Fair to say that the characters in Crazy Rich Asians wouldn’t read a frugal blog.
Also fair to wonder why someone who preaches the delights of simple living (ie me) was gagging to see a film that revels in spending like it’s going out of style.
But I’m a sucker for a rom com, and Crazy Rich Asians is fab.
It’s a frothy, fun, ridiculously OTT fantasy, with some brilliant supporting characters and laugh-out-loud lines. I reckon it also has some pretty useful lessons about money, in a setting driven by the stuff.
Table of Contents
Crazy Rich Asians – the film
The plot breathes new life into the standard Cinderella scenario. An Asian American academic, Rachel, has been going out with her boyfriend, Nick, for over a year. He suggests taking her back to Singapore, so she can meet his family and come to a wedding where he’s best man.
Turns out his family is not just rich, but crazy rich. Nick’s not just Singapore’s most eligible bachelor, but also expected to take on the sprawling family business.
Rachel, meanwhile, has to face down his frosty mother, mad family and resentful friends, suspicious of an impecunious outsider who is (shock horror) the daughter of a single mother. Meanwhile the insane wealth is a great excuse for an explosion of glitzy clothes, OTT houses and amazing parties. Oh, and the sound track is brilliant too, with Chinese versions of Material Girl, Money (That’s What I Want) and Coldplay’s Yellow plus a touching version of Can’t Help Falling In Love With You.
Constance Wu (Rachel) is fine as the lead, and better when she gets feisty. The film doesn’t do much more with Nick than establish he’s terribly nice to his mother/girlfriend/best friend/kids/old ladies, but he does take his top off a lot. It’s the supporting characters that make it, including Awkwafina as the zany College room mate and her madder rich kitsch family, Michelle Yeoh as the glacial mother giving good evil and Gemma Chan as a cousin trying to shore up a disintegrating marriage.
8 money lessons from Crazy Rich Asians
So what did Crazy Rich Asians teach me about money?
Frugal, frugal, frugal
- Frugality might be foreign to Nick’s family and friends, but full marks to Rachel. She shops at a thrift store for an outfit to meet Nick’s family and takes Tupperware tubs of food for the flight, even if she doesn’t need either in the end. Bonus points for borrowing clothes too.
Fab food for less
- Food doesn’t have to cost a fortune to taste fabulous. Nick, his friend Colin and Colin’s girlfriend Araminta, all from immensely wealthy families, whisked Rachel straight off the plane to an amazing street food market.
Value time together
- Family activities that really brought the characters together didn’t involve spending a ton of money: making dumplings and playing mahjong. I’m keen to try both.
Everyone loves a freebie
- Even people with more money than sense like free stuff, as shown by the riot in the all-paid shopping trip during the hen weekend.
Discuss cash with your other half
- Talking honestly about money is crucial for a good relationship. Nick and Rachel could have avoided a lot of grief if Nick had ‘fessed up about his family’s filthy lucre, and its implications for their future together. Wouldn’t have made anywhere near as a good a movie, mind. Hiding purchases from her husband doesn’t seem to work so well for Nick’s cousin Astrid either.
Keep your own independence
- Money brings choices for Rachel. She may not come from a ridiculously wealthy background, but she has a successful career. This Cinderella could chuck the handsome prince, return to New York and still be just fine, thank you very much. I reckon we all need to scrape together a freedom fund, with enough savings to walk away from a bad relationship, move to a new home or quit a job that isn’t working.
Money doesn’t buy happiness
- Most importantly, money doesn’t buy happiness. Nick’s family is riven with jealousies, power struggles and misery (although Oliver, the ‘rainbow sheep’ of the family, seems to be having a fine time). Nick himself has chosen to move to another country and live without the trappings of wealth. When Rachel says “I wouldn’t want to marry into your family”, reckon most of the audience were nodding their heads and thinking “damn right”. Rachel and her mother seem to have a much happier, more supportive relationship.
Start saving!
- I need to start saving for a trip to Singapore. I can do without the multi-million pound earrings, but I’d still love to travel.
Related post: What does being rich mean to you?
