Hellobee Boards

@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: lol! Well said Kanye, well said.

This is such a tricky thing especially because babyhood can be so consumer focused. We have a Britax travel system... does that make me 'rich'? We keep our clothes in 50+ year old hand me down dresser (and not in the awesome antique kind of way :T) that have peeling finish and don't look nice at all... does that make me 'poor'? I know that DH and I make pretty good money for our age bracket and area but not 4 years ago we were robbing Peter to pay Paul and I was having a meltdown at being able to afford more than ramen and hotdogs for weeks on end. I guess what I'm saying is that I don't feel ashamed that I carry a Kate Spade purse, but I'm also not ashamed that the jeans I'm wearing right now were bought at a Value Village for $7 used. I enjoy reading reviews of products regardless of the price. It's not a contest in my mind, and I feel like the more information I have the better, regardless of the type of info.

@Mrs. Jacks: Lol! Add me to the cheap m-fer list! Can we get t-shirts made up?

@Amelieisme: @PrincessBaby: yes! The age thing matters. I forgot about that.

I'm 32 and Dh is 33...we'll both be 33 when our first LO arrives, and that means we've had 10 years to financially prepare for our first kid.

I mean...when I was working my way through college, I had to pay everything myself (rent, gas, food, bills) and was living on $800 dollars a month, after working part time and going to school full time. There was more than 1 week that I survived on ramen noodles, white bread, and a big block of processed "cheese food". I had every crap job in the world and things didn't get financially better until my second year of teaching at 24.

My sweet DH's parents were literally refugees from a 3rd world country that had to leave everything they owned and start over twice! And DH worked at Mcdonald's, 7-11, telemarketing, and on a nighttime cleaning crew when he was working his way through college (and even after he had his degree while job hunting).

Heck, my family was on food stamps when I was born because my dad had been unemployed for 2 years at that point. So we both know poor.

But waiting until we're older has helped us in the financial department. Lord, if we'd married and had kids when we were 21, I'd be a waitress at Olive Garden, and DH would be working the night shift at 7-11. That's big money right there!

@MrsTiz: I think her point is, what does it matter if we're well off or not? It doesn't make being up at 3am with a teething 6 month old any easier if I make more money or don't.

@2PeasinaPod: That is literally the entire point of the thread. If it is something people want kept private, it is so very easy to just not comment in the thread about HB's financial status.

ITA with all who have noted that whether you're well-off or not totally depends on where you live. I feel like there's this perception that people who live in NYC, for example, are often wealthier than others (at least I get the sense that my friends think that) but while people here get paid more, it's also ABSURDLY expensive to live here. This article in the NY Times recently is a really interesting read. The average apartment in Manhattan costs nearly $4,000 a month. (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/20/realestate/what-is-middle-class-in-manhattan.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0)

DH and I live in a small one-bedroom apartment that costs about half of that. My cousin, on the other hand, lives in a very spacious three-level townhouse that rents for about $800 per month in Western Mass. So while the money DH and I earn may make us seem like we're well off in absolute terms, in relative terms I feel like we're in the middle.

@MrsSCB: great article! Finally, I have a number! To be upper class in NYC, you have to make $790,000 a year!

That makes Dh and me relatively poor in comparison. Nah...not poor, just the middle of middle class here.

@Anagram: You're welcome! And yes, my DH and I are nowhere NEAR that level! It's just crazy!

@mewtill: Thank you for sharing that video! I think inequality of wealth is a serious issue in the US and the video illustrates it really well.

@Beebug: Awe thanks!! FTR, the jeans I bought at Value Village for $7 were supposed to be for a halloween costume, but they were in BETTER SHAPE than the jeans I had at home so I cut up my home jeans and replaced them with the $7 pair! lol!

I think hellobee is mostly upper-middle class. As for me, I have champagne taste on a beer budget so although I like nice things, it takes a long time to save for them (like our $500 stroller). We don't put anything on credit anymore.

