What would you call "good" money?

[disykat]

Originally posted by DukeStreetKing
"Good" money would be any amount that allows you to live comfortably, not worry about your bills and still be able to put some away for savings, IRA's, whatever you decide to use.

I agree, but some people would be able to do that on 40K and some people wouldn't be able to do that on 200K.

 

[danacara]

I've been rich, I've been poor, rich is better. Being rich and being happy are mutually exclusive. I'd prefer to be both, I think it is a heck of a lot easier to be happy when rich. I always kind of roll my eyes when people infer that rich people are unhappy due to some anecdote or "somebody who knows somebody." Trust me, when you can afford to send your kid to the school you want, when you can blow out the back of the kitchen to satisfy your granite urges, when you can pay your mother's bills and not even blink ... you have a higher probability of happiness, all other things being equal.

I have as one of my eleven life goals that I want to make $X/year by the time I'm 32, and have $X in savings. To me, that number is well on my way to rich. So that's how I define it. To me, it's individual, it's not household, as the groom's face is still kind of fuzzy in my future wedding pictures.

 

[castlegazer]

Originally posted by Disneycrazymom
The other mom has no idea what DH makes, and never will either! In my mind I always thought that when Dh made $150 per year he would be doing pretty good. I as a teacher will never come close to that!

I have to reverse all my prior posts, I was making the assumption you were talking about a household income of $150K - you obviously are talking about a lot more than that and are talking about a salary of $150K. That is a very good salary that should make you feel very, very comfortable if not rich.

I do not reverse what I said about that woman saying that to you - how rude!

 

[C.Ann]

Well most of you here already know my story.. All of DH's retirement savings gone on medical bills; recently lost my job; trying to squeak by temporarily on DH's small SS check; will have to sell my house for numerous reasons and move in with my DD & her DH; etc. - but - do I feel like I'm "poor"? Nope..

In many ways I think "poor" and "rich" are more of a mind-set than anything else.. Someone who always craves for more will always feel "poor" - whereas someone who is satisfied with what they have (no matter how little) will always feel "rich"..

Speaking strictly in financial terms, right now even $50,000 a year would be "good" money to us - heck - even $30,000!! But I refuse to look at life in a strictly financial sense..

We're still alive - we have a roof over our heads - we have food - and we have family.. We may not have "good" money, but we're certainly "rich" !!

 

[Toby'sFriend]

Good money is anything that I manage to save.
Bad money is what I have to spend on things like food and electricity.

No seriously. DH and I have had several very high income years and some not so great. But it wasn't until I figured out that we needed to control our spending in comparison to what we were actually earning that our wealth began to build. We've had years where we wasted an awful lot of money and it didn't bring us happiness.

I know several people who make $150k to $200k but they actually have very little to show for it other than a huge mortgage and really expensive cars that are quickly depreciating.

 

[mus muris asinus]

Originally posted by disykat
I agree, but some people would be able to do that on 40K and some people wouldn't be able to do that on 200K.

Well, then $40k is "good money" to one person and $200k is not "good money" to another. Seems simple to me.

 

[The Princess]

My DH's grandmother who is 88 yrs old always tells me because I have 2 DD's I am so rich and don't even know it! And you know what- it is so true. Money can't buy happiness and I think that is more important than anything else.

 

[Mishetta]

Wow!! $150,000!!! We'd be very very rich if my DH made that much. I know how to handle money. It's amazing what we have for as little of an income that we have! Anyway, to me that's a fictious amount like have a million dollars! Will never see it!

 

[robsmom]

My first job out of college I made just under $30,000 per year. I was rich. I could buy a car which I never had before (brand new $11,000 Ford Probe with the downpayment financed by the bank of grandpop!). I went on vacation to cancun with 2 friends that 1st year and life was great. Move ahead 15 yrs, my DH and I have much more than $30,000 and if someone told me to live on $30,000, I would feel very poor, but I like to think that I could adjust my lifesytle to whatever my income is and survive.

 

[ms_flo]

"good money" is any money you can make behave. (That's what Dave Ramsey calls it when you budget & then spend according to that budget). IMHO "bad money" isn't a particular amount, it's when you live beyond your means.