I asked my daughter what she learnt from the film. She said: “It doesn’t matter if you’re rich or have a lot of stuff, it’s what’s inside that matters”, which seems like a great lesson. Mind you, she also said another lesson was: “You shouldn’t always listen to your mother”. Pah.
Related post: 10 lessons I’d like to teach my daughter about money
So whether you love rom coms, or just like fun films: go see Crazy Rich Asians.
I’m not going to beat the drum about Asian representation in cinema, or strong female characters, although the film delivers on both.
Put it this way, as a frugal blogger I was willing to pay for cinema tickets AND a booking fee AND parking, rather than waiting for this film to appear on telly for free. But hope is not lost. I did use my NUS card to get a student ticket and cashed in a voucher for free popcorn…
Now over to you: have you seen Crazy Rich Asians? Learn anything about mega-wealth, or just leave you lusting for stuff you can’t have? Any interest or not your cup of tea? Do share in the comments, I’d love to hear.
Pin for later:
I’ve heard a lot about this, but I haven’t got round to watching it yet, so it’s definitely on my list for the weekend now! Fab post 🙂
Author
Well worth watching, it’s huge fun.
Investment is one of the best ways to achieve financial freedom. For a beginner there are so many challenges you face. It’s hard to know how to get started. Trading on the Cryptocurrency market has really been a life changer for me. I almost gave up on crypto at some point not until saw a recommendation on Elon musk successfully success story and I got a proficient trader/broker Mr Bernie Doran , he gave me all the information required to succeed in trading. I made more profit than I could ever imagine. I’m not here to converse much but to share my testimony; I have made total profit returns of $20,500 from an investment of just $2000 within 1 week. Thanks to Mr Bernie I’m really grateful,I have been able to make a great returns trading with his signals and strategies .I urge anyone interested in INVESTMENT to take bold step in investing in the Cryptocurrency Market, he can also help you recover your lost funds, you can reach him on WhatsApp : +1(424) 285-0682 or his Gmail : BERNIEDORANSIGNALS@GMAIL.COM tell him I referred you
Awesome post! Thanks for sharing post on money lessons.
Recording the success in Cryptocurrency, Bitcoin is not not just buying and holding till when bitcoin sky-rocks, this has been longed abolished by intelligent traders ,mostly now that bitcoin bull is still controlling the market after successfully defended the $60,000 support level once again and this is likely to trigger a possible move towards $100,000 resistance area However , it’s is best advice you find a working strategy by hub/daily signals that works well in other to accumulate and grow a very strong portfolio ahead. I have been trading with Mr Bernie Doran daily signals and strategy, on his platform, and his guidance makes trading less stressful and more profit despite the recent fluctuations. I was able to recover my funds and Recover my losses and easily increase my portfolio in just 3weeks of trading with his daily signals, growing my $3000 to $35,000 profits. Mr Bernie’s daily signals are very accurate and yields a great positive return on investment. I really enjoy trading with him and I’m still trading with him, He is available to give assistance to anyone who love crypto trading and beginners on the trade market , he can also help you recover/retrieve lost or stolen cryptocurrencies, you contact him on Gmail : BERNIEDORANSIGNALS (@) GMAIL . COM or WhatsApp + 1 424 285 0682 for inquiries , Crypto is taking over the world
Loved reading this! I’ve been meaning to go see this film for ages but after reading this I definitely will. I didn’t realise there was a frugal aspect to it to it’ll be really interesting to see the divide. Great post 🙂
Author
Suspect the filmmakers weren’t entirely focused on the frugal side 😉 but it’s an entertaining rom com!
Great post Faith, really funny to hear a fellow frugal blogger’s take on a film like this!
