GBK is better than McDonalds.

Is Gourmet Burger Kitchen worth the extra? Is it Old Money?


The new 'posh' burger restaurants offer a nicer environment, slower service, higher prices and  a better loyalty schemes. It is all rather confusing and no proof that GBK is the 'old money' option. Old Money is concerned with value and does not aim for high or low prices.

Standard unpretentious burgers are out in the more civilised areas of London and the gourmet burger is in- but how much difference is there between the two in reality?

Gourmet Burger Kitchen (or GBK as it now styles itself) was the first premium burger chain to make its mark in the UK spreading outward from a few trendy London locations.

McDonald's is feeling the heat and is closing branches but this is probably not in response to GBK and its friends. McDonald's seems as busy as ever while GBK is generally empty. McDonald's have gone upmarket and downmarket simultaneously by having a 99p menu and a premium range in an effort to cover all bases. They have also introduced an app to bombard us with special offers in much the way GBK do with theirs.

GBK seeks to establish itself as a 'proper' restaurant by employing someone to show me to my seat. This seemed odd as there were plenty of empty seats to choose. I guess they were keen to differentiate themselves from McDonald's. I was asked if I wanted the burger rare or well done. This (along with the waiting time) indicated my order was custom made and not from the chute. A burger with delusions of grandeur is not Old Money. I chose the 'blue cheese burger' with side salad. This came to £7.95 which is expensive for a quarter pounder.

At McDonald's I chose the 'bacon clubhouse' which was the closest match I could find to the GBK offering. It came to £6.09 with fries and a coffee which is still a premium price. I ate it at a wobbly table which I shared with a stranger.

The GBK was delicious. I was particularly taken with the small salad with vinaigrette but felt a drink should have been included for the price. Nevertheless the experience should be more special than it was in light of the build up given to it through the ordering procedure.

The clubhouse burger from McDonald's was also good but resembled cheaper products by the same chain. The aim seemed to be acceptability rather than excellence. Many McDonald's customers are brought to the chain by their children and children are easily scared by new flavours. No options were offered. Fries and drink were standard for the chain.

GBK have the better loyalty scheme. They have an app that offers one free item approximately once every two and a half visits. This mitigates the premium price and may mean the GBK product is the cheaper of the two when this is allowed for.

The real choice here is between adult and child flavours. GBK has more complex flavours and may a child would refuse to eat such a adventure. McDonald's on the other hand is aimed at the child and the aim is not to offend.

McDonald's have a coffee card. Six stamps are worth one coffee.

There is no clear winner here on value. I will probably return to GBK because I was curious about the other items and because I am a sucker for loyalty schemes. If you wish to fill your stomach quickly go to McDonald's but do not choose a premium burger. If you wish to sit down for a while in pleasant surroundings choose the GBK. Service will be slower because the burger will be cooked for you but this will not bother us if our intention is to take the weight off our feet.

Few people choose to go to McDonald's. One passes a branch and feels hungry but one does not choose to go there deliberately.

GBK wants to be a destination and a place one feels comfortable to linger. The seats in McDonald's are slightly uncomfortable and the high energy environment tends to move one on the moment one is finished. GBK has lower lighting and more comfortable seats.

Which is the Old Money alternative? GBK is authentic (which is an Old Money virtue) but also a bit above itself (which is not). Overall I would say GBK is more Old Money because Old Money is careful what it puts in its body and the GBK meat tasted more like meat and is therefore probably better for us.

We cannot think about what we cannot change.

We cannot think about what we cannot change. This is a reversal of the usual way of looking at things which is to say that we cannot change what we cannot think about.

In reality both statements are true.

Immortality is now being seriously researched for the first time. This is being done in Silicon Valley where they are used to seeing impossible things made possible. The technology for this search has been around for a while but only now can people imagine it.

Make a list of impossible things. One of them may be possible.

Becoming rich automatically.

We earn our money with sweat and labour and throw it away with no thought at all. It is this cycle that makes us feel poor. If we were to be transported to an African village we would no longer be reminded of our lack. We would be hungry, or not but apart from this we would be unaware of our lack of money.

