[sdhotwn]

I get both sides, and it's all relative to whatever you value and what matters to you. I buy many of my tools from Harbor Freight because they are so much cheaper and good enough for what I need or for one off use. I do the work on my cars because I enjoy it and I can't stomach paying the dealer or a shop hundreds of dollars for something that I can do in a couple hours for thirty bucks in parts (oil filter housing gasket for example). I don't buy expensive clothes or shoes because I just don't see the value. On the flip side it gives me the luxury of occasionally not worrying about being flippant about cost for something like the CS, or dumping extra into the floor of my garage so it looked nicer (that cost more than 5k alone) etc. We each make different value calculations every day.

You don't get wealthy by spending every penny you earn, but you also don't enjoy your own success by never leveraging its advantages. That looks different for every person. You do you, and I'll cheer you on either way.