page 93 he says this:
The best part of being a valet is getting to drive some of the coolest cars to ever touch pavement. Guest came in driving Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Rolls-Royces - the whole aristocratic fleet.
It was my dream to have one of these cars of my own, because (I thought) they sent a strong signal to others that you made it. You're smart. You're rich. You have taste. You're important. Look at me.
The irony is that I rarely if ever looked at them, the drivers.
When you see someone driving a nice car, you rarely think, "Wow, the guy driving the car is cool." Instead, you think, "Wow, if I had that car people would thinking I'm cool." Subconscious or not, this is how people think.
There is a paradox here: people tend to want wealth to signal to others that they should be liked and admired. But in reality those other people often bypass admiring you, not because they don't think wealth is admirable, but because they use your wealth as a benchmark for their own desire to be liked and admired.
Summary:
In "Don't Fall For It" I spoke about how companies and businesses use this paradox to their advantage to get us to spend all kinds of money.
And much like that post, I am making a plea once again
Please,
Again Morgan puts everything into perspective, with an exert from a letter he wrote to his son shortly after he was born:
You think you want an expensive car, a fancy watch, and a huge house. But I'm telling you, you don't. What you want is respect and admiration from other people, and you think having expensive stuff will bring it. It almost never does - especially from the people you want to respect and admire you.
Here is the painful reality of gaining real wealth, respect, and admiration. Last Morgan Housel quote to close this out:
Wealth is what you don't see.
You can substitute wealth with respect, admiration, etc. When you know you got it, you don't have a need to talk about it or try to show it off. As Lil Wayne said
"real G's move in silence like lasagna"
GENEROSITY>greed
✌🏾