so who actually shops at Bloomingdales? Stays at 4/5 star resorts for $1000/night?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
i guess the moral of the story is that you can't under estimate how expensive kids really are.
When I was in my 20's I went to Europe a lot and stayed in low end hotels or hostels. Now a trip to Europe is a giant expense because airfare alone for 5 people is $5K. Instead of buying fish and chips for one, we're feeding 5.
It's remarkable how you can earn what by standard is a great income ($400K) and still be no where near being able to afford luxury goods (aside from an occasional anniversary-type splurge). Sure, i could buy the $3K handbag. I have the money in the bank.
but it will stress me out because I have 3 looming college tutions, and then there is grad school......

Kids just suck up an unbelievable amount of money. My oldest son is turning out to be a great soccer player who is crazy obsessed with the game (4th grade). He plays travel soccer. Our local program just cost us $3500 (all fees, tournaments, required winter training, required week of summer camp etc) for this year. And we didn't go
looking for the most expensive, high end program. He just tried out for the travel team of our rec league and suddenly we're paying $3500 over the course of the next 12 months. Our youngest loves the piano. So we're paying weekly lessons.
At $36/week plus recital that's another $2K/year. It just all adds up and so our baseline lifestyle remains unchanged from what it was 10 years ago.
We're making a very respectable income (which I and the government and just about everyone on the planet would actually say is a HIGH income) and splurges are few and very far between.

I hope when the college tuition bubble crashes so does this idea that parents have to fund every cent of their children's education. You would seriously pay for grad school on top of college? Sorry. Not happening in my house. At a certain point I'm done bleeding out because you want 3 degrees. Perhaps covering one makes sense but funding advanced education for Masters and PhD's as parents seems nuts.

+1
Why would you pay for grad school? It's paid for by being a Research assistant or teaching assistant. Mine was free. If your child gets a degree where this doesn't happen, I'd make him pay. I'm saving for my kids college but that's it.

Think med school or other professional schools.
Federal loans don't begin to cover the cost these days and most kids are self (i.e. parent) pay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We leave tomorrow for a high-end resort and will be on the Club floor. Hope it makes a dent in our daily burn rate!

I have a picky eater who turns his nose up at the food the rest of us enjoy at dinner. Then he's hungry at 10pm and I'm stuck with Doritos from the vending machine. A cheese & cracker tray would be preferable!

Really depends on the hotel. We stayed at a Marriott in Mexico in the Club level and there was very little my picky son would eat. Lots of "fancy sandwiches" and apps. More simple would have been better.

I think there is a healthy medium between a bag of doritos and finger sandwiches. you know?

[Anonymous]

I HAVE shopped at Bloomie's. Sometimes there are great items at a reasonable price that I buy for special occasions or wardrobe staples. It would never be the first place I look, but I comparison shop before I buy.

[Anonymous]

Yeah I think most people can afford Bloomingdales' sale rack, at the very least. It's no more expensive than the Gap. But as for everything else ... Rich people. Not upper middle class or even upper class people - filthy stinking rich people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We leave tomorrow for a high-end resort and will be on the Club floor. Hope it makes a dent in our daily burn rate!

I have a picky eater who turns his nose up at the food the rest of us enjoy at dinner. Then he's hungry at 10pm and I'm stuck with Doritos from the vending machine. A cheese & cracker tray would be preferable!

Really depends on the hotel. We stayed at a Marriott in Mexico in the Club level and there was very little my picky son would eat. Lots of "fancy sandwiches" and apps. More simple would have been better.

I think there is a healthy medium between a bag of doritos and finger sandwiches. you know?

Omg how ridiculous! Just have the kid go to bed hungry, duh. You are enabling.

[Anonymous]

We make over a million a year combined and truthfully we are not nearly as wealthy as many of our friends. We love to travel but don't fly first class or pay $1000 a night. Our friends have homes in Nantucket with Jeeps and Range Rovers in the driveways just to use in the summer. They donate hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to charities. I feel average most of the time. Sad I know. Flame away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We leave tomorrow for a high-end resort and will be on the Club floor. Hope it makes a dent in our daily burn rate!

