Do you make 'enough' money?
 

Given the choice, would you make more, less, or stay at your current level of income as it relates to the cost of living.

be honest.

Yea, It's back to being a pauper for me. Mmmm....Ramen for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Awesome.

I just got comfy with the weekly Sushi dinner I was having...well there's just something about that, that must really piss god off.

MORE MONEY!

I have an associate and two jobs. bleh. Last year an employer after seeing my transcripts told me I was really close to a BA and 'go get it'.

In a short amount of time I can tripple my income. If I could just get off my butt.!

I'm happy with my money; it's having to work for it that's the problem.

I don't eat ramen anymore but there was a time I did and I tell you what.
A little bit of ketchup and butter and wha-la yum-0 :yum:

It's no secret that I say I am way underpaid, for what I do.

But, everyone says "you make more you'll just spend more (and still have debt.)" I contend that, though that is true, I'd rather worry about the Lexus payment than what I'm going to do when the tires all fall off my existing car.

(Had a flat this morning...not even the tire that has had a slow leak, it was one of my "newer" ones. It's always something.)

I choose 'more,' as my current level of income is 0. :yeldead: Hopefully I'll be choosing 'stay' in the very near future.

More, please.

Yup.

I voted for more.

I make enough to get by just fine right now, although we live pretty frugally. I also have enough extra to fund my 401K so I can retire someday. What I don't have, is enough left over after both of those to save for college for two kids. So yeah, I want more fucking money.

I voted that I want more. :) I think I get paid fairly for the work I do, but I'm currently part-time and would be much more comfortable with full-time work. We're surviving just fine, but I would like to have more in the way of savings before having children, which my husband and I both want very much.

HM and Limey....you're both single and live alone, right?

Yup.

enough money for my current day to day needs; yes.

enough money to retire on, probably not.

It would be easy to vote in all three choices.

Money represents stored choices.

To a large degree, having more choices is a good thing. But there's a point of diminishing returns. I make enough money to buy a can of peas for $5. In fact, I'm positively certain I have a lot of company here on this board in this respect. When I go out to eat, say a pizza, the cost of the ingredients is on par with a $5 can of peas, but I don't balk when I pay it. Lots of you buy it too.

Choice one: I wish I made more money. Ok, easy to say yes here. Certainly I could find more to do with more money. I could try the $10 peas.

Choice two: I am content with my income. Contentedness and income aren't directly correlated, once a certain minimum level of income. I believe your poll choice is incomplete. Contendness, income they're present. But what about xoB? He's got an invalid mother, ex wives, bounty hunters and college edjumakashins to pay for. I believe that a more precise, a more complete picture includes contentness and it's relation to the balance between income and obligations. If you make more than you owe, and you're having your minimum needs met, contentness has little to do with income. If your cash flow is negative, if you're upside down on your mortgage... if you make a million a week but spend two million you're likely not going to be content. If you're just a little short, 50 cents, but that 50 cents represents not being able to have something hot to eat or cool to drink, you're probably not content.

Choice three: I actually think I make too much and should give some away. I say yes to this too. I give away money all the time. Sometime cash. Sometimes $100 bills. Sometimes to strangers. Sometimes pocket change or petty cash. Sometimes I give it away in service. I do the work for free. Often for my employer, where I work on salary, but where last night, I was working until 2am, for example. Sometimes for family, as the family computer guy. Sometimes I give my vacation time away, to strangers or to friends. I do feel I should give some away. Charity is a virtue I believe in.

It's a good poll for having discussions, but the choices are hardly mutually exclusive. There's no one here that hasn't believed each of those choices at one time or another.

Well said, V

I'm content with my income in that it pays my bills and allows me to do many of the fun things i want.

I want more so that I can achieve my long term financial goals, maybe even ahead of schedule. I want more so that I can increase my amount of giving (I can make more money more easily than many others so it makes sense to do this, IMO) I want more so that I can give more children the opportunity to play soccer regardless of parental income. I want more so that my son will have to work harder in a volunteer position throughout college to receive my payments rather than piss his time away delivering pizza's for beer money. I want more so that I can work less in the future. I want more so that in the future I can take on clients that I can't afford to take on at this point in time.

I have a feeling that no matter how much I make, the above statements will hold true.

Of course I want more money. Who doesn't?? What I wish is that I was better able to resist the things I don't really need. Then I'm sure I'd find I have more than enough.

I said I have enough, but I could spend more. The main things men want money for are toys, food and drink, and girls. Since I'm married, have some toys, and eat and drink well (too well) what else could I say? But there are still a lot of hot girls out there.

Wow, you can buy hot girls?

