I’m sitting in a Starbucks on a chilly and brisk day in Vail, Colorado. Snow is coming…in about an hour. I’ve brought up a group of people to the mountains for an “experience Colorado” opportunity. A few minutes before I had tweeted that I’m in Vail-like I’m some sort of “baller.” I’m not a baller, just a working stiff like so many other people. To be honest, I don’t like Vail as much as I like Breckenridge. But, I digress.
About a week ago I read a post on Dear Debt about Class and Privilege. Check it out. I know that in my own simple way I’m a affected by my personal views on class. Maybe it’s the pf blogging but I’ve been thinking about how my internal class conflicts and class considerations affect every financial decision that I make.Even the neighborhood that I live in is on the name dropping list for places to live in Denver. I grew up on and off in this area and when I was buying I was thinking cost, location, location, and finally location. It didn’t hurt that the area was a name drop.
Even though I would be considered pretty darn frugal in many circles I still am able to status drop with a frequency that I wasn’t aware of until I wrote this post. I have to admit that I still am very aware of the fact that how I live my life is a lot of times affected by its name or the perceived cache to myself and others in my circle. Everyone name drops in different ways depending on what they value. I status drop on the following things: places I’ve visited, fantastic food experiences, grocery stores, and fun events.
Status dropping and lack of financial discipline and knowledge is what has landed me in this financial mess that I’m currently mired in. PF bloggers constantly write about You Only Live Once (YOLO) and save your money! Don’t spend, I only shop at thrift stores, and the list goes on and on! I admit that I write blogs posts that touch on all of those topics. Why? Because I am constantly in conflict with how I want to live my life, trying to improve my life, and how I feel that I’m perceived by others.
The reality is that Status Dropping is the name of the game. It is what drives the economy, it is what we all live by. I’m not against it, I’m just saying that it’s helpful to be aware of how tied we are to status symbols and that status symbols aren’t just objects. Even before Facebook and Twitter people would status drop about their lives.
In Colorado we seem to status drop on vacations, athletic gear, sporting events, education, and amazing feats of physical fitness. It is not unusual to hear the following in a conversation:
“We went up to the mountains for the weekend and hung out in Breck (Breckenridge). But, we decided to ski at Copper because the powder was better.” Or, “Where were you guys? it has been weeks!” “Oh! didn’t we tell you? We went to Costa Rica for 4 days. It was amazing.” Another good one is: “We went to the Broncos game this weekend. Payton killed it!” “Hey, how did you get tickets!!??” You get the picture.
Because I am an experience driven person and the people around me seem to be experience driven as well I find it a constant challenge to stay true to my long-term goals. I’m willing to cut my expenses in so many different parts of my life, but when it comes to experiences I’m a sucker. Snowboarding, Mani/Pedi, Weekend in L.A., and a great meal-I’m in! The problem is these experiences don’t come cheap. So, I try to work the deals.
I’ve discovered though that I love the feeling of status dropping more than I would like to admit. It’s almost…addictive. As I move forward on debt repayment I have to fight this impulse because on a subconcious level the status that I drop affects my ability to change my life. As I do a “No Shop Challenge” for a year, work my budget, and try to be conscious about the way I spend my money Status Dropping may be the biggest issue that I have to deal with.
What are the status dropping conversations that you find yourself involved in? What are the things that you notice subconsciously status dropping on? How does this affect your spending?
Dropping your status like a baller….
Ultra, SXSW, Tomorrowland
Prada, Gucci, Louis Vuitton
Harvard, Princeton, Berkley, Yale
Whole Foods, Trader Joes, Wegman’s
North Face, Patagonia, Burton
Starbucks, Caribou Coffee
Chanel, MAC
Got a Mani/Pedi
Went to the Mountains, Went to the Beach, Went to the Lake
Rock n Roll Marathon, Tough Mudder, Ironman
Costa Rica, Rio, Buenos Aires
BMW, Audi, Land Cruiser
Essie, OPI
Target, Walmart
Snowboarding, Skiing
Taking a vacation….
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I hate name dropping but I’m sure somewhere along the line someone probably thought I was name dropping without me even knowing it. There is a whole hilarious post on image crafting and Facebook. Have you seen it? It give me pause now any time I ever post anything on FB. BTW, come to LA and we’ll hang with all the stars. 🙂 suuuurree.
