It Finally Dawned On Me.... - GreenHybrid

Delta Flyer · #1 (**permalink**) 09-12-2005, 07:17 AM

This weekend I was putting old newspapers in the recycle bin and caught an article. It was about the pressure in the Dallas suburb of Plano to live like the top 1% of the population. Much of that population is heavily in debt and risk losing it all in the event of a layoff or disability. The pressure is on to own a sub-20mpg vehicle (a Suburban, a Cadilliac Escalade...) "to belong".

I knew ego had a lot to do with driving such vehicles, but like an iceberg, never realized the depth of it. Essentially a lot of the American population feels driving in a practicle car like a Honda Accord is like going out in public wearing only a barrel - dirt poor.

Apparently for some, "Keeping Up With The Jones" is as strong an addiction as crack. A lot of people will hang on to their gas-guzzlers for dear life until they are bankrupt. Unless they lose it all, they may not realize that few were impressed by their toys because others were too buys getting their own toys....

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dallas Morning News

Stacy Lynch says the pressure is subtle, yet powerful. Soon after moving from Sacramento, Calif., to Collin County, she first noticed it: As the proud owner of a 1996 Honda Civic, she said, she often heard remarks from the men she dated about her car's "humble" nature. "I felt kind of poor when I moved out here, and I wasn't," she said.

Her list of must-have items grew. "I'd go to work, and somebody would come in and talk about a new purse. I thought, 'I deserve a new purse,' and I'd go buy one," she said. Her credit card debt shot to $12,000.

Ms. Lynch's move to Plano put her in the richest county in Texas and among the wealthiest 1 percent nationwide. The county's high median household income – about $71,500 annually – has provided entrée into the country club status long enjoyed by the moneyed suburbs of Chicago, Northern California, New York and Washington, D.C. But Collin County's dollar signs can be deceptive....

xcel · #2 (**permalink**) 09-12-2005, 08:59 AM

Hi Delta_Flyer:

___I just read that article linked from here somewhere the other day and it certainly was a good one. I wouldn’t hope a lost job or wages upon anyone but taking it to the edge does have risk … With gas still in the $2.75 - $3.00 range nationwide, I bet we will see more and more of those SUV’s hitting the used car lots and Accord/Camry’s or hybrids begin to take their place in the drives of some of your neighbors. That is if future gas prices sink in to those sitting on that financial ragged edge.

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net

AshenGrey · #3 (**permalink**) 09-12-2005, 09:38 AM

Columbia, Maryland is like that too. Everyone there is "rich", but also heavily in debt. You see a lot of hulking, $50k SUVs lurching about. But I used to run a cell phone store in Columbia, and quite a few people got turned down for credit because they were so over-extended on high-interest credit cards that the credit agency would demand a high security deposit.

I would then get treated to the whining of soccer moms crying, "But I have 19 credit cards and I drive a sixty-thousand dollar car and live in a $250,000 house. How can I get turned down?!"

Well, if you make $95,000 and owe $120,000 in credit card debt, that it NOT the picture of financial health. But that didn't stop them from buying the "keeping up with the jonses" land yachts. A whole lot of Columbia yuppis paid big bucks for the Maxda Miata when it was on fad also.

AZCivic · #4 (**permalink**) 09-12-2005, 02:28 PM

I want a WMV/MPG version of that Ditech.com commercial where there's a guy giving the camera a tour of his life.. it's something along the lines of:

"I just purchased this great new vehicle for my family. My home has 5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, and a huge lawn! Our swimming pool is the greatest. I love my weekends at the country club playing golf. How do I do it? I'm in debt up to my eyeballs! I don't even know where I'll get the money to make my minimum payments next month."

Of course, the whole point of the ad isn't to get you out of debt really, they just want you to consolidate all your debt into a home equity loan. Still, to me, that commercial is the epitome of the American high-life.