Seriously though, a minimum wage job at 40 hours per week pays about $12,000 per year. I think the "average" salary in America is in the low 40s. So 150k per year sounds HUGE to a LOT of people. Of course, as pointed out many times, how far your money goes depends on where you live. There are places where 150k is probably average, but for most people it is a great deal more than they could even hope for.

Also, our culture tends to be "more, more, more". People think that if they could just make X amount of money, they would be happy/rich. But as people move up the salary scale, there are more & more things available to them & they "up the ante". That X amount gets higher & higher.

Personally, I think a person's level of happiness has much more to do with how they manage their money than with how much of it they have. Most people who win the lottery have spent their lives thinking that money will solve all their problems. When they win, they do not have the skills needed to manage the money--their problems do not go away--they're miserable. On the other hand, if somone learns how to control their money instead of letting money control them; money is not a factor in their happiness--regardless of how much or how little they have.

(I keep thinking of the commercial with the guy driving around on his lawnmower. He has a new car, amazing house, pool in the back yard... While we get to look at all his stuff, he's talking about being in debt up to his eyeballs--HELP!)

Bottom line-every day is a gift. If you get to spend it at DISNEY--great! If not--it's still a gift. Be thankful for what you have without being resentful of what others have. ENJOY!

 

[Mari annie]

Money is a very personal issue.
People measure sucess or enough or good according to their own lifestyles....

Good money is any money that can spent...LOL!

I have two brothers who are business owners and they consider themself well off, but I don't....they always talk about money, what's the big deal??it's paper?! Money controls both of them and whatever they are making it's never enough, they complain constantly, they are younger 40 and 32.
They are constantly looking at their friends *who have even more and do the exact same thing (birds of a feather)---
They both have a gozillion accounts for pensions...if they keep up at the rates they are going, they won't be able to see these pension plans they are working 24/7 for!
They both have children, brand new everything and yet they have never been to Disney, they say "we heard it cost too much" I always laugh!
They both have like 5 checking accounts....for what?!!!
They love their "books" makes them feel imporant I guess, they remind me of that movie, "It's a wonderful Life" so sad!
Some people enjoy life *my family*, my thing is you have it spend it enjoy it! We do! We worked hard for it, and now we are able to enjoy it! Both of their wives *swear the sis in laws are related!!LOL
Both work pt and all they talk about is they bank all their tips!
big woops! Such a joke!
They both get clothes from neighbors/relatives and wait** until someone will buy that necessity their kids need!
I am so ashamed of my brothers and their families and so aren't my parents! We didn't grow up in a home consumed by money.
There's soo much more to life that being consumed buy money!
I mean it's pretty upsetting when I take my nieces out with my kids and buy them things and they say, oh thank you auntie, we never get anything (*WHY)?? Or they get excited going to dairy queen for a cheap cone!
When they come here, they always ask us, how can you afford this or that?! I laugh and say, we worked hard now we enjoy!
I truly believe it's the person you are inside.
The only ones I feel sorry for is my nieces!
Their parents are selfish and they both own their own homes
their cars, boats, they have no debts.
Yet all they do is complain.
I said to my dh, we're basically in the same situation but we never say a peep!
They both always needed approval as kids more than me or my sisters so that's probably a big issue.
A real treat---one of my brothers went over to my elderly parents home and said "I don't have any bug spray" can I borrow yours, or he goes into my dad's drawers and borrows a pair of sock-finally my mom will buy him socks....when's then point of cutting the cord?!
I tell my parents say no, they could buy the town!!
My mom smiles and says, "I know" but he is my son....
could it be the italian thing too, the "son thing"LOL!!!
Sorry to everyone this is SOO long but the money issue is
be happy for what you have and whatever you have, enjoy it
before it's too late, if you have extra share it, don't save it or hoard it, give it to someone who doesnt' have.
Make someone smile. Especially a child!
Amen

 

[disykat]

Huh? I don't really get your post - but it sounds like you're upset because your brothers don't spend all their money?

 

[Mad4Mickey]

I think that the other Mom was rude. Something close to that as said to me during a Booster club meeting for our DD cheerleading squad . I just looked at the Dad and said "I know and it must be all the 24 hour shifts my husband works as a Firemen making us so rich"

We do well for our area but we are far from rich . We make over 150K a year and it goes further here in Texas then most places. To me being rich would mean I wouldnt have to work . Untill they pay public servants better we will always be a 2 income family .

