| I think that is more common that you realize laserbrother.
One reason why my H and I didn't stay in our upscale neighborhood ( which we just happened to land in through a set of unpredicted circumstances) when we decided to have kids was that I knew that when the emphasis is on "presentation", with your appearance, your home and your car, it is much more difficult to go against the pressure and live a simpler life.
at least I didn't want that additional complication just in day to day life.
It was much easier to live in an area of mixed incomes, and spend money when we wanted to spend it, not just because we needed to "keep up"
In a mixed income neighborhood, we often dont know what income level someone has unless they share that info. For instance I know a family whose name you would recognize if you have lived in this country for any length of time ( big family company)
They don't have actual "jobs" other than vote in stockholders meetings and raise their kids. ( they do much volunteer work)
They do have a lot of kids, which is something many families can't afford I admit. But they dress like anyone else , clothes from Target and consignment stores- they drive the same 20 year old Volvo, and while they do have a home in Europe and a local summer home, their main home isn't anything unusual, built in the 1940s like many others around here. I remember when the kids would eat their lunch for dinner, if they didn't eat it at school & when they would bring cereal and milk for school lunch.
I also don't have the impression that people like the Gates, go out of their way to spend money. ( on themselves) They do live in the neighborhood that we moved out of when our daughter was young, and they do spend money on education for their kids, but from what I have heard, they aren't spoiled and I think that is saying a lot. |