Anyone else culturally rich but asset-poor?

[Anonymous]

You people are so so sad.

[Anonymous]

I am surprised by the hostility displayed in this thread towards the genteel “poor.” I can give an example close to home. My husband and I are pretty cultured and sophisticated. I have an Ivy League degree in English Lit and biology and he has a bachelors and a Masters in Arabic studies. Together we make about 250k-300k a year and this is our recent HHI.

I grew up living in Europe and the Middle East due to my parents being diplomats and speak multiple languages. I have sat in small village schools teaching girls to read and dined and wined heads of states. I have friends across the globe even now. My husband went to a local private and speaks French and Arabic. He has traveled the world extensively. When we travel together we love to go to museums and historical sites. In fact we can spend a whole day in a museum and it gives us unparalleled joy. We live in a small apartment filled with books on history, art, art history, business and mathematics. We cook delicious healthy food based on recipes from Asia, the Middle East and France. We live in a close-in suburb but so far cannot afford a nice house in a desirable zip code so a rented apartment is our compromise.

We spend most of our money on organic foods and international travel. We also like to dine out at nice restaurants and occasionally splurge on designer shoes and purses.

We have relatives who are materiality wealthier than we are but they spend their money going to fancy expensive resorts and laying on the beach and like to read the latest best seller. They enjoy buying the newest shiniest gadgets and have outfitted their expensive large single family homes with material goods. They think to be sophisticated is buy the next most expensive thing.

Money doesn’t buy sophistication or class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am surprised by the hostility displayed in this thread towards the genteel “poor.” I can give an example close to home. My husband and I are pretty cultured and sophisticated. I have an Ivy League degree in English Lit and biology and he has a bachelors and a Masters in Arabic studies. Together we make about 250k-300k a year and this is our recent HHI.

I grew up living in Europe and the Middle East due to my parents being diplomats and speak multiple languages. I have sat in small village schools teaching girls to read and dined and wined heads of states. I have friends across the globe even now. My husband went to a local private and speaks French and Arabic. He has traveled the world extensively. When we travel together we love to go to museums and historical sites. In fact we can spend a whole day in a museum and it gives us unparalleled joy. We live in a small apartment filled with books on history, art, art history, business and mathematics. We cook delicious healthy food based on recipes from Asia, the Middle East and France. We live in a close-in suburb but so far cannot afford a nice house in a desirable zip code so a rented apartment is our compromise.

We spend most of our money on organic foods and international travel. We also like to dine out at nice restaurants and occasionally splurge on designer shoes and purses.

We have relatives who are materiality wealthier than we are but they spend their money going to fancy expensive resorts and laying on the beach and like to read the latest best seller. They enjoy buying the newest shiniest gadgets and have outfitted their expensive large single family homes with material goods. They think to be sophisticated is buy the next most expensive thing.

Money doesn’t buy sophistication or class.

Congrats. You're a poor snob. If you don't understand how condescending your last three paragraphs are, you're less cultured than you think.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Where I grew up we call this "champagne tastes and beer budget"

Lol yes. What came to mind reading OP.

[Anonymous]

The worst thing is, all the people complaining about being poor actually have money!

[Anonymous]

I think OP means they are well educated, well traveled, own original art, read great books, music...but the bank accounts are thin.

There are so many uncultured, tacky people who work jobs they hate to make huge mortgage and car payment, they buy tattoos, long fake nail and inject stuff into their bodies and their bank accounts are healthy. Go figure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think OP means they are well educated, well traveled, own original art, read great books, music...but the bank accounts are thin.

There are so many uncultured, tacky people who work jobs they hate to make huge mortgage and car payment, they buy tattoos, long fake nail and inject stuff into their bodies and their bank accounts are healthy. Go figure.

So, someone can't be well educated, well traveled, own art, read "great" books, and have tattoos? You sound like an ass.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think OP means they are well educated, well traveled, own original art, read great books, music...but the bank accounts are thin.

There are so many uncultured, tacky people who work jobs they hate to make huge mortgage and car payment, they buy tattoos, long fake nail and inject stuff into their bodies and their bank accounts are healthy. Go figure.

But what is this expectation that cultured people should be wealthy too?
Poor, starving artists are a real thing

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I find myself constantly feeling like this describes me.

That "but" shows huge ignorance.

[Anonymous]

I feel grateful to have had the opportunity to grow up here in a very multi-cultural and progressive area with lots of opportunities. Sometimes, when I meet people from other places, I get the sense they missed out on so much, but they are very unaware and happy to be here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am surprised by the hostility displayed in this thread towards the genteel “poor.” I can give an example close to home. My husband and I are pretty cultured and sophisticated. I have an Ivy League degree in English Lit and biology and he has a bachelors and a Masters in Arabic studies. Together we make about 250k-300k a year and this is our recent HHI.

