S/O What do you consider “wealthy”?

amother

Burlywood

Mon, Jul 16 2018, 11:12 am

On the Lakewood peer pressure thread, someone commented that families who go to dlux must be wealthy. I suppose I have some small luxuries others don’t, but I don’t consider myself wealthy. We don’t vacation too often, at this point I almost never get manicures, I buy very inexpensive furniture and even with that my house is barely furnished... now of course you can say that if we cut down on takeout for example we could afford other things, which is possible. But that’s not my point. To me, being wealthy would mean being able to afford all of that. It certainly never dawned on me that we are wealthy. Wouldn’t being wealthy mean that we wouldn’t have much financial stress? I’m curious what others think.

Simple1

Mon, Jul 16 2018, 11:18 am

I buy take out often. I don't have cleaning help, so it eases things a bit sometimes and evens out. And I spend very very little on clothing for myself (for the kids that's a different story). So I guess everyone has their luxurues.

amother

Burlywood

Mon, Jul 16 2018, 11:25 am

Simple1 wrote:

Exactly. But wouldn’t the word wealthy imply that we don’t need to pick and choose our luxuries?

pesek zman

Mon, Jul 16 2018, 11:26 am

It doesn't sound like you're wealthy

Wealthy is living in multi (multi) million dollar home, often having second home, luxury travel, household staff. Typically wealthy people are big charitable donors in their community and beyond. High end wardrobes, etc etx

I live in a very wealthy neighborhood so I have a high threshold for wealth.

Many people might be considered wealthy but I think they are just comfortable.

People can be rich on paper, but I think of wealth as more of a lifestyle as well.

amother

Burlywood

Mon, Jul 16 2018, 11:27 am

pesek zman wrote:

Right that’s exactly my point. I thought it was an odd comment that those who go to dlux are wealthy.

pesek zman

Mon, Jul 16 2018, 11:30 am

amother wrote:

Right that’s exactly my point. I thought it was an odd comment that those who go to dlux are wealthy.

I don't know what dluxe is but everyone spends differently

Simple1

Mon, Jul 16 2018, 11:30 am

amother wrote:

Exactly. But wouldn’t the word wealthy imply that we don’t need to pick and choose our luxuries?

I agree and I'm not wealthy. But there's a huge range between poor and wealthy.

amother

Blonde

Mon, Jul 16 2018, 11:34 am

Pesek Zman as I said on the other thread Wink

UWS leads to a very high thresh hold of what you consider wealthy Wink

Why do you consider wealthy a lifestyle as opposed to a dollar amount? I would consider someone wealthy even if they don't live high end.

pesek zman

Mon, Jul 16 2018, 11:41 am

amother wrote:

Pesek Zman as I said on the other thread Wink

UWS leads to a very high thresh hold of what you consider wealthy Wink

Why do you consider wealthy a lifestyle as opposed to a dollar amount? I would consider someone wealthy even if they don't live high end.

Right. I think people can be very comfortable. My parents BH are good examples of this. Early retirement, lots of travel. But still a budget. Still a consideration of budget. They're comfortable, BH. But they are paupers compared to the wealth on the UWS. I think true wealthy people are outside of this stratosphere.

Everyone's perspective is different. That's mine

simba

Mon, Jul 16 2018, 11:44 am

People today live well beyond their means. I know people who drive fancy luxury cars but don't have $5000 in savings. That's not wealthy.

amother

Burlywood

Mon, Jul 16 2018, 11:49 am

amother wrote:

What is dlux?

A fast food place in Lakewood... also serves sushi so I guess not strictly fast food.

LovesHashem

Mon, Jul 16 2018, 11:51 am

Anyone who is able to put money into savings every month, go out and buy things and not worry about the perfect pair of shoes being 100 dollars, not having to turn down things because of money like therapy, buying a house, etc.

Someone who can do all the above and still has money leftover at the end of the month.
Most people I know are not making the month or are making it by the skin of their teeth, surely not enough for therapy, owning a home, having a car, savings, etc.

amother

Seashell

Mon, Jul 16 2018, 11:52 am

Wealth is relative. Relative to what you're comparing to.

I live in a charedi neighborhood in Jerusalem. We have a larger apartment than most people in our neighborhood. My kids' friends all think we are very rich. We live in a 110sqm apartment.

I'm sure if we lived elsewhere, that would be considered very small. I have 3 - 4 children per bedroom.

We have a car - many of my neighbors think we are wealthy because we have a car.

When there are threads here about average salaries, and I compare my salary to those American salaries quoted, their monthly salary is my yearly one!

Wealth is relative to whom you compare to. And to what your standards of living are.
And probably to other things I can't think of at the moment.

amother

Blonde

Mon, Jul 16 2018, 11:53 am

Pesek Zman- off topic but how old did your parents retire- my dh's dream is to retire early and travel Wink

Mommyg8

Mon, Jul 16 2018, 11:55 am

That was my comment, I'm sorry it bothered you. I did not mean that you're wealthy, I meant that many Lakewood families live very close to the poverty line. So a store like Dlux would not be a place they hang out in. If you're in Dlux, then yes, you're part of the "regular" crowd as opposed to the "very simple" crowd. I'm sorry I used the wrong word, and I'm really sorry it bothered you (who knew that wealthy is an insult ?)

salt

Mon, Jul 16 2018, 11:55 am

LovesHashem wrote:

We have an apartment and a car, my kids get private lessons if they need, and we have money over at the end of the month, b"H, but I would NEVER buy a pair of shoes for $100 shock

pesek zman

Mon, Jul 16 2018, 11:59 am

amother wrote:

Pesek Zman- off topic but how old did your parents retire- my dh's dream is to retire early and travel Wink

PM me 😉

LovesHashem

Mon, Jul 16 2018, 12:00 pm

salt wrote:

We have an apartment and a car, my kids get private lessons if they need, and we have money over at the end of the month, b"H, but I would NEVER buy a pair of shoes for $100 shock

I actually do buy 100 dollar shoes.
There's a specific company I like that has good quality leather shoes that'll last years. I can't stand those ballet flats that are like cardboard under your feet...

And I don't own 30 pairs, I own like 3.