Do you keep up with the Jones?

Sara - posted on 09/06/2012

The neighborhood I live in is full of middle-class bourgeois. Don't get me wrong there are some very nice people around here, but appearances are everything to a majority. We don't try to keep up. We have enough stuff and I let the kids save and earn money if something is that important to them (money for b-days and Christmas and the opportunity to earn a few extra bucks here and there). If they want it they save. My son bought his own desktop computer, his own xbox and his own ipod touch (over time). My bonus-daughter spends her $$ a little more frivolously, but her mother buys her things all the time without having to earn them, so I guess buying ice cream, candy etc is acceptable to her. My 7 year old girl currently has $200 in personal savings (she says she is saving for a car or a cell phone when she is older haha), and has spent her money (at her own request) on birthday gifts for her cousins and friends, in the past. She even offers up her piggy bank if I am complaining about grocery money ;) We keep the kids money in their wallets in a small safe and document deposits and withdrawals on a post it inside each.



We have live on a meager income around here. I am a full-time graduate student working only 10 hours a week currently and my domestic associate isn't bringing in a hefty income.



I say don't try to keep up, purchase/participate in what you can afford and enjoy. Have the kiddos earn their stuff as much as you can, they will thank you for it when they are grown and know how to budget, when they know how much a dollar is really worth.

Stifler's - posted on 05/20/2012

Nope. We have what we need plus a little bit more but I don't go rushing off to the shops because the neighbours bought a new tv or something. I am also the person who is like hmm yeah maybe then goes back 2 days later and sees the thing that was $50 down to $15 and buys it and was glad she waited. I also don't see the point of a diamond any bigger than 0.25 carat.

Lianda - posted on 05/19/2012

we got an xbox on toy sale last year had it on layby for 6 months and it was a family combined gift from santa came with 7 kinnect games kids love it!

Lianda - posted on 05/19/2012

haha love it! no im the 'omg they have too much money or too much debt' person lol I'm the 'you can have it next christmas when its half the price' type only because I cant afford to keep up with the joneses!! I found it way too depressing to try and keep up! my kids are pretty happy they know they only get new things if its their birthday or christmas and even then its on a budget! I think my kids value their things a lot more than the joneses because they know they have to save and wait for it. They know they have to sacrifice time with mum or dad so they can go to work to earn enough to buy it! they know if they have 1 thing they miss out on another thing so they really think about what they want before they whinge that they want something! .. or they work for it themselves by doing jobs around the house for $1 a job... when they realise how much they have to work they reconsider how much the want it... sometimes its worth it sometimes its not!

Lin - posted on 01/10/2012

We really don't try keeping up; my focus tends to be on the emotional/social stuff. One tornado, one earthquake, one wildfire, etc., and the Jones are just as poor or just as rich as you are; but all the non-material stuff can withstand that.

♥♪Megan♫♥ - posted on 01/02/2012

We lead, others follow.

Shannintipton - posted on 01/02/2012

I agree Joy just be yourselves, thats what makes a great leader. LOL

Joy - posted on 01/01/2012

It depends in what area. I am the techy in the house and a lot of my friends envy my computer setup which I use for online college. But then again, we didn't get a PS3 until last year. On another hand, our son plays a Nintendo 64, PS2, DSi and just recently I got him a Leapster Explorer to help him with school related items. So sometimes we are the ones leading, and other times we are the ones trying to keep up. Then you have the rare times where we just really don't care. Lol.

♏*PHOENIX*♏ - posted on 12/21/2011

Get a PS3 Taylor will LOVE IT!!!
oh and maybe a DSi 3D (that's what zjimon is asking for....not sure to get now or wait 50more days till his birthday?)

♥♪Megan♫♥ - posted on 12/21/2011

No problem. This is what we keep Lee around for. However I loved using the Kinect at the Strong Museum back in Rochester better than the Wii in the first place. Lee says that the console to get depends on who you're entertaining. Lee also says that the Xbox is more Americanized than the Play station.

Shannintipton - posted on 12/21/2011

Thanks for the info Megan. Thats too bad. I guess an Xbox is the thing to get then because the wii didnt last long.