Equally, if we were to be surrounded by the very rich- particularly old money- we would no longer feel poor. Commodities tend to lose their fetish value among the very rich (this is one reason they are rich) and our choices would be better.

The Art Diet.

Can art make us thin? Is art the old money gym subscription?

If I were to walk between the 551 galleries of London I would burn some calories for sure!

I have noticed there is a correlation between people with a developed aesthetic sense and people who are themselves aesthetically pleasing. This connection probably exists below the conscious mind.

Art may be found everywhere, not just where one would expect to find it. Simply raise your eyes from the pavement.

Is New Money a philosophy too?

New money is less a philosophy and more a series of attitudes. They appeal to me a great deal less than old money but they are more popular in the world at large. Sometimes they even work.

The first thing we notice is a greater willingness to get into debt. This is actually quite logical because new money is about creating wealth. It is reasonable to borrow if we think money is coming down the line for us once our plans come to fruition. There is also an aspect of 'fake it till you make it'. New money thinks it must look rich in order to become rich.

One aspect of 'fake it till you make it' is virtue signaling. New money is insecure and engaged in constant public relations. It is not sufficient to do good- others have to see it too.

The focus of new money is shorter than old. This is because everything must work out in a single lifetime and hopefully while new money is still young.

As I said.. all these things sometimes work out. We have become a nation of shallow self promoters and it would be unwise to neglect this completely.

How to get free stuff.

I am playing an amusing game. I take a deliberately small sum (£25) and spend it in such a way as to trigger free samples, invitations, discounts or loyalty points. Of course 'free' things are not free. They are given in the hope I might return later and become a customer.

Fortunately £25 is just sufficient to convince the world that I may be interested in a luxury purchase. I make a purchase and wait to be showered with samples and gifts. The picture above is of a free cake and a hot drink I am about to eat in The Place to Eat- a cafe owned by he John Lewis department store. To receive the same just join the MyJohnLewis scheme. No purchase required at all

Old money and new money at play.

Old money and new are at war. In one corner we have old money which offers authentic experience and long time value. In the new money corner we have loyalty points.

Which side appeals most? It depends upon who you are.

The first photograph is a cigar shop in London clubland. The chair was used by Winston Churchill. All visitors are encouraged to take a selfie and enjoy a momentary old money experience.

The second is of a 'free' cup of coffee I had from Waitrose recently. Was it really free? I had to buy something to qualify and settled on a bag of pasta. Nothing is completely free.

One interesting thing about loyalty points is that old money is generally repelled by them. Old money believes that all schemes are paid for by the consumer eventually.  This is why the cigar shop has no scheme while most supermarkets do. Yes, it is true that even old money shops in supermarkets but it is interesting that old money generally favours those that have no schemes (ALDI, Lidl, Fortnum and Mason) or those that hide them well. Waitrose is a big old money favorite that wants some new money customers too. They created a loyalty program that does not issue points but instead treats the customer as an honored guest. The customer is invited to take the weight off their feet, have a coffee and read the papers. Old money loves to be a part of things but hates being sold to (this is one reason old money hates loyalty schemes). New money, on the other hand loves a bargain. New money loves the idea of buying a packet of pasta for a few pence and receiving a more expensive item free of charge. Waitrose has very cleverly found a way to hit the pleasure centers of both groups at the same time.

Starbucks is the work of the Devil.

We may have coffee or we may have Starbucks. We cannot have both. Starbucks is a coffee shop for people who do not like coffee.

Starbucks lives in the soul less spaces between places. A sort of glittering desert nobody would go voluntarily. They offer branding in place of authentic experience, everything old money opposes because old money always buys the real thing when it can.

 

In short. Avoid.

The secret economy of the aristocracy.

Toffs. Why do we still have them? They inherit money but they do not always inherit brains. In a truly meritocratic market economy they should have faded away- and yet they persist.

This is an important question. If there is nothing special about the aristocracy and old money in general that could account for their survival, then Marx was right and the only way to level the field would be Madame Guillotine. If, on the other hand there was some secret that we could copy, there is hope for us all.

It would be better for the world and us as individuals if the second possibility were true and so I will go with it initially. We see in the picture above at least two of these principles in play.

