Why Are People So Concerned About How Others Spend Their Money?

But isn't the majority of this forum about exchanging advice on how to wisely spend time and money to achieve better music reproduction quality?  For example, should I buy the Wilsons or the Magicos?  When someone asks what amp should they buy one of the first replies is always "what's your budget?"  If someone posts that they need a new phono preamp with 60dB gain for their newly purchased low output cartridge and state that they only have $500 to spend, then isn't any suggestion a concern about how that person spends their money?  There's helpful advice and there's also less than helpful advice, but they are nearly always about how to spend time and money.

Charles1dad, thanks for the thoughtful reply.  If I read into what you  said a little, it seems to be the intent of the person that determines the validity of focusing on another person's money.  If so, I could not agree more.  However, I think reasonable people can also make valid value judgements on the spending habits of others.  For example, a person buys a $500k house and it's far and away the best house in a neighborhood with a median home value of $150k.  Another person spend $500k on a house that need that needs some TLC in a neighborhood with a median home value of $1.5 million.  Each homeowner could be completely happy with their purchases, but one made a smart real estate move and the other didn't.  To point that out shouldn't be out of bounds.