standard of living and how well are you doing.

I have more money then I've ever had in my entire life however I'm married to a woman who is so tight with a buck I swear she can squeeze a dime between her thumb and index finger and 10 pennies fall out.

So I actually feel poorer then when I was young, single and living on Ramen and frozen corn.

:banghead:

Poor, poor, poor.

I owe more to Sallie Mae than I make in a year. That's not counting the other debts I have accrued by starting a business (since closed). Gas prices have NOT been helpful in this regard.
It's all I can do to bring my used Jeep back up to spec (not much vital maintenance of ANY kind was done for it- should have made a lower offer) bit by bit every paycheck.
I'm still living at home, working for $9.50-11.00 an hour.

Not much on the horizon either. My college degree is vastly different from anything I have grown toward lately, and beyond my hobbies there are few things I really excel at.

Pretty much the couple-years out of college doldrums.

I'm married to a woman who is so tight with a buck

Click to expand...

Dude, like 99 percent of the male public is looking for a woman like that.

Most women are spend-crazy and dont know the value of a dollar. Most men are too, but I'm not looking to marry one, so it wont be a problem.

i would be doing much better if i didn't have to feed my gun habit.

UPPER MIDDLE CLASS

Driving the big boats makes the big bucks...

still...

I can't always get what I want, I can't always get what I want, but if I try some times, I just might find, I get what I need.

Don't Remember Where I Read This....

Q: Who Is Rich?

A: He Who Is Satisfied With What He Has.

Active duty E-4 residing off base with no dependents. I'd say lower middle class.

Perpetually broke.

On the other hand, I don't want or need a lot, so I'm good with it for the most part. The kids are fed, the house is warm and the dog seems happy.

My wife is an RN, I'm a state employee. The house has been paid off for a number of years and the kids are all over 18. Life is good and we enjoy job security. We live better than our parents but their is always room for improvement

We are doing fairly well even though we are always cash-poor. In February, the only debt we will have is our mortgage, and we have over 50% equity in our home. I am able to provide for a family of three on one income while saving and investing over 25% of that one income for the future. We are now looking at a big change since we want to send our daughter to private school, meaning I need to come up with another $500 per month.

To make it work, we pinch pennies. We live very simply. We eat out very rarely. We cut coupons and watch our expenses. We are members of a wholesale club and shop wisely. Both of our vehicles are second-hand and we have clear title to both. Our living room furniture is second-hand. Instead of buying something cheap every couple of years, we save for the best value and buy for a lifetime.

Sounds like middle-class to me.

It's a wonderful life

I am probably the luckiest person on the face of the earth, when it comes to finances.

I picked the right set of grandparents! They have made me Independently poor before retirement. I could quit work and live for the expected rest of my life without having to worry - so long as prices do not get too far out of hand. On the other hand, I would not be eating any better than my current frugal means allow, and I might have to slow down just a tad on the already slow acquisition of more guns. [Homer voice - "More guns!" <drool>]

No dependents, no mortgage (OK, so I rent but I do not have to cut grass, shovel snow, etc.), and nothing bought that can't be paid off in full when the credit card statement comes in at the end of the month. Oh, yeah! I'm also a state employee looking at a major bump in pay who actually loves doing what I get paid for.

Life is good. I want to find an outdoor range somewhere close by. Once I find that life will be great.

stay safe.

skidmark

I view that as personal information and it's nobody's business.

Smoke

What is Wealth?

Hi, Just some more on this topic, To start off my wife and I make upper middle class money but live a lower middle class life style. Once we got a positve cash flow going and cleared our debt the snow ball effect works in our favor.
Weath isn't large amounts of spending it's about having large amounts. I think there are some people living large on a credit card who will be hurting if the slightest thing happens to their income. If you get into the habit of spending less than you make and it is a very hard habit to get into you are more prepared to face a downturn and you can build up an emergency reserve.

No offence intended if your spending and debt is out of hand that is the SHTF you should be working on not dreaming of another expensive thing to buy such as a gun or whatever.

I think that feeling wealthy whatever your circumstances is something we should all learn to do. I haven't got it all the time yet. Sorry if I'm getting all cultist again, but there is always somebody who has more money or more toys than you. Even if you don't know that person in life there is an advertisement to make you unhappy with what you have. So the trick is being happy within yourself.

That shiny new gun isn't going to make you a different person and some of the best things about the gun hobby are the experiences and the memories of hunts or shoots or good times with family or buddies.


I also have noticed that economic conditions seem different to different members here. Things that make the company where I work busy or slow don't always seem to match other peoples. So I bet there is always opportunity but you may have to work hard to catch it.

pete

Doing just fine, now if the government would get out of my way and if people would get out of the wagon and help me pull this thing, I would be even better.

444, retire at 52? By that age, I'll just be getting warmed up. I'm in for a long long career of eeevil. Carry me out horizontal--on my desk.

