No - I really don't have any close friends in upper income brackets or anything like that. Most of my friends are also grad students or have lower 5-figure jobs and in NYC that calls for careful budgeting...

i don't like the way Sugar sites assume everyone is trying to save money....i had to choose OTHER here....i am not saving money more than usual...i'm attempting to shop less but not go out less and therefore neither of these options apply to me

in terms of my money habits, i would say i can't keep up with a select few of my friends in terms of clothes and bags only because their parents pay their bills and all their income can go to shopping and therefore i can't spend quite as much as them...however i do pretty well for myself so i am not complaining

in terms of social stuff, i tend to have more money than they do...but i guess it's all about priorities, right? people tend to want to save or spend on various things are various times....i am saving for a house, every once and awhile my friend is saving 75% of her paycheque to buy a condo...god knows...everyone has different expenses, so i don't really compare

all i know is i make a good salary, i have a stable job, and i don't "hang out around my friends houses" any more now than i used to....and i hate having to choose one of these stupid options that suggest i do

yes, but not because i'm trying to save...because i make less money than all of my friends!!!

PS: i also save tons of my money therefore reducing my disposable income to a certain amount per month....i also am a flexible saver so if i want to do something more expensive one week, i'm more than able to do it....i control all my accounts with a click of a button

so just because i may not buy the new Marc Jacobs bag or whatever, doesn't necessarily mean that i don't have the money to do so...i just chose to put that $400 in my savings that month...and in the end, i'll come up on top

but i don't know my friends' finances intricately and we're all in different spots right now financial-wise so i cant compare

Yes, it has for a long time. I always try to get out of purely social dinners and offer alternatives like a game night or watching a movie at home instead of out. If the plan is to go out to dinner then go back to someone's house to chat, I'll just meet up with everyone after dinner. No one really cares but I don't think they understand either.

Other- we are not really doing anything differently financially. We go out just as much as we always have.

I could care less about the Joneses! I'm working for myself and my family, I could care less what other people think about what I drive and wear.

Screw the Jones; I do what I want.

I'm in a very different situation than most of my friends. I pay all of my bills 100% on one paycheck, mine. I also don't have anyone (family) to go to if I need some money, help with bills or want something bought for me.

So effectively I'm always saving since I am my only safety net.

Ugh, money is so frustrating right now.

It's easier when you don't have a social life.

Where the option of, my friends do have more money, but I don't really need to keep up with the Joneses?

Most of my friends spend more than I do ( some make more and some make less money than I do, but they all spend more than I do). Right now I'm trying to save up so if I ever feel that little twinge of wanting to "keep up" I just remember my future apt.
Keeps me in check every time.

like myself most of my friends are college students so we are saving our money to pay for books, classes, rent etc. we used to go out a few times a month to concerts, dinner etc. but now we stick to renting movies or going to the beach. so we are all pretty much on the same page when it comes to money.

we could never keep up with the joneses in our circle, lol. private planes, second (and third) homes, bentley's, etc. i only have a few friends w/o trust funds and a credit card that goes to some mystery finance person (who they never see) who pays the bill each month. cut backs for these people would be like firing their personal shopper. lucky for me i'm not bothered by that kind of thing.

holy crap lickety...what do these people do?!?!?!

aimeeb "I am my only safety net.” this is the exact phrase I use all the time! I've never tried to "keep up with the Jones'" since I'm the type to set and achieve goals based on my personal standard. My friends end up trying to keep up with me!

Nope, I could care less about the Joneses... My weakness is my car though. I spend more than I should. But I dont' do it for others, I do it because that is what I want.

I don't really care what the Joneses are doing...I care about what my family and I are doing. We don't spend much money, we are paying of debt much faster than scheduled, and we don't feel like we are missing anything!

It seems like I always have more money than my friends because they don't have jobs or have really low paying jobs right now. I have been hanging out at friends houses lately because no one can afford to go out anymore and I hate it. Once in a while we go out but we used to go out every single Friday night and I miss it. Oh well. My bf always has more money than me and no matter what I do I can't keep up with him even though he makes less money than me. I have way more bills than him.

My spending habits have been roughly the same since college. I haven't really changed anything because of the economy. But then again, I'm not planning on doing anything major (like buying a house) until I retire. . .

I have one friend in particular can be really annoying about this. Just because he has a random $500 to drop on a handgun, or $1000 on a new TV does not mean I do, and he expects me to. I made good financial choices for me, he made good choices for him [and he has his parents helping him, despite the fact we're both college grads with good stable jobs].

I prefer to have money in the bank instead of being up to my eyeballs in debt like the Joneses, so I have absolutely NO desire to keep up with them, even though I have the means to do so.

I don't care about keeping up with anyone.

I'm in college -- saving money is nothing new!

lots of like-minded friends here on my fast growing website for inspiration and money saving tips-www.morewithlesstoday.com. No one is trying to impress-it's about friends sharing tips to help each other through these uncertain times. I hope you can take a look. Today's post-starting an edible garden for $10.00

Same here -- I have no desire to keep up with anybody.

However, with that said, sometimes I sense other people trying to keep up with me. I feel sorry for them. Why don't they focus on themselves instead of me?? I find their behavior pathetic.

I don't hang out with any Jones', so no.

I buy what I like when I am financially able to do so. i buy a little less now not because of the recession per se but because my expenses have changed i.e. I moved so a change in rent.

Yes and no.
I've always had trouble saving because I'm an impulsive buyer, and my unemployed friends LOVE to lean of me for food. I've drawn the line at shouting others lunch if I know they wont do the same and I've been careful about how much money I can access out of my account.

We are saving our money to start a life together. I am in grad school and he's just been offered a permanent contract at his job with a pay rise. It was hit and miss for a while though - there were massive job cuts at his company and it looked like he could have been out of work.

His boss interviewed him for his job (the job had gone up to being open for every to apply for with everybody in the office getting displaced) yesterday morning and he had the offer by yesterday afternoon!

We can breathe again but it really has been a stressful few months after the job cuts were announced. We were cutting back everywhere! I even started cooking meals from scratch to reduce our food bill.