What do you consider "good money?"

This is a timely thread for me.

Wife and I were having this conversation over the weekend.

For me I just find it funny how perspective changes. I remember being fresh out of college and had a friend in his mid 20s that shared he was making 50k/yr. I though, if only..
Then a year and a few promotions and I had a 45k salary and bonuses.
I remember fishing with my dad one night and saying 'Man if I made $60k/yr I'd never want for anything'
Then business for myself and I was making "good money" then broke.
Then the climb again. 'Man if I ever make $100k/yr I will be loaded'
Then the next number, then the next, then the next and on and on.

We've been blessed to not have to worry about money in several years. Still live in the same house. Still buy our groceries at Wal Mart. I still wear no name jeans and good shoes.
So the question becomes...what are we trading our life for?

I think often about going back into business for myself. @Tacoma747 nailed it above. If you are a very small business owner and have a good head on your shoulders you dont have to "work" everyday. You just have to hit enough paydays to keep the funnel from running empty. But I know inside I am not wired that way. I'm not wired to ever focus on anything else. It's who I am.

To keep this on track the only thing that has changed for me from going from struggling to get by to enough to comfortable is how much attention I pay to the account balance and what constitutes a significant purchase. At one time any expense over $25 was a onversation between the wife and I. Then it was $100. A few weeks I brought a vehicle home and neither of us batted an eye.
 
Good money depends on ones finances. A few years ago me and the wife got really serious about paying off debt thu the Dave Ramsey snowball.
Since then I’ve more than doubled my salary, and the wife’s has went up too. She has made an extra $15k this year selling hand bags (Thirty One) just doing something she loves.
It looks like I will make about $75-80 this year. Combined we are at about $125k.
I also deal with engineers and architects that don’t know half what they think they do and mostly copy and paste.
I work from home at least one day a week to watch the kids and make my own schedule so I’m blessed to get to spend so much time with the family. I spend less than 10 nights a year away from home and have full benefits and retirement with 2 weeks vacation and 6 sick days.
Now I could go work for one of my manufacture reps and make $120+ but that would also mean being away from my wife and two kids and that ain’t worth it.
In reality I could go take a $15/hr job and be just fine since we don’t have that many bills.
With all that said, I don’t see too much difference since we live so disciplined, we still don’t blow money and we wind up saving a lot of it.
 
The experts say that happiness is maxed at about $70k/year. Anything above that is just icing on the cake. I think the trick is just to avoid lifestyle inflation and put away enough to handle the bumps in the road. If your thinking long term, your target retirement date (I use the term 'retirement' loosely) is just a factor of your savings rate vs expenditures.
 
Ron said:
At one time any expense over $25 was a onversation between the wife and I. Then it was $100. A few weeks I brought a vehicle home and neither of us batted an eye.
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Yeah but isn't that how its suppose to be,the older you get the easier things become?? We aint getting any younger.When me and Tonya got married we were broke.To the point we didn't need to get married,I had a good job but had a truck payment,phone bill (which in the mid 90's was $$$$) a line of credit at a 4wd place,a credit union loan for stuff I bought for the truck I was paying on and a CC.Then on top of that we borrowed money to go on our honey moon and buy furniture.She had a $5 an hour job and the first two years were very stressful.I worked all the overtime I could and she got a better paying job and we got ourselves out of the hole.Our marriage wouldn't have made it 22 years if it had been like the first 2-3 were.
 
This is a tougher question to answer than I anticipated. Similarly to Ron, for a decade, I said 'my next promotion/business, I'll have it all...I'll be showered in cash'. Since I've graduated college, I've started 2 businesses and had good career progression, and haven't really had to worry about cash. I'll say the wife and I are looking forward to the 2018 tax breaks. That said, my last job and current job, I made/am making 30-50% less in my 9-5 job than I was 3-4 years ago. My outlook as cash as a priority has just changed. I'm, more concerned with quality of life, my 401k, my portfolio, my kid(s) college funds, rainy day funds etc etc. I wanted to move to the beach, so I gave up half my salary to be able to do that. The wife and I decided we wanted to start a family, so we decided we wanted to move home...I probably left $50-60k on the table to work at a smaller company, but if I choose to work a 25-30hr week or take a 2hr lunch, or come in late/leave early...it's no issue. And at this point, both businesses are on relative cruise control. So I guess I say all that to say, I think 'good money' changes depending on the stage you are in life. I'm happy with where I'm at now, but busted my ass with a lot of 20 hour days to get to a point where if someone pisses me off, I can say "F**k You, you don't own me"...and walk out. Being able to say and do that is probably my definition of 'good money'. But that's more an indicator of where I've been and what I've done than my current income.
 
