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09:50 PM CDT on Sunday, August 14, 2005
Karen Cathey stuck it out for two years in the popular west McKinney
Stonebridge Ranch subdivision.
But it was too pristine. Too perfect.
She moved back into her 87-year-old, $125,000 brick house in east
McKinney, canopied by two Chinese pistachio trees and a variety of
full-grown elms.
"It just wasn't my style," she said. "Some people like conformity. ... I
like some disarray."
That's not to say Ms. Cathey couldn't play the game. She's an
estate-planning attorney who has been practicing law for more than 20
years.
As she puts it, "I make a very nice living. More than I need."
Ms. Cathey sautés mushrooms and peppers in her well-worn kitchen while
Rusty the golden retriever splays like a rug before the refrigerator.
She points above the entryway to a long, wide crack in the wall.
She's been meaning to get it fixed, but there's no rush. It's part of
her home's character, just like the 12-inch plaster crown molding,
hardwood floors and tiled fireplace.
"It's not fancy. It's not elegant. But it's extraordinarily
comfortable," she said.
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Ms. Cathey is on her third Ford Explorer, now parked in her gravel
driveway.
"I look around and see people driving a Cadillac SUV. Cadillac SUV. I
think, 'Why?' " she said.
Rather than splurging on the latest trends, she poured money into
investments, cleared all her debt, paid her daughter's tuition at Rice
University and built an impressive collection of Nancy Drew books.
The Shermans live in a $58,000 condominium in the North Dallas sliver of
Collin County. Their condo is on the far southwest boundary of Plano
West Senior High School, where daughter Whitney was a senior this past
year.
Susan Sherman, Whitney's mother, said her family's income was probably
in the middle or lower brackets compared with the more affluent students
at Plano West.
"We're not in that elite group by any means," she said. "We just chose
to try to be more middle ... ground."
They noticed the competition, and the people who judged others based on
the size of their houses or the makes of their cars, but it didn't
inspire the urge to spend.
Whitney's parents bought her a 2001 Chevy Camaro, not a BMW or Mercedes.
They also cut off her $30-a-week allowance this past year when she
started working at Circuit City.
Whereas some families fly to Europe during school breaks, the Shermans
travel to Austin or Corpus Christi.
"And just because it's spring break doesn't mean we're going to go on a
trip, either," Mrs. Sherman said. Both she and her husband work in real
estate and cannot always take time off when Whitney is on break.
Mrs. Sherman said it would be nice to have a big house like many other
Plano West families, but the couple has chosen to live in a condo so
they have money for other things – including Whitney's tuition at the
University of Texas.
"We choose to live comfortably. We don't want to be house poor," she
said.
David Lozano, 34, knows his $450,000 Frisco home is large for young
newlyweds, but he and his wife plan to fill it with children.
"I think a lot of people think we're living beyond our means," he said.
Their perception changes when they find out that he is a pediatric
pulmonologist and his wife, Laura, 25, is a pediatric nurse.
Aside from the house – which they consider an investment – they haven't
rushed out to spend. Some rooms in their house don't have furniture.
Their living room is free of knickknacks. And their poolside patio isn't
jammed with plants and chaise longues.
They didn't buy a dining room set last year until they needed to seat
relatives at Thanksgiving.
They drive a Volkswagen Jetta and a Honda Passport.
Resisting the pressure has had mixed results. At the stores, Ms. Lozano
said, she doesn't get treated the same as women dressed head to toe in
designer labels.
Dr. Lozano said a nurse actually praised him when she saw his car.
"[She] made the comment, 'Gosh, I think that's just so cool that you
don't drive such a brand new car. You're happy with what you have.' "
E-mail plavigne@dallasnews.com