Just to add to the chorus of people who don't think HB is rich. I think theer is a pretty good range here. I also think that everyone has different priorities and needs so it is important to bear that in mind. I have an UppaBaby Vista stroller and was more than happy to spend teh money on it. It is vital here in New York because we don't drive. It isn't exactly fun slogging through the snow and sleet on the subway either, a car would certainly be more comfy but who can afford that in addition to mortgage/rent plus cost of parking in New York? It takes an insane amount of money to be rich here.

I think assuming that people cannot afford their lifestyle is a bit of a reach, there are just way too many factors involved. By the same token, I could look at anyone who has more than 2 kids and classify them as rich because I have no idea how anyone affords that in this day and age.

@HLK208: this this thisssssss!!! I love you haha. I am the exact same, champagne taste on a trader joes $1 beer budget bahaha. Thethings I really want, I really have to save!! It may seem like big expenditures to outsiders but I work for high quality items and remain quite frugal. The key is knowing the difference between what should be quality or not. Ie, do I think a $1,000 crib is a safer option for my child? No! They're all held to the same safety standards. My $187 crib is perfect for us! But ask me if I feel a $50 carseat is up to par with the $200 one we registered for? Yes, actually I do feel there is a difference. I loved the new "air technology" and other safety and aesthetic features on our carseat. It felt safer because the frame is so much sturdier in comparison with a cheaper seat.

That was long winded haha sorry

@Goldilocks1107: hmm. We have very different experiences on HB. Granted, I've only been here a few months, but I've never seen a post like that. Maybe I only click on all the posts about which items can be bought used, or which coupons are good on baby items now, or which sites have sales right now?

I just checked out the gear posts and scrolled back three pages and didn't see any posts like that. Somehow I'm missing those posts! =)

I see a ton of posts about how to save money!
for example: using cheap pregnancy tests first and only using the more expensive tests once you think you have a positive on the first one
There is a running monthly deal thread
Posts about using cloth diapering to save money
DIY projects, etc etc

I think if you're looking for the posts about expensive things you're going to find them here and there, but you're ALSO going to find a lot of posts about being frugal and ways to save. Everyone has their own circumstances and the beauty of a community like this is it's a group of people from all sorts of walks of life and you should be able to find some in similar situations as you and some that aren't (not just money wise, but also TTC status, # of kids, age of kids, etc).

It would be a shame if we were ALL "wealthy" or ALL "living paycheck to paycheck" Luckily we have the ability to ignore advice that doesn't work for us and search among all the voices for stuff that does.

Everyone prioritizes differently. As PPs have mentioned, just by virtue of having a specific stroller doesn't make you rich or poor.

Given the number of members with professional degrees, I'm not surprised that incomes skew higher than the American average.

I think in general it's difficult to draw a line and say people making over $x are rich. You never know their circumstances. Doctors making 6 figures are probably also paying 6 figure student loan debt. They are probably doing better than the average American, but I bet they don't all feel rich.

@bluestriped bee: I personally don't think I can call people rich without seeing their bank accounts.

Agree. Anyone can live off a credit card buying high priced stuff they can't afford. I can't really answer this to tell you the truth. I'd just say middle.

@HLK208: "I have champagne taste on a beer budget"

Tell me about it!! I say this to DH all the time, haha.

I think there's a pretty good mix on here. I know that, like other posters have said, income is pretty relative.
That being said, when I post about wanting a $200+ diaper bag, its only a pipe dream. We're on the low end of middle class, but we're doing just fine.
The dynamic certainly hasn't turned me off, though. There's a mix here, just like there is in my own group of friends.

I have to admit, I am probably not active enough on the boards to really say if HB is "rich." But I'd like to say that I hope the blog offers some low-cost solutions, such as the buy/skip articles, BLW and breastfeeding, and home birth stories. I am probably low middle although in my small town we can afford to live more comfortably on less.

@KissMeCait: if you look at our nursery it cost about 1,000 dollars, but that is because our parents bought us a crib and a glider. That was probably 60% of our budget. I would say if we had gotten those items, the whole thing could have been around 600 or 700? But cribs/mattress are already 200-300 bucks even on the low end (I just googled Walmart crib bundles and the Graco Lauren bundle is 175).