The aristocracy marry well from an economic viewpoint. Money marries money so there is little reason to divorce for a settlement. This results in longer unions than are found in the financial community where money will often marry beauty- a far less stable bond. Partners are chosen according to two criteria. Firstly, shared values (usually a milk and water religion such as the Church of England represented by St Paul's cathedral in the distance). Secondly, attitudes towards money. The purpose of marriage from an old money perspective is to preserve wealth for the next generation. A partner who loves to spend is therefore a bad bet and will not be considered. Matters such a fidelity are of lesser importance provided the lineage is preserved.

Old money also invests differently. Old money generally does not invest in things that will not be around in a hundred years. When they look towards real estate they are not attracted to the glass cathedrals that dazzle the rest of us. These will be knocked down in less than a generation and replaced with another building belonging to someone else.  They would rather buy the land the building stands upon which will neither vanish nor be devalued by extra land appearing on the market.  They do this because the time horizon of old money is typically around 400 years rather than the 20 years of the rest of us. Old money will sometimes under preform in the short term (particularly during speculative bubbles) but it will over preform over the long term. This gives them a natural advantage that has ensured their continued existence over the centuries.

The good news in all of this is that this is something all of us can do. We may not become rich in a single generation but our families may do so in three.

The sorrow and joys of security work.

I am a security guard who is 'working' as I write this.

Security work offers the opportunity to study, read, daydream, blog or simply sit and think in your employers time. For many people it is a means of preserving their sanity as they recover from divorce, bereavement or catastrophe. Yet it is a trap.

A little free time is good, a lot of free time is a disaster as the attention span shrinks and so, seemingly, does IQ. I have worked on sites where I do not speak to a single human being for days on end. When at last I receive a telephone call I find that I am unable to speak initially with anything more than a neanderthal grunt. Embarrassed, I pretended that I was clearing my throat and recovered five million years of evolution in a few seconds.

The only things preventing it are the attention span issue described earlier and the risk of assuming what people say about security guards is true- that we are naturally thick.

In the British Army they say an infantryman should have an IQ of less than 90 or more than 120. Both groups are immune to boredom. The man of low IQ will not be bored because his mind is more or less fully occupied by the simple tasks presented to him. The man of higher IQ will have a rich internal life that will keep him occupied. It is quite ethical to abscond mentally provided the job is done.

It is also rather 'old money' to treat earning ones living as a minor inconvenience. Ones real efforts should be directed towards making the world better.

The old money system.



Insurance is the art of transferring money from new money to old. Let me explain.

Insurance is like the umbrella we remember to carry with us in good weather but forget when it is raining.

The towers in the distance are the insurance district of the city. They were paid for by us.

Insurance companies are old and this makes them seem solid. They present themselves as conservative and cautious but are anything but under the skin.

Insurance is seen as sensible thing to do but the very rich seldom buy insurance.

Insurance companies and 'names' seek a risk free return by trading the risks they hold. Generally this works but it can go spectacularly wrong.

Many of us assume that if a company promises to pay us £100,000 in a certain event then that company must have reserves of this magnitude.

Insurance is a game of probability. It can only protect you against events that are in line with probability. If ten houses are normally destroyed in a year then the company will keep funds available for eleven. This is all very well until a real disaster occurs that destroys one hundred homes. What then?

Maybe there will be reinsurance arrangements with other companies that obliges them to help if they cannot pay. This helps if the crisis is national in nature but not if if is global. What if all of the companies are in trouble at the same time?

Reinsurance contracts (companies insuring one another) practically guarantee a major crisis at some point.

Company A promises to pay out. If they cannot then company B will pay company A. If company B cannot pay then company C will fill the gap.

In other words.. either no company goes belly up or they all do.

The good news is that we can create our own insurance company! It will be more more solvent than the one we are paying premiums to right now. Furthermore, if we never need to claim we will receive our money back!

Simply create an investment fund (nice and liquid with low risk) and draw upon it if needed. If not- the money is yours to keep.

This avoids all the form filling and insurance premium tax that 'normal' people have to bother with.

