s/o from post below on surviving the winter. DH and I make an income that would be amazing anywhere else in the country, but just edges us into UMC in NYC. I don't normally want for more. We have a small but decent apartment, our kids attend good public schools, we eat out once a week (you know, back when you could eat out), owning a car isn't in our budget but we can rent as necessary. For whatever reason, all my close friends are in the upper-UMC to UC range. They take amazing vacations and they all have cars and country homes and most of their kids are in private school. Again, it normally doesn't bother me. I can listen to them talk about their awesome vacation to Italy and hey, that's great, glad you enjoyed it. But since Covid...the differences between their lives and mine right now are so stark. They talk about their country homes and private schools while I grit my teeth. They're renting ski-in-ski-out houses for the winter while we are looking at months of being cooped up in our tiny space. And all their finance jobs seem completely secure (bonuses will be higher this year, yay!) while DH and I are frantically worried about upcoming layoffs. I'm trying not to be a jealous, but it's really hard. Thoughts? Wisdom?
