i sold my 188k car and bought one with 116k (those 'k’s are miles)
Classic thread, reborn.
QuantJock_MBA Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Bump > > I ask for a water cup and get pop anyway. it’s definitely called ‘soda’ or ‘coke’
…lol this thread is near an dear to me… the water - soda switcharoo- did it in my teens, now my sneakiness it limited to sharing one cup between my hudband and I. Few more: buy the discount movie tickets from my building concierge @ 6 bux a ticket. Theoretically you cannot use them on new releases, but if I want to I just buy for X and got to see Y- they never check. Saves me 50% When I was a teen I just sneaked in of course 
Get parking day pass validation from my gym even when I don’t drive- saves me 10 dollars when I need to park on the weekend or a day I don’t work out.
Money habits that betray financial job: 1) I live way beneath what I could afford because I want to save and buy a place. Roommate in a less-desirable neighborhood in NYC, we also negotiated our rent down in '09. 2) Like many others in this thread, do my own laundry/cleaning apt/cleaning dishes. 3) Take public transport virtually everywhere. 4) Try to buy everything other than groceries on sale in one way or another. Personal habits that betray financial job: 1) I can’t stand dressing nicely unless I’m going to work. At work, I’ll do nice shoes, suit, tie, shirt, but once I get out it’s jeans and t-shirt almost all the time. I think I own maybe one polo? 2) I love skateboarding (though haven’t done nearly as much since I started the charter). I think this has to be the least interview-appropriate sport to mention to prospective employers, so I never mention it. In interviews, I mention running or racquetball (both true, and no chance of negative perception).
For the most part I live cheaply similar to others on the board. Although when it comes to my health I will spend more to get the right stuff. However, after passing L2 and getting my new job I’ve been on somewhat of a spending spree in celebration of my achievements.
Robb Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I drink long-necks from brown paper bags on the > way home from work in my suit. Pure Class. sweet. have you ever had a bud clamato? WT at its finest
if people commenting here earn more than 200,000 a year (US$ in NY or PPP equivalent) then their ranting here makes sense. else YOU R MIDDLE CLASS AND ACTING LIKE IT, SO WHATS THE BIG DEAL?
chirag_shah Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > if people commenting here earn more than 200,000 a > year (US$ in NY or PPP equivalent) then their > ranting here makes sense. else YOU R MIDDLE CLASS > AND ACTING LIKE IT, SO WHATS THE BIG DEAL? Chirag, there are undoubtedly some people on this board making well north of 200K. There are also people on the board who certainly make less than that. But in 2009/10, the median household income for a U.S. family was somewhere around $52K. I’d be really surprised if the vast majority of the board wasn’t making well in excess of that - individually, not as “household income”. Finance pay is ludicrous. Within my first year out of college working for a big financial firm, I think I surpassed the median HHI. Did I deserve it? Undoubtedly not. I simply chose a field that was (and continues to be) really profitable. I don’t feel guilty about it, but I do try to keep A SENSE OF PERSPECTIVE. A sense of perspective would be me thinking things like, “Gosh, I am damned fortunate to be able to go to college and get a job like this, while some poor b*stard is out fighting fires and his wife and kids qualify for food stamps.” The vast majority of financiers - even back office monkeys and IT drones and first year powerpoint jockeys out of sub-par schools - make more than the average household income. If you want to pretend that anyone not making $200K plus is ‘middle class’, then by all means, that’s your prerogative. But I think that it’s a bit of an understatement. By finance standards, $55K is a pretty crappy year. But remember that there are many other fields out there where $55K is what you earn at the high end of the salary ranges.
