It's not how much you spend it's how you spend it. That's what TH was saying.
You can buy a $10,000 computer for work and only use 10% of what it is capable of doing. You can tell all your friends and acquaintances how expensive and awesome your computer is but do you really need it? Could have bought $300 computer to do what you use it for. But hey, you can tell your buddies you have a $10,000 computer.
$ does not always mean more success. Stop thinking like we need todo what Texas, Alabama etc. do.