Since when did taking care of yoir home become passe

I see women in my neighborhood driving the latest cars, owning an Alexa , latest phones, taking vacations, putting time and effort into social media where they post about those vacations, spending $400 on smoothing treatments for their hair and their homes have not had any work done to it in 20yrs? Why bother? Anyone else experience this? I get frowned upon for taking care of my home and hear comments, oh your home dong work?

Message edited 5/29/2018 1:28:28 PM.

Since when did taking care of yoir home become passe

I see it too, but on the outside of houses they seem nice. Many people just love to spend and want the latest thing and don’t care if it needs to be on credit. Also, many people no longer host things at their homes and go out. We try and do 1-2 projects to update a year, but we don’t have a ton of extra money, especially with the twins. We just try and keep our house neat and I clean like crazy, but I have a 30 year old rug in my den that is gross and I can’t wait for it to go!

Message edited 5/29/2018 9:20:30 PM.

Since when did taking care of yoir home become passe

The outside of their homes? I can see wanting surrounding homes to be well cared for, but I don’t see how the inside of anyone’s home would matter to anyone else.

Re: Since when did taking care of yoir home become passe

I have a small, old kitchen.
It's functional, the cabinets are solid oak from the 80's with recessed doors. I wash and oil them every year to keep them looking good.
The appliances are all 20 years old, from when I bought my apartment.

Do I want something more modern, yes.
Do I want to shell out a small fortune, no. I'd rather go on vacation.
I don't care if my fridge is stainless steel or not, I only care that it does what it is supposed to.
The only update I did to my kitchen was to install porcelain tile on the floor and quartz counter tops.

It's not a focal point of my apartment and some pretty darn good cooking and baking comes out of that kitchen.

Who really cares what people do to the inside of their homes ?

Re: Since when did taking care of yoir home become passe

I just don't give a shit about the inside of my home.
I mean I just upgraded my bathroom and it's stunning but my kitchen could use a refresh, my rugs are gross (but i have to wait for my last cat to die because she will just destroy anything new I get).
My house is cluttered and I have given up.
I just give up.
I don't have a shit ton of money to spend on it, and we are comfortable there so who cares?
I don't entertain except in my yard and that is pretty awesome looking.
Life is short. I'd rather enjoy it on vacations and doing things than on a kitchen that will be out dated in a few years anyway.
Everyone has different priorities.

From the outside our house is neat and pretty.
Well groomed well maintained.
Nobody needs to come inside if they don't like it.

Re: Since when did taking care of yoir home become passe

Since when did taking care of yoir home become passe

Our yard is a work in progress but our house is about 90% done. We need some finishing touches and new window treatments. It’s not a priority bc I would rather spend the day at the park with my kids then dragging them to stores. I also want to save and not spend saves money.

My house is clean, toys everywhere but at the end of the day I love it. My money is spent on my kids and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Since when did taking care of yoir home become passe

I don’t see how you judging them for what they choose to spend their time/money on is any different than them judging you.
Who really cares what anyone else is doing? As long as they’re not asking me for money.

Since when did taking care of yoir home become passe

Everyone's priorities are different.

Since when did taking care of yoir home become passe

I think everyone has different priorities. I have cousins like this (designer bags, $$$ cars, very focused on their personal appearance, kids everything top of the line) but they don't update their home. It's simply not a priority.

For me everything is a balance. I like to take care of my appearance and I love vacations but I'm frugal (shop sales, get deals for vacation) but I also love decorating and take pride in updating my home.

In LI it's hard for many couples to update their homes and spend $$$ on other stuff since everything is so expensive and unless you are making serious bank, you have to pick and choose your priorities.

Re: Since when did taking care of yoir home become passe

Why do you care?

^ that should also be your question to them when they ask you why you like taking care of your house.

Since when did taking care of yoir home become passe

Everyone has different priorities. You do you and don’t worry about other people.

Since when did taking care of yoir home become passe

It's all about keeping up with the Joneses. If that is what is important to you, that is what you do. They figure no one sees the inside of their house, so what difference does it make. Us, we try to work on our home when we can afford it. But we don't have a lot of expensive things. We do make big investments in our home, which often are not very pretty, but needed - new roof, solar panels, new boiler, flooring, lighting. Our landscaping has been a 5 year work in progress. But we are getting there.
We don't go on trips or drive nice cars. We stay home and enjoy what we have. So having a nice home is important to us. But we also have a lot of things around the house for our son that many don't have.