Nope, not enough money here...but then...this is my first job, and my first raise was over $1...(though I think they just wanted to bump me over the new minimum wage enough to keep me.) It's plenty of money for my current lifestyle (living with my dad) but it wouldn't be near enough to support me in the "real" world.

I make enough money to pay my bills and do a few extra things. I make far below my earning potential though, which is mainly due to my own doing. After our honeymoon, I intend to start looking for a real job again. The only way is up at this point.

yes, sufficient -- although it took me ~15 yrs to catch up with what I was making in LA but, then house prices are much less here in KS. I guess the real estate bubble bursting will help to normalize things, somewhat.

According to all of the retirement 'calculators' I can retire now and live on ~90% of my income 'til I'm 95 (with a 4% inflation rate and NO Social Security income) -- I'm strongly thinking about it...

Well. I certainly don't earn enough to meet my needs currently, and would not wish to remain on this income level for good. That said, I am content to remain at this level for now, as an increase in income would require me to give up my studies. It is worth it to me to stay at university, surviving on my student loan + bursary along with my Council allowance. Overall my income amounts to a little under £14k before tax. Given that my rent alone is £375 a month, you can see that I am not exactly in Clover :P

I think in terms of what income level would make me 'content' for the long term, I'd say anything between £20k and £25k per annum.

By that I mean, below £20k I may be tempted not to take a job even though I would enjoy it. Above £25k I don't think I could be tempted into a job that wasn't something I really wanted to do just because of the wage it offered.

I voted content, mostly because technically, I do make enough for the lifestyle that I have. Early in my marriage, it was rough financially. However, things have changed - I have had this job since 1989. I'm a staple:) - That being said, in the beginning, it was low paying, however I am on salary, which is definitely great, cause I'm not here 40 hrs a week (everyone knows it). They pay all my health & dental insurance, I pay for AFLAC. They pay into my retirement account which is in "profit sharing", so it's good. The spouse makes decent money too. It's just stupid decisions that are made, that gets us into "binds". Oh well, such is life.

It's not about the money.

It's about the stuff.

And that's a good point, Jesus. What kind of "stuff" is sufficient for each person? Going back to the car reference, I really would like for one that is more reliable...but then I really do love sports cars and saw a beautiful BMW Z4 that was the prettiest shade of blue I've ever seen and I thought "I WANT that!" Would that, then, be enough?

Nope. I married in April of this year. I am referring to our joint income. We don't have (or intend to have) kids.

Naw, you deserve a Bentley Azure.

I miss work.

Yes, but the hot ones (and more likely to be disease free) are expensive!

It's funny, but just yesterday morning I was having this discussion with myself.

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I have too much stuff.

That's great. You have enough stuff.

No, not enough stuff, too much stuff. Too much means I have to get rid of stuff. This is true. Enough means I don't need any more, which is not true. I need to get rid of stuff, but then I need more stuff.

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And that's the way it went, all morning.

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If you don't need to spend money on stuff, then you don't need to make as much money, which means you can work less. If you cut back to 32 hours per week, your net pay will probably only decrease by about 10%, after taxes. Your expenses will decrease and you'll have more time for things you enjoy.

You're right - but then I'd need more stuff.

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Wow, I am very impressed.

If I was in that position, I would be very very tempted to stop the for pay work, likve on teh 90% and spend my time doing what I wanted....


You've reached the finish line! Congratulations!

Heh... yeah, I think that's exactly what the Nationwide retirement calculator said :sniff:

no. look at it another way. You've crossed the line into "voluntary land". everything you do beyond this point is something you want to do, or you won't do it. You have entered the realm of "eff you" money. Boss tells you to work late and do more with less and you don't want to? "eff you, i'm going home." here's the great part, very little will push you to that point of frustration now because you are doing things you want to do, not things you have to do just to buy groceries.
that discovery is why so many financially secure baby boomers are continuing to work rather than spend the rest of their lives on the golf course.

forget the finish line, you just crossed the beautiful starting line.

Are you saying he has enough? And you don't have a specific number of what that amount might be? By jove, I think you've got it! :D

you're a fucking moron.



yes that is an example of name calling.

ROFLMAO!:rotflol:

At present I am not making money.
I look forward to the day when I finish a long hard day and feel I have achieved something.
I look forward to aching feet, aching back, a fund of stories about bad tippers or drunk arseholes or stupid customers.

I couldn't post in the thread that became pros & cons of the welfare state because it was too personal for me. But for the record I'd rather have a job I love for a minor wage, and one that is simply hard, or dull, or menial to make it up than have none at all.

I'll get there. And drag you with me, screaming, one detailed post at a time :)

congrats!

and sorry if i missed that announcement if it was made!

i hope you are getting it regularly.

Tough call.