It’s funny because there are some places where it is so easy to name drop. L.A. is def. one of them. It’s easy to talk about Malibu, Venice Beach, or going to the Staples Center. These are all places that are a part of our social dialogue. I realized that I name dropped a couple of years ago. Again, it’s easy to do here…Vail, Aspen, etc..
First off, I’m glad I read this, because WordPress didn’t give me a pingback notifcation (boo!). Thanks for linking to the post though 🙂 We do live in a class based society, so it’s normal for people to ‘status drop’ in ways that are advantageous to us. I often felt like I was stuck in my lowly non-profit status, and that going to grad school might elevate my working class roots. I thought going to NYU would buy me the cache into a better class, a better income and a better life. I’m sad to say that isn’t the case (yet?). I also talk about travel, but usually reserve that for people that I know are already into it. Sorta like personal finance….I know it bores most people to tears, which is why I wait to disclose my obsession until I know there is a common interest. I live in a pretty nice neighborhood, and I am actually scared to status drop. I don’t want people to think I’m “uppity” or “a hipster” or whatever. I have a problem where I want to move up in class, but not divorce myself from my working class roots. That’s hard for me to consolidate, while still feeling in solidarity with people doing the really hard work. I think with social media it’s easy to status drop though, because everyone is putting their ‘amazing face forward’. We curate and post only the best, so there is a deep sense of envy for the viewers, so in turn we might feel compelled to status drop ourselves. Ok, end of comment. 🙂
A HUGE thank you for taking the time to make such a thoughtful comment. Don’t laugh but I was never aware of my social class until I was in my late 20s. I grew up in Boulder, CO and as a result of that was exposed to a lot of things because of environment not necessarily material wealth. While there are wealthy people in my extended family our roots are working class, blue collar, working in factories. As a result of that work they lived really good lives. But, my life was really different because of all of the sacrifice, scholarships, and being in the right place. I went horseback riding, to sleep away camp, to an expensive private college (still paying for that). I travelled the world. And have had access to a very different life so I can really appreciate and understand the idea of coming across “uppity” to your loved ones. I try to be aware of how I present myself to others or “Code Switch” depending on where I’m at and what’s going on. I think the key is being able to “Code Switch” and be genuine in the moment.
I remember myself status dropping a lot when I was younger and spent more money than I do now. I don’t think I was consciously doing it but I’m sure I’ve dropped into conversations where I was planning to go on holiday or the fact that I upgraded to the latest phone / gadget etc. These days though, I don’t spend much money on anything worth status dropping! Although now you mention it, I do notice other people around me subconsciously status dropping!
A lot of my Status Dropping centers around travel and cool experiences. Luckily, people aren’t as label focused here unless it’s “gear!” I am trying to really be mindful of the fact that I live (even with the debt from hell) a pretty great life. But, the people I’m around name drop like crazy-Costa Rica, Iceland (the new big one!), etc…
I didn’t even realize that I name drop until I read this! I thought that by avoiding expensive brands, I would automatically stop name dropping. But you’re right, name dropping occurs with experiences and locations, too! I make it a point to name drop where I work (I almost did it just now) because it sounds super fancy. So guilty of this.
It is so hard to resist though when you consider how materialistic and image conscious the U.S. it’s hardly surprising that we find ourselves Status Dropping frequently. In the days when the dinosaurs roamed (before everyone had a cell phone) this type of hyper awareness of what everyone was up to was difficult to achieve. I don’t always want to know all the amazing things that other people are doing…especially when I AM NOT DOING IT!! Jealousy is a b$tch.
When I was younger I was definitely into status dropping. These days I feel like minimize the things I do/buy etc because most of my co-workers don’t make a lot of money (we work in a non-profit) and I don’t want to look like a showy jerk. But here and there I do find myself doing little things to “show off”.
I work in a field that should keep us from Status Dropping too much Unfortunately, because of where we live it’s all about the cool things that you do and the places that you go. Happily, they embrace a ton of frugal habits and aren’t too showy when it comes to stuff.
I think we all do it to some extent. I mean when someone asks you: What have you been up to?
You kind of have to describe.. what you have been up to. In my case, not working and traveling, which is in its own way, status dropping…
I think I’ve become of how good I have it compared to other people. But, I think I have a slight feeling of discomfort…like I’m living in a different world. I know it sounds strange but it’s how it feels.