My daughter was raised in a modest home with a very frugal Mom. All was good until she got her MBA and landed a good job in a large city with high COL. Since then it appears it's all about keeping up with the Jones.
She recently got married and had a very lavish wedding and honeymoon. I gave her what I thought was a generous amount but in no way did it come close to covering the wedding expense and I've no idea where the rest came from.
Now after nearly three months married they're buying a half million dollar house !! They couldn't even come up with 10 per cent down but I guess their salaries and consistent jobs help them qualify. My guess is that they raided their 401K's for the down payment. They'll have homeowners fees, plus she wants a new car, children, fully furnished home, like yesterday. They're moving from a tiny one bedroom, to a 4 bedroom McMansion.
They also want to start a family ASAP and I'm feeling as though all this is going to implode in about three years when they start to feel the effects of their lifestyle and financial choices. In addition, they take many costly vacations every year,eat out frequently, and their idea of tracking expenses is to see how much they have in their account.
The flip side of this is that up until now, they have no debt, so that's in their favor. Being modest and frugal, I see hard times ahead for them and I know I'll just have to grab a seat and watch this all unfold.
Thank you for letting me vent.