The Dangers of a High-Paying Job: I Bought a $4,000 Designer Jacket So You Don’t Have To.

Budget for your first frivolous purchase to ensure it’s your last.

If you’ve ever talked to an independently wealthy, financially secure person — or simply observed their spending — you may have noticed that their accumulated wealth doesn’t always correlate with an ongoing accumulation of expensive material possessions.

At some point, those wealthy people may have decided they would rather have more money in the bank. For peace of mind. A rainy day. A college fund for their grandchild. But not necessarily to triple their collection of designer shoes or vintage cars. Now, this obviously isn’t a blanket statement that goes for all wealthy people. Every individual is different and approaches personal finance, budgeting, and savings as such.

But for many of us, the first time we come into a significant sum of money, whether via an inheritance, our first full-time job, or a lucky lottery ticket, our spending behavior may start to change.

I Used to Buy it All — From Furry Carcasses to Designer Handbags

Being someone with nearly two decades of getting most of what I wanted in life as far as material possessions go (don’t worry — I had a traumatic home life to make up for it — you can’t buy healthy family dynamics), you wouldn’t expect my spending behavior to shift to erratic, exorbitant, and fiscally irresponsible with my first 6-figure big-girl job.

But welcome to California — where salaries are high, and prices are higher. I can’t really blame San Francisco or my job for my spending. It was all me.

I suddenly had thousands of dollars auto-deposited into my bank account every two weeks and nothing but free time on the weekends. So, I took myself on a whirlwind of mini-vacations and shopping sprees, spending my way through Northern California.

I left a trail of receipts and thousands of dollars of purchases in my wake. You’re welcome California economy circa summer 2013, I sure did my part.

The Day My Bank Account Died

One weekend I was exploring Fillmore Street, where there was a string of very expensive boutique shops. Like straight off the runway (with the price tags to match).

And when I laid eyes on one of the last two Dries van Noten jackets in a slightly metallic olive green, with a luxurious fur-lined hood (cool it, people — I’m pescatarian and have a pet rabbit now, so I’ve paid my respects to the dead animals my former self purchased), I knew I had to have it.

Plus, it was on sale! Since they were getting rid of this limited edition runway collection to make room for the new season, it was only $3,900.

This was the first purchase that made me question my spending. So much so that I didn’t buy it right then. I waited — a few hours. I called my mom, confessed my materialistic sins also known as ridiculously expensive taste, and pretty much asked for her blessing for the dumbest purchase we all knew I didn’t need.

Yes, money can buy happiness. Shallow happiness. Temporarily.

And I got it! Buying that jacket was a euphoric feeling. I had never in my life even considered spending nearly $4,000 of my own dollars on anything.

I had just achieved success. Not only did I bag a high-paying job, get to spend an amazing summer in San Francisco, but I also had a limited edition $4,000 designer jacket as a souvenir. Life couldn’t get any better, right?

I Didn’t Know What I Didn’t Know

I learned quite a few things from that $4,000 purchase…and all the other thousands I threw down the drain on non-revenue-generating (actually in many cases, depreciating) assets.

What I wish I considered before spending $10k+ on designer clothes:

The root cause of all my spending mistakes boils down to one thing: not thinking about tomorrow. When I was rolling in the dough and the G’s kept piling up in my account, I never stopped to think how temporary this situation was. Or how my future career and life plans might put me in a very different situation; one in which this kind of money would be a necessary lifeline.

• Today’s earnings are not guaranteed for tomorrow: I got so used to my internship paycheck that I took it for granted. The second I flew back to business school, the paychecks stopped, and the well dried up. It wouldn’t replenish until I began my full-time job upon graduation. I’m fortunate to have learned from my own financial mistakes early on, or I could have blown a boatload more money in subsequent years of “the 6-figure life”.
• Careers evolve, and you’ll always want a buffer for the future: During this internship, I solely focused on excelling at the job at hand. I didn’t set aside time or mental energy to consider what my future jobs would look like in two, five, or ten years. Had I known then that a few years into my corporate career I would give it all up (the fancy title and 6-figure earnings) for a risky startup (and experience some very expensive failures), I probably would have held onto my capital a little more tightly.
• You’ll spend 70% of your waking hours at work, so buying clothes for the club (or anything non-work-appropriate) is kind of a waste: This one is pretty basic, but oh, so true. And also the reason more than 75% of the designer clothes I bought that summer are still hanging in a closet in my mom’s house, with price tags still on them. Be still, my wallet.
• Most clothing fades, wears, and depreciates over time — it’s a negative ROI purchase: In case this one wasn’t obvious, I didn’t buy many…okay, any…of these items as investment pieces. I didn’t think or care about the fact that they are literally pieces of fabric with comparatively low resell value, and the most ROI I would get out of them was the enjoyment from wearing them and perhaps receiving a compliment here and there. Considering most of them are still sitting in a closet with price tags on, you can see exactly how I’ve recouped my ROI here.
• Once you realize you can buy mostly whatever you want, the post-purchase highs get smaller: Quit while you’re ahead! This one falls somewhere between the law of diminishing returns and the fact that “things” (inanimate objects) themselves don’t really make people happy — at least not that happy, and definitely not super happy for sustained periods of time. The highs from material purchases are typically quite fleeting. Once they start declining, it’s best to stop cold turkey. You’re only hurting yourself (and your bank account) chasing a rapidly diminishing high that simply isn’t there and surely won’t last.

But I will make one positive case in my favor:

This limited-edition, straight-off-the-runway designer jacket was expensive, sure. But it is possible one could consider it a collector’s item; an investment.

But no, who am I kidding — I had no intention of reselling it then…and I still don’t now. Maybe one day I’ll have an occasion to wear it! A girl can dream.

Everyone Should Get Rich and Buy a $4k Jacket

While these days I’m the opposite of spendthrift (I’m kind of proudly frugal with everything except revenue-generating business expenses), I don’t entirely regret those purchases from my younger, less forward-thinking years.

I think I needed that. I needed to go be financially reckless and wild and get it out of my system. If you can make your first exorbitant, stupid, frivolous, non-revenue-generating purchase be your last, you’ll probably thank yourself later. So if you need to do it and you have the means, maybe go ahead and blow one paycheck. But just one.

If that doesn’t tide you over with the frivolous spending, perhaps ask yourself what void you’re really trying to fill. Is material consumption your one and only form of job satisfaction? Is this how you justify the 40 to 70 hours you spend at a desk, padding your employer’s pockets?

If so, perhaps a little deeper reflection into the meaning of your job and your relationship with money, happiness, and fulfillment will reveal something you’ve never considered.

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