Is anyone on here fussed about status in life? Like what Car or House they have etc?

[Benny91]

As I live in South Surrey and all I’m seeing and hearing is people driving brand new cars and also being picky what house to live in. (It’s like they’ve got to show off to fit in with their friends and family!)

As with me I’m not fussy about any status in life and I’m happy with what I’ve got!

This is obviously quite common in Surrey. Does anyone else live there and likes to show off their status?

Items ultimatley are just that. I do live on a lovely road where houses cost more just because they are on this road. I live in quite a deprived area that has a small pocket of houses that are expensive. My house is one of the smallest and no indoor swimming pool like my neighbour.

We have a VW it’s a few years old now but it works fine, I could go out and buy a new car outright a few times over but there is no need. Our previous car was easily the worst on the road, used to amuse DH.

I love having a beautiful house but it’s for my pleasure, not showing off, and it’s not particularly expensive. Don’t care about cars so long as they work.

I like to have nice things, but things to my personal taste not "keeping up with the Jones'". I'm socially awkward and always have been so there's no point trying to follow the herd in my aspirations. I even find fashion baffling, people feeling they have to wear certain styles without thinking about whether they actually like/suit them.

But those folk find me baffling too and fair enough. I live in an old Victorian house (semi) which I love. Mortgage is all paid off though I keep quiet about it unless put in the spot. A couple of people have been aghast at discovering that and their reaction was "so why are you still living here, why didn't you get a big detached house with a big garden?" Erm. Because I love this house and it suits me and I like having no debt.

Likewise I have a small, basic 12 year old car. People probably think I can't afford the finance for a flash car but again this car suits me, I bought it new for cash so it costs barely anything to run and I have near enough zero interest in cars so it would be wasted on me.

I love holidays though and get comments like "another one? You're always on holiday!"

Each to their own. I get that new cars and new builds are really important to some people. Sometimes for the status but a lot of the time I just think people like to have the latest/ best stuff because they enjoy it. It would be boring if we were all the same.

I love the inverse snobbery on this thread! It’s hilarious 🤣

Which house you buy isn't about status (although how much you can afford sort of is). I think for most people it's a combination of what you need, what you like and what you can afford.

Car, personally don't care about status, for me, not too expensive or too expensive to run, reliable, cheap road tax if possible, probably smallish so easier to park. I usually buy newish (after major depreciation) and run for many years.

Car- no shits given at all. I would think an expensive one a waste of money
House- my house is a lot less posh than what I probably could afford but has served us OK. I can see that it would be nice to have a nicer one though
Clothes- my actual clothes are largely pretty cheap and I rarely buy anything but I can see the value in nice quality clothes just it’s not my interest

My weakness is a posh holiday. I loves me a posh hotel with attentive service. That makes me very happy. I have had my fill of Haven holiday parks when the kids were small and now I want to be pampered. I’d spend all my money on that over a better car or house but it would be for my pleasure not for others to see.

Couldn’t give a shiny shit about what car or house I have. It’s a means of travel and a roof over our heads. From what I’ve observed, those who are obsessed with constantly upgrading to new cars and spending a fortune on the appearance of their house, seem to be new money and/or desperate to be seen as wealthy. I suspect it’s driven by insecurity.

I don't care about cars at all and don't have one now, but I did have a very flashy car for a short time in my 20s due to family bereavement and I admit I really enjoyed the surprise people would express that it belonged to me. It wasn't because of the status, it was more enjoyment at defying people's expectations/assumptions.

I do like having a nice house and enjoy people liking it but again I don't think it's about status. A nice, admired house could be small. I don't want people thinking I'm a slob. But the main reason I want a nice house is because I feel horrible and stressed living in clutter and dirt.

I honestly don’t think it’s confined to Surrey, or the Home Counties in general!

I do think quite a few people’s sense of self esteem is bound up with the sort of car they drive (whether actually paid for or not.)
Which IMO sad, especially when taken to extremes. We have a neighbour who judges people’s worth entirely on signs such as the car they drive, and has taught her children to think the same way.

She’s a horrible woman anyway, but to me that’s very sad,

We have a neighbour who judges people’s worth entirely on signs such as the car they drive, and has taught her children to think the same way.

How old is she? Because of finance this is such an old fashioned view. You really can't tell these days with cars.
Houses are more of an indicator but again I know people with 1m houses who could afford more but like their homes.

Nope. Doesn’t interest me in the slightest. Have an old banger car and an old banger house. And a happy family.

Having said if I won 10m plus I would get myself a vintage Aston Martin!

This is me, apart from the Skoda - that’s aspirational for me 😂

Nope. I couldn't care less.

Status is all very well. What matters more is if it's paid for and owned outright or all on credit....

Does it? Surely the only people that matters too is the people who actually own it. We own our brand-new car outright we don’t own our house outright (yet) it makes no difference to anyone else only us though…

Buying a very expensive car outright really isn't the best use of your money. If you have the ££££ saved up you're much better investing it elsewhere for a better return.

We have always had (rented) houses in very nice areas, but have had a change of circumstances and now live in a very deprived postcode which is predominantly council housing (I'm privately renting, hopefully for not too long).It's quite incredible how people view you according to where you live - I can see other mums looking a mixture of pity and horror and when my dentist saw a change of address she said "are you really living there?!". The funny thing is that the neighbours view me as poor as my car is 17 years old, they are all driving new looking jeep style vehicles, which I can only assume is bought on credit or motability.

Our new car really wasn’t that expensive. We traded in our four year-old car for nearly 20 K and put 20 K towards it. We have multiple savings and investments so it made sense for us.

So overall it's £40k? That's very expensive in my book for a car, which loses money day by day.

Same. No car. No house.

I think social media has a lot to answer for on this front. I don’t care but everyone else seems to. We’ve lost our way.

What would you class as expensive

most cars lose money day by day, we wanted something reliable, economical and safe. So that’s what we got. We didn’t get it for any status reasons we got it for the reasons above and that’s it. It made sense to us.

What would I class as an expensive car? 60 K plus?