I must be working for the wrong state agency - I make just enough to keep ramen in the cupboardm and buy a gun a year, if lucky enough to keep it all year.
We may get a raise, but unlikely, as people are leaving my Dept in droves. We will probably start mandating overtime, and go to 12 hour shifts in February - that would suck even worse, as they have me on the graveyard 12 hour roster.
No raises soon, and I may look for other work....
Would prefer to be a career lottery winner, but they keep rejecting my weekly application....

I started with nothing, but turned it into some bucks. I can buy some weapons/other toys, but I TRY keep the toy/asset ratio at 10% max. I've paid cash for every vehicle I own, and never bought new for instance.

However, In the modified words of Chris Rock, "Man, We could get some wealth goin if we weren't buyin up all the guns!"

Not rich, but I make enough that my wife gets to stay home with our daughter. She works, to get out of the house, but at a job that lets her have our daughter with her (daycare at a local gym).

Barring any unforseen disasters, we'll be debt free (other than mortgage) this time next year or earlier. I have enough liquid cash to pay off most of that non-mortgage debt, but I prefer to keep that handy "for emergencies".

Mostly, our situation is from us not being the types to "keep up with the Jones" and both of us being fairly frugal in the day to day stuff. We don't have cable, we don't drive (or buy) new cars, etc. My only significant consumer spending is gun related stuff and I'm pretty tame in that regard to a lot of folks (been trading for things lately).

Chris

After reading the statements and replies in this thread I have this perspective to add.

First, the scale on which you are taking the "standard" must be defined.
On one end of the scale you have the very wealthiest of humans, the Bill Gates, Donald Trumps, Opra Winfreys of this world.

On the other end of the scale you have the very poorest of humans. Lets say a man living in a dirt floor mud hut, no running water, no electricity, hunting and gathering for existence, third world country.

For myself having been raised in the USA the richest most powerful Nation in the history of the world, I am closer to the rich end of the scale than I am the poor end.

God Bless the USA

God bless the USA so long as the people and not the Govt rule. We're not trending well. Each Generation asks more and more from the Federal Govt. :banghead:

I think the word wealth needs some clearification(my word) wealth is assets after liabilities not consumtion power/debt potenial. I know many MD's that make a snot load each year and are wealth-poor.

Like mom said "If you have your health you've got everything"

Just a few random thoughts I had while reading this thread.
I am not really intested in comparing my standard of living with the rest of the world. I know I have it better than most of the rest of the world and I intend to keep it that way. Rather than worrying about the standard of living in third world countries I am more worried about setting new and higher standards of living here in this country. I am not intested in the lowest standard of living. I want the highest standard of living.
By the same token, I am not satisfied with what I have. I want to continually improve my lot in life which includes buying newer and better toys. This is what motivates me to get up every morning to go to work. That is what keeps me going when I haven't had any sleep for 40 hours. It isn't knowing that I can maintain the status quo: it is knowing that I am working to go way beyond. One of the most miserable periods of my life was when I was married and my paychecks just disappeared and I simply existed: I didn't move forward, I wasn't improving and neither was my standard of living, I was just in a holding pattern.
The most important thing to me is that I am spending as high a percentage of my income as possible on things that I want to spend them on. Not stuff I have to spend it on, but stuff I want to spend it on. Obviously, this gets tougher every day.

My story mmics the majority of those who have found the path to relative financial independence, i.e., spend less than you make and save all you can,while you can.

My wife and I were mere babies when we married 42 years ago, and didn't have the provebial pot to pee in or the window to throw it out of. We had 2 high school diplomas between us, and a U.S. Navy salary of $280 a month.
When I was forced to retire in 1996 due to an on the job accident, we still had the same 2 High School diplomas, but due to a lot of hard work and a little luck in having chosen the right career paths,(Law Enforcement for me and Administrative for my wife) We are now debt free. Our home is paid with the exception of $25000 being paid at $1000/month. Cars are paid for, we bank wifes salary and live on mine, always pay cash for everything, and have an obscene amount of money in the bank.

Sounds like upper midle class, right. One small negative, medical costs are rising atronomically, health is declining, and income (mine) is fixed. When the wife retires in 5 years, (hopefully) we seriously doubt that income will match out go, so in fairness We have to say lower middle class. Just hoping to leave this world with more than the Pot.

Fair enough 444. I agree with what you have to say. We should be striving to better ourselves and our positions. Thats what respondsible citizens do.
Just thought I heard some whining earlier.

self employed and always a rollercoaster. some years upper middle class, some lower middle class... but at least I dont have to take crap from anyone and make my own hours from home.

my wife doesn't make much, just about enough to offput her spending

nevertheless, I still feel like I am usually spinning my wheels and not making much headway. still have student loans, back taxes etc. that take a nice chunk out of the income, and of course heat for the winter, that is always a nice notch out of the cashflow.

Well I disagree that wages have been rising. I lost my job of 22 years when the company closed its doors and had to take one in the same field making about 45% less a year. I pretty much consider myself now lower middle class or upper poor.

I'm always SABA (scratching a broke arse) - that's how it feels anyway.