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They used the same tvs from 1985 until I bought them a flat screen in 2005. Then they bought another one for the den.
This is so cute ... in my head I'm picturing an old couple who's been using their 20 year old TV and suddenly there's a flat screen in their living room. *POOF* they're up dancing and grooving 'cuz the screen is so awesome so that's why the buy another one!
Like some said, your child's education is why you moved there, that should be the focus. I'd like to also add that academic education isn't the only kind of education young people need. Being taught to live for themselves rather than living to compete with other people is an education many don't get until it's too late. Instead of viewing this as a potential to succumb, view it as the perfect opportunity for you to instill the proper values in your kids.
After all, you never know how strong your values are until they're tested. What better environment to teach them the importance of individuality, the social/personal "dangers" of materialism, and the importance of substance than in an environment where these very themes are central?
Life is too short to worry or notice what others buy but I am sure most of us at least notice the apparent "affluence" here and there. As social creatures, some human beings do mimic and copy each other sometimes, but with the material possessions, it can be a race to the bottom with debt mounting.
If you worry too much about what people may or may not think, then you're probably focusing in the wrong areas. Of course, for kids in school it is way different. They don't really understand this with all the peer pressure going on. If I had the time to volunteer, I would take my kids to a soup kitchen or something similar if they are old enough, so they can somewhat understand "real poverty."
I live an area where some people seem to be very flashy with spending their money. I might see a really cool sports car or something, but I'd rather drive my decade-old car into the ground for another decade than to have a continuous car payment. When I was in high school, the area I had lived in had a mentality similar to this (keep up with the Joneses), as some rich kids had expensive cars that they would total and just simply get another nice car to replace that one.
Naw...if my son wants something, I am not gonna deny him the thing just to prove a point.
But I am not gonna get him *anything* just cuz everyone else has one.
You are talking to the person who just got a smart phone despite being teased for years. And it was a $49 Sony-Ericsson. So now people give me crap for not having an iPhone.
Last time I checked, my money is for me to buy crap *I* enjoy. For me.
So maybe my friends and neighbors wear Versace and Chanel or whatever the hell they are peddling at Neimn's these days and I have two pairs of jeans and a closet full of t shirts, but I don't care about clothes.
Well I have an $18 tracfone.
The way it seems now, I'd have to be trying to keep up with the Jonses' 5 year old if I break down and buy an iPhone. It's not at all unusual to stand behind someone using a food stamp card chatting on an iPhone.
Funny you mention a Mercedes because just yesterday, we were over our neighbor's house and my wife, who is much, much more frugal than me, was admiring the new Benz that they had just acquired.
I'm really not trying to be boastful, but I can see why you think my original post may have been. Having attended the first PTA meeting earlier this week (to which practically every parent showed up in a fancy SUV that I literally never even knew existed), I actually felt a bit out-of-place. And that's what I wanted to stress:even though demographically and statistically, we may fit into the town, I feel like our values and beliefs do not necessarily fit within the specific area of town in which we live. Maybe it's because we're still new to the area, but quite honestly, I do wonder how that will change as we continue to live where we do.
Thanks for your thoughts.
I admire beautiful very expensive big houses but don't want one. I admire very expensive luxury cars but I don't want one. I admire high-bred horses but don't want one. It can be about appreciating the beauty but also not wanting to give up simpler things at the same time.
Just admiring something doesn't mean you have any intention of keeping up with the ones who have it.
I found more of this 'keeping up with the Jones' mentality in our previous small town than I do in a more urban area. As far as clothes, cars, etc.
However - the poster who mentioned higher end taxes, HOA fees and school activities was right. All of that was taken to the next level when we moved.
However, I no longer feel guilty that my son isn't driving a brand new whatever. AND I don't feel like I have to decorate my house for every holiday OR pay someone $$$$$$$$$$$ to put lights all over the outside of my house. All that was very popular in my old town. I see very little of that crap here. Probably because we're all busy paying those higher taxes and school fees.
This is so cute ... in my head I'm picturing an old couple who's been using their 20 year old TV and suddenly there's a flat screen in their living room. *POOF* they're up dancing and grooving 'cuz the screen is so awesome so that's why the buy another one!
Lol!
Naw, what hey actually do is turn them both on at full blast volume and hen not even be in those rooms.
I never understood why someone else having something means you have to have it. Why? Is it something you like?
If it isn't you have no business buying it. What's really bad is when people go into debt to buy things they don't want to impress people they don't like.
Steve Jobs had more money than your whole block combined. Regardless, the man had like 5 household furnishings in his entire place. Something to keep in mind.
As for me, I don't worry about the Joneses because I'm allergic to 'stuff' and it's getting worse the older I get. You wanna excite me, talk to me about one room cabins that take 15 minutes to clean. lol I wanna spend my leisure time doing leisurely things. Not overtime at work, sweating and freting to pay for crap I'd never get time to use anyways because I'm too busy working to pay for it! Vicious circle.
The Joneses can pull out their secret case stash of Tums nightly to try to get some sleep outside of financial worry, I'll take peace of mind anyday.
A little story:
Anonymous writer, about an American tourist's visit to the 19th century Polish rabbi, Hofetz Chaim:
Astonished to see that the rabbi's home was only a simple room filled with books, plus a table and a bench, the tourist asked,
"Rabbi, where is all your furniture and possessions?"
"Where is yours?" replied the rabbi.
"Mine?" asked the puzzled American. "But I'm a visitor here. I'm only passing through."
"So am I," said Hofetz Chaim.
What does this mean? If you see the neighbors get a new pool, you'll feel obligated to do the same?
No, Silly, when they fold then they fold and so on. Kinda like Dominos.
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