I have a picky eater who turns his nose up at the food the rest of us enjoy at dinner. Then he's hungry at 10pm and I'm stuck with Doritos from the vending machine. A cheese & cracker tray would be preferable!

Really depends on the hotel. We stayed at a Marriott in Mexico in the Club level and there was very little my picky son would eat. Lots of "fancy sandwiches" and apps. More simple would have been better.

I think there is a healthy medium between a bag of doritos and finger sandwiches. you know?

Omg how ridiculous! Just have the kid go to bed hungry, duh. You are enabling.

If my kid were picky I would indulge enough to not have them go to bed hungry, after having them take a try-it bite. Ten hours is a long time to be hungry. I am a picky eater and my parents didn't indulge me. I'm still picky and there was a lot of screaming and punishing on their part and a lot of crying and resentment on mine. Why bother doing that? It didn't help me become less picky.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We make over a million a year combined and truthfully we are not nearly as wealthy as many of our friends. We love to travel but don't fly first class or pay $1000 a night. Our friends have homes in Nantucket with Jeeps and Range Rovers in the driveways just to use in the summer. They donate hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to charities. I feel average most of the time. Sad I know. Flame away.

I know how you feel. We have friends who are billionaires (no, I'm not a troll). We will NEVER catch up. At the same time I grew up poor and I made my own money. My kids will have a wealthy upbringing but I let them know they will have to make their own money when they grow up. We spend our money because I don't plan on leaving a trust fund. I will pay whatever is needed for education but other than that.. nada.

[Anonymous]

Just about everyone shops at Bloomingdales and if you go as a family, it can be cheaper to get a suite at $1000 a night than 2 separate rooms for parents and kids. If you earn 400K a year, there is no reason that you should not be able to afford this unless you really stretched buying a house with a huge mortgage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:::shyly raises hand::

DH and I are both trust fund babies. On top of that, I'm the only grandchild on both sides of my family. On top of that, my parents are divorced. On top of that my father feels a lot of guilt for how he handled his relationship with me during the divorce so threw money at that problem - I got ridiculously high child support through college AND grad school (both of which were paid for by trusts). I used that money to invest in real estate and then sold some at a profit.

I flew coach once, to see what it was like. But yes, we travel a lot (it'll be less once our kids are in school), we will buy clothing at full price, we take the nanny on vacation, etc.

That being said, DH and I both work. Real jobs with benefits - not like, managing our portfolios or like that Katie woman on RH of Potomac. That said, we shop at Costco, we totally have a hand-me-down network going with some close friends who also have daughters, etc.

If I had money I would totally fly 1st class or business. But are the $1000/night resorts really worth it?

Yes, they are totally worth it. It's not even that hard to get there. There's a Marriott on Singer Island that we like that's $700/night. Add tax,fees, etc and you are pretty close to $1000. That's not worth it, but a place like Las Ventanas. So so worth the $2000 a night price tag. I don't buy any clothes for myself full price, and I buy my kid's clothes at Old Navy, but the service at expensive resorts is nothing short of amazing. They bring you Popsicles by the pool, rub your feet, clean your sunglasses, put suntan lotion on your back, provide preloaded iPads for movies or books, clean your room 2x a day, fill your tub with flowers and have aromatherapy menus for turn down. Your room will be filled with candles when you get back from dinner. They will unpack and iron all your clothes when you get there. Amazing and so worth it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:::shyly raises hand::

DH and I are both trust fund babies. On top of that, I'm the only grandchild on both sides of my family. On top of that, my parents are divorced. On top of that my father feels a lot of guilt for how he handled his relationship with me during the divorce so threw money at that problem - I got ridiculously high child support through college AND grad school (both of which were paid for by trusts). I used that money to invest in real estate and then sold some at a profit.

