What income level made you realize

[Deleted]

My brother lives in a very high cost of living area. He rents a small apartment with his girlfriend. He has almost no other expenses (admittedly, my parents subsidize his grocery bill when he shops at their house, and he also does his laundry at his house). He drives an old beater car. He fills it with gas about once a month. That is about it.

[thyme4change]

Ours was a slow realization - somewhere between $80 and $100k. I don't really remember. Luckily, we had a very definite short-term goal in mind, so it wasn't too difficult to stay on course as our income went up. Now we are just too lazy to move, and we hate car shopping - so we don't spend much - just live in our little house, and drive around in our old cars.

[8 Bit WWBG]

...:::"What income level made you realize that money never seems to go as far as you think it does in terms of lifestyle?":::...

Whatever income level I'm on.

[bman]

Apr 6, 2011 8:48:29 GMT -5 brdsl said:

I can't believe someone actually posted this ^^^^^

Really? I assume this in reference to my post. Why can't you believe it? What exactly is crazy about it? It is the truth.

[txengineer]

My starting salary out of school was $85k, and I thought it would be quite a bit of money for living in Texas. My standard of living indeed has improved compared to school life - I drive a nicer car, live in a nicer apartment with no roommate, able to afford better vacations all around the world, and still save. But it wasn't extravagant. I think the reason is that I had fellowship in school and didn't need to work, so I was in a much much lower tax bracket; also I didn't care much to save.

3 years later, with over $100k salary, life style hasn't change. I still live a relatively simple life, but able to afford things that are important to me.

[brdsl]

Apr 6, 2011 13:43:13 GMT -5 bman said:

Apr 6, 2011 8:48:29 GMT -5 brdsl said:

I can't believe someone actually posted this ^^^^^

Really? I assume this in reference to my post. Why can't you believe it? What exactly is crazy about it? It is the truth.

In times past, that type of post would have gotten you flamed. You should be doing this, are you not thinking of your future, etc.

You broke so many "laws of YM" it isn't even funny, I guess the Congress of YM hasn't either seen it, or they are working on the budget.

[Clifford]

Apr 6, 2011 11:11:19 GMT -5 brdsl said:

roughly.

utilities were 65 per month. (50 electr/gas 15 water/sewer)
prop taxes 25.
car ins 25.
home ins. 35
food 120
gas 120-150.
misc. 80 (oil changes, small household items, etc.)

Some months were a little higher, some a little lower.

I wasn't intentionally doing this, but working a couple jobs, etc. there isn't much home time. Basically a place to sleep.

Also, like I said, no house payment, and single.

Now two years ago, college tuition blew this out of the water.

Wow brdsl. Have you read Early Retirement Extreme? 2 years since the college debt...are you on track for retirement by 35?

[bman]

Apr 6, 2011 14:59:45 GMT -5 brdsl said:

Apr 6, 2011 13:43:13 GMT -5 bman said:

Really? I assume this in reference to my post. Why can't you believe it? What exactly is crazy about it? It is the truth.

In times past, that type of post would have gotten you flamed. You should be doing this, are you not thinking of your future, etc.

You broke so many "laws of YM" it isn't even funny, I guess the Congress of YM hasn't either seen it, or they are working on the budget.

I should be doing what? Budgeting? I don't need to budget, I am following the most important financial rule: Live Below Your Means.

Of course I care about my future. That is why I am saving and investing thousands of dollars a month as I said in my original post.

If you are going to attack someone in this thread, shouldn't it be the people who have said they are having trouble getting by on six figure salaries? To me, that is crazy!!

[Firebird]

I'm not clear on which YM laws he broke either

[brdsl]

Apr 6, 2011 15:37:05 GMT -5 bman said:

Apr 6, 2011 14:59:45 GMT -5 brdsl said:

In times past, that type of post would have gotten you flamed. You should be doing this, are you not thinking of your future, etc.

You broke so many "laws of YM" it isn't even funny, I guess the Congress of YM hasn't either seen it, or they are working on the budget.

I should be doing what? Budgeting? I don't need to budget, I am following the most important financial rule: Live Below Your Means.

Of course I care about my future. That is why I am saving and investing thousands of dollars a month as I said in my original post.

If you are going to attack someone in this thread, shouldn't it be the people who have said they are having trouble getting by on six figure salaries? To me, that is crazy!!

Oh no, you are not cleaning out and reusing plastic baggies, two vehicles (are you kidding???), and buying toys instead of putting every penny into retirement, clipping coupons even. You should be ashamed.

btw. If you haven't picked up on it, I am joking with you. I think you are doing fine, but past posters on these board would have flamed you for spending, and not first fully funding 401k, Roth IRA, etc. I actually can't believe no one has said anything.

Oh well. Maybe I am just old.

[brdsl]

"Wow brdsl. Have you read Early Retirement Extreme? 2 years since the college debt...are you on track for retirement by 35? "

No, I haven't. I could have, if I would have invested more at an earlier age. I lived by the mantra that if you couldn't pay cash, you couldn't afford it. So, early I didn't have a checking account (savings only), paid cash for everything and saved a big portion of my income....like extreme saving. I can make Abe Lincoln scream.