What SSF said x 100. We’re all above the mean if we have a job in finance. This paragraph resonates particularly well: ‘Finance pay is ludicrous. Within my first year out of college working for a big financial firm, I think I surpassed the median HHI. Did I deserve it? Undoubtedly not. I simply chose a field that was (and continues to be) really profitable. I don’t feel guilty about it, but I do try to keep A SENSE OF PERSPECTIVE.’ I chose this field on the basis of above average earnings. Wasn’t for love of finance. Some of us earn more than our parents combined. Most earn more than people who do real jobs that actually matter. Nurses, firemen and so on. All for a %. Shameful really. All those wasted science grads who could have been developing something purposeful rather than creating a structured product for a fee. I would probably be a writer of comedy if I wasn’t in finance. Oh well, just have to live with the knowledge that I sold my soul…
Well, I am definitely middle class, even if I am over 90 percentile according to Spanish stats. I wouldn’t even call myself upper middle class
supersadface Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > chirag_shah Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > if people commenting here earn more than 200,000 > a > > year (US$ in NY or PPP equivalent) then their > > ranting here makes sense. else YOU R MIDDLE > CLASS > > AND ACTING LIKE IT, SO WHATS THE BIG DEAL? > > > Chirag, there are undoubtedly some people on this > board making well north of 200K. There are also > people on the board who certainly make less than > that. But in 2009/10, the median household income > for a U.S. family was somewhere around $52K. I’d > be really surprised if the vast majority of the > board wasn’t making well in excess of that - > individually, not as “household income”. > > Finance pay is ludicrous. Within my first year > out of college working for a big financial firm, I > think I surpassed the median HHI. Did I deserve > it? Undoubtedly not. I simply chose a field that > was (and continues to be) really profitable. I > don’t feel guilty about it, but I do try to keep A > SENSE OF PERSPECTIVE. > > A sense of perspective would be me thinking things > like, “Gosh, I am damned fortunate to be able to > go to college and get a job like this, while some > poor b*stard is out fighting fires and his wife > and kids qualify for food stamps.” > > The vast majority of financiers - even back office > monkeys and IT drones and first year powerpoint > jockeys out of sub-par schools - make more than > the average household income. If you want to > pretend that anyone not making $200K plus is > ‘middle class’, then by all means, that’s your > prerogative. But I think that it’s a bit of an > understatement. By finance standards, $55K is a > pretty crappy year. But remember that there are > many other fields out there where $55K is what you > earn at the high end of the salary ranges. > > Absolutely no doubt wrt what you are saying about the difference in pay v/s value generated, but I too felt finance pay is very good for a few initial years out of college. But then I started to look at people around me and realized that middle class in most ‘financial centers’ of the world is defined by the average pay in finance. I know of people with equivalent qualification and experience in varied industries earning as much or in some cases more than what I earn in finance and I do earn slightly above average. This of-course stands true only for financial centers, I know of friends in other cities living like a king on the same salary but I am at best upper middle class here.
What ever happened to farley?
Humming Bee Gees?
Valores Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Well, I am definitely middle class, even if I am > over 90 percentile according to Spanish stats. I > wouldn’t even call myself upper middle class I think you need to look up what middle class means. this makes no sense.
i believe i’m pure class. where are the stats for this?
brain_wash_your_face Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Valores Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > Well, I am definitely middle class, even if I > am > > over 90 percentile according to Spanish stats. > I > > wouldn’t even call myself upper middle class > > I think you need to look up what middle class > means. this makes no sense. I did, long ago. Upper class is more or less 1% of the American society. Upper middle class is around 15%. However in Spain I think upper middle class is less than 10%, which makes me middle class. I live like middle class. I probably could jump to upper middle class, if I couple with a person who earns the same, and divide the expenses. Hopefully in a couple of years I get to upper middle class, if nothing happens to me
akanska Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- buy the discount movie tickets from my building concierge @ 6 bux a ticket. I do this, but I do attend the movie for which I purchased tickets. Most recently Inception and Despicable Me. Additionally, - I still get the free cell phone every 2 years when renewing my contract and don’t have a data plan - I book trips well in advance and will plan dates around all-in travel costs - I park in the ‘Remote’ parking at the airport - I only wear Brooks Brothers dress shirts, but only purchase them at their semi-annual sale or the clearance that follows - My all-in wedding/honeymoon/rings cost was less than most of my friends spent on any one of the three.
Well, there is more income disparity in the US compared to Spain. So, you would need to be in a higher percentile of income in Spain to see a significant difference in your lifestyle. But anyway, I’m sure everyone understands that these classes are somewhat arbitrary to begin with.
Valores Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Well, I am definitely middle class, even if I am > over 90 percentile according to Spanish stats. I > wouldn’t even call myself upper middle class I think you need to look up what middle class means. this makes no sense. There are numerous psychology studies that show the majority of people, no matter there income “feel” middle class. Society has this emphasis on the middle class and everyone wants to belong, yet everyone wants to get above it, a bit of a paradox.