Help me with not “keeping up with the Jones’”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$250k HHI and $750k in retirement at age 40 is far greater than “middle class.” Only on DCUM - 🤦‍♀️

Seriously. You are gross, OP.

Do people just haunt these message boards waiting to jump on anyone who doesn’t identify as filthy rich? $250k is a great hhi, but it isn’t rich in dc or Manhattan or San Francisco. It won’t buy you a nice house in a good school district AND close in. It won’t pay for luxury cars or private school tuition. This is clearly a tough concept for many of you: Money goes farther in some parts of this country than others. Try to wrap your head around it.

Nice and good are subjective. Yes, it is rich.

[Anonymous]

[Anonymous]

If I were you, I would totally spend money on a good couch and not feel bad about it. FWIW, there are SO many amazing coffee tables on Facebook marketplace right now. It you want a mid mod West Elm look, you can get a much better made 1960s original for half the cost right now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$250k HHI and $750k in retirement at age 40 is far greater than “middle class.” Only on DCUM - 🤦‍♀️

Seriously. You are gross, OP.

NP, this was just posted in 'how much do you have in retirement' thread, Surely this person is much wealthier that the poster above - and this seems a fairly typical response!

Just turned 50 and have about 1.6 million in mine. Also have not 1 but 2 pensions and about 150k in deferred compensation. Will keep maxing our 401k and start putting about 75k a year in my deferred comp plan. Should be fine when I hang it up at 70.

Why are you acting like 2 pensions is better than 1? Likely 2 small pensions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:West Elm is barely better quality than IKEA, but C&B and PB are definitely better built furniture.

General rule of thumb, C&B and PB furniture is tongue and groove furniture, with solid wood veneers at least and delivered fully assembled. These pieces will last 40 years and multiple moves, no problem. Now the style may die, but the piece is built for the duration.

Wayfair (which is just a drop shipper), IKEA, are stuff you buy when you are young and poor. The furniture probably won’t survive a move, or if it does, you will need to glue some things back together.

We are done moving, but we have young kids so still have a LOT of IKEA, b/c the kids ruin everything, so need to wait till they are older before getting “investment” furniture.

Pottery Barn can be REALLY hit or miss, I would highly recommend looking at everything in-person first.

Even at Crate and Barrel, we bought the Aspect modular storage cabinets and they did not look any nicer than some of the BRIMNES cabinets we have in the basement.

Restoration Hardware is $$$ but pretty much everything they make is heirloom-quality and beautiful.

I have scored several used RH pieces for very little money. Love the look and quality - too poor to buy it new though

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:West Elm is barely better quality than IKEA, but C&B and PB are definitely better built furniture.

General rule of thumb, C&B and PB furniture is tongue and groove furniture, with solid wood veneers at least and delivered fully assembled. These pieces will last 40 years and multiple moves, no problem. Now the style may die, but the piece is built for the duration.

Wayfair (which is just a drop shipper), IKEA, are stuff you buy when you are young and poor. The furniture probably won’t survive a move, or if it does, you will need to glue some things back together.

We are done moving, but we have young kids so still have a LOT of IKEA, b/c the kids ruin everything, so need to wait till they are older before getting “investment” furniture.

LOL Crate & Barrel is not better than IKEA> Most of their stuff is pretty but over priced for what it is junk. You can tell in the store look at the pieces carefully. Pottery Barn is slightly better in terms of quality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

He had me until Martha! Martha was s scrawny, middle class kid from Nutley nj who built an empire! Check yourself

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:West Elm is barely better quality than IKEA, but C&B and PB are definitely better built furniture.

General rule of thumb, C&B and PB furniture is tongue and groove furniture, with solid wood veneers at least and delivered fully assembled. These pieces will last 40 years and multiple moves, no problem. Now the style may die, but the piece is built for the duration.

Wayfair (which is just a drop shipper), IKEA, are stuff you buy when you are young and poor. The furniture probably won’t survive a move, or if it does, you will need to glue some things back together.

We are done moving, but we have young kids so still have a LOT of IKEA, b/c the kids ruin everything, so need to wait till they are older before getting “investment” furniture.

LOL Crate & Barrel is not better than IKEA> Most of their stuff is pretty but over priced for what it is junk. You can tell in the store look at the pieces carefully. Pottery Barn is slightly better in terms of quality.

