Will the bailout affect NJ home prices? (Ridgewood, Wyckoff: rent, house)

[wileynj]

Originally Posted by tahiti

i'm sorry, this is one of the most idiotic things I've ever read (not you, the people who actually do this). as someone who got bonuses every year, the one thing you MUST realize is they can end at ANY time.

Kind of like those that consider "overtime pay" when calculating what they can afford to spend each month

[boubou]

I try not to feel sorry for people who live above their means until...gasp... i realize that I am one of those people. We are just trying to live in a nice house, in a good town with good schools. That can get pricey in NJ! Ad in cars, property taxes, child care, food, gas, etc and we've become those who live above their means.

[tahiti]

Originally Posted by AnesthesiaMD

Or, they could have bought cheaper houses with lower property taxes. If your income is highly variable, you need to take special precautions that people with steady income dont need to worry about. If you are counting on bonuses to pay your bills, you HAVE to expect trouble somewhere down the line.
I find it difficult to feel sorry for people who live above their means.

thank you. i was beginning to wonder if it was just me, lol.

[tahiti]

Originally Posted by boubou

I try not to feel sorry for people who live above their means until...gasp... i realize that I am one of those people. We are just trying to live in a nice house, in a good town with good schools. That can get pricey in NJ! Ad in cars, property taxes, child care, food, gas, etc and we've become those who live above their means.

but this is about people who consciously used (variable) bonuses to pay a (fixed) bill. are you one of those?

[Lusitan]

Originally Posted by boubou

I try not to feel sorry for people who live above their means until...gasp... i realize that I am one of those people. We are just trying to live in a nice house, in a good town with good schools. That can get pricey in NJ! Ad in cars, property taxes, child care, food, gas, etc and we've become those who live above their means.

Well, if more nice people like yourself would consider other towns besides the "good" towns that everyone automatically thinks of, I think we'd see many marginal towns improving to the point where we would have a lot more "good" towns.

Nothing against you personally, but when people are forced to live within their means (let alone below them, which is what everyone should be doing anyway and saving a bit) then I think it will bring a nice silving lining on the cloud.

[AnesthesiaMD]

Originally Posted by tahiti

thank you. i was beginning to wonder if it was just me, lol.

It's not just you, and I wasn't picking on the other poster, but the fact is, that everyone seeking to live beyond their means is what got us into this financial mess in the first place. That and the people trying to make a quick buck off of them. Whether they like it or not, I think people are going to have to start learning to be happy with less.

[JERSEY MAN]

Originally Posted by AnesthesiaMD

It's not just you, and I wasn't picking on the other poster, but the fact is, that everyone seeking to live beyond their means is what got us into this financial mess in the first place. That and the people trying to make a quick buck off of them. Whether they like it or not, I think people are going to have to start learning to be happy with less.

You should E Mail this to many, many posters that have to keep up with the Jones's. Hey if someone can't afford to move into one of the good towns, they should scale back and be able to pay the bills. Hey I'd love to live in Mantaloking but I can't afford it. I moved into a town I can afford and I don't have to keep up with the Jones's.

[boubou]

Hear, hear on living with less!

I've noticed, particularly since moving back to the NE after a few years away, that the over-consumption is almost vulgar. I grew up in NJ and in the town I lived in people never moved, they drove the same car for years, they drove down to the Jersy shore for vacation and were generally pretty balanced and happy. There was never this 'flipping" homes and moving to the richer side of town overnight and we never had a ton of things. We played kick the can in the street and mowed our lawns. This same town-which my parents still live in today, has morphed itself into what it thinks is a faster, hipper, hard-core NY suburb. It's Fast and Furious Bergen County-style! But the truth is MOST of these high flyers are over leveredged because they have been buying everything in sight. Alan Greenspan made money very cheap for a long time. Those people who got drunk on the money, threw-up and now have a mess and a hangover to contend with.

[tallguylehigh]

Originally Posted by Lusitan

Well, if more nice people like yourself would consider other towns besides the "good" towns that everyone automatically thinks of, I think we'd see many marginal towns improving to the point where we would have a lot more "good" towns.

Nothing against you personally, but when people are forced to live within their means (let alone below them, which is what everyone should be doing anyway and saving a bit) then I think it will bring a nice silving lining on the cloud.

Why, if you want to live in a "good" town and can live in a "good" town, shouldn't you be able to? A little silly to call someone out for living in a nice place.

[boubou]

thank you tallguylehigh. there was a little pile on after i admitted that our family is finding that living modestly in a good town still has us living above our means somehow. But we're not alone in this by any means. call us stupid or whatever for living here when we should move to a different town nearby, but that wasn't my point in the first place. my point was that "living above means" is more of a unintentional consequence for many that actual intention.

nevertheless, i'll never admit to any humbling tidbit about life here again...sob, sob