to think living in an affluent area can be very depressing

[whiteandyelloworchid]

everyone i'm surrounded by on a day to day basis, are wealthy, everyone is on about where they are going for half term, all of them are going abroad or somewhere lovely, and they have all been on several holidays throughout the year etc

they all have larges houses and plenty of spending money etc

i don't know i just find it depressing sometimes.

someone kick me up the arse

don't worry chicaguapa, my daughter has severe learning difficulties and sticks her fingers up at people in waitrose if they stare at her, I like to think we serve a purpose to lower the tone

"I live in an affluent area and it depresses me how... the schools rely on the parents to bring their children on."

This is one of the weirder conclusions I am drawing too, about living in a very affluent area. But why?!

I live in an affluent area and I do get depressed by it. All the other kids in my childrens school live in million pound houses and we are renting a tiny flat. But tbh at the end of the day that doesn't bring happiness and I know some of them have huge mortgages or came into money without working (from rich families). I also know that some of them are extremely unhappy in their lives and money can't always guarantee happiness. When I'm feeling down I just always think of all the people so much worse off than me and my family and the poor kids in places like India and Africa that don't even have a proper home. Puts things into perspective!

Uhmmm..if its depressing for you, why dont you move?

bonsoir is it because the parents are busy working so they can be affluent? and when they are not working they are skiing or somesuch, do you think??

OwlLady - I hope you reprimand buy a specially gooey bun for your daughter when she does that! Would love to see their faces when she gives it to them with both barrels. That's made my day!

owl

Ohhmydaze - I have my elderly mum in the area and she needs our help. DS is settled in his school and has lots of friends, so we are going to stay...for now. Might move in a few years time.

op,would you consider moving to a bit less affluent area?
It always surprises me on MN that people either talk about rich areas or poor areas,when there is a absolutely huge range of wages,areas etc ,in between.

Also, apart from their possible bragging about their holidays,which may not be bragging,just chatting,what are they like as people the rest of the time?
Would they for example,look after your child willingly,in the case of an emergency?

amillionyears that's a good point. I must have lived mostly in 'in-between' areas because there's always been a mixture of 'types' of people and housing, from huge detatched houses to tiny flats, where I've lived. I've never lived anywhere where the affluence is uniform (I've never lived in suburbs though so maybe it's different and very dull there.)

I always think it genuinely helps to think about the positives about what you've done or have (obviously, this only applies if there are positives). But if you didn't go on holiday, you can talk about what you did do - had a lovely relaxing family time together, went for a country walk, did some baking, watched a film as a family, competed on the Wii together, etc.

I tell you something though, as a working class person you can get genuinely over excited if you win the raffle in one of these affluent areas :o I remember my youngest getting wet at nursery and he came home in their spares and it was all boden

I grew up in a very affluent area in Germany and although I had everything that can be bought with money my childhood wasn't great'. My parents were working all the time, my sister and I had a full time nanny. We went on nice holidays, I had my own horses and went to boarding school etc. My parents talked about divorce all the time and nobody knew what was going on in our house behind closed doors. So even though everything looked great on the outside it wasn't great. I moved out when I was 16 and since then I work as a nanny while I completed my A Levels and now I am finally starting my degree. I earn well as a nanny, I don't have bills to pay and I am happier than know than I ever was.

Money is not everything. I learned that in my childhood. Enjoy the little things in life and stop comparing yourself to others. They will be always richer people with a bigger house and a better car.

nope not depressed living in affluent area
contrary to mn cliche it's not soulless, not spam valley,nor are we unhappy
I like where I live,if op depressed where she lives she can move.release equity sell up

what's a spam valley scottishmummy?

spam valley=no money live on cheap grub(spam) as spent all on mortgage

spam valley=no money live on cheap grub(spam) as spent all on mortgage

every area of scotland has it's own spam valley

well as a scheme wean I aspired to spam valley
a bot hoose
and spam for tea

I live in a wealthy area. I love it, tbh. Loads of lovely shops and cafes, well kept parks for the kids etc. Also, it feels comparatively safe.

Schools great, loads of culture on our doorstep, fresh food available in abundance. We'll never leave this area.

We are relatively 'poor' in an affluent area - and I bloody love it, having moved from a poor area last year.

Nice parks, more parks, fewer fights in the street, less dog shit, less rubbish, fewer kids off school during the day being antisocial, a few nice caffs, a fair bit of culture (free gallery etc) - life is a lot easier day to day.

I had some good friends and neighbours in the old area, and it wasn't all grim - but life is a LOT easier here, and I don't have to spend money to enjoy it, it's just a nice environment. Of course most people here have more affluent lifestyles than me, but it's already such a step up for me, I couldn't care less! and most other mums seems happy enough to chat, and there's always something in common to talk about.

I'm glad i don't know any rich people.

The more you have, the more you want.

Research has shown that very wealthy people are less generous and lack empathy - a lot of money does not have a good effect on people's souls or their happiness.

Some people love to show off and establish a pecking order, even though it can be very obvious they are much better off - so why go to the trouble!
Personally I think it is very shallow, sad and unnecessary.

this is mn inverted snobbery typified by clichétastic rot
all prosperous folk are bad un.poor folk salt of erf.poor but happy
and chuck a few generalisations in the mix for good measure,to prove point like

The fact that some people like to show off or establish a pecking order hasn't anything to do with whether they are wealthy or not.

Also, the more you have the more you want is nonsense. It might apply to SOME but for others the more you have the more you have to offer back.