One can appreciate a nice bmw or mercedes without feeling a strong desire to own one. My friend makes 100K a year and his wife makes about 60-70K a year (the average american household makes 49K a year). So, Id say they are doing nice for themselves. He owns a Honda Accord and she owns Toyota Camry. Could they afford a BMW? Certainly. They just don't want to. They like their cars. They are not overly invested in owning a BMW. As he said, "It just doesn't matter." They are far from poor or bitter.
I find this sort of thing most bizarre.
No-one knows what I earn. It's not something that is discussed. So why on earth is your friend bragging about his 100k and his wifes 60-70k? My wife does have one friend who is always bragging about what her hubby earns but she's just a fucking weirdo.
On top of that, why are you discussing cars they don't own and hearing their justification for not owning one?
I have friends with all sorts of cars - on any given night we'd be having a party at someone's house, there would be Toyota's, Honda's, BMW's, Benz and even a Lambourghini parked up outside the house. And you know what, at no point does anyone end up justifying or even discussing their choice of car. If someone has a new car, even if it's a Trabant, we'd all say "new wheels? Looks nice".
I don't get this at all - is this the norm for some people? To sit around talking about how wealthy they are, how they can afford a BMW/Benz but then say how they don't want to.
It's like me saying - I have a 1080 TV, I earn $xxxk a year. I could afford a 3D, curved screen 4K TV but I choose not to. Sounds like a dick sort of thing to say, right? Because it is.
Who the fuck wants to know what sort of car you could afford but don't really want?
If you want a BMW - buy one, if you want a Camry - buy one. But purleeeeeeeeeeze - you just sound like a bitch when you say "I could afford a BMW but I don't want one".