HOW DO THEY AFFORD IT?

amother

Wed, Dec 24 2014, 8:22 pm

I see SO many young couples around my area, driving around in fancy SUVs/vans , buying nice homes, and their husbands are either learning full time, or they are in school full time, and the wife is in school, or working for non profit volunteer type things, and yet they seem to be able to afford these things. Buying a new home, getting a new fancy car. My husband is working his butt off in Dental school and I'm working, and we're barely making ends meet as it is. Is there some kind of trick I don't know about that allows couples like this with kids to be able to have the kind of money to buy a new home? Get a nice fancy 2013 honda odyssey? I see these couples where the husband is in learning full time etc and I feel like, What am I missing? How do they do it? Maybe if my husband and I learned their tricks and did it too I would actually see him rather than him hiding behind the books all day hoping for, one day, an actual salary. How do all these people do it?

amother

Wed, Dec 24 2014, 8:28 pm

Some are supported by their parents.

Some are on government programs with (mostly)cash paying jobs. They work enough to be eligible for medicaid, food stamps, child care.... and take the rest in cash. I personally know to many people that do this and they are doing better financially than I am.

And then there are some that max out on credit cars and then declare bankruptcy.

Not sure how either option is halachikly acceptable.

amother

Wed, Dec 24 2014, 8:32 pm

amother wrote:

Yes I have seen those, you see them drive up in their fancy car, take out their double bugaboo and go into the store and then whip out their food stamps card when ready to pay.. What

amother

Wed, Dec 24 2014, 8:36 pm

amother wrote:

Yes I have seen those, you see them drive up in their fancy car, take out their double bugaboo and go into the store and then whip out their food stamps card when ready to pay.. What

Yes, I used to have a problem with these people. Then my DH told me that he sees the same type of well dressed non-jews in Manhattan whip out their government insurance cards. The system is broken.

amother

Wed, Dec 24 2014, 8:48 pm

amother wrote:

Yes, I used to have a problem with these people. Then my DH told me that he sees the same type of well dressed non-jews in Manhattan whip out their government insurance cards. The system is broken.

Forgot the part that they whip out the food stamps card from their Gucci purse.. Rolling Eyes

bnm

Wed, Dec 24 2014, 8:54 pm

I only know about myself- part of my husband's job is driving his boss around, they lease a new thing every year or 2. He is always driving the latest mishegoss... When I got married I had no clue about cars. I knew cars/minivans/station wagons but not more than that. Now I can discus brands and features and rate their drive/passenger seat comforts etc Wink

I do have to say I enjoyed the seat warmers in the latest one last winter.

debsey

Wed, Dec 24 2014, 9:06 pm

amother wrote:

For SOME (not most or all)
They DON'T afford it....you do....if you pay taxes, that is.

amother

Wed, Dec 24 2014, 9:15 pm

The op seems to be venting, but if you really want to know, you can never make accurate cheshbonos about anyone's income. My husband works for a non-profit and makes a just adequate income. We are not on any programs. We own our home. My very poor inlaws got an inheritance and lent it to us for a down payment. They wanted to save the money for a future wedding and were happy for us to benefit meanwhile. We remortgaged to pay it back. I like nice things and indulge often. What even my family doesn't know, is that I have a very lucrative job working from home. I can easily afford to splurge on luxuries.

cookiejar

Wed, Dec 24 2014, 9:21 pm

This all sounds like SOUR GRAPES! Do you really want to know how ppl afford things? Or do you want a thread bashing ppl who are on food stamps and have nice cars and bugaboos?? Because I don't either think it's NICE, but I'm honest enough to call the bashing what it is, AND I work on my middos so that I am looking at myself and my shortcomings instead of them! Non of your business everybody! Be as critical about yourself!

Last edited by cookiejar on Wed, Dec 24 2014, 10:56 pm; edited 1 time in total

southernbubby

Wed, Dec 24 2014, 10:52 pm

Most of the posts on this thread are anonymous so it is impossible to tell if the OP was the one who mentioned food stamps in a later post. The original post did not mention food stamps, unless I missed something. It is a valid question and it has been answered on imamother numerous times. I am sure that she could do a search and find it in past threads.

amother

Wed, Dec 24 2014, 11:03 pm

I don't have any designer anything. I do have a 2013 minivan though. Lots of people get good deals on a lease (my friend pays $275 a month for her 2013 odyssey!). I, however, was so broke I could not get approved for a lease. After months of being carless, We bought our minivan with a very generous loan from a family member. We just finished paying him back bh.

We also bh just bought a house. The tiniest house in the neighborhood. It was a (relatively) good price and we had no other options as we had to move from our apt and didn't have enough $$ to afford the sky high rents in our neighborhood ($4500 a month is considered a good price over here!!) we had some money saved up from an investment and my in laws generously gave us the rest of the $$ for the down payment. The mortgage (still far less than rent) plus full tuition eats up basically our entire paycheck. (Btw my husband insists on paying tuition- my in laws have offered from time to time- it's his zchus he says, and no he won't ask for a discount because he values the chinuch and won't hear of paying anything less for this golden investment)

All my credit cards are maxed out and I think 5 times before I buy anything. My husband gives me cash at the beginning of the week for food, gas, etc and it is barely enough.

People may think were so "rich" because I have a nice minivan and we bought a house, but the reality is that bh I own these assets but have no $$ for anything else.

I am on Wic btw- without which we would probably be in an even worse financial state. I hope no one judges me when I get out of my nice minivan and take the wic checks out of my simple purse!

morah

Wed, Dec 24 2014, 11:13 pm

You can lease a very nice car for not a lot of money per month. There are many reasons why leasing does not make financial sense most of the time, but the simple cost per month is usually not that much. Houses- lots of parents do help with down payments, and once you're past that hurdle, the mortgage payments may very well be less than what you're paying per month in rent. There are also FHA loans, which almost anyone can qualify for, and they're well within their rights to use that program. Lastly, you don't know how much people are making. A lot of people assume I make bupkis as a teacher. While I certainly am not printing money, and my husband brings home about 75% of our income, I actually do alright. I am paid decently for a teacher and get amazing health benefits for a much lower contribution than most people get. You don't know the full story, and it is highly unlikely that EVERYONE is gaming the system. They may have some kind of advantage that you don't have, like parents helping out, but there's nothing wrong with that. Not everyone gets to have everything, that's life. Look at your neighbors with an ayin tova, and may Hashem pay you in kind.

amother

Wed, Dec 24 2014, 11:26 pm

amother wrote:

What "work from home job" do you have? im also looking for a good paying WFH position. Can you fill me in please?