[color="Cyan"]I do not consider my self a jealous person. I have always been happy for other people regardless of my situation. I am just having a hard time figuring out how people manage to live the life sytle they have. For instance my ds friend they live in a nice house kids have all the gizmos and gadgets and only one income and I know for a fact based on his employement that the income is not huge. They are not the only ones it seems to be a lot of people like that around here. I guess maybe part of me is jealous, not in a bad way just kind of sractching my head wondering how. I know people will say they must be living on credit cards but there has to come a time where even making the monthly payments on credit cards can be to much. So it leaves me wondering how do they do it:

I was gonna edit your post so it would be the color you wanted it, but that cyan isn't readable on this white background...so I unedited it...I tried!

I know exactly what you're saying. I'm one of those who tries to be content with what I have and just know that "my day in the sun" will come someday. But it DOES get frustrating no matter how much of a big wall I put up. As for how they do it, I don't know. IF they ARE living on credit cards, then there will surely come a day when one income won't be enough anymore. However, are you positive that they only have one income? Are you sure there isn't disability (just because a person doesn't look disabled doesn't mean they can't get disability) or social security or child support of some sort coming in as a second income? Or maybe an inheritance of some sort that paid off the house so there's no house payment...or maybe their vehicles are paid for? Sometimes I just have to reassure myself that I wouldn't want to trade places with any other family by reiterating that things aren't always what they seem.

I also agree that you never can tell another family's financial situation. Most of our friends and family would have no idea that we are in such serious debt. I think about that when I start to get a bit jealous of someone else. You never know what people are dealing with - financially, emotionally, socially, whatever!

__________________
If you need to get in touch with me, my email is teach1107910@yahoo.com.

We sold our house in California for three times the amount we paid for it. That is the only thing that allowed us to buy the house we are in...

We are taking Financial Peace University and in our class alone (not a HUGE one) there is nearly 1.5 million in unsecured debt. We have NO debt and so I cannot imagine what some people must have - I think that is it. I have a friend who picks which creditor to pay which month. Additionally, some people maybe manage their money in a way that allows them to save for the things they really want. Then there is alway parents/grandparents who buy people whatever they need! I know what you mean though somedays I wish I could have a maid or something like some of my friends who I know make less than we do, but it isn't in the cards for us.

I think that sometimes people are living paycheck to paycheck and/or incurring a lot of debt to pay for that lifestyle. You never know how they pay - maybe they have huge cc balances.

We are too!!! I have no idea what the class' total debt is. It would be interesting to find out!

I found out that a lot of people either saved lots while they were working before kids or, in the case of many I've discovered, inheritances. Bummer. I'll never see one.

The other way I see a lot is simply thru real estate. Buying, then selling w/ a decent profit. A lot of them also buy low, fix up and sell high, but you do have to have a talent for that.

__________________
Make someone's heart smile today.

Would you like to join our Mommysavers' Holiday Ornament/Decoration Swap? Details and signup:
http://mommysavers.com/boards/chit-c...p-sign-up.html

Hurry! Deadline is Near way before Santa comes!

I'm sure this isn't the norm, but my parents died early, didn't get to retire and my brother and I split their estate/retirement $. We do not live on credit cards, although we do have an equity line that we're working on lowering.

You know what? I would rather live in the teeny tiny house we had when we got married and still have my parents with me, money really means nothing if your basic needs are met. I'd give my right arm to have them back again instead of sitting in one of those large houses (which we do).

Nicely said and it gives us a lot to think about.