I make $0, but I work long and hard, and the work I do is very important to me. I'd like to earn money, but I can't earn money doing what I do and I can't do what I do and do a paying job.

What do I do?

1) I am the scrip fundraiser for my kids' school. I put maybe 10 hours a week into it in school time...and raised $20,000 for the school last year. Those ten hours are split into a few hours here, 10 minutes there, 30 minutes there, 5 minutes there etc. This year I'm going for $25,000 The year before last (before I took over), they made about $11,000. I was treasurer then. The person who did scrip also worked for $ and could not do what I am able to do.

2) I help out in the school. I'm a room parent, I run special classes, I help with remedial math, I help with reading, I chaperone field trips, I shelve books in the library, I sort the lost and found.... this takes maybe 8 hours a week on average Plus commute.

3) I am treasurer and head marshall for my kids' swim team. This takes maybe 4 hours a week on average

4) I am the membership thingy for the pool we use in the summer, and head marshall for the swim team etc etc etc This takes about an hour a week average because it's summer-heavy.

5) I am the director of a non-profit publishing company dedicated to publishing quality literary fiction which "falls through the cracks" because it cannot be pigeonholed into a standard marketing genre. This takes any time I have left (after all the other things and houewiffery thingy) because I am the main "joe-on-the-street" reader.

I love all these jobs. I love to be busy. I put in a great deal of effort and time and get great results. I'd love to be paid for it, but that is impossible -they are all minimal budget non-profits. At some point, I need to get a paying job to ket my kids through college. But I love what I do.

So no, I don't make enough money right now and yet, yes I do. :D

I live in the hope that when the time comes that I need to earn $$ to pay for college, all the skills I have acquired as a volunteer will help me earn top dollar.

I don't need more money. I have a husband that earns enough for me to spend, and pay all the bills and put a bit aside as well as contribute to various charities on a regular basis.

No, we don't need more. If we had more we'd just spend it on frivolous shit and then wonder where it went. We're pretty lucky to be in the position we're in and I know I for one am quite content.

One can say they make enough money when they can see the future and say, for a fact, that they, or their loved ones, will not get sick, hurt or any other needy situation and their spouse's work situation absolutely will not change no matter what.
Remember, I am disabled and FL insurance law, my wife's job, recently changed.
There was a time when it was all sunshine and roses, the future sure was certain.
Until you have enough to pay for a life of medical care for yourself and your family, factoring in serious possible inflation, that is COMPLETELY separate from any market fluctuations and current income, you do NOT have enough.

I think you can plan for most outcomes by having suitable life insurance and income protection, coupled with investments in more than one area in order to cover any fluctuations.

No one can predict the future.

Right, so to have "enough" you must plan as best you can for the worst case scenario.
Trust me, I know.
Insurance does not always pay out like you want it to.

That you cannot predict the future is WHY you plan for it.
"What if something happens tomorrow and I/you/we can't work, where will we be in ten years?"
If you don't like the answer, do something about it.
Or gamble.
Up to you.

Well, like I said, we have planned for pretty much every eventuality and it's unlikely that there wouldn't be enough to cover any expenses.

That's why I said, we have enough.

I was not talking about you specifically. Now looking I can see how it could seem that way, sorry bout' that.

believe it or not, newer long term care policies would actually help someone in your situation rob. obviously that doesn't help you now, i'm just saying that for those that are currently in good health, protection is available.

I had one, they are fighting me and they will fight.

depends on the company and the condition obviously. i sell and service the product and i've never had any issues. YMMV.

I ticked enough.

I have more than enough stuff and the kids want for nothing, although I am trying to teach them that I am NOT made of money and they dont NEED everything that they want.

People....Glass....Houses

I make enough money, I just need a time machine, to visit 1970, to do my weekly shopping.

That's one of the big benefits of socialised medicine. You don't really have to take that into account as much.

i have to admit that i'm astounded by the % of content people.

So am I.

So was I. But then I got to thinking: given the large, and growing, technology gap that exists in most countries between the eonomic classes, it probably isn't so surprising that an internet community like this wouldn't have as many people who are unhappy with their income than you may find in a more random sampling of people.

Yeah, but Dana, then we'll have to WAIT longer. And socialized medicine doesn't work because communism-human-nature-USSR-laziness-more taxes-etc.
You know?

The people in this country who rely on the socialized medicine we already have don't seem too happy with it. It (their health care) doesn't seem to be something they don't have to worry too much about - well getting it anyway, paying for it isn't a worry I guess...

I firmly believe if I had unlimited funds, I would of been dead a long time ago. A couple of times a year I buy a lottery ticket, then I can be thankful when I loose. I don't live my life in fear that some one is going to break into my house, to steal all my really expensive stuff, or kidnap my children, to score big on the ransom.