Author
Thanks Lee! Did you see it? Great fun, and hopefully some useful money lessons too 🙂
I just want to say Thank You to everyone who supported me through the years. My name is Manuel Franco, New Berlin, Wisconsin. My story of how I won the Powerball lottery of $768.4M is a bit of a tale. I have been playing Powerball tickets for 6 years now since I turned 18. I bought my first ticket on my 18 birthday. I was feeling very lucky that day because I had contacted Dr. Odunga Michael to help me with the winning Powerball numbers. I really had that great great feeling that I looked at the camera wanting to wink at it. I only did a tiny part of it and trusted him. He gave me the numbers after I played a couple other tickets along with it for $10. I checked my ticket after the winnings came online and saw the numbers were correct including the Power play. I screamed for about 10 minutes because it felt like a dream. I had won $768.4M. You can check my winning testimony with the lottery officials just with my name search. Thank you Dr Odunga. Well, his email is odungaspelltemple@gmail.com and you can also call or Whats-app him at +2348167159012 so you guys can contact him
Real spell casters are hard to find but I am happy to thank Lord Krish for helping me win the lottery successfully after trying so many spell casters and I found my happiness in Lord Krish. I was given the lottery numbers by him which made me the third highest lottery winner in history and this is all thanks to you sir. Winning the lottery is something everyone would like to feel especially with a trustworthy spell caster. I, Yanira Alvarez, won the Powerball lottery in Los Angeles and I really thank Lord Krish because after I contacted him, he told me to only provide the spiritual items for him to do it for me and I didn’t hesitate to give him what he required so I could win it. I have tried so many spell casters who seemed real but only Lord Krish numbers gave me the winnings. I won the Powerball Jackpot of $1.08 billion and I am here today to share my experience to those willing to win the lottery as well. Take this opportunity to contact Lord Krish Spiritual with his email: lordkrishshrine@gmail.com and also share your experience with others.
Hello everyone here, i am happy to inform you that Mighty yuri is a trusted platform where lost usdt and cryptocurrency can be recovered back, they assited me to get back $95,000.00 lost USDt i invested to a scam company which claimed they could help me trade and give me back my interest, they robbed me off my money, but all thanks to Mighty Yuri i am happy and glad now that i have my USDT i lost to them back. Mighty Yuri has the tool to help you invest your crypto, and they can also help you recover any money you lost to cryptocurrency scam, you can contact the Mighty Yuri
via
WhatsApp: +1,619,50,06,894
Email: mightyyuri(@)consultant.com
web: https://mightyyuri9.wixsite.com/mighty-hacker-yuri
Hello! I just wish to give a huge thumbs up for the good data you’ve got right here on this post. I will be coming again to your weblog for more soon.
I am thankful that I discovered this website, just the right info that I was searching for! .
Thank you for the sensible critique. Me and my neighbor were just preparing to do a little research about this. We got a grab a book from our area library but I think I learned more clear from this post. I’m very glad to see such excellent info being shared freely out there.
I like the valuable information you provide in your articles. I’ll bookmark your weblog and check again here regularly. I am quite certain I will learn many new stuff right here! Good luck for the next!
You can certainly see your expertise within the paintings you write. The world hopes for even more passionate writers such as you who aren’t afraid to mention how they believe. At all times follow your heart.
You should participate in a contest for the most effective blogs on the web. I’ll advocate this website!
Wonderful website. A lot of useful info here. I am sending it to a few buddies ans also sharing in delicious. And obviously, thank you to your effort!
I always was interested in this topic and still am, thanks for posting.
Excellent items from you, man. I’ve take into account your stuff previous to and you’re just extremely fantastic. I actually like what you have received here, certainly like what you are stating and the way wherein you say it. You make it entertaining and you still care for to stay it wise. I can not wait to read much more from you. This is really a great site.
you are really a good webmaster. The website loading speed is incredible. It seems that you are doing any unique trick. Also, The contents are masterpiece. you’ve done a wonderful job on this topic!
Thank you for sharing superb informations. Your site is so cool. I am impressed by the details that you?¦ve on this site. It reveals how nicely you perceive this subject. Bookmarked this web page, will come back for more articles. You, my friend, ROCK! I found just the information I already searched all over the place and just couldn’t come across. What a perfect site.
I relish, cause I discovered just what I used to be taking a look for. You have ended my 4 day long hunt! God Bless you man. Have a great day. Bye
naturally like your web site however you need to take a look at the spelling on several of your posts. Several of them are rife with spelling problems and I to find it very troublesome to tell the truth then again I’ll surely come back again.