Sick spending is over

More and more stories are focusing on how even the ultra-rich have put the brakes on spending - at least pointless, obnoxious spending. From the NY Observer:

Once upon a time, a certain Floridian man required the services of a private jet. His girlfriend had spotted a pair of designer shoes, and she simply had to have them. But there was a problem: The shoes didn't fit, and only one store in the United States had the appropriate size. It was in Los Angeles. She was in Miami. So a staff member at Quintessentially, the high-end concierge service, arranged to send the shoes via private jet. The happy ending cost a mere $60,000. "That stuff has pretty much all dried up now," said Edward Rosenthal, the company's chief operating officer. "That kind of extravagant, nonsensical spending has kind of gone the way of the dodo."

Meanwhile, it's becoming cool to act poor. Just don't really be poor. From Vanity Fair (via NY magazine)

“I was at the Food Emporium in Bedford [in Westchester County] yesterday, using my Food Emporium discount card,” a Greenwich woman tells the magazine. “The well-dressed wife of a Wall Street guy was standing behind me. She asked me how to get one. Then she said, ‘Have you ever used coupons?’ I said, ‘Sure, maybe not lately, but sure.’ She said, ‘It’s all the rage now — where do you get them?’”