♥♪Megan♫♥ - posted on 12/21/2011

Shannin and Shawn this is why the Kinect won't last. Games like Halo, flight simulators, driving games, other first person shooters. That's what the Xbox is known for not family games it's known for more mature games and that's what the Kinect can't adapt to. The majority of games sold to Xbox owners are more mature games. The kiddy games have a shorter life span too. At least that's what Lee says and I like to allow him to be the expert since that's what he went to school for.

We don't keep up either. We drive a 1993 Olds Acheiva and both of our TVs are the old clunky kind.

Shawnn - posted on 12/21/2011

We looked on it as a challenge. Both of us had attended weddings that same year, one cost over $35K, and the other around $20K, and we were floored!

Our employer gave us the venue, which was a beautiful building on the historic register. She also provided beautiful seasonal cut flowers for the hall. My dress cost $65, and he and I decided that, since he was wearing his regular suit, I should get a dress that I could wear again...and I LOVE it!

The lady that made our cake wouldn't charge us for it, and our florist only wanted $35. Wasn't anything we'd planned, but was a very nice blessing

Carolee - posted on 12/21/2011

My wedding was $500 total.

Shawnn - posted on 12/21/2011

and would I be REALLY cheap if my wedding cost under $200? With hall, cake, flowers AND dress?

I think I beat Niki at being cheap...LOL...

Shawnn - posted on 12/21/2011

Clues on the kinnect would be good...17 YO wants one for his gaming system...LOL...did I say we don't keep up???

We may not, but our kids sure try when they get bday money...

Carolee - posted on 12/21/2011

We were planning on getting one, too.

Shannintipton - posted on 12/21/2011

oh why wont it last? Mark was just talking about one. Any clues would be great Megan.

♥♪Megan♫♥ - posted on 12/21/2011

We don't have a dvd player we have an Xbox and my husband refuses to get a Kinect because he says it won't last.

Tara - posted on 12/21/2011

Hell no. I don't give a rat's a$$ what the neighbors have/don't have. I pick up what we want as a family and that's it. If they are going to judge us by what we have or don't have then we don't need them in our lives.

Shawnn - posted on 12/21/2011

Nah, they're a couple of miles ahead of us...LOL

We don't splurge, and we dont' buy the "latest" right away...To give you an idea, I just bought a DVD player a couple years back...and still have the old VHS...

♥♪Megan♫♥ - posted on 12/21/2011

Pretty much everything my daughter's wear is from second hand stores. My older daughter has a bunch of pants that my husband's cousins gave her for her birthday.

I do buy new things when I can afford it- their Christmas dresses are always new and I buy them from the Children's Place or JC Penny (well when I lived in New York I bought clothes at JC Penny) But I don't pay full price. Last year and the year before my mom and I bought my older daughter Christmas dresses from JC Penny by a brand called Cinderella and the dresses usually run 70$ But both times we paid 20$ for a 70$ dress! Last year it was because the woman in front of me in line traded coupons with me. I hope she had a good Christmas.

My daughters even play with hand me down or 2nd hand shop toys. My MIL found a very nice Barbie car for my older daughter to play with at Vaule Village and now the baby plays with it. My older one even got a bike last year from one of DH's cousins who had a lot of them at their house. We just had to put cooking spray on the chain and the kick stand.

We do some trading with one of my husband's cousins since she has 2 girls one older than my oldest and one younger than her. So if my older one gets to tall for something we give it to the younger daughter.

Jayce - posted on 12/21/2011

I've gotten a lot of hand-me-downs and then passed them on. I guess I never conisdered it trading.

Teresa - posted on 12/21/2011

Totally is fabulous. Most of my son's clothes have always been hand-me-downs. I DO buy him some things (at Walmart), but very, very few. He has 3 boy cousins... one older and 2 younger and their mom and I traded a LOT back and forth for quite a while. Now my son is bigger than his older cousin though.... ;)

Jayce - posted on 12/21/2011

Trading with friends is a good idea, Carolee. I never thought of that.

Carolee - posted on 12/20/2011

We get what we can and what we want the cheap way. We buy from pawn shops and second-hand stores or trade with friends.