New money buys insurance but old money profits. Old money invests in insurance companies for the steady dividends. They are also more likely to be Names on the Lloyd's insurance market. Be more like old money!

Truth Branding

There is this thing called personal branding..

The aim seems to be to take a human being and package him as a commodity- the ideal corporate drone which is a very New Money thing to be. Old Money is about integrity rather than marketing so if we are forced sell ourselves as a commodity (and most of us are) we must do it in the most truthful way possible.  The danger with 'personal branding' is that we may forget who we are.

I suggest something I call 'Truth Branding' which starts with two questions.

1. What is my best self?
2. What is my gift to the world?

Once we know these things we advertise them. We let our true skills and ideals show and we give, give give to the world- not as an act of virtue signaling but for the joy of it.

My favorite supermarket meal deal.

By far the best value to be found in a supermarket is the meal deals. This is my favorite meal deal which I found at Morrison. Buffet, Smoothie and a side dish (not just the usual crisps but choices such a prawns and chili sauce).

Old money has no snobbery about the cheaper supermarkets. They it is more often found in ALDI than Sainsbury because old money is not out to impress. Old money has not really discovered Morrison yet, but maybe it will.

Old money shops differently.

The rich do not buy 'cheap' yet neither do they buy prestige. They buy a durable kind of value. Possibly the finest example of this is the Barbour jacket. This is the Ashby version which is the thinnest and the cheapest- a raincoat for £199. There are cheaper jackets on the market but none more durable.

What do we get for our money? A genuinely waterproof item with excellent pockets which are large enough to take a packed lunch and a flask of coffee. This is not a 'snob' purchase because old money cannot afford snobbery. Yes. The Queen wears one but security guards do too. It is quite an egalitarian item.

I could have done with a full length inner pocket (rather than the shorter one included) so that I can carry a traditional full length wallet. I could also do with the hem being just a little longer but overall I love it and will not have to buy another coat for quite a while.

I am tired, and it is a good feeling.

Old money is spend very carefully and invested even more so. There is no greater disgrace than to be the wastrel son or daughter who lost the family fortune.

Old Money cultivates a love of art- in part because it is often free. I have gone one better.

I have an app (go withYamo) that directs me to the lesser known galleries and pays me to view the art- in points rather than cash unfortunately, but still I am paid something.

Old money values virtue over virtue signaling. The difference is motivation. Virtue is internally driven while virtue signaling is approval seeking. Old Money frees us from the need for external validation because we can get by quite easily without it. Very often people become obsessed with approval because (with a single source of income) they would starve if their boss took a dislike to them. Virtue signaling then becomes a matter of survival rather than a neurotic need for approval.

I eat Red Tractor certified meat and drink Fairtrade tea and feel quite smug about it but this comes from my own values and research rather than the need to show off- although I have now blogged about it so maybe I can no longer say this!

Fairtrade is usually quite useless because the premium goes to pay inspectors and marketeers rather than the people we like to think we are helping. This is why it is generally favored by well meaning Guardian readers for whom motivation is more important than results. Fortunately I no longer need to worry about effectiveness when the 'ethical' premium narrows to almost nothing.

The cost of  Essentials fair trade tea bags from Waitrose are about 40% more expensive than the Morrison equivalent that are not Fairtrade. Morrison are not bad. Refreshing but with a slight bitter edge towards the end. The Waitrose equivalent smooth and rounded and probably better tea but I have come to enjoy cheap tea as I am used to it. I will probably go Morrison once they are finished.

The Red Tractor scheme appeals to the nationalist in me. It supports British farmers and humane farming. The two tend to go together as we are sentimental about animals in the UK and have higher standards than almost anyone. Free trade agreements prevent us from blocking imports from countries with lower standards and so we must make this decision on an individual level. Fortunately, the premium over mystery meat from unknown sources is usually 10% or less. The consumer may enjoy fresher meat that has been slaughtered locally and maybe get their money back via reduced spoilage.

An additional benefit is that my preferred supermarkets throw out very little food. Most goes to the homeless.

Getting some 'yee ha' in my life.

I bought some CD's from various Americans who promise to make me rich/happy/sexy/enlightened. This is a very New Money thing to do and I am not sure how much I believe them. Old Money keeps its feet on the ground and looks for proven value but I will persist and see if I notice changes in my life.

