The New York Times had an article this week on how financial CEOs couldn't possibly afford their lifestyles on $500,000 -- the proposed cap on their pay. It's a fun piece ticking off the cost of private schools, nannies, co-op maintenance fees, personal trainers, and gowns for charity gigs. And the article forgot other big ticket items like summer camp and tutoring. It fits in well with all the stories about John Thain's ridiculous office remodeling. It's fun to laugh at those dumb, rich people who are whimpering about poverty.
Of course, it's hard to maintain even a middle life style in Manhattan for under $200,000. To have access to good public schools, you have to have the right zip code. Daycare is triple the cost of suburban daycare. Rent for an apartment with laundry and a washing machine is more than most people's mortgage.
Yes, it's hard to summon up sympathy for the urban, middle class. Just move to the suburbs, people.
But a lot of us are going to have to live on less this year. Without Steve's bonus, we're going to be more frugal this year. It won't be a huge change for us, because we didn't use his bonus money to buy things. Rather, we've been repaying school loans, building up some semblance of a retirement plan, and putting a new roof on the house. The loans are now under control and the roof doesn't leak anymore, so that won't be an issue this year. Still, we're holding back on some purchases that we wouldn't have worried about before. I'm looking for a new armchair on Craig's List rather than Crate and Barrel.
If things get worse though, we will have to cut back on things that would really hurt -- gym membership, Jonah's summer camp, date night dinners. If we lost out on that stuff, we would feel poor. Because poverty isn't a number; it's making sacrifices on things that feel normal.
What would make you feel poor?
(Just to clarify here. Feeling poor is very different from being objectively poor with no running water or food. This is just middle class chatter here. Nobody is looking for sympathy for not being to afford gym membership.)