♥♪Megan♫♥ - posted on 12/20/2011

I can hardly afford to keep up with the homeless guys who go through the dumpsters at my apartment for cans and bottles. How would I manage with anyone else?



That sounds beautiful Jayce. And low key. I like that idea.



A friend of mine back East got married back in October and her wedding only cost 5000$! She made her own invitations and did recipe jars for the favours. My brother and SIL were married at the Stratosphere in Las Vegas and it ran about 2000$. I got married to Lee at City Hall and it cost us about 65$ But some day I want to have a reception and a vow renewal and wear a dress instead of maternity clothes.

√v^√v^√♥ - posted on 12/20/2011

That sounds awesome Jayce :D

Jayce - posted on 12/20/2011

Nope, don't keep up with the Jones', don't even try. Don't want to try. I find that most of the people who go around spending freely are actually in debt up to their armpits. Thanks but no thanks.

Speaking of weddings. My BF went all out on her wedding. It was like something out of a magazine and cost around $80,000. My wedding was a month later and mostly homemade. I was married in my grandparents front yard overlooking the ocean. The reception was at a local hall and I had the ladies auxilary cater for $7 a plate. It was followed by a bonfire on the beach. I did my wedding and honeymoon (we toured the Maritime provinces,where I'm from originally) for $5000. And that includes traveling from Ontario, where I live, to Nova Scotia,where I was raised (about 2000km one way), and back again.

√v^√v^√♥ - posted on 12/20/2011

I love th DIY weddings. Looooove. I've seen an all apple wedding that probably cost a tiny amout to do since the dollar store sells glass voties and all that now, along with the hurricane ones. All green apples. Apples with holes cut out in the top with a votive in it for a candle holder. Apples hanging from the backs of chairs. Apples in water in the hurricane holder. Apples with paper leaves cut out with peoples names on them for seating at the tables. It was beautiful!

Teresa - posted on 12/20/2011

Yeah, my dad gave us $1000 to use to do our wedding.... about half of it went to bills. ;)

√v^√v^√♥ - posted on 12/20/2011

In fact my boyfriend was talking about how he always envisioned the ceremony to be formal. Tuxes, dress and all. What a waste! I just want a big bbq in someones backyard, reception on one half, ceremony on the other. It could be picnic tables and christmas lights for all I care.

√v^√v^√♥ - posted on 12/20/2011

Oh don't worry Teresa, mine won't be that one but a simple band with an enscription like I said would do me just fine. I'd rather have the love of it and the sentiment then diamonds :) haha

√v^√v^√♥ - posted on 12/20/2011

Awesome! Thanks :)

Teresa - posted on 12/20/2011

I like that ring, but it's about $620 outside of my budget. lol

Kelly - posted on 12/20/2011

OMG! Niki, That is BEAUTIFUL!!!! I love it--so unique and still elegant and simple! I'm not into big flashy stones, but I didn't want a ring that looks just like everyone else's. My ring was actually custom made by a jeweler friend of ours--it's the only one like it in the world :)

√v^√v^√♥ - posted on 12/20/2011

LMAO what a troll! I can't believe she said that to you! I always grew up believing diamonds were the standard wedding ring. Then fell in love with pearl rings. Met my boyfriend and 2 years latter he said he liked plain old fashioned bands. I thought, hmm.. I wonder. Starting digging around into the 17-18th century and fell in LOVE! Now I don't want a diamond. I just want it scripted to say something. Mo Anum Cara is pretty. Means 'My Soul Mate'
I ran across a modern day design of it here
http://www.celticring.com/ProductDetails...
I think my boyfriend has the hint now. I left a page open on the computer for months with lists of old phrases on it lol

Kelly - posted on 12/20/2011

We don't keep up with the Jones. We prefer travel to stuff, so while we are pretty well off, we live in a tiny, tiny house and drive our cars at LEAST 10 years. I also wear a .25c diamond--there is a funny story about that. John didn't have a lot of money when we got married, so he got me the tiny ring knowing that he would replace it down the line when we were better off, but I love the ring. A couple of years ago, I was dress shopping with the wives of some of his employees for a charity dinner where we would be networking. I tried on a lovely dress, I forget the designer, but it was perfect on me, and one of the ladies had the nerve to say "You can't wear that ring with that dress. You'll look like a poor chick in a rent-the-runway dress." Please.