I would rather work less now, work smarter, and get started with my life (wife, kids, etc.)

Of course, that means I cannot work like I once did, so investing and passive income will need to be more productive in the future.

[bman]

Apr 6, 2011 16:06:29 GMT -5 brdsl said:

Apr 6, 2011 15:37:05 GMT -5 bman said:

I should be doing what? Budgeting? I don't need to budget, I am following the most important financial rule: Live Below Your Means.

Of course I care about my future. That is why I am saving and investing thousands of dollars a month as I said in my original post.

If you are going to attack someone in this thread, shouldn't it be the people who have said they are having trouble getting by on six figure salaries? To me, that is crazy!!

Oh no, you are not cleaning out and reusing plastic baggies, two vehicles (are you kidding???), and buying toys instead of putting every penny into retirement, clipping coupons even. You should be ashamed.

btw. If you haven't picked up on it, I am joking with you. I think you are doing fine, but past posters on these board would have flamed you for spending, and not first fully funding 401k, Roth IRA, etc. I actually can't believe no one has said anything.

Oh well. Maybe I am just old.

Ok...your last post made me laugh You are right that I don't follow all the "YM laws". My system works for me and gets me pretty good results without spending a lot of time on budgeting, clipping coupons, etc. I do however spend some time researching and managing my investments.

Ahh the ROTH IRA, I miss being able to contribute. I used to contribute, but in recent years I have been ineligible because my income was slightly over the limit. I do have a Roth 401K though.

[kgb18]

I have to say that I always thought people who had a household income of $100k had it made. I thought if you hit that mark you should have no problems or complaints. We're now at that mark, and it's not what I thought it would be. Don't get me wrong, we have a nice life. We have a home, cars, money in savings and some fun money. But it's a modest life. We're comfortable, but just not as comfortable as I thought it would be.

[plugginaway22]

Exactly, KGB18!! Always sounded so sweet, but add a dog, a cat and 3 kids to the household and passing 110K seems like nothing special. Not complaining, though.

[midjd]

I was shocked - truly shocked - when I realized DH and I grossed $95K last year. In 2009, it was closer to $45K (I wasn't employed until November of that year). We admittedly saved quite a bit more in 2010, but I didn't notice any appreciable increase in lifestyle - despite doubling our income and moving from the most HCOLA in the country (is NYC still it?) to one of the lowest.

$100K was always the magic number for me... yet it really doesn't feel any different from $50 or $60K.

[Deleted]

Apr 6, 2011 12:27:52 GMT -5 8 Bit WWBG said:

...:::"What income level made you realize that money never seems to go as far as you think it does in terms of lifestyle?":::...

Whatever income level I'm on.

LOL so true

[ameiko]

100K.

I figured one I hit that point, I'd be RICH!

Well, I'm not. Sure, life isn't hard by any mens but it seems like I should have been getting so much more for what I earned now that I had "arrived."

[crystal1588]

For us, it was right when we graduated college. During college, working a few jobs part time and paying off 1/2 DH's tuition every year, we were making around 20k or so (after paying off school as we went). When we graduated we jumped up to around 80k. I can remember sitting in our apartment in college (about 3 months before graduation) talking about how we had just gotten these great job offers and that we were going to have so much money. About 4 months later, we closed on our first home and added in all the expense along with that. We also had to replace DH's car about 8 months after graduation. Added to that was the fact that we just didn't think about how much higher of a tax bracket we would be in. Before the first real world paycheck hit our bank accounts we also changed 401k contributions to 12%, so that whittled it down as well..

Overall we save around 25% of our income, but we thought we wouldn't have to worry about money. Now at 95k salary, we have more wiggle room as we haven't increased expenses, but still not nearly as much as I thought we would.

[azphx1972]

This thread reminds me of a discussion I had with someone a long time ago about computers, and this particular person made the comment: "33MHz! I can't imagine anyone EVER needing that much speed!" ;D

Anyway, I got a job making 31k out of college, and I had a friend in California that earned 60k, and I thought he had it made. Of course I didn't realize that he had significant higher COL due to housing, student loans, etc. When I doubled my salary a couple of years later, I finally realized that it wasn't as much as I thought thanks to taxes, a mortgage payment, and other associated costs that I had never factored in. Thats when I realized that if I wanted to escape the rat trap someday, I had to treat my earnings like lottery winnings and hoard them for the future.

[morrisr2d2]

I don't think it was an additional income level per se for me, more of the additional responsibility that has come each year with life, the latest being the mortgage. I also think it's scary how I now earn more in on paycheck from one job, than I did in my entire summer college years (1990s) working 2 manual labor jobs trying to save for college!

I find it funny that the more I have earned and saved, the LESS financially secure I feel, I think because I realize more each year how little it truly is. We'll see how I feel when I cross $1M net worth ($400k right now).

[Deleted]

every income level that I've been at.