 

[DocRafiki]

I have this idea that $150K is "good" for a professional my age (30). Of course, I'd be ecstatic with just $100K, but I know I would still feel that I was lagging unless I hit $150K. Of course, by the time I do make that, "good" money will be $300K/yr.

Good money and rich are not the same. To me, "rich" means you don't have to work, and your kids probably won't have to either. It also means you have assets that guarantee future income. If you don't know how to budget & invest your money, you'll never be rich even if you're making several hundred K per year.

 

[Disneycrazymom]

Mad for Mickey, I am so glad you said something back, I just stood there most likely looking stupid! I had no idea what to say! It just had not occured to me that someone would think we are rich! We do not live in a fancy new house, I drive a minivan, mostly wear jeans and t shirts. Oh well, what can you do?

 

[caitycaity]

it definately depends on where you live. i'd say that $150,000 is good money, but definately not rich.

 

[castlegazer]

I COMPLETELY agree with DocRafiki, and caitycaity you also are correct in my mind.

Anyways - its not like she would know what your actual income was, so she had no business saying it. Because until you have money like Trump, there's a good chance you're not living in a house with a gate, guard, butlers, chefs, and driving place to place in your limo - my personal goal for when I am RICH.

 

[Melora]

My parents made good money, but they never spent it. My mom was so tight that there were a couple of times they gave me a Christmas gift they bought second hand with tape over the other kids name.

We were the "rich" ones in the family. We had the big house in the Hollywood Hills and lots of antiques and my parents worked for the studios.... my cousins were jeolous (just had a long conversation about this the other day).

What they didnt know was that my my mom was so tight with money that I rarely got anything that I really wanted because it always "cost too much or "I didnt need it".

The bottom line is that she died recently and I look at her life and realize she never did anything. No good memories, no happy times because she was so afraid of "not having enough money when she got old" that she never spent any when she was young. No great vacations, couldnt fix up the house to how she really wanted it because she didnt want to spend money on what she really wanted so she was always looking for a "better deal."

I will not squander the money I inherited but I WILL enjoy my life so when I get to the end I know that one thing I can take with me is good memories.

Bottom line is that you can a lot of money and still not feel like it is enough.

 

[Mari annie]

I am not mad at them, I am mad because of every time we see either families, they cry about everything! for someone to be so young and successful
they should enjoy what they have and not clinch and get reflux when they have to put gas in their cars or pay the light bill when it comes in the mail!

;-)

Smile!

 

[my3kids]

Mari Annie: I read what I could of your first post and now the response. Is it possible that your brothers are in good financial shape BECAUSE they don't take on debt, because they flinch when they put gas in the car, because they don't take expensive vacations or because they don't go out to dinner? My parents would appear to most to be very modest. We never vacationed, they never bought but what they paid cash for, we never, and I mean NEVER went out to eat. They grew up in the depression, and I suspect that was a throw back to living in desperate times. They were not poor, they just were not in debt either.

I didn't grow up in the depression, but I have inherited a lot of those traits. I stay home and my husband has a great job. I will still drive across town to save a little on a sale item, I'll clip coupons, I will hunt for the very best deal on anything I buy, from carrotts to a car. My children don't often go for ice cream, they know it is highly unlikely I have a dollar in my purse to give them, and that if I did , I likely wouldn't give it to them without a good reason. I hope to instill in them that you don't just spend wildly. If we went to Dairy Queen everyday, what would be special about it? Would your niece be so excited about such a small thing if she did it regularly? Do your nieces or your own children think of a trip to Dairy Queen as a special event, or just what is expected? I love hand me down clothes for my kids, and I continue the cycle by passing them on once again.

Buying new clothes or going to Dairy Queen doesn't make you wealthy, or a better person than someone who chooses not to spend so freely. If they are putting so much into the pensions you mentioned, then I suspect they will retire at a fairly early age and not want for anything when they do. If they had continually bought new clothing for their children or an ice cream cone every day, perhaps it is their pensions that would suffer. I don't see that a child who wants for things that the parents won't spend for, even if they can afford it, is a child in need. In fact, I see quite a more important lesson being taught....saving, working for a goal, planning for future purchases wisely.