Good money for me would be anything above 80k gross.I

If I need more than that i'm living above my station and need to downsize.
 
I think what you consider enough is a mind thing. im happy with what im making now all things considered. My girlfriend is always worrying about how much she makes and all that, she is still living with her parents ive lived on my own for going on 6 years so i think that has something to do with it. she is making more money than her mom is now though and she is just starting out while her mom is looking towards retirement.
 
obullfish said:
The more you make the more you spend. All I’ve got.
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I see this at my work all the time. Some guy gets promoted. New expensive car less than 2 months later.
 
I borrowed this from a movie somewhere and I don't remember where it was from, but I say this at weddings on occasion when asked to give a toast to the bride and groom. It's a little cheesy, but I think you will get the point:

"I would like to take this opportunity for all of us to pray you, 'Enough'. When we say, “I pray you enough,” we want the other person to have a life filled with just enough good things to daily sustain their life. It means. I pray you enough sun to brighten your day no matter how gloomy it may appear. I pray you enough rain to appreciate the sun even more. I pray you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive. I pray you enough pain so that you may appreciate the smallest of joys in life. I pray you enough gain to satisfy your wanting. I pray you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess. I pray you *enough love to always know someone cares. I pray you *enough good memories so you will not forget your blessings. I pray you *enough faith to endure your heartaches. I pray you *enough hope to help you face the future. I pray you enough hellos to get you through the final good-bye.

As was stated, a higher paycheck will inevitably bring higher bills. Your expenses will always somehow rise to your standard of living. Stuff breeds stuff. Buying a boat means you have to buy a trailer, which means you need a truck to pull it and a garage to park it in. You need new coolers and gear to use it. You then have to maintain it, and the trailer, and the truck and the garage. Stuff wears out and you have to replace it, or upgrade it. Stuff costs money and more money buys more stuff which in turn needs more stuff.

If you've ever wanted to get a good feel of what "enough" is, watch Shindler's List and then think on the value of stuff. I know I've gone from cheesy to pretty deep, but it's all about perspective. My "well off" is going to be totally different than the average Manhattan resident, as is totally different than the view of a skid row bum. There's always another buck to earn, midnight oil to burn and stuff to learn.










But to answer the original question - somewhere in the $50K range is where you no longer qualify for a Pell Grant, so I guess that's a good starting spot. :)
 
Success= having what you want
Happiness= wanting what you have

My wife and I had a similar conversation this weekend around a campfire. We are fortunate enough to be able to buy a pair of shoes or go to the grocery store without having to account for where the money comes from. We tend to enjoy experiences more so than things.
 
the world is ruled by money. it has been said that money is at the root of all evil. i cant deny that money is required to buy things. however I try my very best to always strive to be different minded than the majority. If you believe in God, in the bible, then you believe in the fact that the whole world is a Egypt/Rome, no matter what age/era we live in - you also would believe that Lucifer presented power over all the kingdoms of the earth as a reward for the Son of God bowing down to him, thereby indicating that he himself has that power to give - meaning Lucifer himself runs the machinations of the world. If you believe these things you can understand on a biblical level how mammon is the root of all evil in this world. I say this to lead into a statement once said that has powerful meaning for me: "if the whole world is doing it... you know something isnt right about it". The world is trapped in this human cog that could be referred to as commercial slavery - that appears to be tied to this idea created by the system: wake up, eat, work, pay bills, go to sleep. "Entertain the people, and they will never revolt". Hollywood, TV, Music, Shopping, New Vehicles. The world is full of distractions to alleviate the darkness of this cesspool of enslavement to debtor systems. imho. so i try my very utter best to avoid the A-typical when it comes to money.

With that said I have operated my life with great success for the past 8 years in this way: I care not the cost of items. I care not how much I make. If its affordable it can be done. If its not affordable it cant be done. If I want something that I do not have, I save for it regardless if immediately affordable: in this way ensuring it truly was needed or a smart "want". To truthfully declare my Creator as my God, then I must also declare he is in control and my actions must reflect this. Otherwise I am lukewarm. By replacing money with God, and thereby treating money so immaterially and rather focusing on my life and what *trully and utterly* satisfies my heart and mind I am happy and make "good" money regardless of the amount.
 
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ckruzer said:
If you believe these things you can understand on a biblical level how mammon is the root of all evil in this world.
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:rockon:


Mammon was the syrian god of riches. "Rich" people have all kinds of problems....look up suicide stats....it's generally not the poor. That's a "privileged problem"

You cannot serve God and mammon
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You will serve one, and hate (resent) the other.
 
