Mrs. Jones and Me

I have a pretty nice house, but I think I’m house poor. Actually I’m poor poor since neither my husband nor I pull a paycheck, but owning a nice house costs a pretty penny. When I bought the house I was moving from a 600 sq ft co-op that I sold for twice what I paid for it in NYC so one would think that I would make smart decisions with that money. Well I thought I was by just putting it into another house and not spending it…and I sort of did that but a co-op in NYC doesn't have the expenses a big house in the country has. Also, I think it’s given us this feeling that our lifestyle should match the neighborhood. Honestly the amount it costs to heat/cool the house alone is as much as an apartment rental. Then we have the septic that went out a week ago... another $800... As if that weren’t enough now we think we must have grass. We are about to get $5K worth of nice grass and sprinklers put around our pool (another expensive item I had to have when we bought the house). The reason I want this grass is, well, because the neighbor just had her yard done and it looks so nice…and what will she think if she comes over!? The truth is, I’ve done well here not knowing the neighbors for the past two plus years but about four months ago I met a new young mom down the street and she has me going to social functions and book clubs and...buying grass. I know my issues lie far deeper than grass and I’ll get into those later but this whole “keeping up with the Joneses” thing is a true epidemic and I need to resist.