I flew coach once, to see what it was like. But yes, we travel a lot (it'll be less once our kids are in school), we will buy clothing at full price, we take the nanny on vacation, etc.

That being said, DH and I both work. Real jobs with benefits - not like, managing our portfolios or like that Katie woman on RH of Potomac. That said, we shop at Costco, we totally have a hand-me-down network going with some close friends who also have daughters, etc.

If I had money I would totally fly 1st class or business. But are the $1000/night resorts really worth it?

Not a trust fund baby but lover of high end resorts here. $1000 resorts are totally worth it. Rosewood Mayakoba was perfect. Four Seasons Orlando was Disney in luxury. I can't stand staying in a cheap room with poor beds and pillows. I love a luxurious bathroom and I usually do my resort searches based now how nice the spa is. Now that we have kids, kid amenities are higher on the list than how nice the spa is but I will not compromise and stay in an crappy hotel.

This, exactly.

[Anonymous]

A few notes on the hotel:

I don't think 4 star is often worth the premium, but 5 star is.
Pay attention to how new the resort is, or when it was last renovated. That matters a lot.

Four Seasons - relaxing, great service, generally low key.
Mandarin - trendier, staff can have attitude (sort of the way a salesperson in a trendy boutique might have attitude)
Ritz - eh. I feel like they're sort of the Capital Grille of hotels. You always get the same thing and it's nice, but little wow factor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We make over a million a year combined and truthfully we are not nearly as wealthy as many of our friends. We love to travel but don't fly first class or pay $1000 a night. Our friends have homes in Nantucket with Jeeps and Range Rovers in the driveways just to use in the summer. They donate hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to charities. I feel average most of the time. Sad I know. Flame away.

At what income level would you feel comfortable flying business/first (at least international) or pay $1000/night?

[Anonymous]

We will fly first class with miles if it's just the two of us but we would never pay that price. We can handle sitting in coach and it just seems extremely expensive.bratjer spend the money another way. Can also find fabulous hotels for less than $1000. We have to take two rooms with kids. I guess it is just about whether we think we could spend the money in a better way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
i guess the moral of the story is that you can't under estimate how expensive kids really are.
When I was in my 20's I went to Europe a lot and stayed in low end hotels or hostels. Now a trip to Europe is a giant expense because airfare alone for 5 people is $5K. Instead of buying fish and chips for one, we're feeding 5.
It's remarkable how you can earn what by standard is a great income ($400K) and still be no where near being able to afford luxury goods (aside from an occasional anniversary-type splurge). Sure, i could buy the $3K handbag. I have the money in the bank.
but it will stress me out because I have 3 looming college tutions, and then there is grad school......

Kids just suck up an unbelievable amount of money. My oldest son is turning out to be a great soccer player who is crazy obsessed with the game (4th grade). He plays travel soccer. Our local program just cost us $3500 (all fees, tournaments, required winter training, required week of summer camp etc) for this year. And we didn't go
looking for the most expensive, high end program. He just tried out for the travel team of our rec league and suddenly we're paying $3500 over the course of the next 12 months. Our youngest loves the piano. So we're paying weekly lessons.
At $36/week plus recital that's another $2K/year. It just all adds up and so our baseline lifestyle remains unchanged from what it was 10 years ago.
We're making a very respectable income (which I and the government and just about everyone on the planet would actually say is a HIGH income) and splurges are few and very far between.

I can totally relate to this too and our income is quite a bit higher than the OP's (500k-750k depending on bonuses). I could easily buy myself a $3k purse but would never do so because we also have three kids and all the expenses they come along with. We deposit $1250 a month into EACH of their accounts. That's our big luxury, lol. And even then I feel like we should be doing more - saving to give them DPs for example. My big goal for them is to be able to choose a job based on interest rather than money. Plus we spend about $700 a month on their activities (includes private lessons). We do travel but so far it's to places like Disney World and other domestic cities like San Diego and San Francisco. We stay in rooms that are more like $400-500 a night. Still, it's nothing to complain about.