Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:No, we live very modestly.
+1. Our kids have no idea what we make because we don't make it obvious. The fact is, we live entirely off my husband's salary, and my salary (equal to his) is simply being invested. We could live a far fancier life, but we don't need it. We're not being frugal -- any time anyone wants/needs something, we buy it. It's just that we don't need a lot of stuff, and our kids have grown up that way too.
My siblings grew up this way and really struggled as as young adults because they were shocked when they couldn't afford all of their "needs." They had always bought quality items and it pained them to not be able to replace their laptop from college with the newest MacBook when it broke, replace a jacket with a broken zipper with the nice coat they really wanted without waiting for a sale, or shop at the grocery store without adding up the prices to confirm you are within budget.
As the oldest, I recalled a significant portion of my childhood when we had to budget for needs. My younger siblings had no idea this was even possible.
I do worry about my kids. They've never known a time when we didn't just buy what we needed. We make them wait for some wants, but needs are always covered. They're going to have a lot to figure out.