A Decent Annual Salary

[AngeB]

My parents earn a reasonably decent sum of money (easily livable for 4 people, including a 15 year old with an empty stomach!) and yet they are always arguing about bills and how they have no money to spend. I think I will be much happier figuring out how to live on the small sum I will have available than I would be arguing all the time.

Me and OH have alot less squabbles since we've had no money and I'm a lot less stressed about it

I reckon the more you have, the more stressed you can get about how to spend it. If someone handed us £1k on a plate tomorrow we'd probably feel relief for a second but then start stressing about where it was going to go. I know my OH would want to spend a fair bit of it on Xbox games

[happyhippy]

Well we're in the low earning catagory,even though we both work fulltime.Don't feel poor in the slightest.We both have cars(not by choice,we moved just over a year ago and unfortunately now I have to own a car! )but they were paid for with cash,not on credit.We don't have any debts,we rent a house,can afford to go out whenever we want,and have a few holidays through the year.So in our opinion we earn enough.I have been in a much higher paid job,and yes enjoyed it,but when we moved house,had to give the job up.Now I'm happy with what I have.Refuse to get on the treadmill of more more more.When I lived in Oz and my kids were small,we hardly had any spare money and yes it was tight financially but you know what?I was the happiest I've ever been in my entire life.

[Millymollymandy]

I'm really pleased because my OH used to earn a good salary in the past working for corporate ******** (unprintable word ) but then he got fired and we went through a long time of him not being able to find a job (this happened just after 9/11) and then realising we would have to sell our house that we'd only just bought (my first house and garden ) because the mortgage payments were ridiculously high, to moving across country, buying a much cheaper house and trying to live as frugally as possible, to OH starting a new business, to the point 9 years later where he is now earning a reasonable amount.

It's still of course miles lower than when he worked for the corporates but (1) he is a million times happier working for himself, and at home, and (2) we still live quite frugally so our spending has not gone up in line with the amount he earns. These days I look at the price of everything whereas I didn't in the past. So it's good to be able to put some aside for a rainy day, cos our last rainy day lasted quite a number of years!!

[cocobelle]

The one thing that would be nice is if the wealth of the world was spread evenly - this of course will never happen. But the media shoving things down young people throats makes them covet things they will never own - leading to mass dissatisfaction. And that it a sad place to be.