Not so sure, the overall proportions and feel of my cb sofa were better than my ikea ektorp (and i loved ektorp). The cb slips seemed nicer quality too, although you can get better ikea quality slipcovers too. But you'll pay extra for it.

[Anonymous]

OP I know it's pandemic times and you're probably trying to shop online but there are so many furniture companies that are high quality and mid-range expense wise that you can't buy online (unless you're an interior designer). You need to visit local stores, not national chains like Pottery Barn.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No one cares about your car. No one cares about your couch. No one cares about your cellphone.

You are not your khakis. Forget materialism. You know what's sweeter than driving a porche? Retiring 10 years earlier specifically because you didn't buy a porche.

I mean. There's a big difference between splurging on a Porche or spending $3k on a couch instead of $1500. Surely you see that?

OP: You are doing great. Buy the couch you like. You're going to sit on that thing every single day. Your $500 coffee table won't be the difference between retiring comfortably or living in a trailer park hoping you don't get hit by a hurricane because you don't have insurance.

People on this board are so weird about money. You nickel and dime yourselves and others to pieces while hoarding cash like you've got one more week to save before - phew, that's it.

[Anonymous]

How do you save 4K a month after expenses ? That’s a lot. I make a little more 260K and can’t save that. He’ll yea buy that couch.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A someone who is sitting on my sofa eating popcorn playing super Mario Brothers with 3 other humans, I don't spend much on furniture we use. All that matters is comfort.


upload photos

OK weirdo.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have been really into doing small projects in the house during COVID and interested in replacing some furniture. As “middle class” (defined broadly) people I do like shopping but am always cost conscious- most furniture is ikea, wayfair, world market... but i’m so drawn to west elm, anthropologie, etc.

I want to know how much to let myself splurge guilt-free... is it crazy to spend $500 on a coffee table or $3k on a new couch??

Are the people shopping at C&B and West Elm people like me, or do they have a lot more wealth? I was hoping to get a real understanding on this anonymous forum.

Stats for reference: 40-yr-old couple with 7&4 yr old kids, $250k hhi, $750k in retirement and college savings, $75k cash savings, save an additional $4k-ish a month after expenses.

Our stats are VERY similar to yours, and I wouldn't think twice about spending $2000 on a sofa or $500 on a coffee table if we needed a new one (we don't).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have been really into doing small projects in the house during COVID and interested in replacing some furniture. As “middle class” (defined broadly) people I do like shopping but am always cost conscious- most furniture is ikea, wayfair, world market... but i’m so drawn to west elm, anthropologie, etc.

I want to know how much to let myself splurge guilt-free... is it crazy to spend $500 on a coffee table or $3k on a new couch??

Are the people shopping at C&B and West Elm people like me, or do they have a lot more wealth? I was hoping to get a real understanding on this anonymous forum.

Stats for reference: 40-yr-old couple with 7&4 yr old kids, $250k hhi, $750k in retirement and college savings, $75k cash savings, save an additional $4k-ish a month after expenses.

Our stats are VERY similar to yours, and I wouldn't think twice about spending $2000 on a sofa or $500 on a coffee table if we needed a new one (we don't).

Me again, if you're spending good money on furniture, then make sure it's American-made and solid wood -- Belfort and Greenfront are good places to shop for this type of stuff, Pottery Barn/West Elm are not. Crate and Barrel has some good pieces - some of their sofas are Rowe or American Leather, for example, but they also have some crap. Do your research.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No one cares about your car. No one cares about your couch. No one cares about your cellphone.

You are not your khakis. Forget materialism. You know what's sweeter than driving a porche? Retiring 10 years earlier specifically because you didn't buy a porche.

I mean. There's a big difference between splurging on a Porche or spending $3k on a couch instead of $1500. Surely you see that?

OP: You are doing great. Buy the couch you like. You're going to sit on that thing every single day. Your $500 coffee table won't be the difference between retiring comfortably or living in a trailer park hoping you don't get hit by a hurricane because you don't have insurance.

People on this board are so weird about money. You nickel and dime yourselves and others to pieces while hoarding cash like you've got one more week to save before - phew, that's it.

Thank you for this, PP! I sometimes think if it wasn’t for DCUM i’d feel like I was doing better financially than I feel.