.........................

[Helopoh]

Im 29 and I vote sufficient....I would rather have money in the bank for emergencies than to have alot of great stuff that won't help when emergencies arrive. DH and I have been kicked in the butt more than once by using our savings thinking we would start to save again. As soon as we touched the money and it was gone POW we need it. Scary isn't it?

 

[cinmell]

I'm 31 and I'd rather sufficient.

 

[Pooh93]

I'm 41, but have always seen money as a security blanket and would rather have the money in the bank! However, based upon what I see with the "younger generation" (I never thought I'd have to say that.. ) at my work, they would probably say the same thing as alot of yours did. Most are concerned about having the "best" of everything...clothes, nails, hair, house with pool etc.

Money, or lack there of, is one of the reasons for a lot of divorces.

BrerMom....you are sooooo right. I've always said that if we ever got divorced it would be over money. My husband (not dear in this case) can not handle money at all and it has just about ruined our marriage.

 

[Nutsy]

I'm not a youngin' but I've always been satifisfied with sufficient.

 

[PRINCESS Ariel34]

Sufficient is the only way to be. I'm a sahm and no matter what, I invest 2000.00 a month. 1000.00 goes in my annuity and 1000.00 goes towards another cd. I refuse to be like a cousin of mine who has every credit card you can name. I want to close my eyes and sleep at night. I don't ever want to worry if my lights and gas will get turned off because I bought a coach purse with my payment.

 

[Big Disney Fan]

Originally posted by C.Ann
One gal was saying she had maxed out like 6 credit cards and was working two jobs trying to catch up on her bills and yet every single day she spends at least $6 in the junk food/soda machine and then goes out for lunch to the tune of $12 to $15..

How can people live like that? We pay cash for everything - we have a mortgage, but the house is worth 3 times what we owe. We got a credit card for going to the US but today I'm going to the bank to put money into the credit card so that when we come home from Disney we're not facing bills! We have a lovely home (average size), two cars and we're going to Disney for our holidays - what more do we want? Some people might expect us to 'upgrade' our home, but as far as we're concerned, we live in a nice area and have nice neighbours. What we hope to do is buy another house to rent out, and maybe, if we're lucky continue to do this. But if it doesn't happen, so what? We have two lovely kids and we all have our health!

So, yes, you've guessed it - my vote is sufficient (& I'm 35).

 

[Kitty 34]

Sufficient!!!

 

[Mermaid02]

Okay so sufficient is the "right" answer.... I wonder how many of us actually live like that.... We bought the worst house in the best neighborhood we could afford. It's a very nice neighborhood..... now we COULD have a bought a "sufficient" house in another less expensive neighborhood but we wanted our kids to live in a neighborhood like this one- and we wanted them to go to this school. How many people buy new cars? A used car is a much smarter buy..... because the minute you drive your NEW car off the lot, it's a USED car...... a used car (maybe even a "beater") would be "sufficient" to get you from point A to point B.

I still say I want NICE things (although NOT extravagant) and a sufficient amount of $$ in the bank....

 

[C.Ann]

..................

 

[Rajah]

I'll vote sufficient (late 20's myself), but what we have is both sufficient and nice, does that count?

 

[Steve H.]

Assuming that the first group is buying a lot of that stuff by accumulating debt, then we're definitely in category 2 (we're 30, BTW). We're very debt-averse (with the exception of our mortgage, we have 0 debt), so I'd have to say we're definitely in the sufficient category.

 

[tater bug]

Money is the bank is more comforting to me than outdoing the "Joneses". We do tend to splurge on some things but paying the bills always comes first. Having more than 1 credit card scares the bejeezus out of us!

 

[shep]

I guess we're in the sufficient category too...

 

[Snow White]

Sufficient is best in my opinion, but I would have to say we spend way too much on our kids and their sports and trips etc. But, I don't ever feel like I have to have material things to feel good about myself.

 

[Pugsley]

I just recently did some major soul searching about this. I came very close to buying a house that I could barely afford. My mortgage payment would have been triple what it is now, but I almost did just so I’d have a newer, bigger, prettier home. So I really had to examine my priorities and I realized that maybe I just wanted that house to impress other people, and that it really wasn’t something I needed. I have a small condo, but it’s perfectly sufficient for my needs. I decided that I would even feel guilty because it’s so wasteful for one person to have a big house. I do think a lot of younger people think they deserve the best of everything and I don’t really understand it.

 

[browneyes]

I'd rather have the best of both worlds.

Money in the bank, most definately. And I'm in the 30's crowd.

 

[PRINCESS Ariel34]

How many people buy new cars? A used car is a much smarter buy..... because the minute you drive your NEW car off the lot, it's a USED car...... a used car (maybe even a "beater") would be "sufficient" to get you from point A to point B.

Not me We have a 95 Ford Explorer Limited which is paid off. It might be old in years, but we keep it well maintained. I like the new Suv's that are on the road, but then I ask myself is it a want or a need. 9 times out of 10 it boills down to me wanting so I let it go.

I use to be like C Ann's coworkers. My dh grossed a little over 000k his first year at Daimler. I felt like the BIGGEST A$$ when I compared his w2 and saving account balance too what I had in my savings account(we have two joint savings accounts-he saves in one I save in the other). I wanted to cry. I could not believe how irresponsible I was when it came to saving money. THat is what turned me around. I had to set my priorities straight. I'm referring to myself, because dh can bleed a penny dry. He is just that good when it comes to saving money. All I can say is I learned my lesson. This is why I invest the amount I do each month. I find it easier for me to save by investing in an annuity and cd's because I can't withdraw it out with an ATM card

 

[Mishetta]

I also choose "sufficient." If you have oodles of money in the bank, then you can upgrade whatever would be most important to you! (Like your kids education!)

Note for Mskanga, that is a beautiful tribute to Maurice. What a great loss to his family & all his fans.

Mishetta

 

[aprincessmom]

sufficient house, sufficient furniture, sufficient clothes, sufficient cars, AND a bunch of money in the bank so that you would feel really secure.."

Let's see...our house is the smallest in the neighborhood but just right for us (check off sufficient house)

Furniture...that's a toughy. Suits us for now but was are looking for new to replace some of the temporary. No rush though (check off sufficient furniture).

Clothes...well, there are two girls in our house. Sufficient clothing but never enough shoes

Just bought a new car for the first time in about 10 years...not a super luxury car but I tell you, I'll NEVER trade in my butt-warming seats. I spend a great deal of time in my car due to my commute so I needed something reliable and comfortable. Spent more than I probably should have, didn't splurge on the car of my dreams...but it comes awfully close (check sufficient car, borders on nice).

Bunch of money in the bank...I wish. But it's enough to get us by and allow us to splurge on things when we feel like it so it's enough for us.

Sufficient is enough for us. Besides, I should never get nice things. I'm a spiller and a bit of a klutz

 

[caitycaity]

i'm 24 and i vote for sufficient. my soon to be 26 yo dh would have voted for nice stuff and max out the credit cards before i whipped him into shape.