I'd consider a 2 income family in the 40-65K range total to be "middle class".
There are a lot of people doing much better than that, especially when EEs hook up with doctors (not a ref to Jon but to some other friends of mine), etc, but as plentiful as such couples are there are hella more doing far worse than that.
When I graduated I bought a new car, but I've kept it since 97 and have only a minimal desire for a different one since I still enjoy it quite a bit.
I have knocked down a lot of cash on HT stuff over the years, but now that I have comfortable and entertaining setups that are "correct", ie the speakers are balanced, the display can do high def and is reasonably large for the room, the receiver can properly drive the speakers at even the loudest enjoyable levels, I have very little desire to acquire more.
I still buy DVDs, but it has become less and less now that I have a significant portion of catalog titles that I would want to own. This is quite similar to how my CD collection has gone, which slowed way down after hitting 1K titles. I just have nearly everything I want to hear or see and have an environment that is enjoyable to do so in.
So I think it is mentally beneficial to have realistic goals that are semi-preset and based around practical desires like "I would like to be able to put in this album whever I want to and would do so several times a week. I would like my car to provide me with - pleasant handling, decent quickness, comfortable ride, good stereo," and so on. Having the goals clearly defined made it a lot easier to recognize when they had been reached and to curb any "must have more" foolhearty desires created simply by the need to compete or something.
I'm busy living my life, not my neighbor's.
Sometimes I find myself thinking some new thing might be cool, but rarely does it make it past the "would I really use that" test.
This isn't to say I don't spend. I do. But with a focused directive more like biz than an impulse buyer.
We sometimes do go out to eat and if I would cut anything it would be that. Less reward than cost most of the time. Unfortunately it is driven by my wife's peer group. As long as it doesn't get out of hand I figure its okay to ensure her social health and happiness, although she is less practical than I am. Guess its a good thing that I'm the one with the expensive hobby, I'm not sure if she could curb herself as much.
Quote:
| "Happiness is not having what you want -- it's wanting what you have." |
That should be everyone's daily mantra, seriously. Sounds simple but in practice its very tough for many people.
When I spend it is not simply for something I want, but moreso to eliminate something I don't want, say a CPU stand that greatly improves the organization of my living space over the daily discomfort of the old setup.
That way I can look at the purchase everyday and instead of seeking happiness FROM it (which usually leads to buyer remorse because initial happiness fades) I feel satisfaction in a problem that I eliminated, which is a strong feeling since I can easily reflect on the real frustration I had been feeling.
That's why being frugal isn't the key to happiness either. In fact its sort of a deceptive variation of the person trying to acquire wealth for happiness.
I've known many people who suffer as slaves to saving money only to have that money not lead to happiness for them later. It's like they lose track of why they make the money. It's only a bartering tool between the work you do and the THINGS you want, even if its less tangible things like the security of health insurance.
Rather than setting a WEALTH goal I think its far better to set up a list of THINGS wanted and WHY they are wanted. Protective cash against an economic downturn is fine, but of course in a crashing economy your things would have far more value than the cash you have/had in the bank.
