Just because their average isn’t the same as your average doesn’t mean it’s not average.

I understand that housing in NYC/Manhattan is expensive, but they’re making the decision to live there because it’s not the average city. They shouldn’t be choosing to live an above-average life, then say they feel average because they’re spending the average amount for that above-average life experience. It just…

Then you’re probably living in a pretty nice area, and the standard of living/experience of living there is much nicer than average. A case of paying for an experience, not an asset, but the end result is still a better-than-average life.

If they manage to pay off that BMW and it’s a reliable car

If you’re living somewhere where “$1.5mill is a crack house in a sketchy neighborhood,” then you’re likely living in a very popular city and your life definitely isn’t “average,” as this couple seems to feel theirs is.

Sure, a $1.5m home might not be anything special in NYC, but on the other hand, they’re living in NYC, which is a luxury unto itself. That alone should make them feel not-average.

Keep in mind that these people could be “keeping” money that they spend, if they’ve spending it on assets that appreciate or won’t depreciate too much. Spending money on property, for example, that likely won’t depreciate. It’s really the spending on consumables that they need to rein in.

stop describing niceties as necessities

I think the main issue this $500,00-per-year couple had was the hedonic treadmill. They’ve grown to expect that their truly-luxurious life is average, that they need spend money on these things, and they’re average because they don’t have anything left over.

I like this approach.

AND the “GTI” badge give it “perhaps a little bit of status.” Perfect.

I need it big enough so that could fit two adults and two kids.

You’re missing some of the best ones. The magnifying glass over the eggplant? The polaroid of an eggplant?

Booty call? I think? I’m a young gay man and even I’m confused by these.

Plywood? What are they, Fancypants McMoneybags? Cardboard all the way!

All of you at lifehacker are on a roll today. It’s like you know exactly what my last week has been.

I wrote about how millennials view VW as a brand, I didn’t say anything about the brand itself. So congrats on being a “these damn millennials” old man shacking his cane and yelling at kids to get off his lawn. So fun to talk down to younger people isn’t it?

A liberal city in the midwest. We’ve got lots of hipsters, but they’re confined to Subarus and Prius...es.

As a millennial, a lot of the people I talk to around my age think of VW as a nice-but-attainable brand. Nothing super fancy, but definitely something on the higher end of affordable. Outside of Dieselgate, it’s got a good reputation among younger people.

Mercedes, Audi and BMW all have stereotypes associated with their owners, while there isn’t really one for VW. As someone who prefers to buy nicer things but keep the outward show of that minimal, an A7 “rip off” with a VW badge on it can be seen as a positive.