how do so many frum people have so much money?

amother

Tue, Jan 20 2015, 10:50 pm

my cousins appear to most people to be the 'rich' kind. The mom is a stay at home mom, she has incredibly fancy cars, goes on lavish vacations etc.
However, I know that they have considerable debt built up from over the years. My cousins attitude is if the debt is stable now, why pay it off. Shed rather go on fancy trips instead Rolling Eyes

I also appear to many to be the rich type. Fancy sheaths, cars, bugaboo etc. However, I BH have a large family who believes in giving huge presents for birthdays, chance, babies etc. So in one year of collecting my own presents (not my husbands or kids) I am able to buy a new sheital, or a bugaboo, or new clothing

amother

Tue, Jan 20 2015, 11:16 pm

amother wrote:

Do you use that money also on things like tuition, or are you ok with that costs anyhow? Your kids' education is far more valuable than a bugaboo.

KollelWife3

Wed, Jan 21 2015, 12:19 am

amother wrote:

What is the obsession with bugaboo here?? Did they do a lot of targeted marketing to the orthodox world?

Because it's always a go to bash topic by some jealous people.

"How do all people in Boro Park afford bugaboos while I could hardly afford a used Maclaren?????"

Comes up about once a week.

amother

Wed, Jan 21 2015, 12:33 am

amother wrote:

What is the obsession with bugaboo here?? Did they do a lot of targeted marketing to the orthodox world?

No, because for all the dozen kids I'll be pushing around town I might as well not break my back while doing it. Nothing steers or drives like a bugaboo.

And if I don't get to drive a car, I want my own wheels, thank you kindly. The whole shebang costs less than my husband's lease, insurance, and gas for a few months.

They have amazing customer service, last beautifully for those lots of kids, and if I want to sell it later there's a high resale value.

And I got mine as a gift b"h from a family member who decided he owed us something big.

Please fargin.

DrMom

Wed, Jan 21 2015, 12:34 am

This whole thread is so gross and petty.

MYOB, folks! The amount of time and energy spent obsessing and gossipping over other people's sheitel/vacation/home/stroller expenses is obscene.

Go read a good book.

imaima

Wed, Jan 21 2015, 1:54 am

glutenless wrote:

My under $100 graco lasted beautifully for three babies also. Just saying.

And 3 $100 strollers still cost less than 1 bugaboo.

The difference is that for all those years she's been wheeling an easy-pushing, comfortable bugaboo and you - a graco.
I've had both and they just don't compare.

Imogen

Wed, Jan 21 2015, 3:44 am

If a non Jew had asked this question I would cringe and shudder, yes history has made many Jews, frum or not, business savvy, hard working and committed to their families, good ways to make money and keep it in their families.

Modesty has not always been however uppermost in everyone's mind, and in this generation, entitlement and big eyes have entered the fray too.

I do not understand the need for this question, yes since we are all tiny children we are aware of living with people wealthier and poorer in our midst.

It is very very unhealthy to constantly look at your neighbours and what they have, every week here one poster or another is going on about neighbours with fancy buggies, too many food stamps, holidays and the big bad wolf of all, wealthy parents!!! This is life, and yes if you look at your neighbour and notice what they have you will do a good job of indoctrinating your kids to do the same.

Some people know the price of everything and the value of nothing.

Culturedpearls

Wed, Jan 21 2015, 4:26 am

amother wrote:

Totally off topic but honey I bought my gradaughter a bugaboo because her parents wanted what everyone else had!
Well I've owned plenty of strollers in my life & I don't know what you're talking about! The thing is a truck. A pain to fold & needs two hands to steer!
It's totally an overpriced set of hard to push wheels!
And I'm sure the same goes for all these other "must have items".
Anyway my kids push this ridiculous stroller & they haven't got a penny to their names!

Sanguine

Wed, Jan 21 2015, 4:29 am

DrMom wrote:

DrMom - Come back to our side of the Atlantic. We'll never understand their priorities

Raisin

Wed, Jan 21 2015, 4:41 am

KollelWife3 wrote:

You misunderstood me. I have 3 so far. With Hashem's help I want many many more. Hopefully the stroller will last until the end. (At the rate it's going, seems it will.)

If one graco lasts for 3 babies, even if you have 12 kids its still cheaper to buy 4 gracos then a bugaboo. Even if the bugaboo lasts, you will probably have to replace the cover or something at some point.

BUT most people who buy bugaboos will not use them for 12 kids.

ora_43

Wed, Jan 21 2015, 4:52 am

amother wrote:

It isn't that "frum people can't have good jobs..." It's how do such a high, high percentage of frum people have so much money? It amazes me...

I'll admit (with apologies in advance) that I didn't read this whole thread, so maybe someone said this already.

My thought - maybe it's not that frum people tend to have money, so much as that people with money are more likely to be/remain affiliated with the frum community.

I don't mean that rich people are more religious, there's a reason I said "affiliated with the frum community" and not "frum." I mean that the richer people are, the more they can afford to have kids in private Jewish schools, or a husband in kollel, or a house in a Jewish neighborhood, or shopping at frum stores instead of walmart, etc - all the things that make someone stand out as "frum" when you first look at them.

I may be way off base. In Israel it's pretty much the opposite (people think of frum Jews as being more likely to be poor... ) so I'm just going based on what I hear from frum people I know in America.

shabbatiscoming

Wed, Jan 21 2015, 5:54 am

Raisin wrote:

Wow, Ive only ever heard of the bugaboo here not in my real life community and in some communities in israel where I am not living. I went to do a price check of the two carriages in this post.
I am beyond shocked. Why would any sane person spend near or over 1000 dollars on a carriage? Im sorry, thats insane.
The graco is roughly 3 - 4 hundred dollars.
Im sorry, no matter how smooth sailing it is, you are buying the name, thats it.
Gosh, am I happy I live in a world where those things are not the important thing.

Raisin

Wed, Jan 21 2015, 7:01 am

imaima wrote:

The difference is that for all those years she's been wheeling an easy-pushing, comfortable bugaboo and you - a graco.
I've had both and they just don't compare.

You could make that argument about almost any object. Yes, sometimes it pays to buy good stuff. But there is usually a limit on how much you need to spend to get a well designed, functional object. But yes, sometimes, if you are not rich, you might not be able to afford to buy the expensive, good quality sheitle or stroller or pots.

DrMom

Wed, Jan 21 2015, 7:23 am

A bugaboo/similar fancy big-wheeled strollers won't fit into our tiny Israeli elevator. The wheel base is too wide. I used a Graco for 2 kids and bought another stroller (Chico, I think) when we had our 3rd. It's still good to go.

Israel (at least my city) is rough on strollers. Lousy pavement, lots of stairs to go bumping over (nightmare with a tank-like bugaboo), etc. Our strollers get lots of abuse here.

luppamom

Wed, Jan 21 2015, 7:28 am

Don't think this problem is exclusive to America. It's here as well. In the cities there are lots of Bugaboos. Israelis have them as well. I live in a not wealthy, very Israeli place and I've seen very few Bugaboos, but even the Israelis are mostly not pushing cheap strollers b/c it's just not worth it.

This is probably why: I walk much more (hardly ever take buses), my stroller needs to hold up. I do not have a bugaboo, but I do have something in the Baby Jogger family- great stroller, costs in the $200.00 range. I don't think a Graco would survive my lifestyle (or I would use buses more if it was too annoying to push especially full of groceries). Add all the bus fare and you'd probably get the difference in price between a Graco and a BJ.