Surviving anywhere is somewhat of an art form, but it becomes a more refined art form when it’s in one of the most expensive cities in the world in which you have to try and merely survive. This is especially true if you’ve perhaps recently moved to a city which has a higher cost of living than one which you’re used to and if you’re ill-prepared then it’s very easy to fall into the many poverty traps plotting your economic demise.

So how do you go about developing your skills to contribute to the mastery of the art of surviving in the world’s most expensive cities?

Learning how to distinguish between real and perceived value

This is a fundamental law implemented by people who have chosen to embrace a path to financial freedom, applied beyond the realms of merely trying to survive and thrive in some of the most expensive places to live in the world. It can be applied to any situation in which someone seeks to demonstrate the kind of financial savvy that puts them at an advantage over their personal finances and of course that is learning how to make the distinction between real value and perceived value.

If you need a strong cup of coffee with which to kick-start your morning, buying the cheapest one which is as effective as the most expensive one you can get demonstrates the honouring of this ability to distinguish between real and perceived value, for instance. Marketers bombarding you with their advertising are not your friend. They are not trying to help you save money in any way, but are rather trying to make you justify spending your money with them. So never mind the “experience” you’re sold to get with a “premium” cup of coffee when you can get one in a disposable cup that does the job of giving you your much-needed energy-jolt.

Curbing unnecessary spending

Distinguishing between real and perceived value perhaps forms part of curbing unnecessary spending, but it’s only effective if you actually implement what you’ve learned. In any area that you can, get into the habit of avoiding unnecessary spending. The practice of spending blindly can otherwise very quickly become entrenched into the normal order of your life and how you manage your finances, making for one of the many rut-inducing traps, financially, particularly in the world’s most expensive cities to live in.

Extensive rainy-day planning

I hope I don’t need to mention the need to stay away from any criminal activity as an identified means of making a quick buck, like getting involved in drugs and other such nefarious activities. That said, extensive rainy-day planning would entail something like knowing where to go to get a free consultation from a Vancouver drug offence lawyer, if for instance you found yourself in that kind of trouble. You could very well be innocent and need to defend yourself legally in any case, which otherwise makes for one of many potentially expensive realities to have to deal with as part of what it means to endure a financial rainy day. It’s about more than just building up some savings.

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