Re: Since when did taking care of yoir home become passe

Some people do/have all those luxuries and rent their whole lives. Maybe they dont want to own anything or maybe they suck at saving and have terrible credit scores.

Don’t let social media fool you.

Since when did taking care of yoir home become passe

I think people are choosing to spend their money on their own appearences than their homes because there is a need to impress people they don't even know. You won't invite a stranger into your house but they can get an impression of you from the car you drive or how you dress.

I have no money for either, lol! But even if I did, I'd invest more in my home.

To each his own, right?

Since when did taking care of yoir home become passe

What diff does it make what people spend their money on? Why is having an nice home more important than a nice car or expensive hand bags and clothes. It's all material stuff.

Re: Since when did taking care of yoir home become passe

Since when did taking care of yoir home become passe

Personally, I just have NO sense of design and it's not that important to me. As long as my home is clean, functional, has a good layout and is filled with love, I don't really care if my bathrooms are from the 1990's and my kitchen is brushed oak. I'd rather spend the money making memories. Just different priorities and passions. And also, with small kids I don't have desire to do any major renovations. Maybe if and when they are older.

Re: Since when did taking care of yoir home become passe

Since when did taking care of yoir home become passe

I do not know if this is something that has changed honestly -- but maybe im wrong. Werent there alway people who did and did not take care of their homes? I have to tell you when i was out house hunting i couldnt believe the way some people lived. On the outside everything is perfect and inside its the exact opposite. I agree that people have different priorities and im all for that -- to each their own. For me, I need to keep things at least clean and organized.

Since when did taking care of yoir home become passe

People have different priorities in life! I know I would rather go on vacation all the time than have some of the "luxuries" that other people might put as their priority. Live and let live

Re: Since when did taking care of yoir home become passe

My parents waited until their dog passed to redo the floors. I think that is common for people with pets.

Additionally, a lot of people buy the largest home they can afford which does not leave a lot of money to redo their home. People redo bathrooms once, maybe twice, and kitchens once also. I think people would rather go on vacation than redo everything. I mean if you have tons of money you could do both, but most people I know don't have unlimited funds, even if they make good salaries.

Re: Since when did taking care of yoir home become passe

We maintain our home, keep it clean and neat. But major work? No. My bathrooms and kitchen work just fine, so I'm not dropping tens of thousands just to make them a little newer. That's not going to improve the quality of our lives. I'd rather spend my money on other things. That's just us. And I don't really care what people think about it, because we're happy.

Message edited 6/1/2018 3:05:09 PM.

Since when did taking care of yoir home become passe

I understand a bit where the OP is coming from. I find that there are definitely some people who keep up with the Joneses or whatever and have to get some of the outwardly showy things. To the extreme, the guy who drives the Escalade, rollin with lots of labels, and lives in a crappy studio apartment in the hood...livin the instagram gangsta life.

I find there are definitely people who look down on others physically doing their own work on their house. "ohh I have people for that" I've talked to middle class people who almost seem proud they don't know how to use a screwdriver.

I certainly am someone who falls more on the side of making my house nice, keeping it nice etc.

There is something to be said for a few little luxuries that can make you feel good. The nice Coach leather work bag that I got for my birthday that was like $180, has a nice payoff for me, it feels high quality, stylish and I enjoy it. Its comparatively expensive to the free bag I got from work, but a lot cheaper than doing a bathroom.

Since when did taking care of yoir home become passe

I couldn't care less about keeping up with the Jones's. On my street, we have the smallest, oldest house. The houses across the street are probably worth double what ours is, and they are all constantly upgrading things. At this point in our lives we simply can't afford that. We made the very personal choice for me to be a sahm while our kids are young bc for us, quality time raising our little ones is our priority over material things. We upgrade and fix what we must. Our house and yard is kept neat. We do our own yardwork religiously. There should be nothing for our neighbors to complain about. But if they don't like that we don't have the latest trend in siding or a nice brick driveway, then that's their problem. And I don't care at al that I don't have granite countertops, fancy furniture, etc. I know in the future there will be time for that when my kids are older and I can go back to work. But honestly, when I do, I will probably still keep the old countertops and furniture and siding and choose to spend my money on trips and quality experiences with my family.

Message edited 6/2/2018 11:29:29 AM.