We do travel....A LOT, but we do it cheap. I don't care to stay at the Peninsula or fly private.

√v^√v^√♥ - posted on 12/20/2011

When they are young, because this is pretty dorky lol
but who knows.. maybe they'll be dorks forever like my boyfriend and I ;)
My boyfriend named them Odinzilla and KoenigKong after Godzilla and KingKong. I want to make cardboard statues standing like 5 feet tall and give all the kids something, split their friends into two teams and whoever bashes the other 'monster' first.. maybe the goal to rip it's head off... wins the game.

√v^√v^√♥ - posted on 12/20/2011

You should look up wedding ideas, birthday themes and the like. Weddings are better to search though. People spend more money on them so there are soooooooooo many ideas.

By the way, duct tape still ranks pretty high on best inventions. Expecially now that they have deisgner tape with patterns and colors on them LOL

Teresa - posted on 12/20/2011

Niki... all that sounds AWESOME! Cardboard is one of the coolest inventions ever.

Teresa - posted on 12/20/2011

$1500 for a party?! Wow.... My biggest party expense is food and it's what... $100 or less on food stamps. ;)



I did the gifts for two kids birthdays and 3 kids Christmases this year for right about $230 total. ;)



I'm the opposite of the Joneses... I'm the Cheapies. lol

√v^√v^√♥ - posted on 12/20/2011

Oh gosh I could go on for days. My favorite stores are the dollar stores and junk shops. ♥ sales racks, 75% off

Such a feind for the cheap and DIY stuff



I got ALL my maternity pants for 3$ at the JcPenny outlet store. Found all my streatch pants I've been wearing through 2 pregnancies and they are just now dying for 4$ each.



My boyfriend gets jealous because I find shirts for 1$ all the time. Then I remind him how lucky he is to have a girlfriend who doesn't care about materialistic stuff and doesn't need things to be happy ;) haha



He lucked out big time. Lol

√v^√v^√♥ - posted on 12/20/2011

I'm so effing cheap LMAO

√v^√v^√♥ - posted on 12/20/2011

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_nqVdAi6xuHk/TUGW0O...

See! You could have them joust with cardboard 'swords' or foam ones

√v^√v^√♥ - posted on 12/20/2011

I've also seen where they make castles out of cardboard boxes and one lady even did a system of mazes then hid stuff in them and had a cave exploration in the boxes where the kids had to dig around and find stuff. Sounds so cute!

√v^√v^√♥ - posted on 12/20/2011

For their 5th and 6th birthdays I want to go to a big park, get stakes to put in the ground and construction/caution tape. Tape off the 'track' and give them cardboard boxes that THEY get there and paint. Whether with their names or numbers of cars. Then race them around the track. I expect chaos and lots of smashing into eachother so I was thinking of having lots of boxes hahaha
Everything else will be car themed too. Maybe checked flags and table cloths. Simple simple bbq food.

√v^√v^√♥ - posted on 12/20/2011

LMAO Sista I'd say spending 1500 on 2 parties is up with the Joneses. But then again, your kids are older and toys alone can be really expensive. Expecially when we're talking about todays technology with Xboxes and Laptops.
Gosh, I can't even imagine spending that much. I'm planning all their birthdays for DIY home and park parties. With stuff like relay races and cardboard box car races for when they are 5 and 6 :)

√v^√v^√♥ - posted on 12/20/2011

No. The older I get, the more I'd rather do stuff totally weird too. Like live in a tree house, build my own house out of all recycled materials or a whole bunch of houses in the trees with bridges going to each 'room'. I'd make for one great hammock ;)

Shannintipton - posted on 12/20/2011

We are at the bottom of the totem poll. We live in a nice neighbor hood and all but we are just getting by. While everyone else is spending freely. We are lucky to be where we are and if the neighbors only knew. ha ha ha Marks mom. Whole other story. But again she is in a really really nice neighborhood but she is even at the bottom of the totem poll. Yes everyone got cars for their 16th birthdays but marks neighbor kids got bmw's and shit like that. They were alway so jealous. It was hard on them. LMFAO