I'd suggest trying any of the wealth calculator apps, and figuring out which percentile you're in. And please post here once you've done that. Or, go here:
Median household income in the US is $51,000. That's household income, not individual income. That's what a family of four gets. Take away taxes, and you're at 37k. Assume $1000 mortgage, and you're at $25k. Car insurance, gas, etc. brings you down to perhaps $20k. Four cell phones? $19k. Internet, property tax, utilities, etc? $17k. Food? $14k. Health care? Putting kids through school? Retirement savings? Once you add in all the bare necessities, you won't find many people spending $70 on shirts, let alone $150-$200.
To run with your numbers. A $200 basic blouse, times 40 items of clothing purchased per year by your ex, is $8000. Family of 4 brings that up to $32000. Perhaps $24000, if you consider kids clothing costs less, or perhaps more, if you consider it wears out quickly, so you buy a lot of it.
Typically, the biggest expenditures are housing, health care, car, food, and similar. Clothing is waaay down on the list.
Wow. I'd really appreciate it if you didn't condescend me by trying to explain my own wealth percentile, as if I'm completely oblivious to being showered in money (as you're implying), when I've simply made a remark about the average price of an item of clothing. That was quite an insulting comment to get through, and I hope you realize that even if you didn't intend it.
I'd also challenge your assertion that the majority of the HN audience is elite, as that's a bit of projection, but that's not a fight I'm prepared to get pulled into right now.
I've spent my entire life at just about every notch on the wealth spectrum short of having seven figures in the bank (and I came from stretching $10 for a family of three over two weeks), and I would consider myself upper middle class at this very moment, yet one constant for me has been the price for an average article of clothing even if the purchaser had to save up for it.
Someone might buy 1-3 nice shirts and take good care of them and they'd last a long time, provided they didn't buy a shirt with a trendy design that will be useless next year.
I'd suggest trying any of the wealth calculator apps, and figuring out which percentile you're in. And please post here once you've done that. Or, go here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Household_income_in_the_United_...
Median household income in the US is $51,000. That's household income, not individual income. That's what a family of four gets. Take away taxes, and you're at 37k. Assume $1000 mortgage, and you're at $25k. Car insurance, gas, etc. brings you down to perhaps $20k. Four cell phones? $19k. Internet, property tax, utilities, etc? $17k. Food? $14k. Health care? Putting kids through school? Retirement savings? Once you add in all the bare necessities, you won't find many people spending $70 on shirts, let alone $150-$200.
To run with your numbers. A $200 basic blouse, times 40 items of clothing purchased per year by your ex, is $8000. Family of 4 brings that up to $32000. Perhaps $24000, if you consider kids clothing costs less, or perhaps more, if you consider it wears out quickly, so you buy a lot of it.
Typically, the biggest expenditures are housing, health care, car, food, and similar. Clothing is waaay down on the list.