I grew up living in Europe and the Middle East due to my parents being diplomats and speak multiple languages. I have sat in small village schools teaching girls to read and dined and wined heads of states. I have friends across the globe even now. My husband went to a local private and speaks French and Arabic. He has traveled the world extensively. When we travel together we love to go to museums and historical sites. In fact we can spend a whole day in a museum and it gives us unparalleled joy. We live in a small apartment filled with books on history, art, art history, business and mathematics. We cook delicious healthy food based on recipes from Asia, the Middle East and France. We live in a close-in suburb but so far cannot afford a nice house in a desirable zip code so a rented apartment is our compromise.

We spend most of our money on organic foods and international travel. We also like to dine out at nice restaurants and occasionally splurge on designer shoes and purses.

We have relatives who are materiality wealthier than we are but they spend their money going to fancy expensive resorts and laying on the beach and like to read the latest best seller. They enjoy buying the newest shiniest gadgets and have outfitted their expensive large single family homes with material goods. They think to be sophisticated is buy the next most expensive thing.

Money doesn’t buy sophistication or class.

LOOOOLLLL
You think you are better than everyone and sophisticated because you spend your time in museums? Loooollllllll
You live in a small apartment filled with books. Is this what makes you better than everyone else?
People like you make me want to vomit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am surprised by the hostility displayed in this thread towards the genteel “poor.” I can give an example close to home. My husband and I are pretty cultured and sophisticated. I have an Ivy League degree in English Lit and biology and he has a bachelors and a Masters in Arabic studies. Together we make about 250k-300k a year and this is our recent HHI.

I grew up living in Europe and the Middle East due to my parents being diplomats and speak multiple languages. I have sat in small village schools teaching girls to read and dined and wined heads of states. I have friends across the globe even now. My husband went to a local private and speaks French and Arabic. He has traveled the world extensively. When we travel together we love to go to museums and historical sites. In fact we can spend a whole day in a museum and it gives us unparalleled joy. We live in a small apartment filled with books on history, art, art history, business and mathematics. We cook delicious healthy food based on recipes from Asia, the Middle East and France. We live in a close-in suburb but so far cannot afford a nice house in a desirable zip code so a rented apartment is our compromise.

We spend most of our money on organic foods and international travel. We also like to dine out at nice restaurants and occasionally splurge on designer shoes and purses.

We have relatives who are materiality wealthier than we are but they spend their money going to fancy expensive resorts and laying on the beach and like to read the latest best seller. They enjoy buying the newest shiniest gadgets and have outfitted their expensive large single family homes with material goods. They think to be sophisticated is buy the next most expensive thing.

Money doesn’t buy sophistication or class.

Um, spending all your money on trips and clothes and dining doesn't make you classy. There's drug dealers who do that. You must not have children who need private space with friends.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think OP means they are well educated, well traveled, own original art, read great books, music...but the bank accounts are thin.

There are so many uncultured, tacky people who work jobs they hate to make huge mortgage and car payment, they buy tattoos, long fake nail and inject stuff into their bodies and their bank accounts are healthy. Go figure.

So, someone can't be well educated, well traveled, own art, read "great" books, and have tattoos? You sound like an ass.

+ 1 such gross snobbery, guys.

[Anonymous]

Team culturally rich!
And not all of us are white. Im Asian, but feel comfortable on this side, despite having an inheritance that could put me on the other side. I attribute the difference to a liberal arts education, growing up between two cultures, parents who had great taste if not much money and prioritized travel to cities, museums, national parks, historical sites, vs resorts, as well as being well read, politically and civically active and thrifty/frugal, environmentally conscious vs obsessed with status, brands, conspicuous consumption. Those are still my interests today, and what I pass on to my kids.

I admit there’s a snobbery inherent to my position. Just driving past McMansions or Trump stickers will make me wince. Same with face tattoos, disgusting fast food, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op, I am ignoring the sophomoric argument above. You described my family. Two PhDs whose house is full of books--everything from Journey to the West to Terry Pratchett. A friend of mine calls us "the literati." We talk a lot of politics, talk a lot about social justice, and what books we read. However, we are so broke (poor is systemic). It is what it is. We hope our kids also have rich intellectual lives and have a good education. That is what we can give them. I do want to distinguish that it isn't champagne tastes. I don't want anything from Van Cleef & Arpels. I don't care about your NYC or Paris shopping trip. Nor do I care about cars or the size of your house. I just don't care. This means I can't identify with a lot of the people in the DC suburbs. I literally got caught in a convo once about how Kia has a luxury car brand. It was not my thing.

Omg you are so full of yourself. We are poor and educated but won’t judge others about their choices. At least with Kia you could have steered it to their bar less A KN design decision.