Low 5. Those overseas trips we go to expensive experiences. Louis XV, Lung King Heen, RyuGin. No kids. No mortgage. Old car. |
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OP- you restrict food for your kids and call food “extra”??? What is wrong with you?
I make less than you and let my kids eat food, especially healthy food. Save on your Starbucks or purses or nails- those are all extra. Let the kids eat food. Your DH is right in this case. |
Denying an upsell item is not restricting your kids food. 🤦♀️ |
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If I made over 450k a year, I would let my personal chef make whatever they want.
At our 200k a year, we don't get extras. |
We make nearly $600K. No way we can afford a personal chef. Personal chefs start at $100K before benefits and taxes + cost of ingredients. You need a 7 figure income to justify a chef. And yes, it’s the first thing I would get if we ever break that level of income. I hate meal planning, shopping, cooking, and dishes |
Op. I don't get manicures, Starbucks, or purses. $450k is not as glamorous as you think it is. |
Manicures, Starbucks, and purses are not "glamorous." I don't get any of those either because they are all a waste and all are likely toxic. And I could easily afford to. But guac - as an extra luxury - no way! Guac is a super healthy, filling, highly nutritious food and I would never restrict my kid from ordering that when I could afford to. I would give up something else before I tell my kid they can't have guac. Priorities, OP! I completely disagree with OP - you can afford to let your kid eat guac and restricting that is totally ridiculous and not the values I would want my kid to learn. |
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https://www.morningbrew.com/stories/2026/04/08/upper-middle-class-is-us-biggest-income-group
https://www.wsj.com/economy/more-americans-are-breaking-into-the-upper-middle-class-bf8b7cb2 "The ranks of Americans that can add guac to their burrito bowl guilt-free have swelled. The 'upper middle class' has become the largest income group in the US, according to a recent analysis by the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute, highlighted by the Wall Street Journal. The report contends that the lower rungs of the middle class shrank because more Americans got richer: In 2024, 31% of American families were upper middle class, compared with just 10% in 1979. The think tank’s report defined the upper middle class as a family of three earning $133k to $400k in 2024 dollars—five to 15 times the federal poverty line." |
The biggest PR scam the rich have pulled on Americans is changing "the middle class" from the historical definition of being able to afford a SFH in a neighborhood with decent schools, late model car, a nice but not extravagant vacation once per year, etc. to solely your income percentile. Pay no mind to the fact you can barely afford to rent a dumpy 2BR in your HCOL city, peasant! You're officially Middle Class™. In fact 50% of the population will always be Middle Class™ now no matter how they live! Don't you feel successful?! |
| We went to Chipotle the other day randomly. We hadn't been in years. I forgot this thread and a kid ordered the guac and we managed to hit a couple of other upsell items. For me and two teens - $40. I almost fell over. Our HHI of $285 in a MCOL is not guac sufficient. |
That isn't even that bad for Chipotle for 3 people. |
Could you afford it on a 450k income though? |