Cheap travel is possible in the UK.

This is me on a recent trip to Oxford and nothing is more Old Money than Oxford. Food, travel and accommodation cost me about £71 for four days. We must remember that these are the only real expenses needed. Once we are there, entry to most places is free.

Money habits are inherited.

Many find their dead parents speaking to their children through their own mouths. We are more our parents creation than we realize.

This is especially true of money. We make the same mistakes as our parents. Children of single parents often become single parents themselves and so on. We cannot overcome this completely but we can be aware of our family patterns and counter them here and there.

Never keep anything 'for best'. The item will never be used and means that we are living life for appearance. What a waste!

Our standard of living standard is dependent on our emotional state, not on luck.

Courage.

'Fake it till you make it!'
'Think positively and do not count the cost!!'
'Buy the latest course and it will all come back to you!!!'

Do not 'fake it till you make it'. Your Rolex may be shiny but the desperation in your eyes will tell the opposite story. Have money in the bank instead.

Do not be braver than you are! Nobody can think clearly when over leveraged.

The 'success' industry wants you desperate and in debt because it is desperate people who buy their products. They are fair-weather friends at best.

Why I am poor.

I overheard some old money colleges at work.

Many exciting tales were told! It was clear they had more energy than me and energy equals income. Do I have little money because I am listless or am I listless because I am poor? Maybe both!

Many people are mildly diabetic without realizing it. They do not feel ill- just not fully well. This takes its toll over time and the body slows down.

The quickest (and cheapest) was to do this is to be hungry part of the day. Not only does this directly reduce my sugar levels but it reduces my weight which also has an anti-diabetic effect of its own.

Old money prioritizes health.

The Old Money way.

We do not need to inherit money to adopt the old Money mindset- but if we do so our children probably will inherit from us.

I am selectively cheap. I have learned to cook. I am also trying cold (or cool) showers to wake myself up in the mornings. All sorts of wonderful things are supposed to happen to me if I do this but it also results in cash savings.

Many aristocratic families received their last big payday in the twelfth century so they know a thing or to about making money last.

I have balanced this by spending more money on the food I put in my body. Old Money looks after itself. Part of this involves switching meat purchases from Aldi to Morrisons- mainly because Morrisons use the Red Tractor standard. Not only a more humane way to raise animals but also a safer one as each animal is tracked between farm and shelf.

The difference in price is quite small and is probably covered by the generally improved quality. I receive some (not very useful) loyalty points and the chance to buy some loss leading Morrison Saver products such as washing up liquid for 34p or washing powder for 80p a small box.

Free pleasures are money in the bank.

Much free entertainment may be found simply by walking around London with my eyes open. The photograph shows that trees are 'twinned' with one another rather like towns- but with less obvious motives.

Expensive is sometimes frugal.


I am buying dried goods at Waitrose where tremendous value may be found. These yellow split peas cost 59p a bag, get me loyalty points and a free cup of coffee priced at £2.10 and make a large quantity of pease pudding.

Pease Pudding hot! Pease pudding cold! Pease pudding int the pot, nine days old!!

Simplicity is the key.

I am using up my loyalty stamp cards so that I am no longer tempted to make purchases to complete them. Loyalty schemes are a psychological war that I have tended to lose in the past. Some of them are so good at playing me that they will just have to go!

McDonalds are out. They have a stamp card that gives one free coffee for every six bought. Compare this to Subway which is probably its biggest competitor. Subs are generally cheaper than McDonalds meal deals, and come with their own free drink. Subway therefore give one free coffee every three meal deals while McDonalds require six. If we calculate the cash spend it is even more clear. Subway require a spend of £10 while McDonalds require about £30.

Plus McDonalds kill you a little quicker.

MLM

MLM is a form of reverse alchemy. It takes our most precious possession- our reputation- and drags it through the mud. In return it gives us empty promises.

Many people take their vitamins with a healthy high fiber breakfast such as musili. By doing so they lose much of the value.

You will never find the authentic flavour of a city in this way. Only tourist fakery. Avoid.