Out of place with a $200K income? (Houston, Dallas: coupons, coops)

[Siggy20]

Originally Posted by cyclone8570

Same here, easily afford buying those things-- but why would I want to?

Why would anyone want to live somewhere with that much social pressure?

Plus, with an active 8 and 11 year old, my expensive luxury import would look like a 15 year old junker anyway after a year. I'm happy driving along in my 6 year old, low mileage and well maintained Camry which unfortunately looks like a junker due to several hard winters here in NJ, two kids, and various parking lot scrapes and dings. For some reason my poor little old car really has taken a beating.....

If I were to buy something nice, it would be well after the little muchkins were out of the house, hehe.

[BigDGeek]

Originally Posted by cyclone8570

Same here, easily afford buying those things-- but why would I want to?

Why would anyone want to live somewhere with that much social pressure?

Exactly. I don't understand it either.

I was raised in Preston Hollow, an affluent area that is pretty well-known for conspicuous consumption. Despite what others here have said, the attitude in PH is definitely that you must keep up with the Joneses with few exceptions. My parents did not grow up that way and did not raise me that way; they lived there to be within walking distance of our synagogue. I would consider my parents to be relatively affluent but certainly not rich and I despise the attitude in PH. People there by and large really do seem to behave as if they think they are better than other people. I mostly avoid the area now unless I am visiting my parents.

[lh_newbie]

I don't quite get social pressures either.

My wife and I are planners. We plan what is best for our future. If other folks expect us to have some sort of external presentation in order to associate with me or to meet some expectation based on my income level or social status, then they aren't the folks I'd like to hang around with.

Since the conversation seems to be focusing on what type of cars folks drive, here is my theory on cars and how we finance them:

- A vehicle gets you from point A to point B. Hopefully, it gets you back, too.
- Having good tires, good breaks and good shocks is WAY more important than what make/model/year it is.
- We drive our vehicles 10+ years. We buy new and drive them until they become less reliable than we're comfortable with.
- We have a "car payment". That payment is paying ourselves a set amount every month, socking it away into a vehicle fund. When the time comes to buy a new vehicle, or we need new tires/brakes/etc, we pay cash.

Even though we may have enough to buy a new vehicle in the "vehicle account", we don't feel the need to replace it unless it dies or becomes unreliable. I cannot tell you how much less stress life is when you have the money to buy a new vehicle, yet chose not to until you're "forced". It's incredibly freeing. Recently, we replaced my Ford Ranger because we had a kid-o and felt a 2-seater was no longer acceptable. My wife got the new vehicle and I'm now driving what used to be her 2000 Nissan Pathfinder. Mechanically, it's in great shape, so at the end of last year, we made the decision to invest roughly $1800 into it to get new tires, brakes and shocks [eeks, shocks were original w/ 100K miles). It drives very nicely now and I have no concerns driving this vehicle for 2-3 (or more) years. People I work with chuckle about me driving such an old vehicle since they know we are a dual income family - but they chuckle and say that we really have things figured out and consider our philosophy smart.

Brian

[kazyn]

Vehicles are personal preference, though. I'd love a BMW 5 series. They're gorgeous cars. Not because I want to keep up with the Jones' (they just bought a Land Rover anyway, hehe). A vehicle is one thing I WOULD splurge on, had I the chance.

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by BigDGeek

Despite what others here have said, the attitude in PH is definitely that you must keep up with the Joneses with few exceptions.

In the uber-affluent areas (HP, PH, etc), it's not keeping up with the Joneses. They ARE the Joneses. Subtle, but important, difference to understand.

[BigDGeek]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

In the uber-affluent areas (HP, PH, etc), it's not keeping up with the Joneses. They ARE the Joneses. Subtle, but important, difference to understand.

Fine, it's the Joneses keeping up with the Joneses then. I'm basing this on having been raised in PH, by the way.

[lh_newbie]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

In the uber-affluent areas (HP, PH, etc), it's not keeping up with the Joneses. They ARE the Joneses. Subtle, but important, difference to understand.

Affluence is relative. If anyone thinks rich folks don't compete amongst themselves is clearly not using their eyes. They just compete for different things. Some folks compete to see if they can get their name on more things - parks with naming rights, on the wall at the Meyerson, etc; some folks compete to make bigger donations to charities (the ones that do this VERY publicly - remember Lyda Hill having press converage where she doubled her $10M donation to $20M because someone else had given $10M before, she wanted to break a record); some compete to get bigger yachts or bigger houses. It's the same thing just on a different scale and on different things. (granted, I am generalizing, but for someone to say they 'are the Joneses' and they don't compete is not an accurate statement)

Brian

[Lakewooder]

As I have said before: buying a home in SOME areas is just the price of admission - to play the game you are going to have to pay a lot MORE.

[tyanger]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

...
Feeding a family of 4 can be another $1k in groceries and $1k+ of eating out each month. Home bills can be another $1-1.5k for electricty, cable, maid, lawn care, etc. If there is a nanny involved due to both parents working, that can run $2.5-5k per month...

Wow!

$2k+/month on food for a family of 4 - Is this really not uncommon? That just sounds crazy to me. No wonder obesity is such a problem these days.

[RandMcNally]

Originally Posted by cyclone8570

Same here, easily afford buying those things-- but why would I want to?

Why would anyone want to live somewhere with that much social pressure?

I'm in complete and full agreement. Regardless of what we can or cannot afford, I seek a neighborhood and community in which more people share this mindset than not. I'm just not interested in either keeping up--or having too many others around me who think that is important either.

So ... parts of Richardson, Lake Highlands, and Lakewood/M Streets are potentially good locations?

Thanks, all.