I'm the girl that passes you by...

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Chapter 27

Name brand insecurities

Robert G. Ingersol said, “Few rich men own their property. Their property owns them.”

Human beings, especially here in America, are always trying to mask their hidden insecurities with name brand labels. Louis Vuitton is just a band-aid that covers up the fact that somebody has low self-esteem.

Of course, many humans like to rationalize this name brand fascination by saying things like: “I just like nice things.” Nice things are fine. But overspending on name brand labels is just stupid. I’m not saying it’s stupid because I’m trying to be mean; I’m saying it’s stupid because it’s a stupid financial decision.

Let’s say you’re searching for a new purse. You find a Louis Vuitton purse online for $1,000. While shopping at your local Walmart, you see a fashionable purse for $20. They’re both going to serve the same function—which is to transport all your “girl stuff” from place to place. To waste $980 dollars for the label of “Louis Vuitton” is just plain stupid.

You could create significant social value with that additional $980. You could treat yourself to a $100 full-body massage, and the masseuse would benefit as well. Now you still have $880 additional dollars to spend. Take your mom out to dinner. Buy some Girl Scout cookies. And please don’t sink into debt trying to purchase overpriced name brand items. That takes “stupid” to astronomical levels. Your new nickname should be The Stupid Astronaut.

Here’s the truth about “generic” items: In most cases, they’re no different than the name brand items. Name brands can afford to advertise because they make money by manipulating the stupid, insecure people of the world.

A bottle of Benadryl brand pills costs about $5. The Dollar Tree equivalent costs $1. They both have the same active ingredients. I’ve tried both. They both alleviate the symptoms of my allergies. However, I’ve noticed the Benadryl increases symptoms of stupidity. Whenever somebody gives me a Benadryl (name brand), I feel like I’m in the company of a stupid person.

I realize that I sound awfully cynical here. I know I’ve been tossing around the word “stupid” in this chapter, but I really mean well. Forrest Gump once said, “Stupid is as stupid does.” If a person is falling into debt because they choose to hide their insecurities by purchasing name brand items, then I have to call them out for what they are. They’re making stupid financial decisions, so they must be stupid.

I do realize that there are some items that require the purchase of the name brand. Mountain Dew is one example. The Walmart brand just doesn’t cut it. However, this isn’t a stupid financial decision; there’s only a price difference of about 25 cents. Dr. Thunder, which is Walmart’s Dr. Pepper equivalent, actually tastes better than Dr. Pepper (in my opinion).

So the whole name brand thing is relative. Different people have different tastes for different things. But for the most part, generic brand items serve the same purpose—and have the same quality as their overpriced name brand equivalents.

As far as name brand clothing is concerned, I really don’t care about the name brand label, although I do wear name brand items from time to time. Most things I own with a name brand label were gifts. However, there are affordable options for where you choose to shop. You can get the same name brand clothes from Marshall’s, Ross, or TJ Maxx. Most of these clothes are discounted about 50%. They’re all quality items. Just take a look at the pictures on my website www.TheNiceLife.com . You can’t deny that I look fashionably handsome. :]

Those who do try to deny my handsomeness are obviously just stupid.

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