Money should create flexibility before it creates spectacle.

The first thing worth buying with money is room to move. Savings, low fixed costs, the ability to say no, the option to change direction. Spectacle is bought at the expense of exactly those things, since it raises your commitments and reduces your ability to adjust. One buys freedom and the other spends it.

When new money arrives, put flexibility first and visible things second. The order matters much more than the amounts.