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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]NP here and thinking a lot about the issues in this thread. Does anyone else think that the newer rejection of things in favor of experiences is adding to this overspending problem?

When it becomes imperative to go out to the newest expensive restaurant or to go to the most exclusive vacation, isn’t that type of lifestyle more constantly expensive than splurging on a fancy car or handbag? At least once you have the things, that itch is scratched, but the need to go to Minibar and Pineapples and Pearls and Komi etc. never ends.[/quote]

What is happening is these people with the victim mentality are not thinking.  I did not get a passport until I was an adult. I did not get my first car until I bought one with my own money, I was 19. I did not step foot in a plane until i was an adult with a job and I had a business trip.  You know where we did family vacations? Anywhere where we could drive and stay with another family member for free.  We had ONE car growing up, my parents shared it, my mom dropped my dad off at metro each and every day and then picked him up. That car was a Honda Accord and make it to 250K miles.  [b]We lived in a 3BR home, I shared a room with my sister and my brother had his own. We had ONE TV in the house. We had old shag carpet.  I never experienced a kitchen remodel, or a bathroom remodel, that simply never happened. We were SOLIDLY middle class and we were a completely NORMAL family and many people lived like us. Going out to dinner or take out simply did not happen.  [/b]We would go to the Raddison and do Easter buffet brunch, that was our one big outing. When we went on road trips, mom busted out peanut butter and banana sandwiches, we did not even do fast food. There was not a huge variation in income and lifestyle in our community (alexandria). Today if you lived like that, people would be clutching their pearls and would be declaring poverty.

Guess what? My parents have since retired and live modestly still.  [/quote]

Good for you. You do realize that today, one medical catastrophe could wipe out all of your hard work.

I'd like to add that what is considered acceptable square footage and amenities today has contributed to the cost of housing.  We hope to retire soon, but live in the same home in Vienna that we moved into in the mid-80's, raised our children in, and will live in until we can't do the stairs.  It's a modest house <2000 sq ft on a tiny lot, unfinished basement, some updates, but would definitely be not be considered DCUM-worthy.  Probably worth $680-700K (strictly because of location).  But it's given us a lot of financial freedom and the ability to live mortgage free for 20 years on one income.  Most of our peers, socio-economically speaking, live in homes 2-3 times as large and will carry mortgages into their 60's.  While impressive, I wouldn't trade my little shack for their mini-mansions.  Sometimes we rent one at the beach for a week though!  [/quote][/quote]

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