Balancing Financial Values & Peer Pressure

I was supposed to have my hair done today. It's long overdue but I kept postponing until I had the money to sponsor it. I mostly braid all the way back after washing and setting. And it has been going on for the longest while now. I know the people around me would complain about always having the same hairstyle and never changing. But Morgan Housel had taught me how financial humility works and it has nothing to do with spending money to show that you have... it's the opposite.
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But I did not get the chance to do my hair anymore because the stylist wasn't having the fact that I braid my hair the way I did. It's always perfect. But she wanted me to spend money, buy more hair products and attach all to my hair so she can charge me more than the amount I'll rather pay for something less shiny.

She outrightly said she was no longer comfortable with me making cheaper hairstyles and she wanted me to do something different so the money I'll pay will be bigger. To what do I owe a shiny hairstyle when I barely leave my apartment? Nothing. Yet, this lady wanted a fat purse and she wanted to sacrifice my purse for hers.

I played along until I had my hair washed and set. I paid for those two services and I left in a hurry. I told her I had an appointment with a friend and it was getting late. Deep down, I know I'll not return to her salon anymore. She is trying to make me feel insecure so I can throw money around just to make herself feel better. But I can't. I'm not ready to spend more than I earn especially when there's an alternative.

I can still do my hair and look beautiful without necessarily adding too much expense. She was brandishing her ego upon me. I didn't need that much material to look decent. And Morgan Housel had outrightly said, it's our ego that hinders us from saving enough to buy our freedom.

The need to spend money to prove that you have it is stupid especially when we are dealing with life and uncertainties. She would never know if I can follow her lead and end up with nothing to eat. She doesn't care, does she? She just wants to get paid and she's doing it by trying to make me ashamed of being a minimalist.

Throughout the hours I sat to wash and set my hair, and kept listening to her rant and subtly abusing my minimalist lifestyle, I held my peace because I kept replaying the story of Ronald James Read, the American philanthropist, investor, janitor, and gas station attendant that Morgan used in his book.

I allowed the story of how raising his humility and reducing his ego had helped him live low-key, and work even the kind of jobs that are mostly looked down upon. Living in a house he bought at $12k at age 38 which he spent with his family. He lived low-key but saved what he could from his jobs and invested in blue chip stocks.

He didn't make the headlines for anything until he died. Once he did, it was discovered that he was worth over $8 million and he left $2 million to his stepkids and donated the rest to his local hospital and library.

While the lady kept ranting and reducing me to nothing, the only thing that helped me go through those hours of torture was Ronald James Read. I told myself if he could do it then I can do it too. Even before today, this is exactly what I often tell myself when I feel I could probably be missing out on something or be wrong about investing and living within or below one's means.

Ronald James Read turned out to be my role model. Someone whose story I remember every time I want to err on my financial goals. Every time someone tries to mock me for not trying to keep up with the Joneses. Ronald James Read's story helps me make peace with saving, investing, and dealing with instant gratification.

Today, that lady said a lot of things. But I was determined to not return to her salon anymore so she wouldn't infect me with her mentality of keeping up with the Joneses. I value my mental space as much as I value money. And the only way for both of them to live together and allow me to strive is to find a balance. A balance that I currently have but doesn't seem to be sitting well with the rest of the people around me.