Do you ever wonder how other people afford their lives???

[Anonymous]

I know this doesn't reflect well on me (so no need to belabor that point) but since this is anonymous, I'll go ahead. I have this former colleague I keep in touch with through social media. She gave up working after having her first baby 10 years ago at 27. They now have three kids. I look at her feed and I just don't get how they can afford to live like they do! They renovated an attractive home in Summit Hills NJ (HCOL and a short train ride to NYC if you're not familiar). I looked up the purchase price and it was over a million dollars and that was before the renovation. Her kids do public school but they're in all these private lessons: tennis, fencing, ice skating, horseback riding, skiing. They seem to go skiing as a family every other weekend to the Poconos, Adirondacks, or Vermont. I'm sure her kids do ski school, which is not cheap. They travel at least five times a year: ski trip out west in Feb, Caribbean or Disney in April, Europe in the early part of summer, east coast each trip in the later part, and another trip over fall break. Her kids are always dressed to the nines and she throws these over the top Pinterest birthday parties for them. She doesn't work but does all the fancy boutique gym classes that are popular now: barre, orange theory, Pilates, etc. They belong to a country club too. I know she doesn't come from money. Her husband does something in finance but it's not hedge fund or private equity. How much can this guy possibly make? What do you think this type of lifestyle costs??

Anyone else follow someone through social media just because you're constantly baffled about how they afford their lives?

[Anonymous]

Yes, I feel the same way about some people I know.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, I wonder. But sometimes it's family money, trust funds, or someone made a gazillion dollars. Sometimes its the person is in debt, or spent it all and didn't save any for retirement or college (so looks good now but won't later when it's time for said college or retirement). A lot of people spend what they don't have and a lot of people have credit card debt so don't assume everyone can afford all that.

[Anonymous]

you sound jealous

[Anonymous]

What's baffling about it? Her husband either earns a lot and/or they have family help/money and/or they have a lot of debt.

[Anonymous]

Yes I would say family money, debt, or a spouse who makes way more than you think.

[Anonymous]

What does her DH do?

family money or startup money. But more likely family money.

[Anonymous]

In north jersey, 99% of the time the DH makes Wall Street money. Don’t be fooled - there are nothing titles in finance that will pay 300k+. It doesn’t always have to be a hedge fund.

[Anonymous]

No, I don’t wonder. I’ve worked in finance and knowntjay people can easily make seven figures, which he DH most likely does in that area.

[Anonymous]

Yes, finance in New York pays a lot and you don't need to be in hedge fund work. Probably pulling in at least 500K with bonuses right now, especially given the good stock market over the last few years.

[Anonymous]

PP here, and given the ages you mention, the DH is probably late 30's early 40's and still in Finance. This means he's probably making closer to the $1 million mark with bonuses. Most people burn out and move on by early 30's.

[Anonymous]

He makes more than you imagined, parents pay for family travel and/or otherwise subsidize their lifestyle, and/or they don’t save a lot.

[Anonymous]

Oh, totally. I know someone through one of my boutique fitness classes who can't possibly afford her lifestyle without some kind of massive family cash infusion. Or enormous credit card debt.

People on here rush on say it's all their hard work, but in a lot of cases, it's family money. Maybe not hers, OP, but her husband's. Or maybe she inherited something you don't know about. Or the credit cards.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:you sound jealous

Of course I am! Who wouldn’t be? I work 10 times harder and don’t have even half of what she has. She was always a lazy worker too, which I’m sure is shading my perception of her.

[Anonymous]

People wonder the same about my husband and I.

We have Apple stock. It has saved us during periods of job loss, pays for extras like travel and enrichment for the kids, and helped us buy in a better school district.