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What I make now.


Seem stupid simple? That's because I bust my ass to make it that way.
 
this is a memory from childhood that has always stuck with me. when i lived in florida we would go fishing in the canals that ran through the richie rich neighborhoods. here we were, chugging along in a 14' boat fishing around the docks of these fancy houses. virtually every purdy house had a pool, screened in porch, lush yard, and a boat at the dock. boats never moved. pools never used. we never saw signs of life. working their arses off for what? i was having more fun than them.
 
Numerically speaking, annual income, ignoring government programs, assuming a progressive tax system, for the general geographical areas of this board, excluding high price areas like Asheville, downtown Charlotte, Hardin, Horseshoe, Wallburg, etc, here are my thoughts:
$35,000= approximate minimum to pay all your bills and get by, but not enough to really be building a future
$50,000= enough to live comfortably if you are reasonable with your choices, and slowly build for the future
$75,000= live comfortably, splurge occasionally; if you're frugal, you might can retire early, but if you lack discipline, it might as well be $50,000
$100,000= you can't live any different than the $50,000 or $75,000 crowd, but you have enough money you can start to pretend that you do. $100,000 goes a long way if you are modest and disciplined.
$100,000 to $250,000= its all in what you make of it. Many people who make $100,000 are much more financially well off than those making $250,000.

For me, anything from about $75,000-$200,000 would basically result in the same quality of life, a little bit more freedom of choice on unnecessaries (a $15k truck can pull a trailer just as well as a $75k one). It would take somewhere north of $250,000/year to change the way I live. If I had more money, I'd buy more land. But then I'd pay more taxes, and need more toys to play on said land, etc, etc. The key is to reach a point where you can use any "extra" money to make more money by wisely investing it in real estate, business ownership, etc.

Ron said:
what are we trading our life for?
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This is the reality of it. 24hrs/day, 8hrs for sleep, 8-10hrs for work, plus 2-3hrs for getting ready and commuting and decompressing. Only leaves about 4-5hrs/day for "life". I'm currently in a pretty "good" job situation from a pay vs hours/responsibilities/expectations standpoint, and I hate it. I'm not doing anything useful with my skills and knowledge, and I struggle to find a reason to go in almost every day.
 
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jeepinmatt said:
I'm currently in a pretty "good" job situation from a pay vs hours/responsibilities/expectations standpoint, and I hate it. I'm not doing anything useful with my skills and knowledge, and I struggle to find a reason to go in almost every day.
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At least I’m not the only one in this boat....I keep telling myself only 20 more years and I can retire! o_O
 
I work hard now so I don't have to later.

Given that, sleep is overrated. I'll sleep plenty when I die. I should be able to retire at 50 if I want. I'd likely keep working to some point but mostly because I want to stay busy some. Or, just fish, camp, wheel, whatever.
 
Good money to me is being comfortable in day to day life including all bills paid/rainy day fund/investments. The wife is now starting to make some serious headway in her career and we are just now seeing those rewards. No kids yet(year or two) so we have spending money. We used to be very tight with money as she was still in school and it was only me working. Used to argue over $25 purchases, now $500 isn't that big of a deal. Commute is about 25-35 minutes depending on traffic. Would love to be in the position to buy land in the near future but will continue chipping away at our small CC/Student Loans.
 
Jus Jim said:
this is a memory from childhood that has always stuck with me. when i lived in florida we would go fishing in the canals that ran through the richie rich neighborhoods. here we were, chugging along in a 14' boat fishing around the docks of these fancy houses. virtually every purdy house had a pool, screened in porch, lush yard, and a boat at the dock. boats never moved. pools never used. we never saw signs of life. working their arses off for what? i was having more fun than them.
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That is me a few nights a week on Lake Norman. Why nights? Because days are for working. There's a house with a heli-pad on the dock, and the helicopter is there most weekends. It's just silly, I wouldn't know what to do with a house even half the size of those empty monsters that line the lake shore.


Well, and there's too much boat traffic in the weekend to want to mess with.
 
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obullfish said:
The more you make the more you spend. All I’ve got.
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6 years ago I made half what I make now. Still seems like my day to day bills are still eating every penny up. But then I stop and think about the foods I eat now aren’t the crap processed boxed foods that are cheap. And my kids are older and that costs more. I have 4 vehicles now instead of 2. And I took the wife to Europe for a vacation. So I guess I’m much closer to that comfy pay range.

How the hell did I even survive at half what I make now??
 
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